A new study published in a respected medical journal questions why the World Health Organization (WHO) includes misoprostol as an "essential" medicine, saying it does a poor job of stopping hemorrhage after childbirth and is a possible abortifacient drug.
The Royal Society of Medicine published the study "Rethinking WHO guidance: review of evidence for misoprostol use in the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage" in August. The authors conclude, "Current evidence does not support misoprostol use in home and community settings in low- and middle- income countries" to prevent postpartum hemorrhage.
Misoprostol was originally designated for treating gastric ulcers, but has been used for off-label postpartum hemorrhaging and abortions in developing countries, explained Wendy Wright, vice president for government relations and communications at the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM).
In 2011, WHO designated the drug as an essential for people in developing countries where it is difficult to get prescriptions after heavy lobbying by abortion activists, Wright explained. That means it's more readily available over the counter in those countries — but women who take it to end their pregnancies could find themselves suffering from life-threatening complications.
But after the study's release, "the pro-abortion groups lambasted the researcher and the study's conclusion," Wright said.
Contact: Bethany Monk
Source: CitizenLink
This better not be true: A lawsuit filed in Manhattan accuses an organ collecting organization of pressuring doctors to declare dead and harvest. From the New York Post story:
The New York Organ Donor Network pressured hospital staffers to declare patients brain dead so their body parts could be harvested — and even hired “coaches” to train staffers how to be more persuasive, a bombshell lawsuit charged yesterday. The federally funded nonprofit used a “quota” system, and leaned heavily on the next of kin to sign consent forms when patients were not registered as organ donors, the suit charged. “They’re playing God,” said plaintiff Patrick McMahon, 50, an Air Force combat veteran and nurse practitioner who claims he was fired as a transplant coordinator after just four months for protesting the practice.
So often, as here, these important cases seem to involve a fired righteous whistle blower who may actually be a disgruntled fired employee making trouble.
But the mere filing of this lawsuit is a warning, that should get us thinking about preserving trust and integrity in organ transplant medicine: First, we need binding national standards for declaring death in organ donation cases that are followed universally in hospitals. We don’t have them. Second, there does seem to be a potential to treat some patients as organ farms if the case is seen as hopeless. This utilitarianism needs to be resisted at all quarters. Third, trust in the integrity of the medical system is waning–and with the pressure to cut costs in healthcare growing stronger, it will weaken further–which is why we can never accept a “presumed consent” system of organ donation. Finally, the quality of life ethic poisons all it touches. People who believe–rightly or wrongly–that their loved ones were abandoned for their kidneys and livers will refuse consent.
If we want a thriving organ transplant medical sector, it is up to doctors, hospitals, and the procuring organizations to hold the line, to walk the extra mile to earn and maintain the trust of the people. Allegations such as this need to be seriously investigated, and if true, lanced with the antiseptic of transparency.
Contact: Wesley J. Smith;
Source: Secondhand Smoke
A new development has surfaced for the use of adult stem cells for babies. The information stems from research from the University of Maryland Medical School.
The researchers found that even newborn babies already have adult type stem cells in their hearts. Dr. David Prentice of the Family Research Council tells OneNewsNow that during heart repair surgery, doctors removed snippets of tissue.
"They grew these cells in the lab and found they grew really well," Prentice says. "They were an adult-type stem cell that shows a lot of promise to be able to put in and repair heart damage, like from a birth defect or some other heart disease that the little baby is born with, or to grow new heart valves and so on."
He suggests it is not too farfetched to believe that at some point in the future those repairs could begin to take place shortly after birth. Prentice indicates there is also the possibility the stem cells could be obtained while the baby is still in the uterus.
"Keep in mind that they're all over your body, even at that point in your life while you're still in the womb," he explains. "They're in the amniotic fluid, they're in the umbilical cord blood -- and with just a few of those cells you could grow and make a heart valve or make new heart tissue, injecting it back in even while you're still in the womb."
Prentice stresses that while there is much more research to be done, the hope is that it will open up a whole new avenue of treatment before an infant comes into the world.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow.com
Pro-Life Nation announces that AbortionDocs.org has surpassed 3,000 document-uploads that reveal a systemic pattern abuse throughout the abortion industry.
"The more than 3,000 documents now online are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exposing the health care crisis that exists in the abortion cartel today," said Troy Newman, President of Pro-Life Nation. "We have really just begun to document abortion abuses that are occurring every day at abortion clinics that the public mistakenly thinks are providing safe abortions."
AbortionDocs.org is an outreach of Pro-Life Nation. It is a searchable database that lists every surgical abortion and medication abortion clinic as well as every known abortionist in the country. Each clinic and abortionist has a profile page with links to documents that include license applications, law suits, disciplinary action, criminal background, 911 recordings, autopsy reports, and more.
In 1991, there were over 2,176 surgical abortion clinics in America. Today there are 660, showing the effectiveness of pro-life efforts over the years.
"AbortionDocs.org is the nation's abortion scorecard. There we can see at a glance the number of abortion clinics dropping as clinics continue to close," said Newman.
Most recently Summit Women's Center in Hartford, Connecticut, permanently closed while the Women's Aid abortion clinic relocated from Lincolnwood, IL to Chicago and stopped providing surgical abortions.
AbortionDocs.org is updated daily and contains the most accurate listing of abortion providers and documentation available. AbortionDocs.org encourages those who have documentation of abortion abuses, such as ambulance photos, court documents, and video clips to submit those documents to AbortionDocs.org for publication.
Contact: Troy Newman, Cheryl Sullenger
Source: Operation Rescue/Pro-Life Nation
Minor children on their parents’ health care plans will have free coverage of sterilization and contraception, including abortion-causing drugs, under the controversial HHS mandate – and depending on the state, they can obtain access without parental consent.
Matt Bowman, senior counsel for the religious liberty legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, said the mandate “tramples parental rights” because it requires them to “pay for and sponsor coverage of abortifacients, sterilization, contraception and education in favor of the same for their own children.”
The Department of Health and Human Services ruled in January 2012 that most employers who have 50 or more employees must provide the coverage as “preventive care” for “all women with reproductive capacity.”
The mandate also requires the coverage for beneficiaries, including minors, on the affected health plans, Bowman told CNA Sept. 20. That means that a minor on her parents’ plan could be sterilized if she finds a doctor willing to perform the procedure.
“She can be sterilized at no cost,” Bowman stated. “Whether her parents will know and/or consent might differ by state. But the Guttmacher Institute and other abortion advocates explicitly advocated for this mandated coverage of minors so that access without parental involvement might be able to increase.”
The Guttmacher Institute, in a Sept. 1 briefing on state policies, said that an increase in minors’ access to reproductive health care over the last 30 years shows a broader recognition that “while parental involvement in minors’ health care decisions is desirable, many minors will not avail themselves of important services if they are forced to involve their parents.”
The institute, the former research arm of abortion provider Planned Parenthood, said that 26 states and the District of Columbia allow all minors 12 years and older to consent to contraceptive services. At least one state, Oregon, allows 15-year-olds to consent to sterilization.
CNA repeatedly contacted the Department of Health and Human Services for comment but did not receive a response.
Employers who do not comply with the mandate face fines of $100 per employee per day. Large employers like the University of Notre Dame could face annual fines in the millions.
There are presently 30 lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate in federal court on religious freedom grounds. The 80 plaintiffs include Catholic dioceses, universities, health care systems and charities.
The mandate’s narrow religious exemption would not apply to many Catholic institutions, despite Catholics’ moral and religious objections to the covered procedures and drugs. Several Protestant institutions have also challenged the law, citing objections to abortion-causing drugs.
The Obama administration has said it will accommodate some religious objections, though the details of those arrangements remain unclear.
Bowman rejected the idea that the Obama administration’s proposed accommodations will affect the coverage of minors.
“The accommodation does not even claim it will change this part of the mandate,” he said.
Legislation to allow all employers with religious or moral objections to opt out of the coverage failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year.
Defenders of the Obama administration have depicted resistance to the mandate as a “war on women.”
At the same time, a grassroots campaign called The Women Speak for Themselves has garnered the support of 34,000 women. The group says those backing the mandate are trying to “shout down anyone who disagrees” with them by invoking “women’s health,” while ignoring the negative physical and social effects of contraception for women.
Source: CNA/EWTN News
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
Thomas More Society's special counsel Paul Benjamin Linton, Esq., will argue before the Illinois Supreme Court today at 9 a.m., seeking to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the Illinois ACLU in an attempt to declare the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 unconstitutional.
The ACLU brings claims that the law is a violation of the Illinois State Constitution of 1970, even though the Act was upheld as constitutional after a lengthy federal litigation that concluded three years ago. Linton will petition the high court to reverse rulings by the trial court in Cook County affirmed by the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District, holding that downstate county prosecutors would not be permitted to intervene in the lawsuit, which is being defended by the Illinois Attorney General's office.
Linton is arguing on behalf of Stewart Umholtz of Tazewell County and Edward Deters of Effingham County, a Republican and Democrat, respectively, that the very premise of the ACLU's lawsuit -- that the Illinois Constitution protects a right to abortion that is stronger than the federal abortion right recognized in Roe v. Wade -- is patently false. Indeed, the county prosecutors maintain that there is no abortion right whatsoever prescribed by the Illinois Constitution, let alone one stronger than the federal right, and therefore the ACLU lawsuit must be dismissed.
The Cook County trial court had dismissed ACLU's case on the ground that an Illinois abortion right was no stronger than the federal right, and thus the federal court upheld the parental notice law that was dispositive of the state court lawsuit. The Appellate Court, however, reversed and remanded the lawsuit for further proceedings on the merits of ACLU's claim.
Both the Attorney General's office and the Thomas More Society and Linton, acting on behalf of the downstate prosecutors, then sought leave to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, and the high Court allowed both petitions. Linton argues that the Illinois Attorney General has been an inadequate representative of the prosecutors' interests in that she declines to argue the strongest point of the defense, namely, that there is no abortion right at all under the Illinois Constitution, given the record of proceedings before the Constitutional Convention in which the delegates voted to leave the issue for legislative determination.
Contact: Tom Ciesielka
Source: Thomas More Society
Pro-life advocates have joined a leading homeschooling organization in urging the Senate not to ratify the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). President Barack Obama signed the treaty in 2009, but the Senate has not yet ratified it, even though it was recently approved by a Senate subcommittee.
In 2006, the Holy See announced that it would not sign the CPRD. Archbishop Celestino Migliore, at the time apostolic nuncio to the United Nations, said that the Holy See could interpret two ambiguous articles of the treaty “in a way which safeguards the primary and inalienable rights of parents.”
The inclusion of the phrase “reproductive health” in article 25, however, led to the Holy See’s refusal to sign the accord. Archbishop Migliore said:
We opposed the inclusion of such a phrase [reproductive health] in this article, because in some countries reproductive health services include abortion, thus denying the inherent right to life of every human being, affirmed by article 10 of the Convention. It is surely tragic that, wherever fetal defect is a precondition for offering or employing abortion, the same Convention created to protect persons with disabilities from all discrimination in the exercise of their rights, may be used to deny the very basic right to life of disabled unborn persons.
For this reason, and despite the many helpful articles this Convention contains, the Holy See is unable to sign it.
Source: Catholic World News
While abortion activists claim terminating a pregnancy is safer for the woman, several studies reflect that giving birth is less dangerous.
The latest study involves records on a half-million women in Denmark. It concludes that childbirth is indeed safer than abortion.
Dr. David Reardon of the Elliot Institute explains that statisticians looked at records over a 30-year period before making this analysis.
"[They] were able to look at link records, death certificate records and the complete reproductive history," he details, "and the results showed that compared to women who gave birth, women who had abortions were about twice as likely to die in each of the ten years following an abortion. It was evident even within the first 180 days."
Reardon tells OneNewsNow there is a problem with the information presented by abortion proponents in this country.
"[They] basically take reports of maternal deaths and abortion deaths, when there's no systematic way of gathering them, and they just claim that abortion is like 14 times safer than childbirth," he says.
"Whereas, in fact, three different data sets from three different countries -- the United States, Finland and Denmark -- show that the opposite is true, that abortion has a higher mortality rate than childbirth."
The Elliot Institute founder adds that two of the studies reveal that in the first year after an abortion, the biggest cause of death is suicide.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow.com
