Index of News Items

• Senator Carstairs Speech - Wed, 8 Mar 2006
• Lifeissues.net Newsletter #266 - March 12, 2006
• AFA, 18 Other Groups Call For Boycott Of Ford Motor Company - Mon, 13 Mar 2006
• © Children Of Medjugorje 2006 - March 15, 2006
• You Did It! - FCC Fines CBS $3.6 Million For 'Without A Trace' Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006
• The Evangelical Fellowship Of Canada - Faith Today - March/April 2006
• Patriarch Alexis II - Homosexuality A "Vicious Deviation From God-Given Human Nature"
• Canadian MP Says Cancer Society Withholding Pill - Cancer Link - By Hilary White
• Commission On The Status Of Women Deletes Abortion-Inclusive Language In Agreed Conclusions
• Lifeissues.net Newsletter #267 - March 19, 2006
• Help Save The Life Of An Afghan Man Who Refuses To Deny Christ
• Queenship of Mary Fraternity - Quarterly Newsletter
• Sobey's Receipts Are Valuable

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Senator Sharon Carstairs States - "Canada Is Not Ready For Assisted Suicide Debate"

By: Alex Schadenberg, executive director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

On Friday, March 3, 2006; Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs spoke to the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute on the State of Palliative Care in Canada: End of Life Care.

Senator Carstairs was the Chair of the Special Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide that tabled its report in June 1995 titled: Of Life and Death. She also chaired the follow up report to Of Life and Death titled: Quality End-of-Life Care: The Right of Every Canadian that was tabled in June 2000. She also chaired the recent report titled: Still not there: Quality End-of-Life Care which was tabled in June 2005 that made 10 new recommendations for improved end of life care in Canada. Senator Carstairs has committed that past 3 years of her life.

In the past Senator Carstairs has supported the legalization of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide but during her presentation she confirmed that she has moderated her position.

On the question of legalizing euthanasia and/or assisted suicide Senator Carstairs was very clear. She stated that people can determine the amount and type of treatment that they wish to have. That pain management medication and techniques have improved significantly over the past 10 years. But, she stated: "Canada is not ready for a debate on assisted suicide or euthanasia." She then stated: "Unless every single Canadian can be guaranteed quality end of life care in which they have a legitimate choice to make, then I would suggest that we cannot start that other debate. We aren't there yet. We are a long way from being there yet."

Senator Carstairs responded to the desire someone might have to commit suicide. "If a person says that they want to commit suicide, she would ask them what their needs are. People fear unbearable pain and loss of personal dignity. The real challenge is to change public attitudes towards illness and dying." She said: "Why have they lost their dignity? Is it because we have made them fell undignified? It is a dreadful societal failure when someone feels the need to commit suicide.

Bloc Québécois MP Francine Lalonde should take notice of the comments made by Senator Carstairs. Lalonde was the author of Bill C-407, a bill that would have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada, a bill that died on the order paper when the last election was called.

Media reports claim that Lalonde is preparing a new bill for parliament which was confirmed by Senator Carstairs and recently also by a Conservative Cabinet Minister. If Sharon Carstairs, who is Canada's political expert on end of life care opposes, even if only for now, the legalization of euthanasia and/or assisted suicide then politicians of all stripes should defeat the bill.

Senator Carstairs talk was on the State of Palliative Care in Canada. In reference to palliative care, Senator Carstairs spoke about the fact that Canadians wish to die at home, wherever home is. She stated that Canadians do not want to die alone; they are part of a community and need community. She stated that the Compassionate Care benefit that was introduced by the Liberal government in January 2004 needs revamping in order to be effective.

With respect to palliative care training. In 1995, the average medical student received 1 hour training for palliative care; in 2008 every single undergrad medical student will have had a core program in palliative care.

We celebrate the birth of a child. Senator Carstairs said that: "we need to celebrate the end of life by being there and being supportive. We should consider it a joy to care for our dying family members."

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition o Box 25033 o London o Ontario o N6C 6A8

Phone: 1-877-439-3348, email: info@epcc.ca

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Lifeissues.net Newsletter #266 - March 12, 2006

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

Dear Friends for Life,

This week the Culture of Life Foundation sends us a report by Mark Adams: "Hearing Examines South Korean Scandal's Effect on Stem Cell Research". To this Austin Ruse adds: "Let's hope that they realize that cloning and embryo-destructive research are dirty business."

The hearing drew a standing room only crowd and numerous members of the South Korean media were present. In his opening statement Souder, the subcommittee chairman, laid out the reasons why the Hwang scandal has broader implications on the entire endeavor of embryo destructive research. "This scientific scandal is not an isolated incident of fabrication, without real application to US research efforts," he said. "Rather, it highlights the serious, inherent potential problems with research cloning and embryonic stem cell research, including but not limited to: exploitation, fraud, and coercion."

Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of pro-life activities for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, laid out three lessons from the Hwang scandal in his testimony. First, he said, was the scientific lesson that there has been almost no progress in the field of embryonic stem cell research. "This is at least the third time in eight years that we have heard announcements of success in cloning human embryos for their stem cells, only to find that the claim has little basis in fact," he said.

Doerflinger said the "political lesson from the Korean scandal, and from scandalous behavior here in the United States, is that political leaders, patient advocacy groups, and all of us must stop hearing only what we want to hear about 'miracle cures.' We need to be aware of the human costs of this agenda here and now, not only its alleged 'promise' down the road." Finally, Doerflinger said, the Hwang scandal has an ethical lesson. "By demeaning life, we learn to demean truth, rendering science itself meaningless." Policy makers, he said, should "begin with a complete ban on human cloning, and with legislation to prevent the mistreatment of women as egg factories for research or as surrogate incubators for unborn children being grown for their body parts."

God Bless, Jerry Novotny, OMI

(QUOTE on Death Penalty): "Generally, we're lying if we say it's easy to forgive. Our emotions demand strict justice. But we're meant instead to worship a God whose son tells us that the highest moral and spiritual demand of all is forgiveness." - Ron Rolheiser, omi

Lifeissues.net NEWSLETTER #266 - March 12, 2006

Table Of Contents:
1. Holland to Allow Euthanasia of Disabled Newborn Babies to Go Into Effect
2. New Delhi fights "monstrous" crime of female foeticide
3. Baby's dad says, "don't play God"
4. IVF babies at risk of brain defects
5. Most Americans believe abortion wrong
6. Study: Notification law cut teen abortions
7. Health Canada Allows Ova Sales Through Loophole in Legislation
8. Snuppy probably cloned by "nuclear transfer", NIH, SNU
9. Talking points on California's AB 651 assisted suicide bill
10. Hawaii to Become "Baby Killing Center of Pacific"
11. Cells from Aborted Babies Transplanted into Brains of Huntington's Patients
12. UN Campaign Underway to Ensure Abortion Internationally Recognized as Human Right

"New" Articles Posted Recently at http://www.lifeissues.net)

- Dianne N. Irving: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=irv
- John B. Shea: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=she

- Steven Mosher: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mos

- David C. Reardon: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=rea
- Doug McManaman: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mcm
- Ron Galloy: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=gall

Website: Prenatal Partners for Life - http://www.prenatalpartnersforlife.org/pages/1/index.htm. There are few things more frightening in life than finding out your baby may not be healthy. We are parents who have been through similar circumstances and we want to offer our support. We are here to help you; you are not alone!

Item #1. Holland to Allow Euthanasia of Disabled Newborn Babies to Go Into Effect
Holland is crossing a line with a new law that has the stomachs of bioethicists worldwide turning inside out because of its moral depravity. A Dutch commission that has been studying setting rules for when doctors are allowed to euthanize severely disabled newborn babies is expected to announce its results in a few weeks.

The guidelines are expected to allow doctors to take measures to kill "seriously suffering" newborn babies they believe will not live even with medical care and attention.

Euthanasia is already legal in the Netherlands and the new practice would allow "baby euthanasia" as well.

Some doctors, like those at University Medical Centre in Groningen, a city in northern Holland, have already been euthanizing disabled babies under protocols the hospital put together. At least 20-25 babies per year have been put to death by doctors who don't think they will survive anyway.

View full text at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/bio1362.html

Item #2. New Delhi fights "monstrous" crime of female foeticide
The Delhi state government has launched a campaign to fight the alarming rate of female foeticide among its people, who prefer sons to daughters, as do many other Indian states. Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, told a function marking International Women's Day that female foeticide has "become alarming": only 814 girls are born for every 1,000 boys in Delhi.

The 2001 census showed Delhi's sex ratio was 865 for the 0-6 year age group, against the national average of 927. If this decline continues, the number of girls born is likely to go well below 800 in Delhi by the next census, say experts. The UN Population Fund sets the normal sex ratio at birth as 950 girls for 1,000 boys.

Dikshit said her government was determined to check the practice of female foeticide. The governor admitted that the phenomenon had assumed "monstrous proportions in most of the northern states" and that this "is not only a blot on civilized society, but also a crime".

According to the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the main cause of such a high number of abortions is a cultural preference for male sons. Studies suggest the practice is more prevalent among educated people in urban areas. In Indian culture, males are preferred because they carry on the family name, become a source of income and can look after their parents when they become old. Women, on the other hand, are destined to leave their family and they are expensive, because of the dowry they must receive when they get married.

For more information view AsiaNews.it: http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=5558

Item #3. Baby's dad says, "don't play God"
Baby MB, who cannot be named, has spinal muscular atrophy - a genetic condition which leads to almost total paralysis - and cannot breathe unaided.

His family is fighting a hospital's bid for permission to withdraw ventilation from the 17-month-old.

Doctors say it would be better to let him die, as his life is "intolerable".

But the child's father told the court he did not think it was right for anyone to decide if the baby should live or die.

He said: "As a Muslim I believe that no one knows exactly when people will die.

"It was God who gave us life and God will take it whatever the situation, good condition, sad, or whatever your condition.

"You've got a certain time to die - that's what I believe."

View full text: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4781794.stm

Item #4. IVF babies at risk of brain defects
BABIES conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are almost three times more prone to have two genetic brain disorders, a study by consultants at two Irish hospitals has found.

The authors have surveyed the families of almost all the 1,105 IVF babies born in Ireland since 1989. While the number with the brain disorders was tiny, the consultants have called for similar research to be carried out worldwide.

The two genetic disorders, Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS) and Angelman Syndrome (AS) are rare, occurring in about one in 15,000 births in the general population. But the study found they were almost three times more prevalent among IVF babies.

Cathy Allen, of Human Assisted Reproduction Ireland (Hari), at Dublin's Rotunda hospital, and Professor William Reardon, a genetics expert in Crumlin children's hospital, have also analyzed data on the disorders worldwide. The results were published in the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

View full text at Ireland Times Online: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2070339,00.html

Item #5. Most Americans believe abortion wrong
With the abortion debate in focus following South Dakota's new law challenging the Roe decision, a new poll finds 55 percent of Americans believe abortion is morally wrong most of the time. Just 32 percent disagree, according to the survey by Rasmussen Reports. Americans under 50 are slightly more likely than their elders to believe abortion is morally wrong, the poll found.

As WorldNetDaily reported, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds signed into law Monday a highly restrictive bill aimed ultimately at overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, banning abortion in nearly every case and punishing doctors who perform one with a $5,000 fine and five years in prison. It allows abortion only in the event a mother's life is in danger, making no exception for rape or incest. The legislation is expected to be held up by court challenges, however.

The Rasmussen study found three out of five Americans, 61 percent, know someone who has had an abortion. Among those people, 55 percent believe the procedure is morally wrong most of the time. "This fact suggests that many Americans are faced with the emotional complexity of an issue that activists on both sides want to paint in simplistic, theoretical terms," Rasmussen comments.

The survey also revealed 47 percent of Americans believe it is too easy for a woman to get an abortion in the U.S. Just 21 percent say it's too hard, while 21 percent believe the balance is about right.

View full text at WorldNetDaily.com: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49154

Item #6. Study: Notification law cut teen abortions
Abortion rates dropped for girls ages 15 through 18, even though the 18-year-olds were not subject to the law. But the drop was more pronounced among the younger girls. Their rates fell 11 percent to 20 percent more than the rate among the 18-year-olds did.

"The law has definite behavioral effects," said lead researcher Ted Joyce, a Baruch professor of economics. The study was reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

In the study, birth rates declined for all ages in the 15- to 18-year-old group. At the same time, the abortion rate among 18-year-olds fell from 27.7 abortions per 1,000 girls before the law to 25.8 afterward. The rate dropped from 18.7 to 14.5 among 17-year-olds; 12.1 to 9.0 among 16-year-olds; and 6.5 to 5.4 among 15-year-olds.

View full article at CNN.com: http://edition.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/03/08/abortion.parental.ap/index.html

Item #7. Health Canada Allows Ova Sales Through Loophole in Legislation
Health Canada is not planning to take any action against the practice of selling human ova on the Internet, despite the ostensible prohibition of the practice under Canada's Assisted Reproduction Technologies Act. Citing a loophole in the legislation, a Health Canada official says the act does not ban the advertising of human genetic materials, only their purchase.

"It's a payment to a donor that is illegal," said Francine Manseau. "Advertising is not illegal."

Women selling ova on Internet sites do not have to sell to Canadian customers and the asking price can be very tempting. Le Journal de Montreal interviewed six women, ranging in age from 18 to 31, who said they were willing to sell their eggs. One was in financial difficulty; another wanted to buy a house. Prices ranged from $500 to $2,000.

Note:
Ahhhhh, loopholes, loopholes, loopholes, loopholes - the name of the political game. I was one of those who tried to point out such loopholes in Canada's legislation for over 6 years, when the bill then was C-56. When will we ever learn? - Dianne N Irving, Ph.D.

View full article at LifeSite.net: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06030908.html

Item #8. Snuppy probably cloned by "nuclear transfer", NIH, SNU
Note:
(1) The stated qualifications that Snuppy is a PROBABLY a clone created by "nuclear transfer";
(2) A simple "nuclear" DNA match would not suffice because that could be accomplished by cloning by means of "twinning" rather than by means of "nuclear transfer". If "twinning" had been used, then BOTH the nuclear AND the mitochondrial DNA would have been identical. Thus what is additionally required is a NON-MATCH between the mitochondrial DNA of Snuppy and the donor dog. Why? Because in cloning by "nuclear transfer" the foreign mitochondrial DNA of the oocyte used is incorporated into the resulting cloned embryo. That is, there is NO ABSOLUTE GENETIC IDENTITY between the dog cloned by "nuclear transfer" and the donor dog. This is also why cloned embryos reproduced by "nuclear transfer" cannot possibly provide "patient-specific" stem cells, and why these cloned embryos are NOT genetic "twins" of the donor, or "virtually genetically identical" to the donor - which has serious ramifications for several supposed "total human cloning bans" already passed or proposed (legal loop-holes). Apparently these non-match conditions were identified for Snuppy - and thus the conclusion is drawn that he is probably a clone produced by "nuclear transfer" rather than by "twinning". - Dianne N Irving, Ph.D.

View full information at Nature 440, E1-E2 (9 March 2006): http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7081/full/nature04685.html

And at Nature 440, E2-E3 (9 March 2006): http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7081/full/nature04686.html

Item #9. Talking points on California's AB 651 assisted suicide bill
It is clear the pro-killing crowd will never stop. They seek to disguise their efforts through the use of misleading terminology such as the "California Compassionate Choices Act." Just as with abortion (killing of babies), we now have the push to promote killing adult patients as a "compassionate" act, rather than an evil that will victimize those most in need of caring, professional health care services! Those who are poorest will absolutely be those most at risk... if you can't afford care, you may be killed! This is all about economics and big money if you really want to know the truth.

See: http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/AB_651 for the language in the bill.

Ron Panzer, President, Hospice Patients Alliance - http://www.hospicepatients.org

Talking points! Here is the main thrust.

1) Gutting a health-care-for-the-poor bill and replacing it with an assisted-suicide measure.
2) AB 651 does not require that family members be notified when a doctor is going to help a loved one commit suicide.
3) AB 651 would give government health programs, managed care programs and HMOs the opportunity to approve prescriptions for suicide to cut costs.
4) AB 651 would permit doctors to help mentally ill or depressed patients commit suicide.
5) AB 651 would allow drugs for suicide to be mailed to the patient.
6) AB 651 does not require that requests for assisted suicide be made in person.
7) AB 651 has no safeguards for the patient at the time the drug overdose is taken.
8) AB 651 has no provisions to track abuse or the number of deaths from assisted suicide.
9) AB 651 supporters claim it would offer a choice to people who want it. But it would actually victimize minorities, people with disabilities, and poor people.

California Disability Alliance states:

AB 654 Remains on Inactive File: Language Has Been Amended into AB 651 (Levine)
AB 654 (Berg-Levine), now amended into AB 651, would legalize physician-assisted suicide in California.

For reasons explained elsewhere on this web site (see CDA Members Speak Out on Physician-Assisted Suicide), http://disweb.org/cda/issues/pas/speak.html CDA joins the many disability organizations that are actively opposing this bill. Like 1999's AB 1592 (Aroner) before it, AB 654 would, despite the best intentions of its authors, undermine our health care and social services systems in ways that would be very harmful for Californians with disabilities and serious chronic illnesses, as well as for many other groups.

AB 651, currently in Senate Judiciary, will have to win approval from Senate committees before being voted on by the full Senate. This probably will include the Senate Health Committee. Even if the bill is approved by the full Senate, it will have to go back to the Assembly for approval there as well.

Both AB 654 and AB 651 are now two-year bills. That gives AB 654 until Jan. 31, 2006, to get Assembly approval for the original bill and send it to the Senate. Other deadlines also may apply to AB 651. In any case, it's virtually certain that the authors are lobbying legislators hard to win their votes.

http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/AB_651 - The state web site also provides committee analyses.

http://www.internationaltaskforce.org/calga.htm - Rita Marker explains the hidden tactic used by these senators to advance their bill.

Item #10. Hawaii to Become "Baby Killing Center of Pacific"
Hawaii has passed legislation to allow abortion as an in-office medical procedure as well as waiving a mandatory 90-day residency period, prompting one commentator to dub the island state as the "baby killing center of the Pacific."

"While high-profile media attention has been focused on South Dakota's effort to outlaw abortion, Hawaii is quietly set to become the baby killing center of the Pacific," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League.

House Bill 1242 is predicted to pass Hawaii's state house this week and then proceed to almost certain passage in the state senate. This bill allows abortions to be performed in any doctor's office; current law requires it to be done in a hospital. Also, this bill would remove the 90-day residency period for a woman obtaining an abortion in Hawaii. Although an effort to expand legal abortion to include viable as well as non-viable babies was defeated in the house, senators may try to re-insert that provision in the bill.

"The combined effect of all of these changes will be to make Hawaii one of the quickie-abortion capitals of the world," said Brown. "One can envision mothers flying in from the continental United States, Japan and many other countries to have abortions performed in storefronts. Under this bill, baby killing facilities will be as numerous as pineapple stands as unscrupulous quacks seek to make money from the deaths of children."

"We urge Hawaii's state legislators to reject House Bill 1242 and any similar legislation," Brown emphasized. "If this bill does make it through the legislature, it is critical for Gov. Linda Lingle to veto it. The eyes of the pro-life world are on Hawaii this week as people pray for the children there and put on hold any future Hawaiian vacation plans."

Contact Governor Linda Lingle:
Executive Chambers
State Capitol
Honolulu, Hawaii
96813
Phone: 808-586-0034
Fax: 808-586-0006
E-Mail: http://www.hawaii.gov/gov/contact/E-mail

Contact State Representatives: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/house/members/members.asp?press1=house&press2=members

Contact State Senators: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/senate/members/members.asp?press1=senate&press2=members

Source: LifeSiteNews.com

Item #11. Cells from Aborted Babies Transplanted into Brains of Huntington's Patients

Researchers in France have presented a long-term study of five Huntingdon's patients who were injected with brain cells harvested from aborted foetuses in 1998. The scientists, reporting in The Lancet; Neurology, say that three of the patients have shown improvement in movement and brain function. Patients' symptoms have continued, however and after a plateau, the deterioration has worsened.

Huntington's Disease is a degenerative genetic neurological disorder. Huntington's is an incurable and untreatable condition that slowly diminishes the affected individual's ability to walk, think, talk and reason. Death for Huntington's patients often results from complications such as choking, infection or heart failure.

The French research follows a number of similar experiments being done in the UK. The UK research began human trials in 2001.

Professor Stephen Dunnett, leader of the British Huntington's project, told the BBC at the start of the experiment, that the cells used have to come from foetal tissue. "To be effective the cells have to come from the developing brain at exactly the stage of development when cells are first born."

In 2002, LifeSiteNews.com reported that in 15% of patients undergoing transplants of foetal cells to treat their Parkinson's disease, the result was devastating and irreversible side-effects. Although the French researchers are not reporting any long-term side effects, some of the US researchers were so horrified by the results they vowed never to try it again. Doctors were unable to predict which patients would suffer the side effects.

In the Parkinson's experiments, the foetal cells began producing too much dopamine, causing patients to "chew constantly" and "writhe and twist, jerk their heads, fling their arms about."

Dr. Paul Greene, a neurologist at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, said, "No more foetal transplants. We are absolutely and adamantly convinced that this should be considered for research only. And whether it should be researched in people is an open question."

Mark Crutcher, a US lawyer who has worked to stop the trade in aborted babies, says that the use of foetal tissue for cutting-edge research creates even more pressure to keep aborting babies. "Partial-birth abortion was introduced onto the scene almost immediately after it became known that there was a lucrative market for foetal tissue," said Crutcher.

Source and Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: Aborted Foetal Tissue Useless and Dangerous as Parkinson's Treatment - http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/dec/02120301.html

Item #12. UN Campaign Underway to Ensure Abortion Internationally Recognized as Human Right
There is a new desperation at the UN to secure international recognition of abortion as a human right, as abortion advocates increasingly anticipate that Roe vs. Wade will be overturned in the United States, says Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse of Concerned Women of America.

Dr. Crouse is reporting on the 50th Commission on the Status of Women, held at the U.N. headquarters in New York, February 27 to March 10.

Writing for The Beverly LaHaye Institute, CWA's think tank, Dr. Crouse said abortion advocates with the Commission are resorting to complex language games in an attempt to push through policy that would protect abortion rights. In one instance, the definition of "fertility regulation," a term used to refer to reproductive health issues, was redefined by the World Health Organization to include "interrupting unwanted pregnancies" \in other words, abortion.

She pointed out that in the material prepared by the Commission to address the health concerns of women internationally, the drive to enshrine abortion as a human right has taken over all considerations of authentic issues surrounding women's health.

"Every single paragraph in the section on health is about reproductive health. Further...reproductive health is separated from maternal and child health. In fact, there is a distinct hostility toward public health that focuses on maternal and child health. One would think that the only health problems women face concern reproduction."

Dr. Crouse said the U.N. Commission makes absolutely no mention of the top ten diseases that kill women worldwide, and even fails to address basic health issues such as malaria, tuberculosis, measles and diarrhea, many of which are caused by the lack of essential services.

"One would think these basic health necessities would be the top priorities in advancing women's health, well-being and development. Yet, the health section of the document from the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women mentions none of the diseases that cause so many tragic deaths. Instead, the document mentions only reproductive health (meaning abortion.)"

"These meetings are totally predictable - now more than ever - in that it all comes down to abortion, all the time, every time, without fail, regardless of the announced agenda."

Read Dr. Crouse's full report here: http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10264/BLI/nation/index.htm

Source: LifeSiteNews.com

1. Pray that all may have the courage to be God's presence in society and support those who have been deemed "unworthy of life".
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3. All past issues of LifeIssues.net Newsletter available online. Click here: http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0. (These newsletters are an extension of the Website.)

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AFA, 18 Other Groups Call For Boycott Of Ford Motor Company - Mon, 13 Mar 2006

American Family Association - afapetition@afa.net

AFA, 18 Other Groups Call for Boycott of Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company will continue funding homosexual groups which are pushing homosexual marriage.

Ford had agreed to stop funding the groups in a meeting with AFA on Nov. 28. But when confronted by a group of homosexual leaders about the decision, Ford reneged on the agreement with AFA and announced they would continue their funding.

For the past three months, AFA has been trying to get Ford to honor their agreement but Ford has refused.

The homosexual groups are very dedicated to their cause. They are urging their supporters to buy a Ford product to prove to Ford and America that Americans support homosexual marriage. The success of the boycott will depend on whether or not pro-family individuals are as dedicated to their cause as the homosexuals are to theirs. If pro-family individuals fail to respond with the same commitment as the homosexuals, homosexual marriage will be given a huge boost.

Ford's support for homosexual marriage was summed up by Thomas Anderson, a vice-president with Ford's Volvo division: "For us, it was very natural to address gay families. We're targeting people with modern day values. It's a value set and the Volvo-minded consumer is very diverse. 'Family' is much more than the traditional family."

Here is what the Detroit Free Press said about Ford: "Ford Motor Company, led by Chairman Bill Ford, donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to homosexual groups, sponsors gay pride parades and holds mandatory diversity training for employees..."

Here is what I'm asking you to do.

(1) Sign the Boycott Ford petition.
(2) Call your local Ford dealer.
(3) Send the email to Chairman Bill Ford.
(4) Print out and distribute the Boycott Ford petition.

When you click on the link below, you will be forwarded to BoycottFord.com. On the left side you will find full information on the background of the boycott. On the right side you will find action steps I'm asking you to take.

The future of our children is at stake. Please share the BoycottFord.com information with others. Thanks for caring enough to get involved.

Please take your action now by clicking here: http://www.boycottford.com

Sincerely, Don
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!

Pro-Family organizations endorsing the boycott of Ford include:

American Family Association
Center for Reclaiming America
Citizens for Community Values
Vision America
Free Market Foundation
WIN Family Services
Liberty Counsel
CatholicVote.org
Point of View Radio
Coalitions for America
Mayday for Marriage
RealMarriage.org
Judeo-Christian Council
Constituent Voice
Faith2Action
Coalition for Marriage and Family
ConservativeHQ.com
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
National Association of Marriage Enhancement

Other organizations are expected to endorse the boycott during the next few weeks.

If you are a Federal Civilian, Postal or Military Employee, please consider AFA (#2058) for your annual CFC participation.

Questions or comments about AFA? Contact us via email, phone, fax, or postal mail: afapetition@afa.net.- Copyright 2006

American Family Association
P O Drawer 2440
Tupelo, MS 38803
1-662-844-5036
All Rights Reserved

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© Children Of Medjugorje 2006 - March 15, 2006

Permission is given to spread the text of these reports under two conditions:
1) No words are changed,
2) "Children of Medjugorje" is cited along with our website www.childrenofmedjug orje.com or e-mail address cobrien@childrenofmedju gorje.com

Dear Children of Medjugorje, - Praised be Jesus and Mary!

1. Lent With The Gospa

Yesterday, (March 14), as Vicka had a free moment between two waves of pilgrims, I seized the opportunity to ask her how we can best live Lent. Here are her words:

"We have to understand what makes the value of Lent! It is not so much about making many sacrifices or imposing a thousand renouncements on ourselves. No, this is not what Lent is. Rather, it is following the example of Jesus with humility and simplicity. It is a matter of doing everything according to our heart. Whatever the renouncements or penance I choose, the value of my offering resides in the love with which I offer it. Besides this, may no one know what I am offering anything up for Lent. The Gospa is also asking that, 'In your homes, kneel down and pray the Sorrowful Mysteries for my intentions.'

Above all, it is important to free ourselves from everything that troubles our hearts. This is what pleases our Lord and the Gospa the most. Everything else, sacrifices and offerings, are for the purification of our souls. The Lord does not expect us to do many things, but He looks at our hearts and at the quality of the love we put in all things. He also expects our joy. Then He is happy, much happier than when He receives forced sacrifices. What is forced is not very valuable.

Another beautiful thing is to follow Jesus in His Passion and live with Him all the moments that He suffered for us, when He offered Himself for us. We should gradually get closer to Him in His suffering.

During this Lent, we can ask the Lord to renew us and give us a new life, so that by the end of Lent we will be a new person. It would make no sense to remain the same at the end of Lent! I should ask for the grace to be better at the end of Lent than I am at the beginning. This is the most beautiful fruit of Lent."

2. She Had Forgotten The Bible

After we published the last report about the Bible, we received many positive comments. A friend from the US, Colette, sent me a testimony and it is worth sharing here:

"In July 2004, one month before the most awaited celebration of my marriage in the Church, I was attending mass regularly after a 35 year interruption. The preparation for my children's Baptism (10 and 14 years old) was progressing smoothly, and I was slowly discovering more and more spiritual readings. I had heard the messages of the Gospa and dug out an old Bible that belonged to my father. I then placed it on my bedside table intending to start reading it.

That night, I had an incredible dream. My husband and I (we had been in a civil marriage for the last 12 years) were in a sailing boat, one of those live- aboard types. It was on automatic pilot, since we were both very busy inside the boat. There was always a lot to do down below, and none of us really wanted to be stuck at the helm for hours. We would pop our heads up from time to time, just to make sure there was no immediate danger lurking somewhere, but soon we would be back inside, busy with more pressing things.

And then all of a sudden we were hit with bad weather. We were taken by surprise. The boat was tossed right and left, up and down and we were very scared. Then an even bigger wave hit us and the boat flipped onto its side. We were terrified. But the boat did not sink, it stayed on its side and drifted with the storm until it ran aground on a gorgeous sandy beach. We climbed out of the boat bewildered and still under the shock of what had just happened.

There, on the island, a beautiful Lady was waiting for us. With extreme gentle care, she took care of us. She put our boat back into shape, she repaired every sign of damage, and then she said to us: 'You cannot continue on your journey with nobody at the helm. I will put somebody at the helm for you. And also, it is not reasonable to launch into such travels without a good map'. So, she gave us a very large book and bade us farewell. We sailed away and when I opened the book, it was the Bible.

A year later, my Bible was still on the bedside table, mostly unopened. That summer, I received an invitation to join a Bible study group that was launching a program called "Bible Time Line."

Since then I have been reading the Bible more and more, every chance I get. I turn to it constantly and I have come to understand the daily Mass readings much better. I share with my children all my discoveries as soon as the opportunity arises (I have put a white board in their bathroom, and there I write a Scripture verse every time something particularly strikes me They love to discover the new writings that appear regularly).

I believe the Gospa saved me twice. The first time when she called me to Medjugorje in April 2003, and the second time when she gave me that dream that lead me to discover the Word of her Son Jesus. Dear Gospa, my mother from Heaven, I thank you! "

3. Beloved Saint Joseph!

We will celebrate St. Joseph on March 19th. So we only have a few days left to prepare ourselves and address our ardent prayers to him. In our little house of "Bethlehem" we sing a hymn in his honor and entrust him with all our needs every morning during the Lauds. His help is remarkable and I wish for all of you to know this wonderful Saint who is only waiting for our prayer to show his tenderness toward us! For those who do not yet experience friendship with him, his feast day on March 19th is a chance to get started!

This winter a sister from my community here in Medjugorje, had a shock from him. This is what happened: Responsible for the finances, she had the job of ordering oil to fuel the burner that heats the house. By the end of October, noticing that the cost of the oil had jumped so high (66%!), she was nervous about how she would cover the cost this coming winter. In the beginning of November, when she could not put off ordering oil any longer, she only ordered 500 liters (instead of the usual 1000 liters), hoping the price of oil would drop by the time the 500 liters were used and the time she had to order more. Actually, she calculated that 500 liters would last a little under one month.

By the end of November, after one month of consumption, she expected the heater to breakdown for lack of oil. But when she saw that it kept going, she looked at the level of the tank. It had not moved one inch since the first delivery of 500 liters! Then she remembered a simple prayer she had made to St. Joseph in front of everybody one morning in October: "Dear Saint Joseph, you noticed the price of oil, so you can see that we will not be able to keep going. Please do something! For example, you could multiply the oil in the tank! Thank you in advance!"

Well, he answered! Today after turning on the heat for four and a half months, the level of oil in the tank still has not changed! The 500 liters remain intact! In addition, the bedrooms on the north side of the house, have radiators that stay a little warm even when the heating system is not on, which make these rooms quite comfortable when they should be the coldest in the house.

This is a sample of St. Joseph's tender concern! Thank you, St. Joseph! Who would not want to become your friend!? (See PS)

4. On March 2nd, the visionary Mirjana Soldo received her monthly apparition at the "Cenacolo". After the apparition, Mirjana stated that the Gospa was very sad. She spoke sorrowfully with Mirjana about the situation of the world. There was no message, but three times the Blessed Mother exclaimed, "God is love! God is love! God is love!" The rest of the conversation was private for Mirjana.

We know that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict, has just published his first Apostolic Letter, precisely called "God is love"! I think this is not by chance. Then, why not respond to Our Lady and the Holy Father by reading this Letter before the Holy Week, and setting it in our minds? (See PPS). At the dawn of life, when this world disappears from our sights, we will be judged on love. Then, why not concentrate right now on the essential?

With you, dearest Gospa, we want to live the most beautiful Lent of our life. May our only means always be love! - Sister Emmanuel +

PS: It is always good to pray to St. Joseph with our own words. However here is a beautiful prayer that one may use in these days:

O blessed Joseph, faithful guardian of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, protector of your chaste spouse, the virgin Mother of God, I choose you this day to be my special patron and advocate and I firmly resolve to honor you all the days of my life. Therefore I humbly beseech you to receive me as your client, to instruct me in every doubt, to comfort me in every affliction, to obtain for me and for all the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus, and finally to defend and protect me at the hour of my death. Amen!

PPS: The text of the Holy Father's Apostolic Letter can be found at:
http:// www.vatican va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/ documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deu-caritas- est_en.html
E-mail: cobrien@childrenofmedjugorje.com
Web: http://www.childrenofmedjugorje.com

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You Did It! - FCC Fines CBS $3.6 Million For 'Without A Trace' Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006

Dear Roger,

In January, 2005, we asked you to join us in filing formal complaints against CBS and their affiliate stations for broadcasting "Without A Trace," complete with an extended teen-age orgy scene. Within days, 165,997 AFA on-line supporters had filed formal complaints with the FCC.

This week, the FCC announced it agrees with you and is fining 111 CBS stations $32,500 each for broadcasting this indecency. This major accomplishment happened because you took action! This is the largest fine ever against the networks and their stations.

In addition, the FCC reaffirmed a $550,000 fine against CBS for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl.

I want to thank you for taking time to get involved. This proves we can make a difference when we join together!

The FCC will be bombarded with complaints by Hollywood, the media, and liberals such as the ACLU. They must get letters of thanks from those who appreciate their enforcement of the indecency laws! We must let
them hear from us!

Please take time to thank the FCC for their actions by sending them a letter of support.

Click Here to Thank the FCC Now!: https://secure.afa.net/afa/afapetition/takeaction.asp?id=190

Just as important, I need you to help us grow. Please forward this email and encourage your friends and family to be a part of this great work. Our children are worth the effort!

If you agree our efforts such as the complaints against "Without A Trace," please make a small contribution to AFA by clicking here http://www.afa.net/donate.asp

Sincerely, Don
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!

If you are a Federal Civilian, Postal or Military Employee, please consider AFA (#2058) for your annual CFC participation.

Questions or comments about AFA? Contact us via email, phone, fax, or postal mail.

www.afa.net- Copyright 2006

American Family Association
P O Drawer 2440
Tupelo, MS 38803
1-662-844-5036
All Rights Reserved

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The Evangelical Fellowship Of Canada - Faith Today - March/April 2006

Church, Conscience, Corruption and the Conservatives - Andrew Grenville: http://www.faithtoday.ca/article_viewer.asp?Article_ID=198

What were the forces behind a "C" change in Canadian politics in 2006?

Canada's change of government, an end to more than 12 consecutive years under the Liberal Party of Canada, is no small event. The Liberals have spent more than 60 of the last 100 years in power. The potent forces behind this change were three Cs: conscience, corruption and the church.

Protestant churchgoers banded together with striking unanimity and voted Conservative, according to the Ipsos Reid polls discussed below. In Quebec, churchgoing Catholics abandoned the Liberals in droves, breaking century-old traditions of voting Liberal.

These dramatic changes confirm just how powerfully "sleepy" forces can act when they band together for change.

Religion And The Vote Outside Quebec

In the predominantly English speaking parts of Canada, Protestants who attend church weekly embraced the Conservatives with a fervor never seen before. Historically, Protestants have been slightly more likely to vote Conservative than any other party, but now the differences have become profound.

An astonishing two-thirds of Protestants who regularly attend church voted for the Conservatives-up a striking 25 percent from the 2004 election (see "Conservative Vote Outside Quebec"). Clearly, a line has been crossed and a population mobilized.

In contrast, Protestants who attend once a month or less showed no real change in their voting habits. As usual about 45 percent voted Conservative-that shows no great affinity for the new Right.

There is obviously something that regular church attendees have in common that made a profound difference in this election.

Catholic churchgoers have traditionally been voting red (Liberal) for decades, if not centuries. But for the first time in the history of polling, Catholics who are regular churchgoers shifted away from the lending the largest measure of their support to the Liberals (42 percent voted Conservative, 40 percent Liberal). And those who attend more than once a week were most likely to vote Conservative rather than Liberal-a real change of heart.

The Catholic-Liberal link has deep roots. Catholics around the world have long tended to vote for more socially conscious, less individualistic parties than Protestants. In Canada Catholicism's social orientation has a profound resonance with the Liberal Party's focus on social programs and community intervention.

Religion And The Vote In Quebec

The fact that Quebec is still part of Canada is in large part thanks to churchgoing Catholics in Quebec. In the last referendum, it was their vote that stopped the separatist Bloc. The fact that they have now fled the Liberal party in droves is shocking-and potentially worrisome for Canadian nationalists, since Québécois without any religious identity continue to mark their ballots for the separatist option, as well as 51 percent of infrequently attending Catholics.

The rapid steep decline in vote for the Liberals among Catholics who attend regularly is an important indicator of intense discomfort. Committed Catholics clearly have felt pangs of conscience over social transgressions like corruption and moral issues such as same-sex marriage, and have swallowed hard and switched their vote.

It's rare to see a shift in popular vote of this magnitude: the Liberal vote in 2006, among churchgoing Quebec Catholics, was roughly half of what it was in 2004 (see "Liberal Vote in Quebec").

Key Issues: Conscience And Corruption

Clearly, people who attend church regularly in Quebec and across Canada have had a profound reaction to the current political climate. But is there a common thread that pulls it all together? Ipsos Reid polling research identified two key factors: disgust with Liberal corruption and moral issues like same-sex marriage and abortion.

For Canadian Protestants who attend church weekly, the issue that weighed most heavily on their choice was a concern of conscience: moral issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. Among Catholics, the strongest urge was to clean up corruption. Issues like healthcare, the economy and the environment ranked a distant third for churchgoers (see "The Issue That Mattered Most").

The fact that four in ten Protestants cited same-sex marriage and abortion as drivers of their choice of vote indicates such issues were powerful factors in this election. But consider the glass half empty: a majority cited some other issue as the main reason for their vote. It remains to be seen if the alignment of conscience, corruption and other issues that brought the Conservatives to power can persist.

We know that about half of the churchgoing Protestants and one-third of the Catholics who voted Conservatives were actually voting for a minority government. So if they were just parking their vote as a protest, this change may only signal a one-time burst of anger at the Liberals. If a free vote on same-sex marriage yields no change, then the banding together of church groups around the same-sex marriage issue may well go the way of the Temperance movement, the momentum slowing dwindling to nothing.

So Canada could be on the cusp of a profound change in culture, a true right turn, or we may have just witnessed something spectacular but ultimately unimportant, a flash in the pan. No one knows for sure. But it certainly will be fascinating to watch, and participate, as we head back to the polls yet again for another federal election in the few short years, if not months, to come.

Andrew Grenville is a senior vice president with Ipsos Reid, based in Toronto. Statistics cited come from an Ipsos Reid poll conducted for CanWest/Global on Election Day, Jan. 23, 2006. A total of 36,003 voters were surveyed via the Internet. Overall results are accurate to within ± 0.5% (19 times out of 20), and could be less accurate within sub-groupings. The data were weighted to ensure congruity in age, sex, regional and party support with the actual current voter population. The importance of Quebec Catholics in the referendum was established in Ipsos Reid surveys of Oct. 17-29, 1995.

Four Types of Canadian Voters

Canadians who live outside Quebec can be divided into one of four schools of thought on the federal vote, a special analysis of reasons for voting revealed. Stepping back and looking at the big picture, this typology helps us understand who voted how and why. And it uncovers a fascinating picture of the existence of a religious left as well as religious right in English Canada.

Religious Moderates are community minded, attend church regularly and vote Liberal or NDP in support of healthcare for all, social programs and Canadian unity. They voted defensively in this election, hoping to stop Stephen Harper from forming a majority government that they worry could lead to an unravelling of the Canadian social fabric. More likely to be female, urban, in Ontario or Atlantic Canada, church-going Catholic, working- or middle-class, educated, perhaps an immigrant.

Religious Conservatives voted for Harper because they feel Canada is headed in the wrong direction-with Liberal corruption and same-sex marriage serving as red flags. They hoped for a Conservative majority and tend to oppose same-sex marriage and abortion. More likely to be female, rural, in the Prairies, church-going but not Catholic, middle-class, less well educated.

Anti-Harper Progressives are not happy with the outgoing Liberals, but they are frightened by the Conservative Party's policies so they voted Liberal or NDP. These non-churchgoers are concerned about healthcare, the economy and social programs and are comfortable with the current laws on same-sex marriage and abortion. More likely to be female, urban, in British Columbia, United Church and/or not attending, working- or middle-class, more educated.

Economic Conservatives hoped for a Harper-led majority government, because they feel Canada needs to get back on track. They are bothered about corruption, the economy, taxes and crime. These un-churched and more well-to-do Canadians are generally in favour of the current abortion law, but many would like to see same-sex civil unions rather than marriage for gay couples. More likely to be male, rural, in Alberta, United Church and/or not attending, middle- to upper-middle-class, less well educated, unlikely to be an immigrant. - AG

Copyright © 2002 The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, All Rights Reserved.

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Patriarch Alexis II - Homosexuality A "Vicious Deviation From God-Given Human Nature"

By John-Henry Westen

MOSCOW, March 17, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a letter made public yesterday, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexis II congratulated Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov for his opposition to the 'gay pride' parade in Moscow. In the letter, the Patriarch said, "I was gratified to learn that you and the government of Moscow have approached this problem with civil responsibility not only for the present of our country, but also for its future."

The news comes as the Vatican revealed communications between Pope Benedict XVI and the Patriarch, in which Alexis II wrote: "In our own times, with the rapid growth of secularism, Christianity finds itself facing important challenges that require a shared testimony."

"I am convinced," the Patriarch continued in his letter to the Pope, "that one of today's priorities for our Churches, which have a shared vision of the many problems currently facing the modern world, must be the defense and affirmation in society of the Christian values by which humanity has lived for more than a millennium. I hope that the rapid resolution of outstanding problems between our two Churches will also contribute to this end."

In his letter to the Moscow Mayor, Alexis explained the position of the Orthodox Church saying, "the Church has invariably supported the institution of the family and condemns untraditional relations, seeing them as a vicious deviation from God-given human nature." He continued, "The Church treats people with such inclinations with pastoral responsibility urging them to reform and resolutely opposes any attempts to present this sinful tendency as a 'norm' and example to follow. The Church does not accept any propaganda for immorality."

Addressing the mayor, Alexis II said, "please accept our gratitude for your decision to protect Moscow and Muscovites against attempts to organize a public parade of propaganda for sin. I am convinced that the overwhelming majority of our citizens are grateful to you and the Moscow government for your care for public morality."

This is an excellent article from www.lifesite.net

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Canadian MP Says Cancer Society Withholding Pill - Cancer Link - By Hilary White

OTTAWA, March 17, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Maurice Vellacott, MP for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, upbraided the Canadian Cancer Society for withholding information about the link between hormonal contraception and cancer. Vellacott said, "If the Canadian Cancer Society is not telling Canadians the truth about the birth control pill's link to breast cancer, what else is the Canadian Cancer Society withholding?"

In 2003, Oxford University researchers found a link between the pill and cervical cancer. Researchers from Cancer Research UK's epidemiology unit in Oxford reviewed 28 studies and found that the longer a woman took the pill, the greater her risk of developing cervical cancer. They found a 10% increased risk for women taking the pill for 5 years or less, 60% for 5 to 9 years' use, and 100% greater risk (i.e. double the risk of a non-pill-using woman) if they had taken it for at least 10 years.

Vellacott's comments came in an interview with the CBC's Wendy Mesley's documentary, "Chasing the Cancer Answer" which aired recently on CBC's Marketplace.

The program also quotes Pathologist Dr. Samuel Epstein, a professor at the University of Chicago and author of the book, Cancer-Gate: How to win the losing cancer war. Epstein also criticized the Canadian Cancer Society saying Canada is in a "cancer epidemic."

Epstein said, "The pill is the largest unregulated human trial that's ever been conducted."

In July 2005 The World Health Organization said that the birth control pill is carcinogenic and is associated with increases in cervical, liver and breast cancer.

"In the interests of women, I hope the Canadian Cancer Society will also take a look at another risk factor for breast cancer, and a preventable one at that," Vellacott said. "Induced abortion."

The hormonal birth control pill has also been associated in some studies with prostate cancer in the male children of women who take it. Scientists at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri found that estrogen-like hormones deform the prostates in developing embryos, which can be a precursor to developing prostate cancer or bladder problems.

Vellacott said, "Why will the Canadian Cancer Society not take an objective look at what the research says about the link between abortion and breast cancer if they're serious about prevention?"

Dr. Epstein accused the cancer establishment of "damage control" (screening, diagnosis, treatment) rather than prevention.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: Contraceptive Pill Linked to Cervical Cancer
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/apr/03040405.html

Birth Control Pill May Cause Prostate Cancer and Bladder Disease in Mothers' Children
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/may/05050411.html

Contact Canadian Cancer Society:
Canadian Cancer Society
National Office
Suite 200, 10 Alcorn Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M4V 3B1
Phone: (416) 961-7223
Fax: (416) 961-4189
General e-mail: ccs@cancer.ca
Email to a Friend: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/sendtofriend.html?articleid=06031707

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Commission On The Status Of Women Deletes Abortion-Inclusive Language In Agreed Conclusions - By Samantha Singson

NEW YORK, March 17, 2006 (C-fam.org/LifeSiteNews.com) - As the 50th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) met for its closing ceremony last Friday, delegates were uncertain whether a set of Agreed Conclusions would be adopted. Negotiations went down to the wire as delegates struggled to come to consensus on the contentious health section of the draft text.

The original draft of the Agreed Conclusions' section on women's health focused almost solely on "sexual and reproductive health services and rights." As the Friday Fax has reported in the past, pro-abortion advocates have tried to establish a so-called international human right to abortion on demand using this terminology.

The European Union, joined by Turkey, Canada (under its new Conservative government elected in January), New Zealand and Norway, fought to keep the focus on sexual and reproductive health by referencing the reported 500,000 maternal deaths every year.

As negotiations wore on, many states expressed mounting frustration at the narrow focus on the sexual and reproductive health of women. Costa Rica, Egypt, the United States, Pakistan, El Salvador, Nigeria, Syria and Sudan were among those countries calling for the Commission to address women's health in a more comprehensive way, bearing in mind the myriad of health concerns faced by women throughout the course of their lives. Much to the consternation of delegates, the draft Agreed Conclusions contained no references to the top causes of death of women in the developing world, namely malaria and tuberculosis.

The NGO Pro-Life and Pro-Family Coalition presented statistics on the major causes of death of women and girls that were released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2002's World Health Report. The Report attributed only 1.9 percent of women's deaths on maternal conditions. As stated in a fact sheet distributed to UN delegates by members of the pro-life and pro-family coalition, fully 89 percent of deaths of women and girls are attributable to causes unrelated to sexual and reproductive health.

The fact sheet caused an immediate stir among negotiators, forcing states to begin discussion on the other health care needs of women. At the end of the conference, consensus was finally reached on the Agreed Conclusions and the resulting health paragraph looked nothing like the original draft. In the end, reproductive health language was largely muted in the document, while a broader understanding of the health needs of women was included.

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Lifeissues.net Newsletter #267 - March 19, 2006

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

Dear Friends for Life,

Did you know that women are three times more likely to die after abortion than after childbirth?

The National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health in Finland has published a new study. It shows that 94% of maternal deaths associated with abortion are not identifiable from death certificates alone. Proper tracking of associated history and other details plus the linking of death certificates brings a very different story. This study shows that rather than fewer deaths from abortion than childbirth, the opposite is actually true.

Planned Parenthood's Alan Gutmacher continues to report that childbirth deaths are more common. They use national "maternal mortality" to compare with. Official "maternal mortality" figures include deaths from abortion, from tubal pregnancies and moral pregnancies and other problems not directly relating to childbirth but which occur within a few months of delivery. On the other hand, as noted, deaths from abortion are dramatically under reported so what Planned Parenthood tells us is simply unreliable.

Even though most abortion-related deaths are not officially reported as such, legal abortion is reported to be the fifth leading cause of maternal death in the US. A 1997 government-funded study from Finland showed that women who abort are four times more likely to die within a year than women who give birth.(Elliot Institute Vol. 4, No. 13) By extending their scope beyond the very narrow time frame that is examined by most post-abortion studies, the researchers were able to get a better look at how abortion truly affects women's lives. The results clearly show, compared to women who carry to term, women who aborted in the year prior to their deaths were:

- 60% more likely to die of natural causes,
- 7 times more likely to commit suicide,
- 4 times more likely to have fatal accidents,
- 14 times more likely to die from homicide.

Brazil's voice is heard and clear - "NO" to legal abortions. A bill had been introduced into the Brazil Parliament to legalize abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. It was strongly opposed by Brazil's National Conference of Catholic Bishops and, importantly, also by President Luiz Inacio Lala Da Silva. Following this opposition, the proposed bill was dropped.

God Bless and continue the good work for LIFE, Jerry Novotny, OMI

(QUOTE on Euthanasia): "The evaluation of probabilities, founded on waning hopes for recovery when the vegetative state is prolonged beyond a year, cannot ethically justify the cessation of interruption of minimal care for the patient, including nutrition and hydration. Death by starvation or dehydration is, in fact, the only possible outcome as a result of their withdrawal. In this sense it ends up becoming, if done knowingly and willingly, true and proper euthanasia by omission," [Address of John Paul II to the Participants in the International Congress on "Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas," Saturday, 20, March 2004]

Lifeissues.net Newsletter #267 - March 19, 2006

Table Of Contents:
1. Beijing Catholics Aiding Poor Rural Children
2. RU-486 Claims Two More Women's Lives
3. EU fails to agree on common embryo research policy
4. Infant Euthanasia the Dutch Way
5. Population shock in Germany
6. Older embryos 'fare better' in IVF
7. Doctors in Britain don't want legalized euthanasia. Yet they still kill patients.
8. Joke: Feminist appointee in Missouri debates thinks Weldon/Brownback definition of "cloning" is scientific"
9. Experimental 'IVM' incorporates erroneous Human Embryology 101
10. Stanford Bioethics Consultants for "Research Ethics" Include Weissman and NIH as Their Clients - Connect the Dots
11. The 'Pre-Embryo' Question
12. Babies on ice

"New" Articles Posted Recently at http://www.lifeissues.net
- Janet E. Smith: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=smith
- John B. Shea: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=she
- Anthony Zimmerman: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=zim
- Dianne N. Irving: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=irv
- Steven Mosher: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mos
- David C. Reardon: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=rea
- Doug McManaman: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mcm

[Website: ALL] http://www.all.org/about.php. ALL includes such projects as Celebrate Life magazine, Rock for Life, STOPP International and the Crusade for the Defense of Our Catholic Church. ALL exists to serve God by helping to build a society that respects and protects individual innocent human beings from inception to natural death - without compromise, without exception, without apology.

Item #1. Beijing Catholics Aiding Poor Rural Children
Thanks to a group of city Catholics in Beijing, poor country children in Shan Xi province can now go to school.

"We do not have a lot to give, our contribution is small, a drop in the ocean, almost invisible," one unidentified group member told the Vatican's Fides news agency. "But it is enough to send to school a poor boy whose family is too poor to pay the fees, and this is wonderful."

Working with Father Hou Ying Rong, the parish priest at Xin Zhou in Shan Xi province, the lay group started a Work of Love initiative to provide help for poor families and especially to pay school fees.

Currently, 19 children attend the local school thanks to the generosity of Catholics in the capital.

While in Xin Zhou the members of the group from Beijing visited poor families in four villages, distributing food and clothing and taking photographs and video film.

Another unidentified group member told Fides: "We will show the video in the parish to encourage more people to join our action of solidarity and love, our Work of Love action as we have been urged by Pope Benedict XVI."

Source: Zenit, March 13, 2006

Item #2. Ru-486 Claims Two More Women's Lives
Concerned Women for America (CWA) expressed outrage that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still refuses to pull the abortion pill RU-486 from the market even after announcing today that two more women who took the drug have died.

"The FDA has pulled other drugs that have caused fewer deaths and less severe complications than RU- 486. Why the double-standard for an abortion drug that is now linked to the deaths of seven healthy women and over 800 other reported complications?" stated Wendy Wright, president of CWA.

The FDA admits that only 10 percent of complications suffered by patients from drugs get reported. Over 800 complications due to RU-486 have been reported to the FDA.

"Two more families are grieving because the FDA refuses to pull this dangerous drug from the market," said Wright. "By giving its approval, FDA participates in the deception that RU-486 is 'safe.' How many women must die before the FDA will act? Are their lives less important than making abortion convenient?"

Drugs with fewer reported complications that the FDA has pulled include:

*NeutroSpec, an imaging agent used to diagnose internal infections, was pulled from the market after being linked to two deaths, 20 severe reactions, and 46 other "less" severe reactions.

*Tysabri, a drug to treat multiple sclerosis, was pulled from the market on Feb. 28, 2005, after reports that three patients taking it had developed PML, a rare brain disease. Studies published in New England Journal of Medicine in early March reported no additional cases of PML.

*Lotronex, the only drug in its class to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which afflicts approximately 40 million Americans was pulled. About 300,000 people had taken it. About 70 patients had developed severe problems, with five deaths including three possibly linked to the drug.

*Bextra was pulled even though an FDA advisory committee voted a few months before that Bextra should remain on the market.

"The FDA has acted cautiously with these other drugs," stated Miss Wright. "Why is that same caution not exercised with a drug that only women use, and its only purpose is to abort a baby?"

Source: Christian Newswire, March 17, 2006

Item #3. EU Fails To Agree On Common Embryo Research Policy
The European Union has failed to agree on a common policy for the funding of research using human embryonic stem cells. Some countries, such as Austria, which currently holds the EU presidency, ban the practice, while others allow it. 15 out of 25 member states voted to continue the current system, by which applications are considered case-by-case. Each applicant must prove that, for example, the proposed research could not be carried out using adult stem cells. Human cloning, including so-called therapeutic cloning, is banned by the EU.

View full text at Reuters: http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2006-03-13T232836Z_01_L13305437_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-EU-HEALTH-STEMCELLS-DC.XML

Item #4. Infant Euthanasia The Dutch Way
This is a difficult and very personal subject for me, but it is an important one for everyone. Infant euthanasia.

National Review has an outstanding article on the state of the argument. It seems that The Dutch government is very close to sanctioning the practice, also known as the Groningen Protocol. This set of guidelines set a "standard" for which some lives are worth living and some are not. At first blush, they seem very reasonable:

The protocol says that a newborn can be euthanized if his diagnosis and prognosis are "certain," his suffering is "hopeless and unbearable," and his quality of life is "very poor," according to the child's parents and "at least one independent doctor."

But what this means is no doctor can be wrong. Ever. Do you believe that happens?

View full text at lonestartimes.com: http://lonestartimes.com/2006/03/14/2691/

Item #5. Population Shock In Germany
German women have the fewest children in the world, causing a rapid population decline in the 80-million-person nation, according to a new study.

A German woman has 1.36 children on average, the lowest number of any country in the world outside the Vatican, according to the Berlin Institute for Population and Development. In 2005, roughly 680,000 children were born in Germany -- the least since 1945.

Former communist East Germany is hit hardest: The area had already suffered from a low-child generation, when immediately after the Germany's reunification in 1990, child numbers there dropped to .77 children per woman.

The population drop there is aggravated by a demographic outflux, as young easterners often move to economically stable states, such as Bavaria or Baden-Wuerttemberg. Eastern Germany has the highest unemployment rate in the country.

By 2015, the study says, eastern Germany and the economically weak western regions, like Saarland and the Ruhr areas, will suffer from a "demographic shock," according to the study.

Family politicians argue Berlin should better efforts to help women combine career and family planning, as has been done elsewhere in Europe, such as France and Scandinavia.

View full text at UPI: http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060316-104025-9811r

Item #6. Older Embryos 'Fare Better' In IVF
[Note: Amazing that they don't want to talk about the serious ethical problems concerning their methods of obtaining these "older embryos". Referred to in the industry as "embryo self-selection", several newly fertilized (or cloned!) embryos are allowed to develop longer in the Petri dish so that the "best" embryo will be chosen for implantation. They call it "the survival of the fittest", without blinking an eye. In the meantime, the other embryos who are at "rest" or not as "sturdy" as the winner face far grimmer fates - Lifeissues.net Newsletter #267 - March 19, 2006 immediate death, the freezer, or plied as research fodder. Some "solution" to the multiple-pregnancy problem. See Irving:

- "IVF Conundrum: Too Many Twins. But Caution: ART Procedures Can Cause Twinning; and, Blastocyst Culture Not a Moral Solution" (November 30, 2005), at: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_110ivf_conundrum.html

- Comments: "IVF's Solution to Multiple Pregnancies: 'Embryo Self-Selection'" (Nov. 28, 2004), at:
http://www.lifeissues.net/news.phpnewsID=00008109&topic=ir - Dianne N. Irving, Ph.D.

View full article at Herald Sun [Australia]: http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18484979%255E1702,00.html">http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18484979%255E1702,00.html
Item #7. Doctors In Britain Don't Want Legalized Euthanasia. Yet They Still Kill Patients.
In other words, why should they want a law defining what it means to kill a patient when they get by with it now without legal interference?

That's the state of things terminal in Great Britain, according to the age.com.au / Reuters' Sarah Boseley in London.

Doctors killed 3000 in 2004. These persons were labeled "terminally ill patients."

Now stats show that over 170,000 one third of all deaths "had treatment withdrawn or withheld, which would have hastened death."

Euthanasia is not legal in Britain. Doctor-assisted suicide likewise.

In other words, doctors do assist ill patients to terminate their lives. They do it one way or another. Why then should doctors be frustrated with the law's intrusion?

"Deborah Annetts, chief executive of Britain's Voluntary Euthanasia Society, said that 'this is all done in secret and denied in public. Some of these doctors are acting compassionately on their patients' wishes, but some clearly act without consent. This cannot be safe.'"

Those who defend life in all humans argue that what is going on in Britain is inhumane. Therefore, pro-life efforts continue daily to thwart the killing under doctors' care. Opening the killing door widens with time if not checked.

View full article at MichNews.com: http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_12034.shtml

Item #8. Joke: Feminist appointee in Missouri debates thinks Weldon/Brownback definition of "cloning" is "scientific"
By Dianne N. Irving, Ph.D.
While defending (sort of) the prolife argument that "therapeutic cloning" really is cloning (and not just "stem cell research") - counter the false Weissman-type scientific definitions used in Missouri's proposed constitutional amendment to protect "stem cell research" - a feminist appointee to the President's Council on Bioethics surprisingly supports her argument by proffering the equally false scientific definition of "cloning" used in the federal prolife Weldon/Brownback "total ban" on human cloning bills. [See David Castillo, "Stem-cell initiative discussed; Bush appointee says embryonic research necessitates cloning", The Missourian, March 10, 2006.]

It is bad enough when politicians go about destroying science itself for whatever lofty or otherwise deceptive reasons. But when they incorporate such scientific myths into bills and regulations, there are serious legal ramifications that must be taken into account in these debates. As lawyers know perfectly well, if a bill does not specifically address something, then it is not covered by the bill. If a bill mis-defines something, then only that mis-defined thing is covered by the bill. If a bill containing such scientific myths is passed, then such scientific myths become legal precedent (stare decisis), and will be applied by the courts to all future similar scientific issues (as happened in Roe).

[For documented and accurate scientific references in concert with the international nomenclature committee on human embryology, as well as legal and historical analyses, please see Irving:

* - "University Faculty for Life: Letter of Concern to Sen. Brownback and Congressman Weldon Re the 'Human Cloning Bill 2001'"; written as UFL Board Member on behalf of UFL; submitted to Sen. Brownback and Congr. Weldon, U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C. (May 27, 2001), at: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_52weldonbrownback1.html, and http://www.uffl.org/irving/irvbrownback.htm

* - "Framing the Debates on Human Cloning and Human Embryonic Stem Cells: Pluripotent vs. TOTIPOTENT" (July 23, 2005), at: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_100debatecloning1.html

* - "Scientific References, Human Genetic Engineering (Including Cloning): Artificial Human Embryos, Oocytes, Sperms, Chromosomes and Genes" (May 25, 2004), at: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_25scientificrefer1.html

* - "What Human Embryo? Funniest Mental Gymnastics from Medicine and Research" (Oct. 14, 2004), at: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_82whathumanembryo1.html, and http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?RecNum=6373

* - "Playing God by manipulating man: Facts and frauds of human cloning" (October 4, 2003), presented twice at the Missouri Catholic Conference Annual Assembly Workshop, Jefferson City, MO, at: http://www.mocatholic.org/uploads/IrvingCloning3.pdf, and http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_22manipulatingman1.html

* - "Analysis of Legislative and Regulatory Chaos in the U.S.: Asexual Human Reproduction and Genetic Engineering" (Oct. 20, 2004), at: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_81chaosasexgen1.html]

For more information, go to LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_120joke.html

Item #9. Experimental 'IVM' Incorporates Erroneous Human Embryology 101
Aside from obvious ethical issues, the following article on experimental IVM - a new method used to mature oocytes in vitro for IVF "fertility treatments" - quotes erroneous human embryology... Where the article obtained such scientific mis-information - that diploid oocytes become haploid by some "hormonal signal" while still maturing in the ovary - is speculative, but it does raise the question again as to whether or not these IVF/IVM researchers and clinicians are academically credentialed in human embryology and human genetics, and thus really know what they are doing.

For more information, go to LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_118erroneous101.html

Item #10. Stanford Bioethics Consultants For "Research Ethics" Include Weissman And NIH As Their Clients - Connect The Dots
When human embryologist Dr. Ward C. Kischer and I co-authored a book several years ago entitled, The Human Development Hoax: Time To Tell The Truth! (1995, revised 1997), we referred to the false science being used then and the decades before in the human embryo research debates as "the hoax of the century". We could have never imagined in our wildest dreams the explosion of false and decadent science that was to come in the human cloning and human embryonic stem cell research debates - what I would call "the hoax of the millennium". Enough is enough. This has got to stop.

View full text at LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_119connectdots.html

Item #11. The 'Pre-Embryo' Question By John B. Shea
Both the evidence of science and the teaching of the Catholic Church in regard to the embryo are clear. They also directly contradict the fictions of those scientists who are not specifically trained in human embryology and have adopted many erroneous ethical and moral principles, which are in vogue today. The abuse of language indulged in by so many of our self-assigned scientific 'elites' is a reenactment of the role played by the Sophists who, as Plato remarked 2400 years ago, "fabricated a fictitious reality."

View full text at LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/she/she_25pre_embryoquestion.html

Item #12. Babies On Ice
The Guardian has published a feature article looking at 'egg freezing' technology, in which, rather than freeze in-vitro conceived embryos, eggs taken from a woman are frozen, and later fertilized and implanted. The technique has usually been used for medical reasons, such as when a woman has to undergo fertility-threatening cancer treatment, or by couples undergoing IVF who object to the freezing of human embryos. However, an increasing number of women are paying to have their eggs frozen for 'lifestyle' reasons, so that they can delay motherhood to fit in with their career, or until they find a suitable partner. Fertility practitioners remain divided on the advisability of this tendency.

View full text at Guardian: http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,1721821,00.html

Action:
1. Pray that all may have the courage to be God's presence in society and support those who have been deemed "unworthy of life".
2. Stay informed at Lifeissues.net website: http://www.lifeissues.net.
3. All past issues of LifeIssues.net Newsletter available online. Click here: http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0. (These newsletters are an extension of the Website.)

Assistance:
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Help Save The Life Of An Afghan Man Who Refuses To Deny Christ

Abdul Rahman, 41, faces death because he converted from Islam to Christianity and refuses to convert back to Islam.

His family accused him of being a Christian. During his trial last Thursday in Kabul, Rahman confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an International Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Read the WorldNetDaily article here - http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49345

"We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law. It is an attack on Islam," Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada said.

The prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, said he offered to drop the charges if Mr. Rahman converted back to Islam, but Rahman refused. "He would have been forgiven if he changed back. But he said he was a Christian and would always remain one. We are Muslims, and becoming a Christian is against our laws. He must get the death penalty," Wasi said.

TAKE ACTION

Please email President Bush and ask him to intervene to save the life of Abdul Rahman. Help get others involved in saving the life of this Christian who refuses to deny Christ. Please forward this to friends and family and ask them to send the e-mails.

Click Here to Email President Bush Now! - https://secure.afa.net/afa/afapetition/takeaction.asp?id=191. Also, please pray that God will intervene to save his life.

If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift by clicking here. Thank you for caring enough to get involved. http://www.afa.net/donate.asp

Sincerely, Don

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!

If you are a Federal Civilian, Postal or Military Employee, please consider AFA (#2058) for your annual CFC participation.

If you have any questions or comments about AFA, please feel free to contact us via e-mail, phone, fax, or postal mail. - www.afa.net - Copyright 2006

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Secular Franciscan Order (SFO)

Please be patient with me while I complete the Newsletter for the First Quarter of 2006 which should have been completed by mid-December 2005.

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Sobey's Receipts Are Valuable

Please don't throw away your Sobey's receipts. Click here and see why!

Amount of receipts collected to date: $447,327.04

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