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News Ticker provided by LifeSiteNews.Com
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Weekly News Feb 23/09 |
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News Ticker provided by LifeSiteNews.Com
- 12-Year-Old Stuns Pro-Choice Teacher and School with Pro-Life Presentation February 11, 2009
- Abort This Debate - Canadian Universities Do Their Best To Suppress Pro-Life Message February 14, 2009
- Diabetes Can Be Prevented And Cured - Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness And Health E-Zine February 15, 2009
- Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness And Health E-Zine February 22, 2009
- Friday Fax February 19, 2009
- Law Could Challenge Abortion Rights February 19, 2009
- LifeIssues.net Newsletter #410 February 15, 2009
- LifeIssues.Net Newsletter #411 February 22, 2009
- Miracle Cells, The Real Success Stories February 22, 2009
- North Dakota Personhood Bill Passes, First in US History February 18, 2009 (Also see Item #14)
- Not Without A Fight - The History Of The Pro-Life Movement In Canada February 22, 2009
- Population Research Institute Weekly Briefing February 20, 2009
- Pro-Life Hollywood - Unbelievable, But True February 22, 2009
- Pro-Lifers Take Personhood Amendment Cross-Country February 19, 2009 (Also see Item #10)
- Right To Die Bill Introduced Into Canadian Parliament February 17, 2009
- Women's Real Oppressors Are Those Who Say Abortion Doesn't Hurt Them February 13, 2009
- Writer Producer of "Fireproof", Father of Six, Has Revitalized Thousands of Marriages February 22, 2009
1. 12-Year-Old Stuns Pro-Choice Teacher and School with Pro-Life Presentation – February 11, 2009
By Kathleen Gilbert
TORONTO, February 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – 12-year-old "Lia" of Toronto has become a star at her school and on Youtube with her five-minute pro-life speech, crafted for a school competition. Despite discouragement and outright opposition, Lia's presentation was so well done that she reportedly won the contest she was told she would be disqualified from, due to the "controversial" message of her speech.
The speech is available in its entirety on Youtube, where it has been viewed over 100,000 times and sparked a heated discussion. (See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOR1wUqvJS4&feature=channel_page)
"What if I told you that right now, someone was choosing if you were gonna live or die?" begins the charismatic seventh-grader in a practice recording of the speech posted on Youtube. "What if I told you that this choice wasn't based on what you could or couldn't do, what you'd done in the past, or what you would do in the future? And what if I told you, you could do nothing about it?
"Fellow students and teachers, thousands of children are right now in that very situation. Someone is choosing without even knowing them whether they are going to live or die. That someone is their mother. And that choice is abortion."
Lia, speaking easily and with sunny enthusiasm, fires off answers to several common objections in the brief speech.
"Why do we think that just because a fetus can't talk or do what we do, it isn't a human being yet?" She asks. "Some babies are born after only five months. Is this baby not human?
"We would never say that. Yet abortions are performed on 5-month-old fetuses all the time. Or do we only call them humans if they're wanted?
"Think about the child's rights that were never given to it. No matter what rights the mother has, it doesn't mean we can deny the rights of the fetus," she said. "We must remember that with our rights and our choices come responsibilities, and we can't take someone else's rights away to avoid our responsibilities."
Lia's mother says that the topic was of her own choosing, and that she was determined not to back down, even after teachers told her it was "too mature" and "too controversial."
"She was also told that if she went ahead with that topic, she would not be allowed to continue on in the speech competition," Lia's mother wrote in the email to the Moral Outcry blog. "Initially, I tried helping her find other topics to speak on, but, in the end, she was adamant. She just felt she wanted to continue with the topic of abortion. So she forfeited her chance to compete in order to speak on something she was passionate about."
The mother told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that the girl's homeroom teacher was supportive of Lia's speech even though she was pro-choice. "After helping Lia do the speech she said, 'It really got me thinking,'" the mom noted.
At the school wide competition, the mom said one pro-choice teacher on the judge's panel "didn't even want to hear" the speech, and stepped down from the panel before Lia began. After the speech, which Lia's family said was well-received by both students and teachers, the judges initially told Lia she had indeed been disqualified. But controversy among the judges eventually led to a reversal, and Lia's family learned the next day that the panel agreed the girl deserved to win the competition.
"There was a big stink about it, and we volunteered to step down... but her teacher said 'No, she won fair and square, so she'll keep going on," said her mom. Lia is expected to present her speech at a regional competition tomorrow night, representing her school.
When asked what inspired Lia to pursue the topic so adamantly, her mother said it was "a little mystery."
While the family espouses pro-life Christian values, "it's not like we're out every weekend picketing," she said. "It was just something really deep in her heart, and she just felt really passionate about it." She added: "I kind of snicker when I see people on the YouTube video [comment box] saying 'Oh, her mother forced her to do this' – I'm like, 'No, I'm on the other end, trying to make her pick another topic!'
"But she was just really passionate about it, and she has her research on it," said the mother. "I really believe it's just something that God put in her heart."
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By MICHAEL COREN, Toronto Sun – Saturday, February 14, 2009
In the immortal words of Mel Gibson in the execrable movie The Patriot, "It's a free country, or at least it will be."
Canada? It's a free country, or at least it's supposed to be. But not, it seems, if you hold a view on the abortion issue that is contrary to that of the establishment.
The abortion debate should not, however, be the point here. Any more than a discussion of free expression should be framed around party politics, religion, sports or favourite cheese.
We have the right to disagree, to argue and, short of violence, to be passionate and committed.
It's the lifeblood that should flow through any healthy body politic.
Yet abortion has become a topic that is different from any other in the world. And the examples are legion.
In the first six weeks of this year alone three students at the University of Calgary have been charged with trespassing on their own university grounds because they dared to display authentic, genuine photographs of an abortion.
The pictures are disturbing, which leads one to conclude that abortion itself may be disturbing. It's about dead babies stupid – always has been, always will be.
There likely will be other students charged and it's also likely that other pro-life activists will replicate the peaceful protest and that other university administrations then will act like thugs and use their power to hammer students who, unlike so many at our institutions of higher education, do not scandalize the local community with hard drug use, rampant alcohol abuse and rampant promiscuity.
Trouble
Try charging a student with keeping the neighbours awake or smashing windows in publicly funded student housing and you'll be in all sorts of trouble.
Persecute a bunch of young women who believe that the unborn child is unique from the point of conception, with its own DNA and a genomic character that is entirely separate from any other person, and you are thought of as being liberal, caring and responsible.
But, again, it shouldn't be about abortion but about the right of free expression.
Indeed universities should be the last and not the first place where freedom of thought and speech is curtailed.
Yet even beyond Calgary this cult of censorship smashes its way forward. Pro-life clubs defunded and barred from meeting on college property in two universities in Ontario, pro-life stalls vandalized in Manitoba and just last week at St. Mary's University in Halifax a pro-life speaker shouted down by a mob of abortion supporters.
Yet instead of removing the rude and insulting hecklers who were refusing to allow a lecture to take place, the university administration closed down the officially sanctioned speech and gave in to the mob.
Thankfully there are numerous supporters of abortion, both passive and active, who are now speaking up and condemning such tactics and intolerance.
Disagree
They know that however much they may disagree with the pro-life message they have no more right to silence opposition than do opponents of abortion to use threats and bullying to prevent the pro-abortion side being heard.
If anyone assumes that the phenomenon will stop with pro-lifers they are colossally naive.
The order of the gag may well be coming to a town and a subject close to you and much sooner than you think. Be involved, be angry and be, well, Canadian.
3. Diabetes Can Be Prevented And Cured - Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness And Health E-Zine – February 15, 2009
February 15, 2009
In 2007, 233,619 Americans died from diabetes. 60% of the U.S. population over 65 suffers from diabetes or pre-diabetes and most have not even been diagnosed (Diabetes Care, February 2009). Four important reports should spur you to act if you have any of the risk factors for diabetes: “Diabetes Doubles Your Chances of Suffering from Dementia” (Diabetes, January 2008); “HBA1c Test Predicts Which Diabetics Will Lose Brain Function” (Diabetes Care, February 2009) “Rigorous Workouts Lasting as Little as Three Minutes May Help Prevent Diabetes by Helping to Control Blood Sugar” (BioMed Central Endocrine Disorders, February 2009); and “Exercise Capacity Predicts Which Diabetics Are at High Risk for Dying Prematurely” (Diabetes Care, March 2009).
If you have any combination of the following risk factors, suspect that you may be diabetic and check with your doctor:
4. Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness And Health E-Zine – February 22, 2009
Healthful Cooking Methods Use Water
Cooking foods by grilling, frying, baking or broiling forms known carcinogens called AGEs and PAHs. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are formed when sugars stick on fats or proteins; and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed when amino acids bind to creatine.
Researchers in Poland report that people ingesting large amounts of French fries and potato chips had a rise in oxidized LDL cholesterol and in markers of inflammation that are associate with increased risk for heart attacks (March 2009 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition). The older you are, the less able your body is to remove AGEs and the more likely you are to suffer diseases of inflammation such as heart attacks and cancers.
Another study of 172 healthy men and women who were divided into two age groups (18-45 and 60-80) showed that AGE levels were 35 percent higher in individuals age 60 and older (The Journals of Gerontology, April 2007). The amount of AGEs in their bodies was directly related to the amount of fried, broiled, and grilled foods eaten. Those with the highest levels of AGEs also had the highest levels of CRP (a blood test that measures inflammation). Inflammation increases risk for heart attacks, strokes and certain cancers.
AGEs can also form within your body when blood sugar levels rise too high. They cause all the terrible side effects of diabetes. When blood sugar levels rise too high, sugar sticks on the outer surface of cell membranes (AGE). Once there , the sugar can't get off and is eventually converted to sorbitol which destroys the cell to cause blindness, deafness, heart attacks, strokes, and cancers.
Cooking with water prevents the formation of AGEs and PAHs. The most healthful cooking methods are steaming, simmering, stewing and any other technique that uses water or other liquids. Keep the fried, grilled, baked and broiled foods to a minimum in your diet.
Reports from DrMirkin.com
Liver detoxifiers: http://www.drmirkin.com/morehealth/8539.html
Colon cleansers: http://www.drmirkin.com/morehealth/2323.html
Fat blockers: http://www.drmirkin.com/nutrition/fat_blockers.html
5. Friday Fax – February 19, 2009
Friday Fax
February 19, 2009 | Volume 12, Number 10
Dear Colleague,
We report today on what appears to be an ongoing revolt by UN Member States against the pro-abortion push by the UN’s CEDAW Committee. The committee routinely orders countries to change their laws on abortion. It appears that governments are now starting to push back.
We also report on the consideration of a nasty document called the Yogyakarta Principles by the Council of Europe this week in Strasbourg, France. The Yogyakarta Principles are a radical vision of homosexual rights.
Spread the word.
Yours sincerely,
Austin Ruse, President
CEDAW Committee
Faces More Pushback
From Countries on Abortion
By Samantha Singson
(NEW YORK – C-FAM) The committee in charge of overseeing state compliance with the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) concluded its latest round of meetings, pressing all eight delegations under review on their abortion policies even though the treaty is silent on the subject. Dominica, Armenia, Haiti, Cameroon, Libya, Rwanda, Germany and Guatemala were each questioned on the issue when the committee met in Geneva last month.
In what has become standard practice for the CEDAW committee, members attempted to forge links between high maternal mortality figures and illegal or clandestine abortion in order to pressure states to change their laws.
Committee members pressed Rwanda to hold public debates on its abortion laws and asked if there were any plans related to abortion for girls. The Rwandan representative fired back, “Maybe we are caring more for those who are living now than about planning to kill babies-to-come.”
Prior to the meeting, the committee sent written questions to delegations and asked Cameroon to account for how they have implemented CEDAW’s previous recommendations to “review the abortion law and increase access to, and availability of, contraception.” In its written response, the government of Cameroon chastised the committee for attempting to “elevate” abortion to the rank of a human right.
In addition to Cameroon and Rwanda, Haiti and Guatemala were also specifically told to review and amend their laws regarding abortion in the committee’s concluding recommendations.
Abortion is not mentioned in the treaty and CEDAW committee members maintain officially that the treaty is abortion-neutral. Delegations often go along with the committee’s line of questioning on abortion by providing data and answering queries on the subject during their reviews with the understanding that the questions are not based upon obligations of the treaty, but on committee members’ personal interpretations of treaty.
While the committee claims neutrality on abortion, the committee has taken it upon itself to reinterpret this hard-law treaty to include abortion in the treaty’s provision which calls for a right to health. For further evidence one need look no further than the recently-released CEDAW committee annual report which details the reviews of 16 countries in 2008. Nine of those countries were pressed to liberalize or amend their abortion laws. In the case of Slovakia, the CEDAW committee went further and criticized the state for protecting the right of health care workers to object to performing abortions as a matter of conscience.
As one of the only remaining countries that has not ratified CEDAW, the United States (US) has come under increasing pressure to do so. New US President Barack Obama has already indicated that he would push for ratification. Proponents of US ratification, like pro-abortion US Senator Barbara Boxer, remain adamant that abortion is not part of CEDAW, despite evidence that CEDAW committee members think otherwise.
The CEDAW committee will next meet in New York in July to review Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Denmark, Guinea Bissau, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Japan, Liberia, Spain, Switzerland, Timor L’Este and Tuvalu. Of those countries, four have already been sent preliminary queries regarding abortion.
Council of Europe Propagates Anti-Family Yogyakarta Principles
By Piero Tozzi & Katharina Rothweiler
(NEW YORK – C-FAM) A special committee of the Council of Europe (CoE) is meeting this week in Strasbourg, France, to promote the implementation of Yogyakarta Principles on sexual orientation and gender identity among the CoE’s 47 member states.
One controversial item on the agenda for the Committee of Experts on Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity calls for a “hate speech” ban, focusing “special attention” on “politicians, opinion leaders, religious dignitaries and the media.” This is interpreted by some as an attempt to chill criticism of homosexual behavior and the “gay lifestyle.”
Critics note that Sweden prosecuted Pastor Åke Green, a Pentecostal minister, for a sermon he gave on the sinfulness of homosexual conduct. In overturning his criminal conviction, the Swedish Supreme Court noted that his conduct was illegal under Swedish law, but in this case European Convention on Human Rights free speech protections overrode Swedish law.
The Yogyakarta Principles, if ever given binding effect, would weaken free speech as well as free exercise protections, as they call upon the State to ensure that the exercise of freedom of expression and religion do not violate “the rights of freedoms of persons of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.”
Another agenda item would address whether prohibitions on “Gay Pride” marches violate human rights. This would appear to target the Russian Federation, where a number of municipalities have banned such demonstrations.
Critics have pointed out that several of the Yogyakarta Principles would undermine the authority of parents to rear children in accordance with their values. The agenda for the CoE meeting adds to such worries, calling for “preventive measures and promotion of tolerance” among “pupils and school staff.”
Two experts scheduled to address the CoE committee are Michael O’Flaherty, a member of the Human Rights Committee and a special rapporteur tasked with promoting implementation of the Yogyakarta Principles, and Nicolas Beger, Amnesty International’s point man on “human rights issues relating to transgender persons.”
O’Flaherty’s role in promoting the Yogyakarta agenda is particularly controversial, as he is reportedly still a Catholic priest with a degree from the prestigious Jesuit-run Gregorian University in Rome. O’Flaherty was originally incardinated in the Diocese of Galway, Ireland, though his current status is indeterminate.
In the last several months, the Yogyakarta Principles have received considerable emphasis among certain European states. In December, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagan used the occasion of a French-led statement at the United Nations General Assembly signed onto by 66 nations to promote the Yogyakarta Principles.
Earlier this month, the Human Rights Council, via a Swedish representative, questioned Malaysia on its anti-sodomy laws, prodding the government to bring its laws and policies “in line with the Yogyakarta Principles.”
The Council of Europe is distinct from the European Union (EU) and its affiliated organizations. Larger in membership and older than the EU, the CoE is considered the chief protector and promoter of human rights in Europe.
For more news, visit us at www.c-fam.org.
Editor in Chief – Austin Ruse
Managing Editor – Piero Tozzi
Assistant Managing Editor – Hannah Russo
Chief Correspondent – Samantha Singson
Contributors – Susan Yoshihara / Katharina Rothweiler
© Copyright 2008 Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
6. Law Could Challenge Abortion Rights – February 19, 2009
Canwest News Service – February 19, 2009
North Dakota has become the first U.S. state to move towards passing a law that defines "personhood" as starting at the moment of conception, which would effectively outlaw abortion, pro-life groups said Wednesday.
Lawmakers in the North Dakota lower house voted 51 to 41 on Tuesday to pass the Personhood of Children Act, which confers the same basic rights on "all human beings from the beginning of their biological development, including the pre-born, partially born."
If passed, it would be used to challenge the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in the United States.
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
TOP7. LifeIssues.net Newsletter #410 – February 15, 2009
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.LifeIssues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
Reprogramming Cells Makes Embryonic Research Irrelevant: Recent researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have announced their ability to reprogram a cell to have it become a different type of tissue. This has been done in vivo, that is within the bodies of experimental animals. They announced that they have now isolated three molecular tags that control the nature of a cell. This enables scientists to directly reprogram a cell to change it into a different type of tissue while it remains yet in the body. One of the things they have done has been to change pancreatic cells in mice into insulin producing cells. Because this is done within the patient's own body, it eliminates the need to use embryonic or even adult stem cells that have been cultivated in a lab.
Stem Cells Help Stroke Damage: From the University of Adelaide in Australia comes a report. Adult stem cells from the pulp of extracted human teeth are being used to repair damaged brains after a stroke. Its Center for Stem Cell Research is bringing together 100 research scientists from 18 groups to explore and discuss this new treatment.
When time permits, visit our educational Catholic www.LifeIssues.net Website – "Clear Thinking About Crucial Life Issues". Our viewers today are nearing five million. We try to place emphasis on truth and not emotional reasoning. Currently, 3,146 articles are posted for your research and study. In addition, the Breaking News section on the main page is updated daily. Have a good weekend and don't forget to say a prayer or two for a better social understanding of when life begins and ends and the will to protect our very young and very elderly people.
God Bless; Jerry Novotny, OMI
A Quote: "Surrogate motherhood has been the subject of much philosophical and political dispute over the years. To summarize briefly, it is a class-and-gender minefield. When money is exchanged for pregnancy, some believe, surrogacy comes close to organ-selling, or even baby-selling. It threatens to commodify not only babies, but women as well, putting their biological functions up for sale like so many Jimmy Choos. If surrogacy ever becomes a widely practiced market transaction, it will probably make pregnancy into just another dirty task for the working class, with wages driven down and wealthy couples hiring the work out because it's such a hassle to be pregnant." – Thomas Frank
LifeIssues.net Newsletter #410 – February 15, 2009
Table Of Contents:
1. Why Is The U.S. Exporting Death Instead Of Life?
2. World Congress Of Families Reacts To UNFPA Leader Who Says Family Breakdown Is A 'Triumph' For 'Human Rights'
3. When Doctors And Nurses Can't Do The Right Thing
4. Pro-Life Senators Bemoan Vote Against Restoring Mexico City Policy On Abortion
5. UK Fertility Experts Warn Against Egg Freezing
6. EU Money Behind Cork University Embryo-Killing Decision?
7. High Court Hears Of Unborn Babies' Constitutional Rights In Embryo Case
8. Hospital Board OKs Second-Trimester Abortions
9. Embryos Don't Have Rights Of Unborn, State Argues
10. Fathers: In Or Out?
11. "Birth Control Means Health, Happiness, Perfect Children" Questioning A Cultural Panacea
12. Cosmetic Procedures For Children Pose Ethical Dilemmas
Focus On Asia: "Five injured, buildings damaged as powerful quake hits Talaud Island" - Five people were injured and many buildings were damaged as a powerful earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale jolted Talaud Islands north of Sulawesi in the early morning of Thursday, meteorology and geophysics agency (BMG) said. In Rainis sub-district dozens of houses were destroyed and hundreds of people fled their homes in panic for fear of aftershock as the quake hit the area at 1:34 a.m. local time on Thursday.
http://www.worldpress.org/link.cfm?http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2009/2/12/five-injured-buildings-damaged-as-powerful-quake-hits-talaud-island.
Item #1. Why Is The U.S. Exporting Death Instead Of Life?
Women in developing countries need clean water, food and education – not abortion. So why is the U.S. exporting death instead of life?
View full article at citizenlink.com: http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000009276.cfm
Item #2. World Congress Of Families Reacts To UNFPA Leader Who Says Family Breakdown Is A 'Triumph' For 'Human Rights'
At a recent colloquium in Mexico City, Arie Hoekman, a UNFPA representative from the Netherlands, told participants that high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births represent the triumph of "human rights" over "patriarchy."
Jacobs stated, "Ironically, the UNFPA ignores international law and their own UN declaration on the basic human rights of children and the natural family as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Section 16 of the United Nations UDHR adopted in 1948 states that, 'the family is the natural fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state.' Furthermore, UDHR states, 'men and women of full age, without any limitation, due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.'"
View full article at Christian Newswire: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/893019393.html
Item #3. When Doctors And Nurses Can't Do The Right Thing
Comment: I don't think it's an accident that the situations cited revolve around the theme of doctors and nurses concerned about too much treatment rather than doctors and nurses concerned about terminal sedation, withdrawal of food and water, etc. The war against real conscience rights continues. – Nancy Valko, RN.
View full article at NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/health/05chen.html?ref=health&pagewanted=print
Item #4. Pro-Life Senators Bemoan Vote Against Restoring Mexico City Policy On Abortion
"Taxpayers should never be forced to pay for the destruction of human life, here at home or overseas," Senator Jim DeMint said. "President Obama campaigned on a platform of reducing abortions, yet one of his first official acts was to force millions of American taxpayers who find this practice immoral to pay for more abortions overseas."
"We cannot have a debate about protecting the health of children while we're use tax dollars to destroy the lives of the most vulnerable children. Children are a precious blessing and this amendment ensures American taxpayers will not be forced to support ending the lives of unborn children abroad," he said.
View full article at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/nat4797.html
Item #5. UK Fertility Experts Warn Against Egg Freezing
Many hailed it as "liberation for women", but now the UK's leading fertility experts are about to express serious moral and medical doubts about women freezing their eggs to suit their lifestyles and aspirations. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Fertility Society are finalizing a joint statement warning women in their 20s and 30s to think carefully before undergoing such a procedure in order to pursue their careers before trying for a child in their 40s.
View full article at Family and Life:
http://www.familyandlife.org/Abortion-and-Embryo/897/9/15.html
Item #6. EU Money Behind Cork University Embryo-Killing Decision?
Fr Brian McKevitt, OP, editor of the Irish family newspaper Alive!, says, "Cork University (UCC) authorities should study very carefully the recent Vatican document, Dignitas Personae (DP), especially paragraph 32." It encourages research using adult stem cells, but rejects experiments that involve killing embryonic human beings. "The obtaining of stem cells from a living human embryo invariably causes the death of the embryo", says DP, "so it is gravely illicit. Research in such cases, irrespective of therapeutic results, is not truly at the service of humanity".
See the full article at Family and Life:
http://www.familyandlife.org/Abortion-and-Embryo/896/8/18.html
Item #7. High Court Hears Of Unborn Babies' Constitutional Rights In Embryo Case
Because unborn babies have the legal right to life, a man can't stop his estranged wife from using frozen embryos they created during their marriage, the Supreme Court heard last week. This assertion came on the opening day of an appeal by a mother of two against her failed High Court action, which sought permission to have three embryos implanted in her uterus, against her estranged husband's wishes.
Full article at Family and Life:
http://www.familyandlife.org/Abortion-and-Embryo/895/8/22.html
Item #8. Hospital Board OKs Second-Trimester Abortions
In spite of solid opposition, the University of Wisconsin Hospital has decided to perform second-trimester abortions. Even though the hospital board voted 11-3 in favor of offering the abortions, the final decision will be made by the Madison Surgery Center board of directors. The surgery center would provide abortions for women who are 13 to 22 weeks pregnant, according to Wisconsin's Journal Sentinel.
Full Article at OneNewsNow: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=414664
Item #9. Embryos Don't Have Rights Of Unborn, State Argues
A human embryo created through a fertility procedure has no legal status in Ireland, is not entitled to Constitutional protection until he or she is in a woman's womb, and may be legally killed before implantation, lawyers for the State have told the Supreme Court.
View entire text at Family and Life:
http://www.familyandlife.org/Abortion-and-Embryo/901/8/18.html
Item #10. Fathers: In Or Out?
Why is fathering such a hot topic at the moment? It is largely because of the amount of lone-parenting being performed by women today. Figures from the 2007 Census update show that approximately 25.8% of 74 million U.S. children under 18 (about 19 million), live in lone-parent households.
View entire text at Culture of Life Foundation: http://culture-of-life.org//content/view/542/1/
Item #11. "Birth Control Means Health, Happiness, Perfect Children" Questioning A Cultural Panacea
Think of it. A country on the verge of a Depression; its most powerful financial institutions crumbling; the whole world in the grip of uncertainty; millions unemployed; foreclosures too numerous to count; and the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives defends spending enormous taxpayer sums on contraception: 'it will save millions;' 'help rescue states from bankruptcy;' 'protect women;' 'reduce the number of pesky children.'
View entire text at Culture of Life Foundation: http://culture-of-life.org//content/view/541/1/
Item #12. Cosmetic Procedures For Children Pose Ethical Dilemmas
More children than ever are undergoing medical procedures for nonmedical purposes-breast enhancement and liposuction, as well as "Westernizing" eye surgery for Asian children and cosmetic interventions to correct physical deformities. An essay set in the current issue of the Hastings Center Report examines what – if any – justifications there are for parents to consent to changing their child's physical nature…
View entire text at Mecical News Today: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/136762.php
You Can Change Society:
1. Be Informed: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. Visit Lifeissues.net Website for insights into current Life Issues www.lifeissues.net. All prior email Newsletters Archives are located online at http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
2. Pray Daily: for the courage to be God's presence in society and to strongly support those who are deemed "unworthy of life". "If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.
3. Become Involved: Several years ago I created a project entitled, "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia". It is a project, which appeals for donations to help finance plane travel for lectures and seminars to developing countries in Asia. Strong focus is placed on reaching Asian Catholic Major Seminaries, Universities, Parishes, Hospitals and Family/Pro Life related groups. The lectures place emphasis on "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues Trends and Challenges". For inquires about no-cost Pro Life Talks to your group in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry at jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp . To become a supportive Missionary participant for this Asian project, kindly send your donations to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; (or transfer donation directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824).
Contact Editor: Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail:jerry@lifeissues.net.
Websites by Editor:
English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese LifeIssues Site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html.
8. LifeIssues.Net Newsletter #411 – February 22, 2009
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.LifeIssues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
Patients in the early stages of multiple sclerosis had their disability reversed in a study that used their stem cells to reset their malfunctioning immune system.
All 21 patients in the study at Northwestern University in Chicago had the relapsing-remitting form of the disease that makes their symptoms alternately flare up and recede. Three years after being treated, on average, 17 of the patients had improved on tests of their symptoms, 16 had experienced no relapse and none had deteriorated, the study found.
This is the first study to actually show reversal of disability, said Richard Burt, an associate professor in the division of immunotherapy at Northwestern, and the lead author of the study published on January 29, 2009 in the British journal, the Lancet. (Bloomberg News, 1/30/09).
Keep in mind that the stem cells used in the study were adult stem cells. There has been no positive result from experiments or studies involving the use of embryonic stem cells.
God Bless; Jerry Novotny, OMI
(Encouraging:) Please share this speech by a 12-year-old girl who says it all. The evidence is growing stronger every day that the pro-life cause is in no way diminished by current political circumstances. Indeed, it is growing stronger each day through the active participation of our young people who see the truth and wish to share it with others. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOR1wUqvJS4&e.
Lifeissues.net Newsletter #411 – February 22, 2009
Table Of Contents:
1. The Freedom Of Choice Act Endangering The Unborn, Women, And Catholic Health Care
2. Deaths Associated With Abortion Compared To Childbirth: A Review Of New And Old Data And The Medical And Legal Implications
3. Stem Cells And Hope For Patients
4. Focus On FOCA
5. Adult Stem Cell Research Reverses Effects Of Parkinson's Disease In Human Trial
6. New Video Blog Gives Homelessness A Face And Voice
7. Eight Is Enough? In-Vitro Fertilization And Nadya Suleman
8. Are You Going To Finish Strong?
9. "Right To Die" Bill Introduced Into Canadian Parliament
10. Presenting The Abortion Issue To Children
11. A Future Pregnancy Would Be Too Risky...
Focus On Asia: "Pakistan fears poverty surge" – The poverty rate has jumped to 37.5% from 23.9% during the past three years. More than 64 million people, out of a 160-million population, were living below the poverty line in 2008, as against 35.5 million people in 2005, according to the Planning Commission of Pakistan. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KB20Df01.html.
Item #1. The Freedom Of Choice Act Endangering The Unborn, Women, And Catholic Health Care
FOCA provides that "it is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman." Furthermore, FOCA would specifically invalidate any "statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, decision, policy, practice, or other action" of any federal, state, or local government or governmental official (or any person acting under government authority) that would "deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose" abortion, or that would "discriminate against the exercise of the right... in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information." FOCA creates a new and dangerously radical "right." It establishes the right to abortion as a "fundamental right".
View full article at LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/bu/bu_01freedomofchoiceact.html
Item #2. Deaths Associated With Abortion Compared To Childbirth: A Review Of New And Old Data And The Medical And Legal Implications
Thirty years later, the best available evidence now contradicts the "established medical fact" relied upon in Roe. Recent analyses of large medical databases linked to death certificates have now shown that when mortality rates associated with abortion and childbirth are examined using a single uniform standard, significantly higher mortality rates are associated with abortion. These record linkage studies have demonstrated that pregnancy-associated deaths are actually two to four times higher for aborting women compared to delivering women.
View full article at LifeIssues.net:
http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/shu/shu_10death_abor_childhood1.html
Item #3. Stem Cells And Hope For Patients
Most know someone afflicted with an incurable medical condition. The possibility of stem cell "cures" has given hope to many who face such suffering and loss. Unfortunately, there is a tremendous amount of misinformation about stem-cell therapies. To make sound decisions about this rapidly advancing field of research, it is important to understand what stem cells are and what promise they actually offer patients and their families.
View full article at LifeIssues.net:
http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/cond/cond_05stemcellsandhope.html
Item #4. 4. Focus On FOCA
There is no doubt that FOCA would be far worse than Roe v. Wade. If passed and signed into law, it would:
View full article at LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/mos/mos_141foca.html
Item #5. Adult Stem Cell Research Reverses Effects Of Parkinson's Disease In Human Trial
Scientists have published a paper in a medical journal describing the results of the world's first clinical trial using autologous neural stem cells for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. A leading bioethics watchdog says the results show more money should be put behind adult stem cells.
View full article at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/bio2751.html
Item #6. New Video Blog Gives Homelessness A Face And Voice
Through his web site, he shares the stories of homeless people he meets on the streets. The site's segments are told by real people, in their own very real words. The innovative pieces, which began airing last November, are raw, uncensored and unedited – just like life on the streets.
See the full article at Christian Newswire: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/604019467.html
Item #7. Eight Is Enough? In-Vitro Fertilization And Nadya Suleman
Earlier this month, with the help of forty-six medical personnel, Suleman gave birth to six boys and two girls.
No sooner had the news about the births broken than the issue became who is going to support Suleman's 14 children. As commentators noted, at the time of the births, Suleman was receiving public assistance. One Internet petition cited her story in its call for an end of aid to "unfit welfare recipients." Suleman has even received death threats.
Still, the outrage – this utilitarian view of life – is missing the bigger picture: first, there are 14 children who, irrespective of their mother's actions, need our help. The value of their lives is never measured in dollars and cents.
Then there's the procedure that made this story possible: in-vitro fertilization. It's increasingly difficult for me to escape the conclusion that the very process itself represents a rejection of the natural order and the God who instituted that order.
Full article at BreakPoint: http://lifeissues.net/control_panel/news_info.php
Item #8. Are You Going To Finish Strong?
Nick Vujicic has no arms or legs but has come to terms with his lot in life and he delivers an inspirational speech to these school kids that they will probably never forget.
Full viewing at Maniac World: http://maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html
Item #9. "Right To Die" Bill Introduced Into Canadian Parliament
A bill whose title mentions the "right to die with dignity" is to be presented to the Canadian parliament. Ms Francine Lalonde MP of the Bloc Qubecois is trying for the third time to introduce a measure which is likely to legalise assisted suicide. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of London, Ontario, said: "To legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide represents the right of one person to take the life of another person. Our society should not be going there."
View entire text at LifeSiteNews.com: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09021702.html
Item #10. Presenting The Abortion Issue To Children
Teaching children about abortion is not as difficult as many think. Children are particularly receptive to the message of equality of all people, and to the truth that might does not make right. They have a keen sense of justice and fairness. They know what it means to need protection from dangers they can neither withstand nor understand. They know what a baby is, and they know it is wrong to kill a baby.
View entire text at CERC: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/abortion/ab0149.htm
Item #11. A Future Pregnancy Would Be Too Risky...
Respecting marital sexuality and refusing to compromise our sexual faculties through vasectomies or tubal ligations, promotes important personal virtues within marriage and properly respects the God-given and life-giving designs of our own bodies.
You Can Change Society:
1. Be Informed: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. Visit Lifeissues.net Website for insights into current Life Issues www.lifeissues.net. All prior email Newsletters Archives are located online at http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
2. Pray Daily: for the courage to be God's presence in society and to strongly support those who are deemed "unworthy of life". "If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.
3. Become Involved: Several years ago I created a project entitled, "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia". It is a project, which appeals for donations to help finance plane travel for lectures and seminars to developing countries in Asia. Strong focus is placed on reaching Asian Catholic Major Seminaries, Universities, Parishes, Hospitals and Family/Pro Life related groups. The lectures place emphasis on "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues Trends and Challenges". For inquires about no-cost Pro Life Talks to your group in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry at jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp . To become a supportive Missionary participant for this Asian project, kindly send your donations to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; (or transfer donation directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824).
Contact Editor: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net.
Websites by Editor:
English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese LifeIssues Site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html.
9. Miracle Cells, The Real Success Stories – February 22, 2009
The Real Success Stories – By Chuck Colson: 2/18/2009
The Real Success Stories
Many who listened to President Obama’s inaugural address believe he means to spend taxpayer money on research that destroys human embryos. Before he does, I hope somebody brings to his attention the story I’m about to tell.
A few years ago, a Texas teenager named Laura Dominguez lost control of her car when she hit an oil spill on the road. The accident left Laura paralyzed from the neck down. “You’ll never walk again,” doctors told her.
Laura refused to accept this prognosis. She and her mother met with experts on spinal cord injuries. They learned about an exciting new treatment being performed in Portugal. The procedure is known as olfactory mucosa transplantation. Surgeons take adult stem cells found in the nasal region and transplant them into the injured area.
Laura underwent this treatment—and her spinal cord began to heal. She gained upper body agility, and, in time, she learned to walk with the use of braces and outside help. Laura is determined to walk unassisted by her 21st birthday.
Miracles like this have been repeated many times as researchers bend their attention to the uses of adult stem cells. Writer Bradley Hughes describes many of them in his article “Real-World Successes of Adult Stem Cell Treatment.”
To date, Hughes writes, these “miracle cells” are providing hope for patients with Crohn’s disease, lupus, heart disease, blindness, Parkinson’s, and sickle-cell anemia. And according to biotech writer James P. Kelly, umbilical cord blood stem cells are already being used to treat 70 forms of blood and bone marrow cancers.
And just a few days ago, there was a report at Northwestern University. Twenty-one patients with multiple sclerosis were stabilized following treatment with adult stem cells removed from each patient’s bone marrow. In some patients, the disease was reversed.
But because much of the mainstream media refuses to report on this, many Americans remain unaware of it. Ignorance about these cures may be driving the public’s demand for embryonic stem-cell research, which kills human beings at the embryonic stage.
Americans also seems unaware that not a single clinical success has resulted from treatments using embryonic stem cells. None!
So why do researchers and the biotech industry push so hard for public funds for embryo-destructive research? Because science wants science for science’s sake and, incidentally, because they stand to make huge profits through potential patents. It’s potentially far more lucrative than research involving adult stem cells.
You and I need to spread the word about the miracle cures being found through the use of adult stem cells. They’re a far superior alternative to embryonic stem cells—and nobody is killed in the process of retrieving them.
As science demands unfettered research in the future, we need to be encouraging ethically challenged reporters, researchers, and politicians to take a look backwards for a grim reminder of what happens when science is divorced from morality—euthanasia, gas chambers, and Nazi experiments on children.
Do we really want to start down that terrible road again?
http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=8999
Today's BreakPoint Offer |
Learn more about the Wide Angle worldview video series with Chuck Colson and Rick Warren—perfect for small-group Bible studies!
For Further Reading and Information |
“ Stem Cells 'Reset' Immune System in MS Patients: Study,” AFP, 29 January 2009.
James P. Kelly, “ Stem Cell Politics: Divide and Conquer,” Weekly Standard, 5 September 2006.
Bradley Hughes, “ Real-World Successes of Adult Stem Cell Treatment,” Family Research Council, 1 December 2004.
“ No God Condones What?: The President and the Innocent,” BreakPoint Commentary, 10 February 2009.
“ The Proper Role of Science: Exposing Scientism,” BreakPoint Commentary, 29 January 2009.
“ ’Your Own Stem Cells Work!’: Carron Morrow's Story,” BreakPoint Commentary, 22 August 2007.
10. North Dakota Personhood Bill Passes, First in US History – February 18, 2009 (Also see Item #14)
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11. Not Without A Fight - The History Of The Pro-Life Movement In Canada – February 22, 2009
b y Michael Wagner
Pro-life activists perform an important role in society. They help to remind people about what is perhaps the most pressing political issue in our country, namely, the legally-sanctioned killing of unborn children. This killing is often justified as being the consequence of a "woman's right to chose." In Canada, exterminating the unborn is considered to be a "human right" supported by all levels of government and all of the major political parties. But this phrase, "a woman's right to choose," is simply a euphemism for the killing of unborn babies. It's a clever choice of words to hide the reality of abortion.
Of course, abortion is a worldwide phenomenon, not a specifically Canadian one. All of the Western countries allow abortion, although Canada is unique among them in having no legal restrictions on abortion whatsoever. But it is helpful to see the abortion controversy in its international context. The Canadian pro-life movement has not been successful in stopping abortion in Canada, but the same is true of pro-life movements in the USA, Australia, and elsewhere.
It's not that Canada's pro-lifers have failed to find the right tactic - some silver bullet that would put an end to the killing. Rather, the Canadian situation reflects a worldwide embrace of abortion by cultures that want to separate sexual activity from its consequences. A history of the abortion fight in Canada demonstrates that the Canadian pro-life movement has been very adept, thoughtful, strategic and thorough in their various attempts to stop abortion. But despite the movement’s best efforts, it was not able to stem the tide.
It began in 1969
In Canada, the push to legalize abortion came on strong during the 1960s. Towards the end of that decade Parliament was looking into the matter, and in 1969 the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau passed a bill easing the Criminal Code restrictions on abortion.
Although the new law did not completely decriminalize abortion, it made abortion more easily available. Hospitals could each have a therapeutic abortion committee (TAC), and the committee could approve an abortion after three doctors confirmed that a pregnancy would likely endanger the life or health of a particular woman. Women seeking abortions were normally approved for the procedure.
The pro-life movement in Canada emerged in response to the 1969 law. By the mid-1970s there were dozens of pro-life groups across Canada. The main national organization was the Alliance for Life headed by Dr. Heather Morris. In 1973 the pro-life groups gathered a petition of 352,000 signatures requesting a stricter abortion law. This petition was presented to Prime Minister Trudeau. Then in 1975, the Petition of One Million campaign managed to get over a million signatures on a petition opposing abortion. Yet, despite this tremendous effort, it was not successful in leading to any legislative change.
Two key figures
In 1978 a new pro-life group called Campaign Life was formed. It represented the more conservative and militant segment of the pro-life movement and continues today as the leading pro-life organization in the country. In the national debate about adopting a Charter of Rights in 1981, Campaign Life's legal counsel, Gwen Landolt, accurately predicted the negative consequences that would result from the Charter.
Another major pro-life figure was Joe Borowski, a former Manitoba cabinet minister in that province's NDP government of the early 1970s. In 1978 Borowski launched a court challenge to Canada's abortion law, arguing that it violated the Canadian Bill of Rights which guaranteed the right to life.
There was considerable legal wrangling over whether Borowski even had the right to launch such a challenge, and it wasn't until 1983 that his case was finally heard. By this time the Charter of Rights had been adopted, so his challenge was modified to argue that the abortion law violated the Charter's guarantee of the right to life. Borowski lost later in 1983, but he continued to press his case and the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear it in 1988.
Morgentaler starts fighting
In the meantime, another significant case was winding its way through Canada's courts. From the early 1970s on, Henry Morgentaler, the leading abortionist in Canada, was in and out of the courts for violating the terms of Canada's abortion law. Morgentaler opposed the abortion law because he thought it was too restrictive. The law only allowed abortions to be performed in hospitals, whereas Morgentaler wanted to be able to perform them in abortion clinics. He was ultimately successful in operating a clinic in Quebec where public sentiment strongly supported abortion rights.
When Morgentaler opened a clinic in Toronto in 1983 (the first abortion clinic in English Canada), he was charged with performing illegal abortions. He fought this charge all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada which heard his case in October 1986.
Pro-lifers were very active during this period. In some locations across Canada, pro-lifers were able to get elected to local hospital boards and shut down that hospital’s TAC. Thus the hospital would no longer be able to perform abortions. This was an especially effective tactic in the Maritime provinces.
There were also numerous protests and demonstrations in front of Morgentaler's Toronto abortuary. Occasionally some pro-life activists would attempt to block the steps leading to the "clinic" and would be arrested. An organization called Choose Life Canada was formed by Baptist minister Ken Campbell, and it managed to set up its office right next to the Morgentaler facility. This office was called The Way Inn and it was in a perfect location to dissuade women from proceeding with their abortions.
20 years ago
Then, on January 28, 1988, the infamous Morgentaler decision was handed down by the Supreme Court, striking down Canada's abortion law and consequently eliminating all legal restrictions on abortion in the country. However, this decision did not create a "right" to abortion in Canada. Instead, the law had been struck down for violating the procedural fairness required by the Charter. Thus the way was left open for Parliament to enact a new law restricting abortion.
Pro-life organizations could likely have intervened in the Morgentaler case but had chosen not to. They were active in supporting Borowski's case and did not think they had the resources to also be involved in Morgentaler's. At the time, Gwen Landolt argued that this was a mistake. As usual, she was right.
The mistake became clear to all when the Supreme Court heard Borowski's case in October 1988, months after the Morgentaler decision. Borowski was challenging the very abortion law which had previously been thrown out in the Morgentaler decision. So, since the law had already been thrown out, in March 1989 the Supreme Court ruled that the case was moot. The pro-lifers lost again.
In the wake of the Morgentaler decision, pro-life groups organized a massive letter-writing campaign urging members of Parliament (MPs) to pass a restrictive abortion law. But there were deep divisions even within the governing Progressive Conservative caucus of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, so despite some attempts, nothing was accomplished.
The infamy of 1988 – when free trade trumped life
A federal election was called for the fall of 1988, and pro-life groups were very active in trying to elect pro-life MPs. However, the central issue in this election campaign was the proposed Free Trade Agreement with the USA, so the abortion issue did not really receive a lot of attention. Nevertheless, some new pro-life MPs were elected.
Many pro-lifers were becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of any legal restrictions on abortion in Canada and therefore became involved in an American-based organization called Operation Rescue led by a theologically charismatic minister, Randall Terry. The "rescuers," often in large numbers, would use their bodies to block the entrances to abortuaries so that women could not enter them. It was hoped that this would prevent abortions from being performed. The police, of course, would move in and arrest the rescuers. Most of this rescue activity took place in the first half of 1989.
When is moot not moot?
By the summer of 1989 the courts were back in the center of the abortion fight. In July an Ontario court and a Quebec court each issued an injunction preventing a woman from having an abortion, both at the instigation of former boyfriends. The Ontario injunction against Barbara Dodd, however, was quickly overturned by the Ontario Supreme Court so she went to the Morgentaler clinic for an abortion.
But in the other case, the Quebec Superior Court upheld the injunction against Chantal Daigle, and two weeks later the Quebec Court of Appeal also upheld the injunction. This latter decision went so far as to declare that unborn children had a right to life! Can you imagine?! Anyway, Canada was now in the midst of a full-fledged national crisis. The achievements of the pro-abortion camp were severely threatened by the Quebec Court of Appeal decision. An emergency session of the Supreme Court of Canada was called, and organizations from both sides of the abortion debate were granted intervener status, including Campaign Life and REAL Women of Canada.
During the court proceedings Daigle's lawyer announced that she had gone to the US and had an abortion there, making the case moot. Despite being moot, the Supreme Court proceeded to strike down the injunction against Daigle. This makes for a very interesting contrast. When Joe Borowski's case became moot, the Supreme Court refused to deal with it for that reason. But when Chantal Daigle's case became moot, the Supreme Court decided the issue anyway. It appears that the Supreme Court is willing to proceed with a moot case, but only as long as doing so will further the pro-abortion cause. This is "justice" in Canada.
A law both sides hated
In November 1989 the Mulroney government introduced Bill C-43, a new proposed abortion law. It made abortion a criminal offence, except where the pregnant woman desired to have one for reasons of physical, mental, or psychological heath. Although the pro-abortion camp opposed the bill because it technically criminalized abortion, many conservative Christians saw the loopholes in it as basically enshrining abortion on demand. People such as Ken Campbell, Ted Byfield of Alberta Report, and Gwen Landolt of REAL Women opposed the bill on these grounds. Some other pro-life organizations, such as the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, supported the bill for pragmatic reasons, arguing that it was better to have a faulty law with some restrictions on abortion than no law whatsoever.
Despite strong opposition from both the pro and anti-abortion camps, the bill passed the House of Commons in May 1990. However, it still had to pass the Senate, so opponents had another chance to block it. The Senate vote in January 1991 was a tie, and ties count as a loss by Senate rules. Thus the abortion bill failed and Canada remained without any legal restrictions on abortion. This is still the situation today.
Situation today
The pro-life movement has remained active since that time, but no Canadian government has even attempted to bring in an abortion law since the failure of Bill C-43. The current Conservative government has promised not to introduce any abortion legislation, and the other major parties are all whole-heartedly pro-abortion, despite a handful of pro-life MPs in the Liberal caucus. Realistically, there is unlikely to be any abortion legislation in Canada for the foreseeable future.
We have work to do
The pro-life movement in Canada has lost all of its major battles. In this respect it looks like a failure. But viewing it that way would be a mistake. As mentioned earlier, the abortion fight is a worldwide phenomenon and even the USA, with strong conservative Christian and pro-life movements, basically has a situation of abortion on demand. If the American movement, with its prominent and powerful Christian activist groups, and sympathetic politicians (including President Bush and most Republican congressmen), can't hold back the pro-abortion tide, can we really expect the Canadian pro-life movement to do any better?
The fact is that Canada's pro-lifers have fought valiantly, using the best means at their disposal. Getting over one million signatures on a pro-life petition in the mid-1970s is quite an achievement. (Remember, they had to do this the old-fashioned way – they did not have the Internet.) But the petition was ignored. Working for the election of pro-life MPs is a reasonable strategy. But every government caucus has contained some pro-life MPs, and yet look at the situation we are in today.
The pro-life movement has tried to use the courts to protect the unborn, with Joe Borowski being the best example of this. But with a judiciary dominated by abortion supporters, this didn't work either. And as a last resort, courageous pro-lifers joined Operation Rescue to use their own bodies to block entrances to abortuaries. And what did they get? Fines and jail time. So it hasn't been for a lack of trying.
The pro-life cause will ultimately prevail and abortion will be outlawed in Canada once again. But it will be a long road, and it will be easy to become discouraged in the meantime. The struggle against abortion needs to be seen in its worldwide context so that the setbacks on this issue in Canada are seen as part of a pattern of setbacks for the pro-life movement around the world. It may be an embarrassment that Canada has no legal restrictions on abortion, but many other Western nations also have high abortion rates so they aren't much different from Canada, really. Their pro-life movements have also "failed" in this respect.
It's not like the pro-life movement is simply missing a winning strategy, and once that strategy is discovered the pro-life side will finally prevail in Canada. The situation is much worse than that. The culture of the Western nations, at least among the controlling elites, is a basically pro-abortion culture, and there will need to be a change at the cultural level before the law is changed. Canada and the other Western countries need to be re-Christianized. Failing that, it's likely that abortion will continue unabated.
Michael Wagner first book, entitled On Guard For Thee: the Past, Present and Future of Canada's Christian Right is available now at www.ecpcentre.org.
12. Population Research Institute Weekly Briefing – February 20, 2009
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13. Pro-Life Hollywood - Unbelievable, But True – February 22, 2009
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14. Pro-Lifers Take Personhood Amendment Cross-Country – February 19, 2009 (Also see Item #10)
Charlie Butts – OneNewsNow – 2/19/2009 6:45:00 AM
Undaunted by a defeat in November, a national campaign is under way for the Personhood Amendment.
Campaign workers are touring states drumming up support for the amendment. One of them is pro-lifer Cal Zastrow, chairman of Michigan Citizens for Life, who explains the effort. "It amends the state constitution to define the word 'person' or 'persons' as a human being at the moment of fertilization or their biological beginning," he notes.
It is similar to the proposed constitutional amendment in Colorado that captured only about one-fourth of the vote in November. Zastrow was asked why, in light of that defeat, a national campaign for the amendment was launched.
"Because it raises the pro-life tide and it gets the vision to not quit until every baby is protected by law and love," he contends. "And you're right, we didn't win the World Series every time we swung the bat – but we're going to keep swinging the bat and keep going until we have won the World Series."
Pro-life measures did not fare well in November, losing in practically every case. But pro-life advocates across America have vowed to continue their fight to protect the unborn.
15. ‘Right To Die’ Bill Introduced Into Canadian Parliament – February 17, 2009
By John Jalsevac
February 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last Thursday's parliamentary "Notice Paper" shows that Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde has again introduced a private members bill, "An Act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity)." The text of the bill is not yet available.
This is the third time that Lalonde has introduced such a bill into Canadian Parliament. In 2005 she introduced a private members bill (C-407) to legalize assisted suicide in Canada. Had C-407 passed, the law in Canada would have allowed any individual to "assist" someone to commit suicide with or without a doctor present.
C-407 died on the table when an election was called in December 2005. Then in June 2008 Lalonde introduced Bill C-562, a slightly revised version of C-407. That bill also died when an election was called.
Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, commented to LifeSiteNews.com about Lalonde's most recent attempt, saying, "We are very concerned about the bill.
"Our primary concern," he said, "is that euthanasia and assisted suicide directly threatens the lives of the most vulnerable in society. We should not be focused on how to take the lives of the vulnerable but rather how we should be caring for them.
"To legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide represents the right of one person to take the life of another person. Our society should not be going there."
To see related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Canadian MP Introduces Bill to Legalize Euthanasia Again:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08062309.html
Canadian MP Again Seeks to Legalize Assisted Suicide:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06080101.html
Bill C-407 A Bill to Legalize Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jul/050706a.html
Canadian Parliamentary Euthanasia Debate Begins – Conservative MP Slams Proposal:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05110201.html
Canada "Not Ready" for Assisted Suicide Debate – Liberal Senator:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06030709.html
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16. Women's Real Oppressors Are Those Who Say Abortion Doesn't Hurt Them – February 13, 2009
By Naomi Lakritz, Calgary Herald February 13, 2009
On Feb. 27, the Campus Pro-Life club will head to court on the ludicrous and censorious trespassing charges the University of Calgary has brought against them for the graphic anti-abortion display they set up on campus last fall. How interesting that one of the reactions from other students has been that they shouldn't be forced to see the pictures of aborted fetuses.
This is a spurious way of denying club members their right to free speech. Nobody forced these students to look at the display. Nobody marched them to the billboards, hands behind their backs, held their heads in a vise grip and made sure their eyeballs were pointed at the pictures. They always had the choice to look away.
Part of the reason the abortion debate is so polarized is that the pro-choice faction wants to do just that – look away from the medical truth of what abortion does to an unborn baby.
Maybe they should meet Denise Mountenay. Or would they rather look away from her too, because she represents a different unpleasant truth--what abortion does to women?
"I was 16 when I had my first abortion," Mountenay says in an interview from her Morinville home. "My mother said, 'Denise, you have your whole life ahead of you. Have that operation.' I thought, I'll just be unpregnant."
But there was something troubling about becoming "unpregnant," and after the abortion, Mountenay drank, took drugs and partied. She got pregnant again in her 20s, and under pressure from her boyfriend and mother, had another abortion.
"I asked the doctor how much the baby had developed. He put a dot on a piece of paper and showed it to me. I was eight or nine weeks pregnant. He totally lied to me," she says.
After her second abortion, she fell into a deep depression and went back to drinking and drugs to numb out. "You have the procedure and you try to forget about it," she says.
"You're denying it's a baby. You're trying to justify it." It wasn't until after her third abortion that she came across information on fetal development, and "I was like, 'oh, my God'. It was a revelation. I was absolutely devastated. I read that at three weeks it has a beating heart. This is not a clump of tissue, it's a little person."
At 30, Mountenay cleaned up her act. She quit drinking, smoking and doing drugs and became a Christian. Now in her 50s, Mountenay, who is married with a teenage son, says she's devoted the past two decades to honouring the memory of her three lost children by speaking out on the effects abortion has on women. She goes on lecture tours, has written a book, and maintains a website, www.canadasilentnomore.com.
"My eyes were opened. I had a fire in my brain. I needed to be a voice," she says.
Mountenay is not an isolated case. In 2001, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario studied 41,039 women who had abortions and approximately the same number who had not.
They found that in the first three months afterwards, women who'd had abortions were hospitalized almost five times as much for psychiatric problems as those who had not had abortions.
The pro-choice faction apparently doesn't like to hear this sort of thing. How else to explain why, when the Canadian Medical Association Journal published an article in 2003 that showed low-income women who'd had abortions were at significantly greater risk of being hospitalized for psychiatric problems than women who gave birth, the CMAJ received numerous letters critical of the study?
They resorted to writing an editorial in which they said: "The hypothesis that abortion... might have a psychological impact is not unreasonable, and to desist from posing a question because one may obtain an unwanted answer is hardly scientific."
Sobering statistics also appeared in a British Medical Journal article about nationwide data in Finland that showed women who have had abortions have a six times higher incidence of suicide than women who have not.
The pro-choice side can produce its own studies, documenting that most women experience few psychological after-effects of an abortion except perhaps a sense of relief. Indeed, the Pro-Choice Action Network tends to dismiss as biased a lot of studies that show women suffer after abortion and they declare that "The typical abortion patient... comes through the procedure virtually unscathed." They claim that any aftereffects are really negative feelings stemming from the unwanted pregnancy, and are "mild and short-lived."
They cite "highly respected journals such as Science and American Journal of Psychiatry."
The war over statistics and studies can go on forever, without either side running short of ammunition.
That's why it's important to set aside the figures and listen to women like Mountenay. Their stories and their anguish must be acknowledged – and women contemplating abortions need to know about them, just as those women need to know that a living human being is literally dismembered in an abortion.
17. Writer Producer of "Fireproof", Father of Six, Has Revitalized Thousands of Marriages – February 22, 2009
Interview - Writer/Producer of "Fireproof" – Father of Six – Has Revitalized Thousands of Marriages
By John-Henry Westen
February 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Meet Alex Kendrick, a man of unshakeable faith in God, whose incredible success both in filmmaking and publishing can only be described as miraculous. Alex has six children, the eldest age ten and the sixth due to be born in April. He and his brother Stephen have no professional training in film and writing and are in full time ministry at Sherwood Baptist Church in
Atlanta Georgia.
The pair's third film, "Fireproof," starring Kirk Cameron of Growing Pains fame, was the highest-grossing independent film of 2008, with over $33 million in theatre sales, beating out such films as Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (starring Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz), and "Milk," starring Sean Penn.
That success is all the more stunning considering the film was made with an all-volunteer, 1,200-person cast and crew, drawn mostly from Sherwood Baptist church. Fireproof is the third major film venture by the church's volunteer production crew, dubbed Sherwood Pictures. "Flywheel," produced in 2004, has sold 200,000 DVDs. "Facing the Giants," in 2006, earned $10.1 million at the box office and has sold more than 1.6 million DVDs in 58 countries, in 14 languages.
Apart from the films, the Kendrick brothers have produced a book on strengthening marriages, which is currently sitting at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. The Love Dare book, as it's called, now has 2.2 million copies in print, and the book itself was a plot device in the film Fireproof.
But far more than the box office success, Kendrick cherishes the spectacular results of the book and film in terms of lives touched. Thousands of emails and testimonials report relationships restored, marriages saved, love recaptured, and divorces dissolved. The film and book give inspired step by step advice on working to salvage a marriage, even tackling the rampant yet rarely discussed marriage-killer, pornography.
LifeSiteNews.com spoke with Alex Kendrick, finding he was more than willing to share the secret of his success – God. Kendrick, who opened each filming session with prayer, told LifeSiteNews.com that his deep faith came from the example of his parents.
"We have a dad and a mom who have really been consistent in their faith," he said. "My father was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1984, had a brief time when he sank into depression and determined that he was going to praise God either way. That you don't just praise God when He blesses you; you praise Him because He is God. And that was a lesson that I watched him live out. And that has a lot to do with the way we make movies today."
Kendrick's second film, "Facing the Giants," has as its theme just that – praising God in good times and bad.
"We did not have to deal with any of the common issues in families – drinking, drugs or immoral material. We didn't have to deal with any of that," said Kendrick. "My father decided when he was a young man, after seeing those types of things wreck the former generations in my family, he decided he was going to be sold out to the Lord."
"Fireproof" deals with eliminating from family life such harmful items or behaviors, including pornography. The controversial subject was handled in the film for the sake of adults, but in a sensitive fashion so as to leave children virtually oblivious to it. LSN asked Kendrick about taking on that touchy topic.
"Well," he said, "in ministry, you tend to deal with re-occurring problems among your members and even in the community and because of cable television and the internet, men can get away with looking at immoral material by piping it into their homes. They don't have to sneak into a store and buy a magazine any more. ...As we studied and got counsel from professional counselors and as we studied what it did to marriages and families, we just realized how devastating it is and that pornography has become one of the primary reasons that couples get divorced."
The natural question for fans of the films is what's up next. But in answer to that, Kendrick could only respond with his own version of the cliché "God only knows." But for Kendrick it's no cliché, it's just a fact. "I do not have any pre-conceived notions about what all our movies are going to be about," he said. He described the process as going through a "season of prayer" where the brothers ask: "God, what would you have us to do."
As to what the brothers are up to now, the Lord, he says, has told them to, "Get your house in order." With six young children, and his brother's four, the heavenly advice is sensible. He explained we are "just pouring into our children and our families and making sure that physically and spiritually we are the healthiest that we can be."
Kendrick explained that between him and Stephen, and another brother, they have 15 children. Asked about his views on large families and contraception, he replied: "You know what, my wife and I have made all of those decisions seeking God's word and seeking Him in prayer and He has always been very clear. So, for us, He has always lain on our heart what he says in Scripture, 'Be fruitful and multiply' and 'The Children are a blessing of the Lord.' We decided that we wanted a full quiver and it is in His hands. He says very clearly in Scripture that He is the one that opens and closes the womb and so we have rejoiced in the family that He has given us."
Those interested in the book or films are directed to these websites:
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I found myself shocked. I'm still in disbelief. There, on one of Hollywood's emerging power-house blogs are not one, but two, two articles putting forward to the Hollywood masses, indeed, the developed world, that abortion is wrong. One article is from a woman who had two abortions. Talk about having the authority to make a point. 