Life Decisions International (LDI) has released a revised edition of The Boycott List, which identifies corporations that support Planned Parenthood, the world's primary abortion-advocacy behemoth.
"As a direct result of the commitment, action and prayers of pro-family people, at least 289 corporations have stopped funding Planned Parenthood," said Kenneth C. Garvey, LDI's Director of Communications. It is estimated that the boycott has cost Planned Parenthood more than $40 million since the Corporate Funding Project (CFP) began. "This should serve as a testament to those who think it impossible to change corporate behavior."
New boycott targets include Intuit (Go-Payment, Lacerte, Mint, ProSeries, QuickBooks, Quicken, SnapTax, TurboTax, etc.) and VIA Rail (train service in Canada).
Some of the corporations continuing as boycott targets are: Adobe, AOL, Arthur Murray, Bank of America, Bikram's Yoga, Chevron, Danone (Dannon products), Darden Restaurants (eateries including Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc.), eBay (PayPal, etc.), Marriott, Midas, NACCO (Hamilton Beach and Proctor Silex products; Kitchen Collection and Le Gourmet Chef stores), Nike, Pernod Ricard (alcoholic products including Absolute, Ballantine's, Beefeater, Chivas Regal, Kahlúa, Malibu, Royal Salute. etc.), Select Comfort (Sleep Number bed), Southwest Airline (Jet Blue, etc.), Starwood (lodging including Four Points, Sheraton, St. Regis, W, Westin, etc.), TD Bank Group, UBS (financial services), Wells Fargo, Whole Foods, and Wyndham (lodging including Baymont, Days Inn, Dream Hotels, Hawthorne, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Microtel, Night, Ramada, Super 8, Travelodge, TRYP Hotels, Wingate, etc.).
The Boycott List includes a "Dishonorable Mention" section, which identifies nonprofits that are associated with Planned Parenthood and/or its agenda. The only addition to this section is The Lance Armstrong Foundation. Other groups in the "Dishonorable Mention" section include: AARP, American Cancer Society, Boys & Girls Clubs, Camp Fire, Dr. Phil Foundation, Girl Scouts, Girls Inc., Kiwanis Clubs, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, March of Dimes, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Rotary Clubs, Salvation Army, Save the Children, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, YMCA, and YWCA.
Garvey said the ongoing success of the Corporate Funding Project is due to the tenacity of pro-life people who "understand the power of the dollar and are willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of preborn children."
For information about the CFP, including the steps taken before a corporation is placed on The Boycott List and the standards used to place a nonprofit group in the "Dishonorable Mention" section of The Boycott List, please click here.
Source: Life Decisions International
October is "Respect Life" Month; The first Sunday is Respect Life Sunday! This is a project for the entire Family, Council, and Church to celebrate their Respect for Life! Help make this the special Sunday that it is! Step out for a couple of hours on Sunday, October 7, 2012. Proclaim to the entire world that it is "Great to be Alive" on this anniversary of "25 years of Life Chain Across America".
Below is a listing as of today of the cities and towns where organized events are taking place. To check for the latest updates or for a location closer to you, goto; www.lifechain.net
October 7, 2012 - time on each listing
ILLINOIS (For additional information about Life Chains in Illinois, please contact State Director Patty Sprague 618-283-1387)
* ALTON AREA - Broadway from Piasa to Henry St Clark Bridge; 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Mary Ann Morris 618-465-3108
* ARLINGTON HEIGHTS - Euclid Ave at Walnut Ave, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; David Bergquist 847-284-6865
* AURORA - E New York St at Oakhurst Dr, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Chuck Jones 630-896-3826
* BELVIDERE - State Street Bridge, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Dennis Sullivan 815-914-1462
* BERWYN - Ogden Ave at Harlem Ave, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Mary Ann Pater 708-484-1204
* BLOOMINGTON / NORMAL - College Ave at David Anderson Park at east lot, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Jay Talsma 309-828-9250
* BRAIDWOOD - Rt 53 at Hwy 113, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Jim Vehrs
* BROOKFIELD - Ogden Ave at Prairie Ave, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
* CARBONDALE - Main St at Illinois Ave, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Ray Nowaki 618-684-2930
* CHAMPAIGN - Kirby Ave at Hessel Park, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; John & Myrna Buyno 217-352-1007
* CHICAGO - Ashland Ave at Cullerton St, 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Liz Gonzalez 312-421-7647
* CHICAGO / BRIGHTON PARK - Archer Ave at California Ave, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Casey Niedos 773-927-0322
CLARKSBURG - Rt 16 at Clarksburg Rd, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* CLINTON COUNTY - communities along new Rte 50, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Esther Koch 618-526-8589
* COLLINSVILLE - Vandalia St (Hwy 159) from Clay St to N Beltline, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Herman Wenos 618-344-4108 or 618-344-8778
COWDEN - Main St, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* CRYSTAL LAKE - Rte 14 at Teckler Blvd, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Nancy Cole 815-455-7265
* DARIEN / WOODRIDGE / DOWNERS GROVE - 75th St west of Lemont Rd, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Betty Girdwain 630-963-0654
* DECATUR - Downtown, 2:30 to 3:30p.m.; signs at Franklin at Wood Sts; Diana Shipley 217-864-5422 or 217-423-8452
* DIXON - S Galena Ave at River St, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.; Margaret Brechon 815-288-1156
* DOLLVILLE - Rt 16, noon to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* EDWARDSVILLE - Buchanan at Vandalia, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Peggy Pace 618-659-9336
* EFFINGHAM AREA - Keller Dr at Fayette Ave, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Loretta Koester 217-857-3060
* ELBURN - Rt 47 at Pierce St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Darlene Biggs 630-365-9166
* ELIZABETH - Rt 20 near Elizabeth Garage, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.; Marilyn Gollmer 815-541-0354
* FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS / METRO EAST - Hwy 159 at Hwy 50, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Linda Behnken 618-632-8608
* FARMER CITY - Main St at Hwy 54, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Jerry & Judy Hahn 309-928-2109
* FARMINGTON - Rt 116 at Rt 78, Sun, Oct 16, 1:00 to 2:15 p.m.; Fr Bruce King 309-335-0526
* FREEPORT - Hwy 26 / West Ave at Stephenson St, 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.; Connie Gogel 815-275-9831
* GALESBURG / KNOX COUNTY - Public square, 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. with a rally until 3:30 p.m.; Mary Norton 309-343-0621 OR Lisa Lindstrom 309-342-7214
* GLEN ELLYN - Roosevelt Rd at Finley Rd, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Carol Wright 630-469-2165
* GRANITE CITY - 3248 Nameoki Rd in front of store, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Kathy Mangi 618-931-7800
* GRAYSLAKE - 1350 State Rt 137 in front of Crossroads Church, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.; Gail Bordley 847-362-7120
* GRAYSLAKE / DOWNTOWN - Rt 120 between Lake St and Rt 83, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Ann-Marie Miller 847-212-9297
* GURNEE - Gages Lake Rd at Hunt Club Rd, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Eric & Rosie Smyth 847-231-6084 OR Meegan McNulty 847-855-0117
* HANOVER PARK - Irving Park Rd at East Ave, 2:30 to 4:00 p.m.; Maureen Deitche 630-935-8158
* HARVARD - Rt 14 at Rt 173, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Richard Kirchner 815-770-0160
* HERRICK - RR 1 at Herrick Baptist Church, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Pastor Jay Huddleston 618-428-5400
* HIGHLAND - Route 40 at Route 143, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; park at shopping center; Angela Michael 618-654-5800
* HINSDALE - York Rd south of Ogden Ave, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Maureen Sager 708-352-5834
* INGLESIDE - Rt 59 at Wilson Rd, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Sandy Kolseth 847-587-2251
* JERSEYVILLE - State Street, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.;signs at St. Francis Church parking lot at 2:00 p.m.; Marilyn Parsell 618-498-2679
* JOLIET - Six Corners at Raynor and Rt 30, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Karen Hatfield 815-744-6339
* LA GRANGE - Ogden Ave at LaGrange Rd, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Wayne & Marianne Hamilton 708-579-0118
* LAKE VILLA - Milwaukee Ave (Hwy 83) south of Grand Ave (Hwy 132), 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Henry Potrykus 847-388-5570
* LAKEWOOD - Main St, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* LAKEWOOD - Tower Hill-Herrick Rd, Lighthouse Tabernacle Pentecostal Church, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Pastor Brown 217-567-3337
* LANSING - Ridge Rd at Burnham Ave, 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.; Cathy Dziubla 219-838-1138 or Dorothy Springer 219-838-1138
* LIBERTYVILLE - Rt 176 (Park Ave) at Rt 21 (Milwaukee Ave), 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.; meet at Formation Center at 1:30 p.m.; Renee Tam 847-680-6652
* LISLE - Ogden Ave at Main St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Carole Gassett 630-960-2916
* LITHIA SPRINGS - Rt 16, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* MACOMB - Hwy 136 / 67 between Lafayette and Randolph at Chandler Park, Sun, Oct 14, 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.; Connie Kreps 309-776-3058
* MANSFIELD - Hwy 150 at McKinley St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Donnette Coley 217-649-9314
* MARENGO - RT 20 at Rt 23, Sun, Oct 14, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.; Kelly Sergent 630-664-7435
* MASCOUTAH - Rt 177 at Rt 4, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Linda Behnken 618-632-8608
* McHENRY - Rt 31 / Richmond Rd at Pearl, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; signs at St Mary Church at 2:00 p.m.; Karen Verr 815-363-0408
* MENDOTA - Rt 34 at Hwy 251, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.; Andy Wujek 815-539-5599 or Tom Schuhler 815-538-1940
* MILLSTADT - Washington St (Rt 158) between Lafayette St and Kossuth St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Mary Thornton 618-476-3365
* MORRIS - Rt 47 (Division St) at Jefferson St, signs at 118 E Jefferson St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Marilou Warrick 815-942-5575 or Renee Zettek 815-941-9121
* Mt. CARMEL - Cherry St at Ninth St, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.; Pat Stouse 618-262-7643
* Mt. VERNON - Broadway at 24th St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Larry Pearson 618-755-4716
* MUNDELEIN - US Rt 45 (Lake St) at Courtland St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Margaret (Peggy) Feinendegen 847-566-7658
* NAPERVILLE - Ogden Ave at Washington, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; JoAnne Mehon 630-357-6876
* NASHVILLE - Rt 127 at Rt 15, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Jennifer Detering 618-920-9829
* NEW LENOX - Cedar Rd at Rt 30, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Melinda Grundhofer 815-424-0371
* NOKOMIS - Main St, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* NOKOMIS - State St at Spruce St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Missy Huber 217-827-0723
* OCONEE - Rt 51 at Southern Baptist Church, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* ORLAND PARK - 96th Ave (LaGrange Rd) from 143rd to 153rd, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; William Beckman 312-422-9300 OR 708-429-2762
* PANA - five locations, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
10 W 2nd St
Rt 51 two miles south of Pana at Celebration Church and Independence Church
Rt 51 five miles south of Pana at Hopewell Baptist Church
Rt 51 at Rt 16 at Knobbs Baptist Church, 12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
Rt 16 at First General Baptist Church
* PARIS - Jasper St at High St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; signs at Cornerstone Baptist Church, 15197 Hwy 150; Pastor Jack Hoffman 217-463-2007
* PEORIA - University at Northmoor, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Daniel Smith 309-691-3611; See Central Illinois Right to Life.
* QUAD CITIES - Middle Rd at Happy Joe Dr, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Vicki Tyler 563-332-0475
* QUINCY - Broadway at 48th St, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Jane Haas 217-224-5483 or 217-257-0533
* RICHMOND - US Rt 12 at Hwy 173, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Laura Brumm 262-279-3061
* RIVERSIDE - Ogden Ave at Harlem Ave, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Katie Kruse 708-442-7515
* ROCKFORD - Alpine Rd at Highcrest Rd, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; signs at Holy Family Church; Joe & Jane Mata 815-505-6006
* St. CHARLES - Rt 64 (Main St) from Kirk Rd to 3rd Ave, Sun, Oct 14, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Virginia Fritz 630-584-6560
* St. CHARLES -Rt 64 (North Ave) at 5th St, Sun, Oct 14, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Larry & Karen Johnson 630-513-0911
* SALEM - Main St, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Fr Robert 618-548-0899
* SHELBYVILLE - Rt 16 (E Main St) at the Courthouse. 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* SPRINGFIELD - S Grand at MacArthur / Wabash Aves AND in front of churches along Sangamon Ave, Stevenson Dr and Taylor Ave, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Kathy Cinotto 217-691-4230 or Terry Everett 217-528-2547
* STERLING - Locust St at 6th St, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Jim & Barb Lopez 815-626-2013
* STEWARDSON - Main St, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* STRASBERG - Main St, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* SULLIVAN - Southern Baptist Church, E Jackson St, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Judith Koerner or Diana Litteral 217-774-4874
* TOWER HILL - Rt 51 at Rt 16 at Knobbs Baptist Church, 12:00 to 1:30 p.m.; Pastor Randy Miller 217-567-3290
* VANDALIA - Gallatin St at Kennedy Blvd, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.; Pastor Peter Kolb 618-283-1133
* WAUCONDA - Rt 176 at Mill St half mile east of Rt 12, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Mary Ann Fijalkiewicz 847-526-7101
* WAUKEGAN - Grand Ave at Green Bay Rd, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Pastor Bob Rhyne 847-746-4905
* WAUKEGAN - Washington St at Orchard Ave, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.; Pastor George Jones 847-336-0664
* WEST DUNDEE / NORTHERN KANE COUNTY - Rte 72 at Rte 31, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; Debbie Schmalen 847-426-7326
* WESTCHESTER - Mannheim Rd at Wight St, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Patricia Meyers 708-865-0374
* WESTERN SPRINGS - Ogden Ave at Wolf Rd AND Ogden Ave at Grand, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Blanche Heaney 708-246-7437
* WOOD DALE - 203 E Irving Park Rd, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Mary Stuhr 630-250-7521
An Illinois appellate court has ruled in favor of two pharmacists who
objected to providing emergency contraception because they said it
infringed upon their religious beliefs.
A lawsuit by Luke Vander Bleek and Glenn Kosirog challenged a 2005
executive order by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich requiring all pharmacists
to fill prescriptions for the so-called morning-after pill.
They argued they were protected by the Illinois Health Care Right of
Conscience Act. That law says health professionals cannot be punished if
they refuse to offer a service because of their conscientious
convictions.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Friday's ruling applies only to the two
pharmacists. But their lawyer, Francis Manion, says the precedent means
the state cannot go after other pharmacists who similarly refuse to
provide the pill.
Source: The Chicago Tribune
The Lancet, a British medical journal, has published new information that questions the need to abort a baby to improve the prognosis for a pregnant patient with cancer.
Dr. Julie Griffin of the Christian Medical Association (CMA) tells OneNewsNow about the study, which was led by respected Belgian cancer physician Frederic Amant. Though his research indicates the possibility of saving both the baby and mother, it does not suggest that outcome can be accomplished in all cases.
Griffin, Dr. Julie"But definitely there is reason to believe that a mother and her preborn child can withstand the throes and the treatment of chemotherapeutics, and both can make it through a pregnancy safely, and the child will do quite well," Dr. Griffin says.
The medical evidence in the study encourages working harder to maintain and salvage the child's life and not to make a hasty decision to abort the child.
"I think that it's something that is supported biblically -- that when we look to save both lives that that is something the Lord wants us to do," the CMA spokesperson suggests. "So we as believers need to continue to point in that direction, and even through the medical evidence that is now pointing towards the importance of both lives and the possibility of both lives being saved."
Still, the question arises of when abortion would be necessary. Griffin says that depends on the "covenant relationship" between the doctor and patient, as well the father. She concludes that it needs to be approached on the basis "of hope and the sanctity of life and weighing the very difficult decisions that sometimes have to be made."
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow.com
I couldn’t believe my eyes: But there it was, right on the front page of the New York Times: “A First: Organs Tailor-Made With Body’s Own Cells.”
The story goes into great detail describing an Iceland research success in which a dying man’s trachea was fabricated using plastic and the patient’s own cells, still functional after several years. And then, it describes the progress being made in more sophisticated experiments. From the story:
Human stem cells are part of the body’s system for building and repairing itself. They begin as a blank slate, but are able to become specialized cells specific to particular tissues or organs like the windpipe. In recent years, scientists have made great advances in understanding how stem cells can differentiate in this way
Wow! Adult stem cells can be transformed into different types of tissues. Who knew? Well, readers of this blog have for years. Not so sure about readers of the NYT.
Scientists are experimenting with interesting approaches:
Labs around the world are now experimenting with scaffolds. In some cases the goal is to use the natural scaffolds themselves to build new organs — to take a donor lung, for example, strip all its cells and reseed it with a patient’s own cells. Why not use what nature has perfected, this line of thinking goes, rather than try to replicate it in a synthetic scaffold?
And perhaps even better:
Because the need for this kind of work is potentially so enormous, “we cannot pretend that we can reseed with the specific cells outside the body,” he said. Instead, he envisions developing even better scaffolds and implanting them without cells, relying on drugs to stimulate the body to send cells to the site. His ultimate dream is to eliminate even the synthetic scaffold. Instead, drugs would enable the body to rebuild its own scaffold. “Don’t touch the patient,” Dr. Macchiarini said. “Just use his body to recreate his own organ. It would be fantastic.”
Congratulations, New York Times. You finally reported the real news about regenerative medicine.
Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
The abortion license, ironically, helped lead directly to a view that there is a fundamental right to have children. And to be sure, people should not be forced to be sterilized, or to take birth control, or have abortions. Hello People’s Republic of China!
But those are “negative” rights, that is, a right possessed by the individual that the state cannot violate. But many take the right to procreate into the land of entitlement, e.g., a “positive right” to have children by any means they choose–and if that is true, it means human cloning, three related biological parents, etc. And now, Costa Rica is in the dock of Inter-American Court of Human Rights because it outlaws IVF. From the Scientific American story:
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is set to decide whether Costa Rica, the only country that completely prohibits in vitro fertilization (IVF), has infringed basic rights with its ban. The tribunal — which is based in the Costa Rican capital of San José but rules on human-rights violations throughout Central and South America — met last week to hear a case brought by affected couples against Costa Rica.
The decision, expected in the next few months, may oblige Costa Rica to lift the ban and regulate IVF. But scientists are concerned that if the prohibition is upheld, it will set a bad precedent for laws related to health, including one that would lift a ban on experiments involving humans, such as drug trials, that was first brought before the country’s parliament in 2011.
My take: There should be no “right” entitlement to IVF. Nor should a country be prevented from prohibiting human experimentation. I don’t approve of such a law, but creating a fundamental entitlement “right” to engage in human experimentation would be a huge mistake.
Contact: Wesley J. Smith
Source: Secondhand Smoke
Seemingly hitting back at the Obama campaign for its championing of abortion rights in ads and speeches, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan told a crowd Friday that Obama is the "extreme" candidate on abortion and that the president has never "lifted a hand to defend the most helpless" of human beings.
It was the furthest that either Ryan or Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has yet gone in criticizing Obama on abortion. Obama campaign ads have called Romney and Ryan extreme on the issue.
"Apparently, the Obama-Biden ticket stands for an absolute, unqualified right to abortion -- at any time, under any circumstances and even at taxpayer expense"
"Giving up any further pretense of moderation on this issue, and in complete disregard for millions of pro-life Democrats, President Obama has chosen to pander to the most extreme elements of his party," Ryan said at the Values Voters Summit, a gathering of pro-family voters and organizations in Washington. "In the Clinton years, the stated goal was to make abortion 'safe, legal and rare.' But that was a different time, and a different president. Now, apparently, the Obama-Biden ticket stands for an absolute, unqualified right to abortion -- at any time, under any circumstances and even at taxpayer expense."
The Democratic platform passed at the party's convention said the party "strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay" -- a reference to tax-funded abortion. The platform added, in a knock against laws such as parental notifications and 24-hour waiting periods, "We oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right."
Said Ryan referencing an Obama theme, "'We're all in this together' -- it has a nice ring. For everyone who loves this country, it is not only true but obvious. Yet how hollow it sounds coming from a politician who has never once lifted a hand to defend the most helpless and innocent of all human beings, the child waiting to be born. ... When you get past all of the president's straw men, what we believe is plain to state: These vital questions should be decided, not by the caprice of unelected judges, but by the conscience of the people and their elected representatives. And in this good-hearted country, we believe in showing compassion for mother and child alike."
"We don't write anyone off in America, especially those without a voice. Every child has a place and purpose in this world. Everyone counts, and in a just society the law should stand on the side of life."
In three nights, the Democratic Convention saw 25 speakers reference the party's support for legal abortion, an average of eight speakers a night in what was the biggest emphasis on the issue since at least the 1992 convention. During his speech Obama said he didn't want government to "control health care choices that women should make for themselves." Biden said he favored a "future where women control their own choices, health and destiny." First Lady Michelle Obama said her husband believes women "are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care." The presidents of Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America also spoke.
The Obama campaign has referenced abortion in more TV ads this year than any major presidential candidate in history.
Contact: Michael Foust
Source: Baptist Press
Hobby Lobby's lawsuit against the Health and Human Services mandate to provide coverage for the "morning-after" and "week-after" pills in insurance exchanges has gained some support.
Washington, DC-based Independent Women's Forum points out that 27 lawsuits involving religious institutions and businesses have been filed to stop the federal government from imposing the coverage. Spokesperson Hadley Heath tells OneNewsNow IWF's support is based on religious freedom and limits to the government's authority to mandate.
Heath
"Every American -- whether they're religious or not -- has a right to live in accordance with their values, to live according to their moral conscience," she says. "Of course, this intervention on the government's part is going to be something that has implications not just for family-owned businesses or for Catholics, but it has economic impact as well. It's going to, I believe, affect the market for birth control and affect some prices in healthcare. So there are many factors to be considered."
Heath adds when government is involved "there are winners and losers and there are secondary and sometimes indirect consequences that were not intended."
Heath believes people need to understand the seriousness of the consequences of violating the constitutional rights of the institutions, businesses and individuals impacted by the mandates.
Hobby Lobby recently filed a lawsuit over the healthcare reform mandate, claiming it is forcing the business owners to "violate their own faith."
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow.com
My biweekly On the Square today deals with the wave of suicide prevention. I partly blame the assisted suicide movement and the suicide prevention community’s failure to grapple with the pro advocacy of the “death with dignity” crowd.
I begin by noting that suicide prevention seems to receive less attention than when I was practicing law. Not only that, but suicide itself seems to have become more societally accepted. From, “Invisible Suicide Prevention Day:”
Not only does suicide prevention receive less emphasis, but certain segments of society have grown pro-suicide—or more accurately stated, pro- some suicides. Who can deny it? Pro-suicide billboards, mostly sponsored by the Final Exit Network, make headlines. The late Jack Kevorkian was lionized for helping to end the lives of more than one hundred and thirty disabled and terminally ill people, even becoming the subject of a hagiographic movie starring Al Pacino. “How to commit suicide” books can be found at your local retailer, and assisted suicide advocacy groups are treated as respectable “patients’ rights” groups in the media. Meanwhile, as debates rage about the best way to cap the surging cost of our medical system, a Vermont newspaper editorialized in favor of legalizing assisted suicide as a way to help pay for that state’s new single-payer health plan.
I ask why the shift in attitude? I point a finger of at least partial blame. I discuss the “rational suicide” movement within the mental health professions and the laws here and abroad that have legalized suicide and euthanasia as a medical treatment. I then point out how the top suicide prevention organizations in the world are utterly silent about the ubiquitous pro ‘some’ suicide advocacy, and point out that undermines the prevention cause:
The World Health Organization has been similarly derelict, urging that preventers restrict access to “common methods of suicide” and engage in “many levels of intervention and activities” to protect the suicidal. The guidelines also point out that “adequate prevention and treatment of depression . . . can reduce suicide rates, as well as follow up contact.”
In contrast, rather than helping people stand against the darkness, the assisted suicide movement seduces people toward embracing it through talk of “death with dignity.” Rather than ensuring access to treatment for mental illness, they claim it often isn’t needed because suicides apparently inspired by serious sickness, disability, or mental illness are not really suicide, but “aid in dying.” They even want the means provided. Thus the euthanasia/assisted suicide movement thwarts suicide prevention by promoting precisely opposite values and actions.
I conclude:
This much I know: Until and unless we stand up against assisted suicide, Suicide Prevention Days will remain invisible.
Euthanasia advocates like to paint themselves as oh, so compassionate. I see it as quite the opposite. Morally, they have much for which to answer.
Contact: Wesley J. Smith
source: Secondhand smoke
