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1. ABC Network Responds To Bible Believers - February 27, 2007
(This might be an urban legend, but not too far out from what is happening in our culture). I am a coach in Childress, Texas and my name is Jim Neugent. I wrote to ABC (on-line) concerning a program called "THE PRACTICE." In last night's episode, one of the lawyer's mothers decided she is gay and wanted her son to go to court and help her get a marriage license so she could marry her 'partner.' I sent the following letter to ABC yesterday and really did not expect a reply, but I did get one.
My original message was:
ABC is obsessed with the subject of homosexuality. I will no longer watch any of your attempts to convince the world that homosexuality is OK. 'THE PRACTICE' can be a fairly good show, but last night's program was so typical of your agenda.
You picked the 'dufus' of the office to be the one who was against the idea of his mother being gay, and made him look like a whiner because he had convictions. This type of mentality calls people like me a "gay basher."
Read the first chapter of Romans (that's in the Bible) and see what the apostle Paul had to say about it... He, God and Jesus were all 'gay bashers'. What if she'd fallen in love with her cocker spaniel? Is that an alternative life style? (By the way, the Bible speaks against that, too.)
Jim Neugent
Here is ABC's reply from the ABC on-line webmaster:
How about getting your nose out of the Bible (which is ONLY a book of stories compiled by MANY different writers hundreds of years ago) and read the Declaration of Independence (what our nation is built on), where it says "All men are created equal," and try treating them that way for a change!
Or better yet, try thinking for yourself and stop using an archaic book of stories as your lame crutch for your existence. You are in the minority in this country, and your boycott will not affect us at ABC or our freedom of statement.
Wow! - My second response to ABC:
Thanks for your reply. From your harsh reply, evidently I hit a nerve. I will share it with all with whom I come in contact. Hopefully, the Arkansas Democrat Newspaper will include it in one of their columns, and I will be praying for you.
Jim Neugent
Note:
Wouldn't Satan just love it if people stopped using the Bible for a crutch?
Share this with someone. Thanks. - Jim Neugent
2. Catholics
Told To Pull Plug On Telus - February 17, 2007
Archdiocese acts after learning cell phone provider sells adult content Vancouver
Sun, February 17 Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun; With a file by Jonathan Fowlie
Published: Saturday, February 17, 2007
Vancouver - Vancouver's Catholic archdiocese has ordered its more than 130 parishes and schools to cancel their mobile phone contracts with Telus Mobility because of its decision to directly sell adult content on its cell phones.
"I am directing Catholic churches and schools to not renew their mobile phone contracts with Telus and seek an alternate phone provider that does not facilitate the downloading of pornography through its own network," Archbishop Raymond Roussin said in a statement released late Friday.
Saying he has received no official response from Telus to concerns he first raised last week, Roussin said he made his decision after receiving "strong disapproval" of Telus' move from Catholics and non-Catholics across Canada.
"So pervasive is the problem of pornography in our society today and so lucrative are the profits from this segment of the industry, that mobile phone providers are willing to take substantial risks in terms of their image," said the archbishop, who oversees 400,000 nominal Catholics in Greater Vancouver.
On Friday evening, Telus spokesman Jim Johannsson said it is "disappointing that the archbishop doesn't acknowledge our stellar track record of community investment and support that makes us Canada's premiere corporate citizen.
"The reality is that adult content is out there today and is not controlled," he said. "The rigorous age verification offered by Telus is unprecedented and ensures that only adults can access this non-graphic form of adult content."
Any Internet-enabled cell phone or wireless device may be able to access pornographic material that is freely available on the Web, but Telus, by providing a link on its own wireless homepage, is directly selling adult content to subscribers.
Last month, Telus, the country's second-largest phone company, became the first major wireless carrier in Canada or the United States to offer pay-per-download adult content to its domestic clients, according to telecommunications analysts.
Telus subscribers must go through a number of steps to access adult content, including supplying a credit card number and going through an age-verification process. Other cell phone providers do not require their customers to do this.
Telus has said that it also ensures that the downloadable material is legal.
Even though other wireless providers already allow cell phone access to adult images through Internet browsers, Kevin Restivo, a telecommunications analyst for the SeaBoard Group in Toronto, said in the past, for technological reasons, it has either been impossible or "excruciatingly slow" for cell phone users to download erotic or other images.
Telus, Restivo said Friday, has made it simpler to download adult images by
redesigning them specifically for cell phones.
Restivo, however, wonders why the Vancouver archbishop has decided to tackle
Telus over the issue, saying, "To me, it's just a question of personal
choice."
Roussin said he has discovered that Catholics and the general public strongly disapprove of Telus' marketing decision.
"It seems that the telecommunications industry in North America is now ready to cross a line that brings the problem of accessibility to pornographic material further into the public realm," Roussin said.
dtodd@png.canwest.com © The Vancouver Sun 2007
See Article: Catholics Told To Pull Plug On Telus
3. CWA Says It's No Surprise That Sexualizing Girls is Harmful - February 21, 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 /Christian Newswire/ - The sexualization of young girls
by mainstream media is hazardous to their emotional, mental and sexual health,
according to a newly released report from the American
Psychological Association (APA). The APA report examined the impact of virtually
every form of media - including magazines, music and TV commercials - on young
women's self-image. The research results are not
surprising to Concerned Women for America (CWA), which has warned of the dangers
that young girls and women face from the media's portrayal of them as sex objects.
"The study confirms what anyone with a scintilla of common sense already
knew," said CWA Chief Counsel Jan LaRue. "We are bombarded with news
coverage of the self-destruction of Anna Nicole Smith, whose fame
resulted from pornography and strip- clubs, and Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton,
who are sexualized poster girls for millions of impressionable and immature
females. Young girls across America are plagued with eating disorders, low self-esteem
and depression while their favorite TV shows and magazines lead them to believe
that being a size zero and a sexpot will bring fame, fortune and popularity."
Dr. Janice Crouse, Senior Fellow of CWA's Beverly LaHaye Institute, said, "Our
young girls are being exploited everywhere they look. They can't go to the grocery
store without passing aisles of magazines filled
with emaciated runway models, scandalously dressed Hollywood stars and articles
glamorizing aggressive and promiscuous behavior. This report is further evidence
of what we've known all along - young girls who base
their self-worth on media stereotypes are doomed to struggle with their appearance,
values, happiness, relational stability and sexual concepts. Parents must replace
the poor images conveyed by the media with positive and encouraging messages
that their daughters are beautiful and valuable just as God made them."
Regarding the APA study, LaRue concluded, "While the APA task force study makes some good recommendations, it fails to send the most important message to media and advertising: 'Stop marketing girls and women as sexual commodities whose only value is their looks.'"
Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
Christian Newswire:
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=roxl87bab.0.del6yxbab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0226&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiannewswire.com
4. CWA - Suspension of HPV Vaccine Campaign Does Not End Push for Mandates - February 22, 2007
Washington, Feb. 22 /Christian Newswire/ - Reeling from criticism, Merck announced that it will suspend its campaign for laws mandating that girls be injected with its vaccine for HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to cervical cancer. Concerned Women for America (CWA) President Wendy Wright notes, "Merck's decision does not end this controversy, since politicians have grabbed the baton of pushing for state mandates. Merck built the machine, and now it is running on its own." While CWA does not oppose the availability of the vaccine, it does oppose mandates that coerce parents to inject their little girls with it.
"Mandating the HPV vaccine is an overreach," said Wright. "The last time Merck was in the news was for Vioxx, which appeared safe in trials but later showed serious health hazards. Vioxx was given only with a prescription to select patients. Mandates for the HPV vaccine would require every girl, even those with undiagnosed conditions, to take it. Merck is not liable for possible complications due to the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act which exempts vaccine makers from responsibility for medical complications.
"Cervical cancer has decreased 74 percent since the Pap test was introduced. Mandating the vaccine circumvents the necessary education campaign to explain that HPV is preventable by responsible sexual behavior (abstinence outside marriage and faithfulness in marriage), that it will not prevent most forms of sexually transmitted diseases, that HPV is contracted only through intimate sexual contact (unlike other diseases prevented by mandated vaccines, such as measles, mumps and polio) and regular Pap tests are still necessary. A sexually responsible woman can choose to get the vaccine prior to marriage if her husband may carry HPV.
"In the past two decades, the number of mandated vaccines for children has doubled. Also increased are cases of autism, asthma, diabetes and learning disabilities among children. It is unclear if there is a connection, but there is enough concern that another vaccine should not be mandated without further research. Parents know and care more about their children than government officials, so the decision should rest with them on whether to vaccinate their daughters for a disease that is caused by sexual contact," concluded Wright.
Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
Christian Newswire:
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=k8z977bab.0.del6yxbab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0226&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiannewswire.com
5. TV Ads For NS To Begin March 20th - February 27, 2007
TV ads supporting and promoting Adoption ready to go. All parameters have been met, and you can be sure there were many. Here's how it all happened. We talked about TV promotion for life for many years and realized that a budget of 20,000 to 30,000 dollars are necessary for a minimum campaign, based on knowledge from other areas and our TV promotions several years ago with election ads encouraging people to vote pro-life.
Fruition began 22 1/2 years ago with a Gala Dinner held at the WTC with the
Soda Shoppe Gang for entertainment, dinner and silent auction. The dinner was
held under the banner of Positive Options for Women as the name Campaign Life
conjures up political overtones. The proceeds from this dinner were donated
to the JPII (John Paul II Media Institute) on the proviso they would produce
the ads. It has always been an idea
promoted by a board member that the ads would involve local people with local
stories.
The JPII institute along with people from CLC, POW and the community came forward
with their story of adoption and powerful it is. You'll love the ads: abortion
is not mentioned. The ads are to begin March 20th on the Oprah Winfrey Show
and followed on the Dr. Phil Show on ATV. The ads will cover mainline Nova Scotia.
The ads will run on Tues and Thurs on week 1, followed by Mon, Wed, Fri on the
week following
with spots on Alive at Five until the middle of May.
A gracious donor has come forward to make this possible and any funds beyond the budget will be kept in trust for future ads planned for the future. The ads will appear with credits to the JPII Media Center.
A tremendous thank-you and prayers answered to all of our supporters for this magnificent project. It has been said and it is true, that one picketer outside a facility that is doing abortion can change the direction of a young mother towards life. So too it will be with this advertising. One child can make a difference. One only has to look at Gianna Jennsen who survived a saline abortion, and for myself, my grandfather who intervened with his 17-year-old daughter, my mother.
Thanks and God Bless for He is great.
On behalf of CLC Board Members - Herm Wills
6. Eggsploitation Redux - February 27, 2007
Jennifer Lahl comments: My piece from two weeks ago, An Inconvenient Truth: Eggsploitation Happens, brought our readers out of the woodwork. The response rate was phenomenal with many people saying they just never realized how few eggs a woman has for her own future fertility. Nobody doubted the potential serious health risks to young women, which there alone should end this debate over 'eggs for research'. Some responses though doubted the math and the notion that young women could become prematurely infertile because they have depleted their egg resources. I've asked a good colleague of mine to comment. Appropriately, she co-founded, Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE) in the UK.
Unscrambling the Human Egg Donation Debate, by Josephine Quintavalle. CORE press release on UK decision to pay egg donors.
Apologies to those of you who argue that women have millions of eggs and donating some of them to fertility clinics or science laboratories is risk free and no big deal. You are simply not right. I suggest that we are currently meddling at great peril with the mechanics of human reproduction, especially in relationship to women's bodies.
We might not be as bad as koala bears at reproducing, but in the mammalian stakes we're certainly not rabbits. Human reproduction is an extremely delicate, finely tuned, low fertility system, about which even the scientists know less than they think they do.
I will deal later with the risks associated with egg harvesting, but first let me deconstruct 'the millions' myth with a brief overview of oocyte (egg) biology. Yes, the female foetus around the fifth month of uterine life has an extremely large number of oocyte cells, somewhere around 14 million. From then on, however, a massive process of wastage gets underway. Only about 20% of these original oocytes survive to the next stage of growth (diplotene), a number halved again as they become follicles. Naked eggs cannot themselves produce babies - they must be surrounded by granulosa cells, and a membrane, referred to as follicles.
At birth the baby girl will be endowed with about 1.5 million at follicle stage. Wow! That's still a lot of eggs you will be saying. But wait -further loss continues throughout childhood and it is estimated that only some 500 oocytes of the original 14 million will ever be capable of ripening, let alone going on to successful fertilization after puberty. That's an overall success rate of 0.000036%! Certainly not a limitless number.
And every time healthy follicles are aspirated for egg donation, that 500 overall potential total is further depleted. Hyper stimulation of the ovaries, as opposed to normal maturation, will release some 10-12 eggs at a time, almost as many as a woman produces naturally in a whole year of menstrual cycles. I appeared on TV with a woman who had had 54 eggs harvested in one single IVF retrieval process - that's over ten percent of her whole life supply!
Another point to be made loud and clear is that we are not just dealing with limited quantities. Declining quality is also a consideration, and comes into play, as women get older. By 35 her chances of conceiving in any given cycle are reduced by 50% and by 45 are down to 1%. Young women egg donors, postponing their own reproduction, may later on find themselves seriously short of good quality eggs in sufficient numbers to achieve their own pregnancies.
On this biological basis alone women should think carefully about the implications of egg donation, but let's take a brief glance as well at the physical risks associated with egg harvesting. According to the prestigious UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, in their 2006 guidelines on hyper stimulation, noticeable reactions occur in 33% of IVF cycles, with an estimated 3-8% of patients showing moderate to severe reactions. Severe can mean thrombosis, renal and liver dysfunction and acute respiratory distress leading to serious morbidity. That's without even taking into account possible pelvic infection and organ puncture during egg retrieval. A 2007 literature study on thrombosis risk associated with ovarian stimulation reveals tragic cases of death, limb amputation and hemiplegia. Those most likely to suffer are younger women without any associated disease.
So to recap: During their reproductive years women have very limited numbers of viable eggs, the artificial harvesting process is extremely invasive, and the associated risks are all too real. We must say no to egg donation for research, whether paid or unpaid. Women's reproductive capacity should not be traded as part of the biotech commodities market.
Related News Items:
- Women
will be paid to donate eggs for science
- Increase
in Egg Donors Raises Concerns
- Fertility
research drugs put egg donors at risk
Keep your hand on the pulse of the bioethics discussion. Sign up here for our weekly bioethics e-newsletter.
7. Exposure of Children to Online Porn Worse than Study Indicates; Expert
Available - February 20, 2007
MEDIA ADVISORY, Feb. 20 /Christian Newswire/ - Your news or talk show
may be planning to cover the topic of exposure of children to Internet pornography,
based on the recent study in "Pediatrics," which reported that 42
percent of Internet users ages 10 to 17 had been seen online porn. Of those,
66 percent said the exposure was unwanted!
Abstract available at: "Pediatrics"
journal.
Exposure of children to Internet pornography is an important general interest
topic, but it also can be of interest to family, parenting, health, computing,
religion, youth and teen beats.
If you are planning to interview a guest or a panelist on this issue - either
near-term or in the future - please consider interviewing C. "Skip"
Mathews, president of Integrity
Online, the nation's largest and oldest Internet filter solutions provider.
A veteran subject-matter expert, Mathews says the percentages of children exposed
to Internet pornography are even higher than the "Pediatrics" study
indicated, because rapidly changing technologies and newer channels make the
data outdated, other studies show greater exposure rates, and the company's
experience says otherwise.
"The study data is only two years old, but that should be looked at like
'dog years' in Internet time," said Mathews.
"Think about the rapid transition to high-speed Internet access from dial-up,
and how the volume of page views is increasing exponentially. Rapidly advancing
technologies, such as iPods, the latest cell phones and Internet-ready gaming
devices, have created even more channels for pornography to reach kids. Increasingly
popular social web sites, like MySpace.com and Facebook, are also fertile ground
for pornography."
Plus, children and teens often don't respond openly and honestly to researchers,
especially discussing something as uncomfortable as pornography, said Mathews.
"I've been the father of three teenage boys, so I know what the realities
and challenges are," he said.
The "Pediatrics" study recommended that parents become more educated
and get state-of-the-art Internet filters.
"Unfortunately, even though 48 percent of parents use some type of parental
controls, as the study indicates, many have been lulled into a false sense of
security and think their children are protected, when they are not," said
Mathews.
"Children and teens often are far ahead of parents in knowing how to get
around out-dated and inadequate blocks," he said. "A firewall is not
a filter. And, besides, would a responsible parent want the same cable company
trying to sell them the 'Playboy' channel to make moral decisions about what
their child can see on the Internet via that company's filter?"
The latest Internet filters, using artificial intelligence technology, analyze
Internet information 600 different ways, identifying and eliminating inappropriate
and obscene content before it reaches Internet users, according to Mathews.
8. Fr. Pavone Praises House Committee's Endorsement Of Ultrasound Legislation - February 23, 2007
Amarillo, Texas, Feb. 23 /Christian Newswire/ - Fr. Frank Pavone today praised the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee's endorsement of a measure to require a doctor to review with a woman an ultrasound image of her baby prior to an abortion.
"So many women who suffer the pain of an abortion say, 'If I had only
known,'" said Fr. Pavone, who is National Pastoral Director of Rachel's
Vineyard, the world's largest ministry of healing after abortion. "This
bill protects both babies and their mothers, and should be passed."
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./
Christian Newswire:
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=v8ea57bab.0.del6yxbab.tuqepibab.948&ts=S0226&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiannewswire.com
9. How One Wicked Nation Can Kill Billions Around the World - February 18, 2007
Well, I wasn't out looking for this kind of info, but happened upon this ad with a link to a page where Dr. Lorraine Day, who refused the 'cut, burn and poison' methods of dealing with the huge cancer tumour that she had on her breast, and opted instead to go the natural therapy route. Obviously, she made the right choice! She's here today to warn the rest of us of the sinister plans of the 'establishment' to decrease world population using, among other 'weapons', those pharmaceutical drugs our government subsidizes (but not natural health supplements).
The link at the top of this ad takes you to a page where Dr. Day's January 2006 exposé can be read. Thanks to reports like hers, we do not need to be ignorant of these malicious devices and can better protect ourselves from our so-called 'medical health system'.
Here is one excerpt from the text at the site. It'll cause you to pause before saying 'Yes.' to another 'flu shot' or 'vaccine' for your children.
All Vaccines Are Poison
"Vaccines contain decomposed protein such as that which is taken from
pustules on sick animals or putrefied eggs mixed with deadly drugs such as carbolic
acid (phenol), mercury, formaldehyde (formalin), etc. Decomposed proteins can
cause botulism, salmonella or other types of body poisoning. It's no wonder
people drop dead after the shots.
All doctors who know the subject know and admit that all vaccines are highly
toxic, and the after-effects are unpredictable. No doctor, laboratory technician
or scientist can possibly determine the reaction the vaccine will have on each
individual. It is impossible to know, in advance, the toleration point for poison,
which each person has. Therefore it is a deadly gamble-like Russian roulette-as
to whether the vaccine will cause instant death (and that sometimes happens),
or paralysis a few hours later, or cancer, heart trouble or TB a few years later,
or kidney disease, liver damage, insanity (post vaccinal encephalitis-inflammation
of the brain caused by vaccines) or some other chronic disease somewhere along
the way.
Vaccine is even worse than Russian roulette because that kills only a few
and they are usually other crooks, while vaccination kills thousands of innocent
and trusting people."
For your own sakes, please read. It's a long text document, so you may want
to bookmark it to return to read the full exposé.
Linda
How One Wicked
Nation Can Kill Billions Around the World - With One Lie! - By Dr. Lorraine
Day, M.D. (Chief of Orthopedic Surgery (San Francisco General Hospital); Associate
Professor (San Francisco School of Medicine;) Vice Chairman of the Department
of Orthopedics (San Francisco School of Medicine)
When the wicked leaders of a wicked nation want to:
· Create fear and chaos and terror throughout the world...
· Take away the rights of citizens in every nation in the world...
· Create a world-wide pandemic and annihilation of a large segment of a nation's population by forced vaccinations that secretly contain live bacteria and viruses for AIDS, herpes, hepatitis, and small pox, as well as preservatives made from mercury that cause brain damage and autism...
· Control every country in the world by allowing the World Health Organization (WHO) to enter and take over their emergency medico-political apparatus and place embargos or quarantines on the entire country...
· Help create famines in order to annihilate a large portion of the world's population by killing off the food supply of any and every nation, by killing their chickens, turkeys and other birds used for food... learn more...
10. International Perpetual Rosary For Life - February 21, 2007
Priests for Life Canada
P.O. Box 43, Cumberland, ON
1-613-732-3950
In an effort to defend human life, Priests for Life Canada has initiated an International Perpetual Rosary for Life. Those who sign on are requested to do their best to pray the Holy Rosary (using pro-life intentions) at a specific time of choosing - either daily or once a week (similar to Perpetual Adoration). Priests for Life Canada will mail to participants a package of information, which is complete with suggested pro-life prayer intentions. The initials and city of the participant will also be included in an on-line schedule (see link on the Rosary page).
As prayer is our number one defense in an effort to restore our society to a culture of life, the International Perpetual Rosary for Life will go a long ways to defend life from conception to natural death. We beg for your assistance in promoting this effort.
Yours for Life,
Anne,
For Priests for Life Canada
"International Perpetual Rosary for Life"
Coordinator.
anne@priestsforlifecanada.com
11. International Right to Life Federation, Inc. - February 27, 2007
Vol. 18 No. 1 - January / February 2007
Online Version: http://www.lifeissues.org/international/2007/v18no1.htm
Portugal Referendum Wins But
Pro-life forces in Portugal won but the win may be temporary. 59% of people voted in favor of abortion in the referendum. However, for it to be valid, at least 50% of that country's registered voters must vote, and only 44% actually did. Accordingly, the attempt to legalize abortion has failed. However, the Socialist Prime Minister has stated that he will now attempt to pass legislation through their Parliament to legalize abortion.
Major French Rally
On January 21, fifteen thousand participants marched for life in Paris. The FN party's Jean-Marie Le Pen is the major political group. It seems to be charting a path for this group for the complete abolition of abortion. Its next national election should be very interesting.
Ireland - Embryos Not Protected
A single judge in Ireland's high court has ruled that frozen embryos are not protected by the Constitution's protection of human life. In a complex twenty-six-page judgment, the judge ruled that protection applies only after implantation. Mr. Pat Buckley of the European Life Network noted that there was an attempt to amend the constitution so that legal protection would only begin at implantation, and that this was rejected several years ago in a referendum.
UN Treaty on Disabled Signed
This had been four years in negotiations. Pro-abortion forces had attempted and fiercely fought to put in "reproductive health." Pro-life forces just as vigorously resisted it. The General Assembly has now given final approval to a treaty that will protect the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. It also includes the right to life of disabled newborns and should "substantially improve the lives of peoples with disability throughout the world," said Jean Head, the grand lady lobbyist for International Right to Life Federation, Inc. and the National Right To Life Committee. Mr. Peter Smith, representative to UN for SPUC and the International Right to Life Federation reported, "Fifteen national delegations made good interpretive statements on the controversial term 'sexual and reproductive' which is often falsely interpreted to include abortion." He observed that strong pro-life statements came from the USA and the Holy See. "These interpretive statements mean that no one can claim that the Disability Convention includes a right to abortion under these terms."
Won't Sign Convention on Disabled
On February 1, the Holy See confirmed that it won't sign the UN Convention on Disabled People, which was passed last month in New York.
China - More Men Than Women
Not surprisingly, we are now seeing reports of the gender imbalance resulting from China's one child policy. In a January report, by the China Daily official news, the government admits that there will be tens of millions of men not able to find wives. Specifically, fifteen years from now, there will be 30,000,000 more men than women in the marrying age group.
In China, One Child Family To Continue
In spite of the gender imbalance noted above, Chinese Premier Went Jerboa, at a national conference on population and family planning announced that the one child per family policy will continue. According to government statistics today, there are 117 boys born for every 100 girls in China.
USA Crosses Three Hundred Million While Other Western Nations Plateau and Decline In Population
The Wall Street Journal 10/3/06 commented: This is cause for celebration. We three hundred million Americans are on balance healthier, wealthier and freer than any population ever. We breath cleaner air, drink cleaner water, earn higher incomes, have more leisure time and live in less crowded houses. Every natural resource that we depend on - water, food, copper and even oil - is far more abundant today measured by affordability than when our population was one hundred or even thirty million. Thanks to the rapid pace of technological progress there is every reason to believe that these resources will be still more abundant when our population reaches four hundred million, which will be about forty years from now.
Euthanasia in Italy?
Strongly pro-abortion, anti-life, socialist Prime Minister Jose L. R. Zapatero is using a particular tragic case of muscular dystrophy (who wants to die) to campaign for a law legalizing euthanasia. This has spawned a national debate, with the Catholic Church leading the fight against killing such patients.
IVF Babies Have More Problems?
The journal, Pediatrics (November 15), reports that children conceived through in-vitro fertilization have poorer health than those who are conceived naturally. This includes higher mortality rates, increased risk of hospitalization, cerebral palsy, and longer hospital episodes around the time of birth. This can be partly explained by the fact that there are more multiple births among IVF babies. However, even single babies have more problems.
Pill Doesn't Reduce Pregnancy, Abortion Rates
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."
We note, that a major reason why the pill has been made available in many countries
is specifically because the argument was posed that it would reduce unintended
pregnancies, particularly among
teenagers.
Slovenia - A Controversy
Slovenia's Minister of Labor, Janez Drobnic, suggested that his small nation limit taxpayer funding of abortion to cases when the pregnancy threatens the mother's life. In response to this, Prime Minister Janez Jansa has called upon the minister to resign. It is noted that Slovenia shares with its neighbors a severe birth deficit and faces impending population decline as abortion has taken its toll on that country's work force while allowing a continuing aging of the current population. The minister has refused.
Ukraine Babies Killed for Parts?
The BBC in England has obtained video footage of postmortem examination of babies who have been killed for their organs. Thirty bodies were exhumed showing such dismemberment. The report indicates that the babies seemed to have been killed to obtain stem cells from their bone marrow. It also reports speaking to mothers in the city of Kharkiv, who reported having a healthy child delivered, only to have them killed for research. Certainly, this should be thoroughly investigated.
The Push Is On For CEDAW
According to Article XII of this United Nations effort, the wording states, "State parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of healthcare, in order to ensure, on the basis of equality of men and women, access to health care services, including those related to family planning." This was signed by most nations in 1985. It was opposed and not even voted on in the United States Congress. Now with the new Democrat Senate in place, there is a push for U. S. ratification of CEDAW. If in fact, this were to occur, it would specifically undermine current and future Federal and State regulations on abortion.
UN Pressure On Columbia
Citing the CEDAW Treaty above, its UN committee criticized Columbia for only legalizing some abortions but not all of them. A few months ago, the Columbia Supreme Court weakened that country's prohibition against abortion by allowing it for rape, incest, fetal deformity, and life of the mother.
Chile Rejects Legal Abortion Legislation
An attempt recently to broaden the reason for the legalization of abortion by allowing it in cases of rape and incest, and mother's life was rejected by the National Congress. Chile is one of more than 30 nations that prohibit abortions in all cases. The vote was 61 to 21.
France - Hopeful News
The F. N. Party of Jean-Marie Le Penn has taken an outright pro-life position. If elected in the next general election, he promised a referendum during his presidency to anchor "the sacred character of life into the French Constitution and forbid abortion."
Australia - Bad News on Cloning
By a vote of 82 to 62, the Australian Parliament has voted to legalize human cloning. Those in favor argued that almost any disease imaginable could be cured through research that involved human cloning and then killing of the new human produced. This is bad news for Australia, and because it sets a precedent it is bad news for the world.
Vietnam and Sex Selection Abortions
The Vietnamese government has issued fines hoping to prevent sex selection abortions. In addition, they have recently held a joint conference with the UNFPA to implement this. The representative said, "Gender based abortions are a serious human rights violation that impedes development and worsens the socio-economic status of the entire nation, and not just for girls and women. An imbalance of sexes fuels human trafficking and sexual exploitation. It endangers economic development. It increases social instability as a growing population of men search for partners."
Swiss Court Allows Assisted Suicide
Its highest court, the Swiss Federal Court, has put mental problems on a par with physical ones, which includes a person believing that their life "is not worth living anymore." It stated, "It must be recognized that an incurable, permanent, serious, mental disorder can cause similar suffering as a physical disorder, making life appear unbearable to the patient in the long term." The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition stated, "The Swiss have now opened the door to a free fall into the abyss of the culture of death."
Stem Cells From Teeth
We have reported earlier that a rich source of adult stem cells was from the pulp of baby teeth when they are extracted. Now comes a study from University of Southern California, which found adult stem cells in extracted wisdom teeth, 3rd molars. These cells have successfully regenerated teeth in pigs. In this study, "We use stem cell technology to create a bio-root and periodontal tissue along with dental, clinical, porcelain crown technique to restore tooth function in swine." So reports Reuters on January 3, 2007.
Stem Cells For Muscular Dystrophy?
Published on line, November 15 in the journal Nature at the San Raffaele Institute in Milano, Italy, adult stem cells taken from the affected dogs, "Worked remarkably well easing symptoms of muscular dystrophy in dogs." He hopes to start a similar experiment in children shortly.
Hair Follicle Cells as Embryonic Stem Cells Alternative
Dr. Sieber-Blum at University of Wisconsin has just published in a recent issue of Stem Cells, the Int. J. of Cell Differentiation and Proliferation. They have taken hair follicle stem cells (epidermal, neural crest stem cells). These have been isolated at high levels of purity, and have characteristics both of embryonic and of adult stem cells. They are readily accessible, without any invasive procedure and certainly without killing any embryos. They would be compatible with the patient's own cell types, and may well prove to an alternative to embryonic stem cells which can only be obtained by killing five day old living human embryos.
Adult Stem Cells To Treat Intervertebral Discs
At the University of Manchester in England, Dr. S. Richardson of the Division of Regenerative Medicine is experimenting with the use of the patient's own adult stem cells to regenerate intervertebral discs in patients with severe back pain. He has announced the beginning of pre-clinical trials within a year.
Heart Valves From Stem Cells
At the November American Heart Association Conference, Dr. S. Hoerstrup from the University of Zurich reported success in growing human heart valves from that patient's adult stem cells. Using stem cells obtained from amniotic fluid, isolated, cultured, and then placed on a mold made of biodegradable plastic, such valves were grown in approximately six weeks. They call their method "a promising low-risk approach enabling the prenatal fabrication of heart valves ready to use right after birth." If this is successful, and can be replicated, this is an amazing advance.
And Now Artificial Livers
This time it is using adult stem cells from umbilical cord blood to grow the world's first artificial liver. First these cells are removed from umbilical cord blood, cultured, and multiplied. Then various hormones and chemicals are used to "coax" the stem cells to turn into liver tissue. To date, tiny pieces of liver, less than one inch in diameter, have been created. Hopes are high for much more progress in this direction.
J.C. Willke, MD
President, International Right to Life Fed.
1821 West Galbraith Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45239 USA
Phone +1 (513) 729-3600
Fax +1 (513) 729-3636
E-mail: IRTLF@lifeissues.org
International Right to Life Fed.
International Office
Ruitersweg 35-37 1211 KT Hilversum
The Netherlands
Phone +31 35 624-4352
Fax +31 35 624-9141
E-mail: info@schreeuwomleven.nl
12. Lifeissues.net Newsletter #311 - February 18, 2007
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
Our headlines this week provide a gripping snapshots of how humanists and their bureaucratic allies are on an ideological rampage, determined to expunge traditional marriage and bulldoze families. The family shapes the nation because it shapes the lives of those who make up the nation. It is within the family that we either gain or fail to gain our sense of belonging, our sexual identity, and our sense of self-worth.
Dr. Nick Stinnett, chairman of the Department of Human Development and the Family at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, believes that history clearly illustrates the relationship between the strength of families and the strength of nations. "As we study some of the ancient cultures such as that of Egypt, Rome and Greece," says Stinnett, "we see a common pattern: When these cultures were coming into the peak of their power and glory as nations, the family was strong. It was important and was valued very highly. Family members cooperated with one another. They depended on each other.
"Then, as these nations progressed along their paths of destiny, the family came to be not so highly valued, the culture became extremely individualistic. It was a 'do your own thing' philosophy to an excessive degree. The families deteriorated. When that happened, the societies themselves fell."
What happened before is regrettably happening now. But there is hope for humanity to recover. And that hope can only be rediscovered and nurtured in strong family relationships.
God Bless, Marlon Castillo Ramirez, Assistant Editor
(A Quote) The madness of modernity consists in this: it offers only bondage yet advertises it as freedom; it offers only tyranny, yet parades it as a choice. This surely is no moral business. - Hilaire Belloc
Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #311 - February 18, 2007
Table Of Contents:
1. Most Doctors In Portugal Oppose Abortion
2. 'Gay' Groups: We Have Rights To Your Children!
3. France: Religious Leaders Sign Joint Statement Defending Traditional Marriage
4. Malta Government Leaders: EU Won't Bully Us To Legalize Abortion
5. 300 Babies A Year Damaged By Alcohol
6. 'I Want' Abortion Generation Criticized
7. Pill Under Attack
8. Network Of Homosexual Political Donors Influencing State Election Campaigns
9. Study: Sex Of Any Kind Can Harm Teens Emotionally
10. Cuyahoga Co. To Allow Organ Harvest Before Brain Death
11. Puerto Rican Bishop Says Proposed Bill Against The Family Is 'Aberrant'
12. Swedish Proposal To Abort Children Of Foreign Nationals Draws Criticism
Focus on Asia: Maternity services are under pressure in Chinese hospitals as the next Chinese year (beginning 17th February) brings a 'baby boom'. Because the year will be a 'year of the pig', and also a 'golden year' in the Chinese calendar cycle, babies born during it are popularly believed to be extra lucky. Hospital authorities say many parents have deliberately targeted this year to have the one child permitted them under China's population control authority, and 150,000 babies are expected in Beijing alone (as compared to 129,000 last year). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/11/wchina11.xml
Item #1. Most Doctors In Portugal Oppose Abortion
The Dean of the College of Medicine of Portugal, Pedro Nunes, said this week
that the Physicians' Code of Ethics defends human life from conception and that
most doctors oppose abortion. Nunes said that doctors, therefore, have the right
to exercise conscientious objection in the event that abortion is imposed on
the country.
In statements to the EFE news agency, Nunes recalled that the College of Medicine did not take an official position during the recent referendum on the legalization of abortion. Nevertheless, he emphasized that most doctors defend life from the moment of conception.
View full file at CNA: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8653
Item #2. 'Gay' Groups: We Have Rights To Your Children!
A collection of 'gay' organizations has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in
a Massachusetts lawsuit, claiming they have every right to teach their doctrine
to grade school students.
Parental rights, according to the brief filed this week, "have never meant that a parent can demand prior notice and the right to opt a child out of mere exposure to ideas in the public schools that a parent disapproves of." That includes, according to the brief, religious or any other ideas.
View full text at World Net Daily: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52311
Item #3. France: Religious Leaders Sign Joint Statement
Defending Traditional Marriage
Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders in France came together last
week to sign a statement proclaiming the fundamental place of marriage in human
society and their opposition to same-sex unions, Zenit News Agency reported
Feb.13.
Signatories of the statement included the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lyon, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin.
"The question is to know today if the law can authorize the marriage of two persons of the same sex," the statement said, signed on Feb. 6 in Lyon. "It is not a question of a simple debate in society, but of a greater choice, unprecedented in the history of humanity. It is not a gift that should be given to future generations."
View full text at Lifesite News: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07021403.html
Item #4. Malta Government Leaders: EU Won't Bully
Us To Legalize Abortion
Government leaders in Malta say the island nation will not cave in to pressure
from the United Nations and European Union leaders to legalize abortion. The
statement comes just days after Portugal voters defeated an abortion referendum
and government leaders responded by saying they would legalize the practice.
A local news story carried on the General Workers' Union daily l-orizzont said the government is considering legalizing abortion. However, a representative of the Malta Foreign Affairs Ministry told the Malta Independent newspaper that's not the case.
In a statement, the government said it has always told the UN and EU that abortion must be left for individual countries to decide on and that it will continue to keep abortions illegal. Officials said the Maltese people remain resolutely opposed to legalizing abortion.
View full text at Life News: http://www.lifenews.com/int183.html
Item #5. 300 Babies A Year Damaged By Alcohol
Thousands of children in Scotland may be suffering the damaging effects of alcohol
exposure in the womb, but most are undiagnosed, experts have warned.
More than 300 babies a year could be born with impairments caused by their mothers' drinking during pregnancy.
View full text at Scotsman.com: http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=226152007&format=send
Item #6. 'I Want' Abortion Generation Criticized
Campaigners and church heads in Wales have condemned the large number of women
they say are using abortion as a form of contraception, despite being in long-term
relationships. Figures published today reveal more than one in five Welsh women
in their late 20s and early 30s have had an abortion while in a long-term relationship.
Half of those questioned had become pregnant after failing to use contraception.
Pro-life campaigners said the research reflected the selfish attitude of an "I Want" generation who are determined not to let pregnancy interfere with their career plans.
The poll of more than 1,000 women aged 26-34 across the UK found of those who'd had an abortion, 25% of Welsh woman had forgotten to take the contraceptive pill, while 25% were not using any contraception at all.
See the full article at ICWales:
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_method=full%26objectid=18609440%26siteid=50082-name_page.html
Item #7. Pill Under Attack
A specialist in women's health, responding to Schering's survey on contraception,
has claimed that the research shows that many women might be better served by
long-term contraceptive methods than the daily oral pill. Dr Dawn Harper "These
methods can usually be fitted in five minutes by a healthcare professional.
Once fitted, they can be forgotten about for anything up to ten years, leaving
women free to enjoy their lives in the knowledge they are protected from pregnancy".
A LIFE spokesman said "We are not surprised that a contraceptive company
is calling for increased sales of contraception... we must be cautious about
this research which is interesting because of who commissioned it rather than
what it tells us about crisis pregnancy."
Read more details at NetDoctor: http://news.netdoctor.co.uk/news_detail.php?id=18058043
Item #8. Network Of Homosexual Political Donors
Influencing State Election Campaigns
A powerful initiative to influence American politics toward pro-homosexual policies
was recently exposed in extensive coverage by The Atlantic Monthly's Joshua
Green, in an article published in the March 2007 issue.
Green's article revealed a network of wealthy homosexual philanthropists, led by Colorado technology billionaire Tim Gill, who joined forces in the last election to target state level politicians opposed to homosexuality by donating to competing candidates.
The campaign was conducted 'stealthily', says Green, with little fanfare to alert those targeted by the nationally based campaign working against them.
View full article at Lifesite News: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07021304.html
Item #9. Study: Sex Of Any Kind Can Harm Teens
Emotionally
(Reuters) - Teenagers often suffer emotional consequences from having sex, even
when it's "only" oral sex, a study published Monday suggests. Researchers
at the University of California San Francisco found that up to one-half of the
sexually active teenagers in their study said they'd ever felt "used,"
guilty or regretful after having sex.
Though such feelings were less common among teens who'd had only oral sex, about one-third reported some type of negative consequence. Dr. Sonya S. Brady and Bonnie L. Halpern-Felsher report the findings in the journal Pediatrics. The study, according to the researchers, suggests that parents should be sure to talk with their kids about the potential negative effects of having oral sex, not only intercourse.
View entire CNN News: http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/05/sex.teens.reut/index.html
Item #10. Cuyahoga Co. To Allow Organ Harvest Before
Brain Death
Prosecutors in Ohio's most populous county said they'll no longer block the
local organ bank if it wants to remove organs from people who are not yet brain
dead.
Most organs are removed for donation only after the brain ceases all activity. But nationwide there has been growing use a more complicated procedure to remove the organs after the heart stops working.
Three such donations were done in Akron last year.
Cuyahoga County prosecutors for the past decade have clashed with the LifeBanc over removing organs after cardiac death. At one point they threatened homicide charges.
But Prosecutor Bill Mason has written a legal opinion endorsing a revised procedure that does not include use of a blood-thinning drug that prosecutors believed would hasten death.
View full text at Newsnet5.com: http://www.newsnet5.com/health/10980232/detail.html
Item #11. Puerto Rican Bishop Says Proposed Bill
Against The Family Is 'Aberrant'
Bishop Felix Lazaro of Ponce said recently that new changes to the Civil Code
regarding the family scheduled to be debated in the Legislative Assembly this
week "are an aberration, an attack on human dignity."
"I think that the statutes on the family in the proposed Civil Code are full of aberrations, in the sense that they degrade the family, they degrade the person and the dignity of the human being," he said.
"Let it be said that I have great respect for all persons, whether they are homosexuals or transsexuals. Each person deserves my greatest respect, but I do not understand why a transsexual, if he was born male, would want to become a woman," he added.
Read full article at CAN News: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8618
Item #12. Swedish Proposal To Abort Children Of
Foreign Nationals Draws Criticism
An impending amendment to the current Abortion Act in Sweden will allow Swedish
abortionists to abort the children of women from other countries, including
countries which protect the right to life of their unborn citizens. The controversial
measure, which would offer abortion-on-demand during the first eighteen weeks
of pregnancy, has drawn criticism from a noted professor of EU legislation and
international pro-life leaders.
Swedish Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Mr. Göran Hägglund announced the coming legislation last month. In response, Ulf Bernitz a professor of European Union Law at Stockholm University was quoted in the nation's second largest paper, Svenska Dagbladet, Friday referring to the proposed abortion amendment as lacking in "judicial reason".
See the full article at Lifesite News: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07021202.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. Think about participating in Fr. Jerry's "2007
Speaking Tours" to poorer countries in Asia. 'Journey for Life into the
Heart of Asia' is a project, which appeals for donations to help finance travel
expenses. The lectures this year will continue to place emphasis on "The
Asian Family at Crossroads: Trends and Challenges". 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
13. Lifeissues.net Newsletter #312 - February 25, 2007
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
The pathology of the anti-life movement can be seen in the absurdities and tragedies it wreaks upon humanity based on its warped vision of life. Its absurdity lies in its deadly arrogance to perpetuate its sinister agenda. This is evident as the leading abortion advocate Frances Kissling steps down as president of the Catholics For a Free Choice (CFFC) but plans to get pro-life advocates to buy into promoting birth control and the morning after pill. As LifeNews describes it: 'The wheel in the pro-abortion movement continues to turn as the old guard leadership retires and paves the way for a new set of faces leading the debate to keep abortion legal' (To read complete story, visit http://www.lifenews.com/nat2944.html).
Kissling's wide range of pro-abortion acts earned her the title 'The Cardinal of Death'. She revealed her totally pro-abortion worldview and her stark hatred of the Church she claims as her own when she raved, 'the Catholic religion makes the fetus into an icon, a figure of religious veneration, which I think is sick, really sick.' (Ron Brackin. 'Sister Frances Kissling: Cardinal of Death.' Liberty Report, January 1987).
The tragedy is that even now when our scientists are telling us quite plainly of the harmful effects of contraception and abortion, few of our political and religious leaders seem to understand just what we are being told. Nor have our subservient communications media shown consistent interest in these unequivocal truths. Nor have anti-natalists scientists and doctors ceased from their support of this terrifying embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and euthanasia.
Our dream is to increase sensitivity for the reverence for life. Our hope lies in our ability to take action at every turn to make our dream come true.
God Bless, Marlon Castillo Ramirez, Assistant Editor
(A Quote) The modern world is full of old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues have gone mad because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone. Thus some scientists care for truth; but their truth is pitiless. And thus, some humanitarians only care for pity; but their pity 'I am sorry to say' is often untruthful. - G.K. Chesterton
Lifeissues.net Newsletter #312 - February 25, 2007
Table Of Contents:
1. Death for dollars? Ukrainian infants likely killed to harvest stem cells
2. New Study Shows Natural Family Planning Technique More 'Effective' Than Contraception
3. Uganda: Let Us Have a Healthy And Open Debate On Abortion
4. Women will be paid to donate eggs for science
5. Cancer-virus vaccine targets wrong age group
6. UN compliance committees step up pressure to legalize abortion
7. Japanese scientists grow teeth from single cells
8. Rwandan Lawmakers Drafting Measure That Would Limit Couples To Three Children
9. Abortion's Impact on Men Frequently Ignored, UCLA Psychologist Says
10. Girl Suffers Forced Abortion in Italy
11. EU Misled International Pro Life Group, EU Pressures Countries to Abort
Their Children
12. Study: Women Who Donate Eggs For Fertility Research Face Loss of Life and
Limb
Focus on Asia: The parents of 24,000 children in northern Pakistan refused
to allow health workers to administer polio vaccinations last month, mostly
due to rumors that the harmless vaccine was an American plot to sterilize innocent
Muslim children. The disinformation - spread by extremist clerics using mosque
loudspeakers and illegal radio stations, and by word of mouth - has caused a
sharp jump in polio cases in Pakistan and hit global efforts to eradicate the
debilitating disease.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2013336,00.html
Item #1. Death For Dollars? Ukrainian Infants Likely
Killed To Harvest Stem Cells
A Ukrainian investigator looking into claims that new-born babies were killed
to harvest their stem cells and internal organs says she was removed from the
case after demanding that the inquiry be extended to all Ukraine's maternity
hospitals. Irina Bogomolova, who works in the chief prosecutor's office in the
capital, Kiev, claims she was taken off the case because she came too close
to the truth while investigating allegations made by women who claim their babies
were taken away from them immediately after birth.
She said: "I was sacked for political reasons. I demanded an investigation into all maternity wings in hospitals across Ukraine and I was relieved of duty after making that demand.
"A trade in stem cells exists here... I suspect there is a lot of bribery going on, right up to highest levels.
"Pregnant women, especially from rural areas, are very vulnerable targets, as they will obviously believe whatever the doctors tell them. It's easy to take their babies from them and tell them they died or were born dead due to complications."
View full file at Telegraph UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/17/wbaby17.xml
Item #2. New Study Shows Natural Family Planning
Technique More 'Effective' Than Contraception
A new study by German researchers shows that a method of natural family planning
is statistically as effective as the contraceptive pill in delaying pregnancy.
Researchers from the University of Heidelberg studied the statistical effectiveness of the symptothermal method (STM) to avoid achieving pregnancy. Unlike contraceptives that either suppress a woman's natural fertility cycle or act as a barrier to conception, STM helps a woman to understand the natural signs of her fertility in order to achieve or temporarily delay pregnancy.
The study involving 900 women was published in the journal, Human Reproduction, and found that the correct use of STM to delay pregnancy led to a rate of 0.4 pregnancies per 100 women per year. The lowest pregnancy rate was found among women who abstained from sex during their most fertile period identified through STM.
In contrast, women who used a barrier method, such as a condom, had a pregnancy rate of .6 pregnancies per 100 women per year. Women who had sex (without contraception) during the fertile period had a pregnancy rate of only 7.5 pregnancies per 100 women per year, however researchers noted that this was a quarter of the rate one would usually expect.
View full text at Life Site News: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07022107.html
Item #3. Uganda: Let Us Have A Healthy And Open
Debate On Abortion
Ms Grace Oburu, the Woman MP from Tororo District a few weeks ago raised an
important question, "Should abortion be legalized in Uganda?" As a
family nurse practitioner she spoke from experience by narrating the evils and
torment that women of childbearing age go through procuring illegal abortions.
Abortion is illegal in Uganda. The anti-abortion language in Uganda's constitution was spirited through the Constituent Assembly (CA) by CA Delegates closely allied to the Catholic Church led by Winnie Byanyima.
View full text at All Africa: http://allafrica.com/stories/200702211306.html
Item #4. Women Will Be Paid To Donate Eggs For
Science
Women will be paid to donate their eggs for scientific research in a landmark
decision that will prompt a fierce backlash from leading figures in the medical
world.
The Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the government regulator of this highly sensitive area, is expected to approve the policy when it meets on Wednesday. At present, clinics are not allowed to accept eggs donated for scientific research unless they are a byproduct of either IVF treatment or sterilization. Campaigners for change say that this has led to a chronic shortage of eggs for scientific use.
View full text at The Observer: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2015789,00.html
Item #5. Cancer-Virus Vaccine Targets Wrong Age
Group
Lawmakers looking to force preteen girls to take Gardasil, a new vaccine against
a virus that causes cervical cancer, are targeting the wrong age group, cancer
data shows.
Middle-school girls inoculated with the breakthrough vaccine will be no older than 18 when they pass Gardasil's five-year window of proven effectiveness - more than a decade before the typical cancer patient contracts the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV).
Infectious disease specialists and cancer pathologists say the incubation period for HPV becoming cancer is 10 to 15 years - meaning the average cervical cancer patient, who is 47, contracted the virus in her 30s and would not be protected by Gardasil taken as a teen. "It is a delicate balancing act," said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and cervical cancer control at the American Cancer Society. "If the vaccine is given at too young an age, it may wear off. Yet if it is given too late, it won't work."
Merck & Co. is still studying the longevity of Gardasil, the lone HPV vaccine on the market, which won approval from the Food and Drug Administration in June. But that hadn't impeded its lobbying efforts. Legislators in at least 20 states and cities, including Virginia and the District of Columbia, are considering HPV vaccinations for girls 11 to 13 as a requirement for school attendance. Texas already has done so.
View full text at Washington Times: http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070221-123326-7587r.htm
Item #6. UN Compliance Committees Step Up Pressure
To Legalize Abortion
UN committees set up to ensure compliance with international agreements are
taking an extreme view on abortion laws, and pressuring governments to change
their laws in order to conform with those views, the Catholic Family and Human
Rights Institute (C-Fam) argues.
An analysis of last year's decision by Colombia's Constitutional Court, legalizing abortion under some circumstances, demonstrates the undue influence of the UN compliance committees, writes Bradley Short in C-Fam's Friday Fax.
The Friday Fax reported last week that a portion of the Court's judgment quoted the entirety of a legal opinion by the attorney general of Colombia. The attorney general was extremely deferential to the assertions of the compliance committees in defining international law. These compliance committees, which are in charge of monitoring the implementation of various multilateral treaties dealing with social issues, are clearly in favor of extending abortion rights, as the court's judgment and attorney general's opinion show.
See the full article at Catholic World News: http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49310
Item #7. Japanese Scientists Grow Teeth From Single
Cells
Japanese researchers said on Sunday they had grown normal-looking teeth from
single cells in lab dishes, and transplanted them into mice. They used primitive
cells, not quite as early as stem cells, and injected them into a framework
of collagen, the material that holds the body together.
After growing them, they found their structures had matured into the components that make teeth, including dentin, enamel, dental pulp, blood vessels, and periodontal ligaments. They were "arranged appropriately when compared with a natural tooth," the researchers reported in the journal Nature Methods.
The teeth grew and developed normally when transplanted into a mouse, said Takashi Tsuji of the Tokyo University of Science in Chiba, Japan and colleagues. They said their method was the first to show an entire organ could be replaced using just a few cells.
Read more details at Reuters: http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=2007-02-19T021019Z_01_N18346540_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-TEETH-MICE-DC.XML&src=rss
Item #8. Rwandan Lawmakers Drafting Measure That
Would Limit Couples To Three Children
Rwandan lawmakers are drafting legislation that would limit couples to no more
than three children to control the country's population growth and prevent poverty
levels from increasing, Francois Sekamondo of Rwanda's Ministry of Finance and
Economic Planning said on Wednesday, Reuters South Africa reports. According
to Reuters South Africa, no punitive measures have been suggested for exceeding
three children, but incentives would be given to couples who comply (Reuters
South Africa, 2/15). The country's population has quadrupled during the last
50 years. Rwanda has about 8.8 million people, and Rwandan women have an average
of 6.1 children. If fertility rates are not slowed, the population will double
by 2030 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/12).
Rwandan officials last week announced plans to unveil a campaign promoting contraception and family planning. According to officials who are designing the plan, it would include a requirement that everyone who visits a hospital or health center for any reason be counseled on family planning. Women of child-bearing age would be offered free contraception - including Norplant II, a small silicone pin that is inserted beneath the skin and that is effective for up to five years - at no cost and all schools would offer comprehensive sex education courses.
View full article at Medical News Today: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=63254
Item #9. Abortion's Impact On Men Frequently Ignored,
UCLA Psychologist Says
A psychology professor at UCLA says the impact abortion has on men is too frequently
ignored. Dr. Miriam Grossman, who is a psychiatrist at the university's student
health service, says that men involved in abortion decisions have become "invisible"
to researchers and members of her profession.
While research on the medical and mental health problems women face following an abortion has only barely scratched the surface, fewer scholars have examined the impact on men. Grossman says a sociologist named Dr. Arthur Shostak is about the only researcher to examine how abortion affects men.
Shostak looked into the situation because he and his girlfriend reached the decision to have an abortion when she became pregnant unexpectedly. He was curious to know how similar decisions affected other men.
View entire Life News: http://www.lifenews.com/nat2940.html
Item #10. Girl Suffers Forced Abortion In Italy
An Italian judge ordered a 13 year-old girl to undergo an abortion, despite
the girl's pleas to let her keep her child reports the Italian news agency,
La Stampa.
The girl, Valentina, had become pregnant by her 15 year-old boyfriend, however rather than let her choose to keep her child, her parents demanded she have an abortion on the grounds that she was ruining her life by becoming a mother.
"You cannot hold this child... you must abort, and father will never have to know," Valentina's mother told her, saying that she did not have the money to support the child.
View full text at Life Site News: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07021904.html
Item #11. EU Misled International Pro Life Group,
EU Pressures Countries To Abort Their Children
It was last year, on December 7th 2006, that members of an international pro
life group, United for Life, were invited to the EU Commission building in Brussels
to be informed regarding youth, family and pro life issues. The activities were
coordinated by Schreeeuw om Leven, (Cry for Life), a pro-life advocacy group
based in the Netherlands.
Biblical Family Advocates has since learned over the past weeks that the EU is indeed putting pressure on countries to abandon their pro-life laws. In an article, EU Threatens to Withdraw Aid to Nicaragua if Pro-Life Law Remains, the EU is indeed putting pressure on a country that is not even in the EU, but receives aid from it.
Read full article at Christian Newswire: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/497182290.html
Item #12. Study: Women Who Donate Eggs For Fertility
Research Face Loss Of Life And Limb
Powerful drugs given to women egg-donors to harvest their eggs can cause paralysis,
limb amputation and death warns a new study by Italian experts. The warning
comes from researchers at the University of Padua just days before the United
Kingdom's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is expected to
endorse a controversial new policy allowing doctors to pay healthy women for
harvesting their eggs for research purposes.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the scientists at the University of Padua discovered in their study that 34 women suffered severe reactions to the hormone-stimulating drugs, which increase the number of eggs for extraction. Most of these women had previously enjoyed good health prior to the fertility treatment. An analysis of doctors' reports since the early 1990s revealed to the researchers that 60 per cent of the accidents involved blood clots in the head and neck.
See the full article at Lifesite News: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07021902.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 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
14. One Bite at a Time - How to Take on Social Evils - February 22, 2007
By Chuck Colson, BreakPoint.org, 2/22/2007
Two hundred years ago this week, the British Parliament outlawed the slave trade throughout the British Empire.
This hard-fought battle is beautifully told in the new film Amazing Grace. I watched a preview with President Bush at the White House this week, which was appropriate, seeing that this president has successfully fought against slavery in Sudan and against sexual trafficking. The movie, which opens this Friday, is sensational. See it, be inspired, and you will learn one of the most important lessons of politics: If you hope to overthrow a great social evil 'one to which people have become accustomed' it's crucial that you take the incremental approach.
It's a strategy the Great Abolitionist learned early on. When Wilberforce began his battle in 1787, slavery was both accepted and highly profitable. The slaves lived and died in the Caribbean, far from English eyes.
William Pitt, then prime minister and Wilberforce's friend, introduced a resolution in Parliament to discuss the slave trade. The motion passed easily. After all, the slave industry was not worried about a motion just to discuss abolition.
The next move was to introduce a one-year experimental bill regulating the number of slaves that could be transported per ship.
Wilberforce then gave his colleagues a first-hand look at the slave trade. As depicted in the film, he took several MPs to view a slave ship docked in London. They were horrified by the odor of death.
The slavers woke up then to their danger and put their money to work. In 1789, despite impassioned speeches by abolitionist leaders, the slave industry prevailed against Wilberforce.
So Wilberforce took his campaign to the public. He and his followers spoke at meetings, wrote songs, and organized a boycott of slave-grown sugar. The tide began to turn but once again, the slave industry exercised its political muscle.
In 1792, Wilberforce made a motion to abolish the slave trade. In response, the House of Commons demanded that one word be added to the bill: the word gradually. The slavers knew the great value of that seemingly innocuous adverb.
Wilberforce was crushed. Yet, he knew this was a partial victory. For the first time, the House had actually voted for an abolition motion.
Over the next few years, victory often seemed within grasp. But year after year, anti-slavery motions were thwarted and sabotaged. An exhausted Wilberforce almost gave up.
But by 1804, public sentiment for abolition was growing. In 1805, England had a new prime minister, William Grenville, a staunch abolitionist who was willing to try new tactics.
And in February of 1807 - twenty years after the battle was joined - Parliament outlawed the trafficking of humans.
The pro-life lobby has learned the Wilberforce lesson. Instead of demanding an immediate end to abortion - an impossible goal - they have passed informed-consent laws and taken on partial-birth abortion. They have spent decades educating the public.
The result: Young people today are significantly more pro-life than their parents.
See Amazing Grace: It will deeply inspire you and teach you how to fight - and win - battles against today's social evils.
http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=6161
/Hero for Humanity: A Biography of William Wilberforce http://www.prisonfellowship.org/storeitem.asp?ID=1684/
by Kevin Belmonte. An updated version
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310274885/102-6989514-5923328?ie=UTF8&tag=breakpoint-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0310274885
is now available.
For Further Reading and Information:
Gina Dalfonzo, "What Does Wilberforce Have to Say to Us?" http://thepoint.breakpoint.org/2007/02/what_does_wilbe.html /The Point/, 20 February 2007.
Catherine Claire, "Amazing Grace" and "Breach": Integrity
vs. Compartmentalization
http://thepoint.breakpoint.org/2007/02/amazing_grace_a.html,
/The Point/, 19 February 2007.
Jim Dahlman, "Wilberforce Hits the Cineplex" http://www.theculturebeat.com/?p=356, /Culture Beat/, 17 February 2007.
Molly Ziegler, "Patron Saint of Evangelicals" http://www.getreligion.org/?p=2227, /Get Religion/, 19 February 2007.
"What Would Wilberforce Do" http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/11.28.html /Christianity Today/, 19 February 2007.
Mark Moring, "A Fantastic Role" http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/ioangruffudd.html, /Christianity Today/, 20 February 2007.
Priya Abraham, "Let My People Go!" http://www.worldmag.com/articles/12700 /World/, 24 February 2007.
Priya Abraham, "A Lover and a Fighter" http://www.worldmag.com/articles/12696, /World/, 24 February 2007.
Learn more about the Amazing Change Campaign http://www.theamazingchange.com/, inspired by the upcoming film about William Wilberforce, /Amazing Grace http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/index.php/, and sign the petition http://www.theamazingchange.com/petition.php to help end modern-day slavery.
Watch a clip of the upcoming film /Amazing Grace/ at the Wilberforce Forum website http://www.wilberforce.org/. See these educational resources http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/downloads.php for /Amazing Grace/.
Read H. Res. 158 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hr110-158, the resolution Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Penn.) introduced in commemoration of William Wilberforce and the two-hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade.
BreakPoint Commentary No. 070221, 'The Spirit of Collaboration: Wilberforce
and Clapham'
http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=6127.
BreakPoint Commentary No. 070220, 'Make You Look: Wilberforce and Awareness' http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=6098.
BreakPoint Commentary No. 070219, 'The Spirit of Wilberforce: Worldview in Action' http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=6091.
Eric Metaxas, /Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to
End Slavery/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061173002/102-6989514-5923328?ie=UTF8&tag=breakpoint-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0061173002
(HarperSanFrancisco, 2007). Read an interview with Eric Metaxas http://www.worldmag.com/articles/12703.
David Batstone, /Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How
We Can Fight It/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061206717/102-6989514-5923328?ie=UTF8&tag=breakpoint-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0061206717
(HarperSanFrancisco, 2007).
15. Pilgrimage - Departing In May 2007 - Posted November 6, 2006
Sponsored by CLC NS.
Departing May 6th, 2007 (7 days)
Motor coach transportation (Air Conditioned). Accommodations for 6 nights, 1
dinner, 6 breakfasts and portage - Travel Insurance Available.
Triple Occupancy $529.00 / person
Twin Occupancy $629.00 / person
Single Occupancy $829.00 / person
All Taxes included.
May 6
Leave NS for Edmundston, NB with stay at the Days Inn. Lunch enroute not included.
May 7
Breakfast included. Travel to Quebec City and Beaupré. Stop at Albert
Gilles Copper Art Museum allow yourself to be seduced by "The Life of Christ"
in 50 hand wrought silver panels (15 years of labour). Check into the Basilica
Inn. Time for prayer and tour sanctuary and attend mass.
May 8
Breakfast included. Travel to Trois-Rivières, and overnight at the Madonna
Inn. Evening dinner and breakfast at the Inn are included. Evening Mass and
weather permitting, participate at the candlelight procession and the
Way of the Cross.
May 9
Morning mass. After included breakfast motor to Ottawa. Afternoon arrival at
Welome Inn. 7:30 pm Pro-life Mass at St. Theresa's followed by a Candlelight
Vigil at 9PM.
May 10
Breakfast included. Meet at Notre Dame Cathedral for 10 am Mass. Gather on Parliament
Hill for 10th Annual March for Life, which begins at 1:30 pm. Silent No More
presentation at 2:45 pm. There is a cocktail and Rose Dinner Banquet at Ottawa
congress Hall at 6 pm. Tickets are not included in package and will have to
be ordered separately. Time permitting either today or on Friday a visit to
Sts. Peter and St. Paul Melkite Church.
May 11
After breakfast included. depart for Montreal, Quebec City and with a late afternoon
arrival at Edmundston, NB at Days Inn.
May 12
Depart to NS after included breakfast. Expect late afternoon arrival in Halifax.
Contact for information and reservations, contact Herm at 1 902 864 1464 or Evangeline Tours PO Box 1149, Middleton, NS B0S 1P0 Don Kelly at Tel. 1-902-825-4506 Toll Free 1 -866-765-2725.
http://www.clcns.com/ or http://www.evangelinechartertours.com/
16. Politics The Art Of Making The Wind Appear Solid, It Seems, Read On. - February 20, 2007
EU Misled International Pro Life Group, EU Pressures
Countries to Abort Their Children
BUDAPEST, Feb 20 /Christian Newswire/ - It was last year, on December
7th 2006, that members of an international pro life group, United for Life,
were invited to the EU Commission building in Brussels to be informed regarding
youth, family and pro life issues. The activities were coordinated by Schreeeuw
om Leven, (Cry for Life), a pro-life advocacy group based in the Netherlands.
These pro life advocates from 7 different countries were able to ask many questions
of EU representative, Mr. Ralf von Ameln, Directorate- General for Education
and Culture.
One question asked by Phil Magnan, Executive Director of Biblical Family Advocates,
was "If a country like Poland has laws that forbid same sex marriage and
abortion, will the EU force them to change their laws?" To which the EU
representative said that the EU does not have the "ability to do that"
and would not.
Another pro life advocate, Cynthia Collins of Operation
Outcry, an organization that works internationally to help women with
past abortion issues, asked the EU representative a question along the same
lines as Mr. Magnan. "Would the EU ever override the laws banning abortion
of its member nations just as the United States Supreme Court did when it overrode
the laws of all 50 states in the ruling of Roe v Wade and made abortion legal?"
To which Mr. Ralf von Ameln answered, ""That will never happen."
Biblical Family Advocates has since learned over the past weeks that the EU
is indeed putting pressure on countries to abandon their pro-life laws. In an
article, EU
Threatens to Withdraw Aid to Nicaragua if Pro-Life Law Remains, the
EU is indeed putting pressure on a country that is not even in the EU, but receives
aid from it.
"Does this not reveal an intense pro abortion agenda by the EU when they
even put pressure on countries that are not part of the EU?" So asks Phil
Magnan of Biblical Family Advocates.
"I was also amazed recently that the country of Malta, an EU member country,
was feeling pressure from the EU and the UN to abandon their pro life laws.
What kind of people want to go after the unborn children of another country
to have them dismembered?"
This is nothing new, as there was a pro-abortion push by the EU even in 2002,
when a resolution
to support abortion was made. One might wonder if that resolution was
meant to create the proper future environment to force member states to abandon
their pro-life laws that are meant to protect their children from harm.
Even more amazing were the statements of EU Commissioner Gunther Verheugen,
in an article dated, October of 2002, EU
Commissioner Promises Malta EU Won't Push Abortion Ever, which stated
that "The EU, he pointed out, had no jurisdiction over abortion or similar
issues and this position was "definite, absolute and forever". He
also "assured Malta's Archbishop Joseph Mercieca... that the European Union
would never take jurisdiction over abortion. The Times of Malta reports that
Verheugen stressed that the EU would never tell Malta or any other member state
to legislate in favour of abortion." But Magnan had this to say, "In
the light of past actions can the EU be trusted? How can anyone trust the statements
of these representatives when they work so hard to overthrow the established
pro life laws of countries while telling pro life advocates with a straight
face that they have not intention of doing so?"
Biblical Family Advocates, Schreeuw om Leven, Operation Outcry and the many
other pro family organizations that were represented at the December 7th meeting
last year are deeply concerned and would like an explanation from the EU regarding
its recent actions. Their actions clearly show that they are indeed forcing
countries around the world to comply with a very radical pro-abortion agenda.
17. Religion And Politics: Extract From Dublin Lecture - February
27, 2007
Let me say first of all that my views on Europe are not part of the infallible
teachings of the Church. Some people may have been surprised at the strength
with which Benedict XVI in his recent Encyclical "Deus Caritas Est"
stressed the distinctive role of politics from religion. Here are some extracts:
"The just ordering of society and the state is a central responsibility
of politics. ... The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political
battle. ... Building a just social and civil order, wherein each person receives
what is his or her due, is an essential task, which every generation must take
up anew. As a political task, this cannot be the Church's immediate responsibility
... "
These texts which stress the legitimate autonomy of the political order do
not represent an abdication of social responsibility on the part of the Church.
I quote again from Pope Benedict: "The Church ... cannot and must not remain
on the sidelines in the fight for justice." The Church's primary mission
is that of preaching the message of Jesus Christ, but that message is a message
relevant to the vision we have of society.
In the context of the debates about the EU it is interesting to remember that
Catholic social teaching if anything has been traditionally cautious about nationalism
and any ideology of the nation-state. The two most disastrous wars in human
history arose, as the present Pope wrote some years ago, "when nationalism,
elevated to an ideological barrier, had shattered the nations of the old continent."
Catholic social teaching tends to look rather, on the one hand, at the obligation
of the state to foster subsidiarity and respect individual and family rights
in a participative society and, on the other hand, to underscore the unity of
the human family and international solidarity rather than any narrow nationalism.
I think that all of us agree that there is the need to reflect on and develop
the democratic framework within which the European vision must be developed.
Yesterday I read further reports of the claim by a former German president that
the EU is "threatening parliamentary democracy in that 84% of the legal
acts in Germany over a five year period emanated from Brussels and that a great
number of these decisions are the work of the European Council." Then in
the same newspaper I read an article on the new European Parliament president,
which states that the Parliament "has the power to approve nearly 80% of
legislation proposed by EU institutions." Probably both are true. If there
is confusion on such simple matters of fact how can citizens in the EU be expected
to feel they can influence policy on complex scientific and ethical issues?
The procedures and mechanisms involved in addressing admittedly complex questions
of bioethics and national sovereignty seem to put the debate beyond the reach
of interested parties.
It is not just a problem of structures. It is about the way those structures
work. We need to improve the level of interaction and debate between MEP's and
their constituents. We need to develop our systems of information and the formation
of public opinion on EU issues on an EU-wide basis. European civil society is
developing, but lobbying in Brussels, and even more setting up a representation
there, is a costly affair that even larger NGO's are finding more and more difficult
to maintain. All of this could lead to a lack of a sense ownership of the Union
by the people of the EU. Lack of sense of ownership can give rise to indifference
or even hostility. The institutions of the Union need attend to such questions
urgently to avoid frustration and misunderstanding.
18. Rights Groups To Tell Parliament To Keep Consent At 14 - February 1, 2007
In recent conversations and virtual meetings with national organizers, the thought is that the public has had enough of the "marriage issue" and is tired of hearing it. It sort of says the other side has won by wearing down the public on the issue. Some call it the shelf life of the issue has worn out. The current government has done little to appease social conservatives and this issue deserves our support to protect young lives. Not sure what can be done since apathy has generally set in and the media is totally mum on the issue from where I sit.
Here is the push from the homosexual lobby to retain the age of consent for anal sex at 14.
Our MP's need and must here from the silent majority on this issue.
Herm
"But these people tell the rest of us that we have to live what they believe. And that's why they don't belong in government."
Capital Xtra - January 11, 2007
http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=2&STORY_ID=2534&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=2
Taking it to the Hill - YOUTH RIGHTS / Rights groups to tell Parliament to keep
consent at 14 - Gareth Kirkby
Canada's leading gay groups are gearing up to fight the proposed Conservative bill to raise the age of sexual consent. The Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario (CLGRO), the Sex Laws Committee, the Age of Consent Committee and the Committee to Abolish the 19th Century are all planning briefs or presentations to the Parliamentary Justice Committee as it considers Bill C-22. Egale is also expected to make a presentation. Youth activist Andrew Brett is expected to lead the charge of queer opposition to the bill raising the age of consent to 16 from 14 (while keeping the age of anal consent at 18). Brett is a leader of the Age of Consent Committee, a group of queer youth and other activists who believe young people have the right to make their own choices about when they have sex and with whom.
Bill C-22 will criminalize youth sexuality and also make it difficult to reach young people with important information about safe sex and contraception, says Brett. But he sees it as part of a larger law-and-order agenda pursued by Stephen Harper's Conservatives. Raising the age of consent plays well with the hardcore social- conservative rightwing while still sounding reasonable to many middle-of-the-road Canadians who are not getting exposure in mainstream media about why it's a bad idea, suggests Brett. The Justice Committee might not even get to the matter before the Conservative government is toppled and an election called, says Brett, noting former Justice Minister Vic Toews has over-filled the committee's agenda with a deluge of law-and-order bills. But Harper might like not getting to Bill C-22, says Brett. Then he can claim the other parties are stalling on legislation that would "protect" youth from sexual predators.
Tom Warner, longtime activist and CLGRO member, says the group has already written a brief opposing raising the age and distributed it to all members of Parliament last fall. They also intend to make a presentation to the Justice Committee as it debates the issue this spring - if an election doesn't intervene. And CLGRO will try to keep the issue alive in the gay community through the next federal election. And if it's not adopted, but re-introduced after an election, CLGRO will be there to speak out in opposition, says Warner.
Leading gay activists are determined to stay on the issue, despite general public support for raising the age, he adds. And they're not accepting mealy-mouthed platitudes from most Liberal, NDP and Bloc politicians afraid of voting against the bill. "I don't think you can compromise on this issue. If you support the notion of sexual self-determination for youth, you have to vote against this," says Warner. Richard Hudler says the Sex Laws Committee is working on a submission and is planning to make a presentation to the Justice Committee "if it comes to that."
He's hoping for the long-shot options: the Conservatives withdrawing the legislation because of an over-full committee agenda, then an election being called and the Conservatives losing and the Liberals choosing not to bring in similar legislation. After all, the Liberals long opposed raising the age of consent, though they've lost the courage of their convictions when pushed on Bill C-22. Hudler is frustrated by NDP suggestions of minor amendments, such as one that would allow health professionals to keep confidential information about sex practices of sexually active youth.
The important point, says Hudler, is that studies show that "by age 13, young people are able to make decisions about their sexuality. "If they're physically astute enough, we should be making sure they're socially astute enough to make the decision. If not, we need to educate them."
Peter Bochove says the Committee to Abolish the 19th Century will also speak
to the Justice Committee in opposition to raising the consent age. "It's
so wrong. It's a civil liberties issue. They're criminalizing an activity that
for the last 100 years hasn't been criminal." Gays and lesbians need to
see through the coded language and word play in the consent debate, says Bochove.
"When they're talking about pedophiles, they're really talking
about us. If they were really concerned about child rape, they'd take people
out of the home [where studies show most sexual exploitation of children occurs]."
The law already outlaws child exploitation, notes Bochove. He's disappointed
that the political parties that claim to be progressive are so far largely backing
the bill. "Fourteen-year-olds are being stripped of their civil liberties
and are in no position to defend themselves because they can't vote, and mommy
and daddy can vote. Mommy and daddy have been scared into supporting it, petrified
into it. [And the political parties are] looking at public opinion polls that
are coming out of sensationalist news stories."
If the Harper Conservatives survive the next election, "you're going to see more" socially conservative legislation, Bochove predicts. Religious values are creeping back into Canadian politics, he says. And even the NDP now has a faith caucus, and their Justice critic, Joe Comartin - the politician who should be leading that party's charge against Bill C-22, but instead supports it - is a committed Roman Catholic. "Church and State are separate entities and should remain that way," says Bochove. "I think people are entitled to believe any fairy-tale that they wish and if it gives them comfort, that's great. But they should keep it in their church, not my Parliament. "You can be progressive and Christian and it's not mutually exclusive. But these people tell the rest of us that we have to live what they believe. And that's why they don't belo
