U.S. House Reapproves Funding for Ethical Cord Blood Stem Cells

     
Hope for future therapies and cures from stem cell research got a big boost Thursday, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to renew funding for non-controversial work in stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood over the next five years.
 
The House reauthorized the "Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act," authored by New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith in 2005, with a unanimous voice vote. "The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2010" now extends the program's life through 2015.

Since the Senate approved reauthorization last week, the bill will now go to President Barack Obama for signing.
 
The bill authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to appropriate $23 million every year between fiscal years (FY) 2011- 2014 and $20 million in FY 2015 for the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI). The HHS Secretary also may appropriate $30 million every year for FY 2011-2014, and $33 million for FY 2015 for the Bone Marrow Transplant program.

The funding will support studies, programs, and projects related to cord blood donation, such as developing new technologies and approaches, expanding collection sites, forming long-lasting relationships between cord blood banks and birthing hospitals, and establishing a genetic diversity of cord blood units with the NCBI.
 
The reauthorization bill also includes an amendment that removes the 150,000 cap on cord blood units that could be made available for transplant.

Smith on the House floor said the law created a "nationwide umbilical cord blood stem cell program designed to collect, derive, type and freeze cord blood units" that would be used both for treatment of patients and provide stem cells for research.

The Congressman added that umbilical cord blood, once considered medical waste, is now on the "cutting edge of science" for treating leukemia, other cancers, cerebral palsy, lupus, spinal cord injuries, sickle-cell anemia and other diseases.

The new bill is a big boost to researchers in cord blood compared with the original program. Under the 2005 law, funding for Smith's cord blood program began at $4 million in FY2008, growing to $12 million in 2010, and will reach $14 million in 2011.

Since the cord blood program was established, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has contracted with 12 cord blood banks to collect, store, and provide units of cord blood to doctors, patients and researchers.
 
While the goal of collecting and maintaining a collection of 150,000 units of genetically diverse cord blood has not yet been met, the extension of time and money should put them closer to meeting that goal.
Stem cell treatments derived from umbilical cord blood have yielded enormous successes, vastly expanding the frontiers of medical science and providing tangible hope in the fight against what were once considered incurable diseases.
 
One famous case involved a two year-old girl from Suffolk, England, who was cured of a rare form of cancer in 2007 using genetically matched stem cells from a frozen Japanese umbilical cord. Sorrel Mason was suffering from acute myeloid leukemia, and given a 30 percent chance of survival. With the stem cell treatment given by Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, a leader in extending donor stem cell pools and one of the best centers for stem cell transplants in Europe, Mason made a full recovery. She was reported cancer free in 2008 and again in 2009.
Pro-life advocates point out that, meanwhile, embryonic stem cell research has yet to provide the medical community with any treatments.

Contact: Peter J. Smith

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Date Published: October 1, 2010

Nation remains split on abortion issue

     

A faith and culture research organization has delved into attitudes about abortion, finding that faith -- or lack of it -- continues to heavily influence opinion on the issue.
 
Barna Group spokesman David Kinnamon tells OneNewsNow the purpose of the research was to update previous studies on attitudes toward abortion. So his research group asked 1,001 adults across America if they thought abortion should be "legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases."

 "We found that generally, Americans continue to favor keeping abortion legal in most or all cases -- 49 percent compared to 42 percent who would like to make it illegal in all or most cases," Kinnamon reports. "So when you look at it, abortion continues to split the nation pretty much right down the middle."

But he adds that the latest research reveals that compared to the 1990s and early 2000s, Americans have shifted and softened their opinions on the issue.

 "What we find in our research is that they're more likely to be more moderate, more likely to express a 'middle ground' or 'not sure' position about abortion. And so it seems as though Americans, while they still have clear views on the matter, are a little bit less likely to express strong opinions on one side of the issue or the other," the Barna spokesman explains.

 Only about one-third of Americans expressed strong views either for or against abortion. One important aspect of the research is that faith plays a heavy role in the decision, as 78 percent of evangelical Christians think the procedure should be illegal in all or most cases, while 72 percent of those who identify themselves as atheists or agnostics think it should continue to be legal.

 Also, according to the survey, many young people -- especially young Christians -- continue to oppose abortion. Kinnamon thinks that suggests young people are saying the nation's "experimentation with abortion needs to be rethought, and we need to go back to a more traditional perspective on the issue."

Contact: Charlie Butts

Source: OneNewsNow
Date Published: October 4, 2010

Abortionist Pulls Gun on Pro-Life Witnesses

     

A Tennessee abortionist was arrested, but released on $25,000 bail Saturday after brandishing a gun at pro-lifers peacefully witnessing outside a Charleston clinic.

Witnesses say Tennessee abortionist Gary Boyle, 62, pointed a loaded handgun as he emerged from his vehicle at about 8:30am Saturday morning at three pro-life witnesses, including one 17-year-old young man, who were standing outside the Charleston Women's Medical Center in West Ashley. After Boyle entered the clinic, the pro-lifers called police.

"We were like, 'Well, that was a gun,'" John Karafa, one of the three, told the Charleston Post and Courier. "You can't do that." Karafa was a participant in the 40 Days for Life campaign, an international semiannual event of prayer, fasting, and pro-life witness outside abortion facilities. The abortionist was arrested and charged with pointing a firearm.

The Post reports that Boyle attended a bond hearing by video conference, and paid his $25,000 bail later the same day. More than half a dozen pro-lifers wearing 40 Days for Life wristbands reportedly attended the proceedings.
The Charleston Women's Medical Center is South Carolina's largest abortion center, performing 2,550 abortions in 2008, and nearly 55,000 between 1988 and 2008, according to Columbia Christians for Life.

Boyle has been in trouble with the law before. For several years in the 1990s, Boyle operated a Tennessee abortuary without proper state certification; however, an appeals judge eventually ruled in 2002 that the statute requiring certification violated a woman's right to privacy, the Post reports.

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Date Published: October 4, 2010

Pro-lifers honor abortion casualties

Today marks the sixth birthday of a nationwide pro-life event.

     

Katie Walker of the American Life League explains that Pro-Life Memorial Day (PLMD) is a time when pro-lifers gather at locations around America "to commemorate and honor the 52 million victims of surgical abortion...since 1973 [when] the Roe v. Wade decision...decriminalized abortion."

Pro-Life Memorial Day is usually held on the first Monday of October, which is also the day that kicks off the Supreme Court's new term. The PLMD is scheduled at the same time to call political and legal attention to "genocide occurring in the womb."

 "We're hoping to refocus the legislators...the justices and everyone in Washington, DC, and around the country on the injustice of abortion and the injustice of all of the different attacks on human beings' lives and really redirect them to that motto that's inscribed on the Supreme Court building which says, 'Equal justice under the law,'" Walker adds.

During today's observance, prayer vigils will be conducted at the Supreme Court building and at various locations around the country.

Contact: Charlie Butts

Source: OneNewsNow
Date Published: October 4, 2010

It’s an Embryo!

     

I was reading a story this morning, and I couldn't believe my eyes.  The term embryo is used in a scientifically accurate way!  And it struck me, yet again, how the term embryo is used or not used depending on whether we are being spun to justify destroying or using nascent human life as an object or resource.

But to specifics: It now appears that scientists can predict the health of an embryo in the first five days.  From the S.F. Chronicle:

Stanford researchers who studied and photographed human embryos for the first five days after fertilization say they have found a way to accurately predict which embryos will reach an important developmental milestone – and may be the most likely to lead to healthy pregnancies. The study of 242 frozen, one-cell embryos, which was published Sunday in the online journal Nature Biotechnology, is one of the first and best to capture on video the earliest stages of human development.

A one-celled embryo?  That can't be right!  Why, it's just a "fertilized egg," or like a skin cell, or chopped liver.  No actually, it is an embryo, known in science talk as a zygote. It's not that hard to get the science right. You just have to stop spinning like a top.

But I keep hearing that claiming an embryo before implantation is an embryo isn't science, it's religion!  Really?  I guess a stem cell scientist at Stanford didn't get the talking points:

Their findings could be significant for women trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization. Further studies need to be done, the scientists said, but they believe their research could allow specialists to determine only two or three days after fertilization which embryos are most likely to lead to successful pregnancies. That could eliminate the need to implant two or more embryos at once to increase the chance of a single birth. And it could allow specialists to implant sooner after fertilization, which most doctors believe leads to fewer complications and better chances of a pregnancy.

"If you can predict blastocyst stage, you can transfer fewer embryos earlier," said Renee Reijo Pera, an author of the study and director of the Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Education at Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith

Source: Secondhand Smoke

Persistent Pro-life Youth Share the Truth and Give School Administrators a Lesson on First Amendment Freedoms

     

Members of the Survivors' Campus Life Team, were detained for holding graphic images and advocating the pro-life message on public sidewalks in front of Nipomo High School on Monday, September 27, 2010.

 The activists offered literature to students as they left the school, many of whom requested the literature from the windows of their parents' cars, as their parents were picking them up. The Survivors were approached by campus administrators and guards shortly after school dismissal and instructed to leave the area or face arrest.

 Principal Johnson and San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Deputy Holzier claimed, first, that the Survivors were on school property, then that they were in violation of the school's safety zone, then that the team had caused a campus disturbance because the school administration had received many calls from angry parents.

 Deputy Holzier prevented team members Kristina Garza and Daniel Rivera from participating in outreach for at least twenty minutes. "It was obvious that both the school and the sheriff department did not want us to share our message with the students," said Ms. Garza, director of the Campus Life Team. Deputy Holzier held the team members for questioning until all of the Nipomo students had left the area.

On Wednesday morning the Survivors learned that Nipomo High School officials posted a message on their website chastising the group for displaying graphic images to their students and assured parents that the school was taking steps to ensure this never happened again. Attorneys from the Life Legal Defense Foundation contacted the watch commander at the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department, who agreed that the Survivors had a right to stand on the public sidewalk and hold their signs.
 
The Campus Life Team returned to Nipomo High School on Wednesday afternoon, to engage in the free speech activity they attempted to do on Monday, but this time uninhibited by the threat of arrest. The Survivors were met once again by school administrators and sheriff deputies ordering them to move across the street away from the students.

LLDF staff attorney, Allison Aranda, spoke with the sergeant in charge for nearly 15 minutes explaining to him why the group had a constitutional right to stand on the public street and engage in free speech activity. Meanwhile, the Survivors continued to share their pro-life message with students undeterred by law enforcement. By the end of the event, the students of Nipomo High School were exposed to the truth about abortion and the administrators learned a valuable lesson about free speech. "I'm proud that these young people took a stand for the truth and didn't let the administrator's abuse of authority intimidate them from lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights," said Ms. Aranda.

Contact: Kristina Garza

Source: Survivors
Date Published: October 1, 2010

Pro-Life Memorial Day to Commemorate Casualties of Roe V. Wade on Elena Kagan's First Day on the Job

          

When abortion supporter and newest Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan begins her first day on the bench Monday, pro-lifers around the country will be holding vigils and demonstrations memorializing the more than 52 million lives lost through surgical and medical abortion -- the direct result of the Court's Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions on Jan. 22, 1973.

The sixth annual Pro-Life Memorial Day will be held Monday, Oct 4, 2010, at locations around the country, including Washington, D.C. PLMD follows the Red Mass celebrated in Washington, D.C. on the Sunday before the first Monday of October, when the Supreme Court begins its new term.

PLMD seeks to call the attention of politicians and members of the legal profession attending Red Masses nationwide to the injustice of denying legal recognition of personhood to an entire class of human beings because of their size and location.

"The blood of 52 million of our brothers and sisters demands that we end the injustice of abortion and establish in law that all human beings deserve to be recognized as persons," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League.

Pro-lifers will gather to mourn, pray, remember and resolve to end the greatest atrocity of our time.

American Life League encourages PLMD participants to make a special supplication to the Holy Spirit to enlighten Supreme Court justices and all who attend Red Masses, so that the words engraved on the Supreme Court building, "equal justice under law," will become a reality for all Americans.

Contact: Katie Walker

Source: American Life League
Date Published: September 30, 2010

Ethical Stem Cell Breakthrough! IPSCs Without Genes or Viruses

      

Never underestimate the creativity and excellence of our scientists. New research seems to have overcome the difficulties of IPSCs, allowing pluripotent stem cells to be created from normal body cells without using genes or viruses. From the story in the Washington Post:

In 2006, researchers discovered that they could coax adult cells into a state that appeared identical to embryonic stem cells, dubbed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), by activating four genes. Those cells could morph into various tissues in the same way that embryonic stem cells can. But the process involved inserting genes into cells using retroviruses, which raised the risk the cells could cause cancer. Since then, scientists have been racing to develop alternative methods. Several approaches, using chemicals or other types of viruses, have shown promise. But none has completely eliminated the safety concerns, and most have been slow and inefficient.

The new approach involves molecules known as "messenger RNA," or mRNA, which the DNA inside cells use to create proteins they need carry out various vital functions. The researchers created mRNA molecules carrying the instructions for the cell's machinery to produce the four key proteins needed to reprogram themselves into iPS cells.

After tinkering with the mRNA molecules in the laboratory to make signals that the cells would not destroy as dangerous invaders, the researchers found that a daily cocktail of their creations were surprisingly fast and efficient at reprogramming the cells. The approach converted the cells in about half the time of previous methods – only about 17 days – with surprising economy – up to 100 times more efficient than the standard approach.

Moreover, detailed tests indicated the cells had not experienced any disturbing changes in their DNA caused by previous methods and were virtually identical to embryonic stem cells. In addition, the researchers went one step further and showed that they could use the approach to then coax the iPS cells they created into a specific type of cell, in this case muscle cells.

I have three observations: First, this story validates President Bush's faith in the science sector's capacity to find ethical ways to do what scientists used to claim only ESCR could accomplish. In fact, I think Bush deserves some credit for these advances because his policy kept society focused so closely on the moral issues surrounding the embryo.

Second: Even if this advance did EVERYTHING that scientists wanted from ESCR, it won't stop many from wanting to experiment on nascent human life.  Indeed, some would look at the advance, shrug, and keep on trying to clone. Why? Because stem cell advances are not the end game. As I wrote here, they are merely the opening stanza of a much longer symphony that seeks to open the door to Brave New World technologies such as genetic engineering and enhancement, that requires cloning and experimenting on the resulting embryos to perfect.

Third: Obama should restore the Bush policy he revoked giving priority to NIH funding for non embryonic research into sources of pluripotent stem cells. But he won't.  Many among his base loathe the very idea that a human embryo would have any moral standing.

Contact: Wesley J. Smith

Source: Secondhand Smoke
Date Published: October 1, 2010

RU-486 Turns 10: What’s to Celebrate?

      

Question: If one in 600 people eating broccoli had adverse reactions, what would the government do?

If you listen closely, you can hear the sounds of celebration as abortion advocates commemorate the 10th anniversary of the abortion drug coming to America. It was 10 years ago this week that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave a green light to Mifeprex®, also known by chemical names of RU-486 and mifepristone, for U.S. consumption.

Pro-life forces put up a good fight to keep the drug out of the U.S. Focus on the Family and other pro-life organizations engaged this issue early on in hopes of forming a successful strategy for keeping the drug out of the country – including a 1990 trip to Paris, France to visit the home office of the company that developed the drug. The message to Roussel Uclaf was simple: Bringing RU-486 to America would spark a firestorm of opposition.

Fast forward to January 1993 when newly elected president Bill Clinton began to fulfill his campaign promise to make the availability of RU-486 an administration priority. RU-486's highly political journey through government regulatory agencies is well documented, including the fast tracking the drug through a special approval process reserved for life-saving drugs.

The now-often quoted phrase, "Abortion should be safe, legal and rare," was coined by President Clinton, who ironically promoted abortion at every opportunity in his eight years in office. And, the legacy of RU-486 is anything but a reflection of safe and rare.

Since 2000, RU-486 has caused the deaths of at least 8 women in the U.S. and injured hundreds more.

In fact according to a 2006 government report, more than 1 in 600 women taking RU-486 had an adverse reaction; one quarter of those were hospitalized, most frequently for blood transfusion.

Think about that. If 1 in 600 people eating broccoli had adverse reactions, the green vegetable would probably be removed from the market. Abortion continues to enjoy political protection, evidenced by a drug that we know puts women's health at risk.

And women aren't the only ones put at risk by RU-486. It's estimated that nearly one million preborn children have been killed by the drug in the last ten years, and the number is growing each year.

As a new twist, Iowa's Planned Parenthood is now dispensing the drug in rural areas via video teleconference with the use of a remote controlled drawer to release the pill with no doctor present — despite the fact that FDA protocol for the drug requires a physician to be able to date the pregnancy, diagnose a tubal pregnancy and ensure the woman has access to emergency care. Such "telemedicine" will be a new strategy for the abortion industry so look for it in your state in the days to come.

So much for safe and rare.

Contact: Carrie Gordon Earll

Source: CitizenLink
Date Published: September 30, 2010

FBI, Obama Admin Join Pro-Abort Groups to Host Training Seminar against Pro-Life Activity

      

The Obama administration has teamed up with leading pro-abortion lobbyist groups to host a training seminar aimed at combating pro-life "violence" against the abortion industry, which is defined to include even free-speech activities such as pro-life picketing, boycotting, and signage.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice sponsored an August 29 seminar in the FBI's Portland headquarters. The names of Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation (NAF), and the Feminist Majority Foundation appear prominently on the front page of a document prepared for the event which compiled statistics, a list of pro-life websites, and case summaries, among other data.  The 84-page document was handed out by FBI and DOJ officials to participants, according to a source in attendance.

Although one portion of the document - on page 67 - lists "pro-life counseling centers" as among providers of "reproductive health services," the document is generally organized as a guide to the "organized assault on women's health care" by "anti-abortion extremists" since Roe v. Wade, and targets such activities as pro-life picketing and boycotting.

On page 67, a section entitled "US Department of Justice FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act) presentation" includes "large graphic signs etc. not covered" among actions that constitute "intimidation," and on page 15 specifically references the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform's Genocide Awareness Project among a list of recent pro-life "violence."

The document lists pro-lifers entering abortion facilities, pro-life blockades, and "stalking" as "severe violence" directed against abortion clinics in recent years, while "intimidation" is predicated of any "noise disturbance" or "pamphlets targeting staff," which could include documents warning women of an abortionist's record injuring or killing patients.

Another part of the DOJ presentation urges trainees to "build a good working relationship with providers." "We tell providers to build good relationships with you," state the authors. "Get to know them. The more comfortable everyone is the easier it will be for you to do your job."

One portion of the document lists the websites of several peaceful pro-life groups and leaders, such as David Bereit of 40 Days for Life, Judie Brown of the American Life League (ALL), Concerned Women for America, Human Life International, National Right to Life, Priests for Life, Rock for Life, Students for Life, and The Pill Kills, the ALL project noted by authors as an "anti birth control site."

According to the appended agenda, speakers included both FBI and DOJ officials as well as representatives from NAF and Planned Parenthood. The Alliance Defense Fund notes that Julie Abbate of USDOJ, one of the speakers at the meeting, also filed a federal lawsuit in August 2010 against a pro-life advocate solely for leafleting while once allegedly crossing a driveway.

Neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice have returned calls and emails placed by LifeSiteNews.com as of press time.

Although an Alliance Defense Fund-allied attorney was able to attend the meeting upon request, ADF attorney Matt Bowman told LifeSiteNews.com that "the troubling thing is that they didn't invite him in the first place."

"The resource guide is not only completely one-sided, it adopts the bias against free speech that the abortion movement has been trying to promote for years," said Bowman.

"The resource guide is not only completely one-sided, it adopts the bias against free speech that the abortion movement has been trying to promote for years," said Bowman, who called the document's targeting of peaceful pro-life groups and free-speech activities "ridiculous."

"It raises a concern that this is now the official view of the FBI," said Bowman. "I don't think they can pass the buck on this."

Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America told LSN that the recent documents "show that the Department of Justice has become an arm of the abortion movement."

"They're not using objective research and definitions, but adopting wholesale the scorched-earth tactics and propaganda of abortion groups," said Wright. "This is a corrupt endeavor by the Obama administration to smear innocent pro-lifers. It harms the public's trust in our government and will be a stain on Pres. Obama's presidency."

The documents echo an April 2009 Homeland Security report on domestic terrorism in which pro-life activities were branded as indicators of dangerous "rightwing extremism." Janet Napolitano, the head of the Homeland Security Department, proved staunchly pro-abortion during her service as governor of Arizona.

Click here to read the complete document.

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Date Published: September 30, 2010

Two More RU-486 Infection Deaths Announced by CDC

      

Almost ten years to the date after the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") approved the abortion drug, Mifeprex® (RU-486; mifepristone), two more medical abortion deaths have been announced by U.S. Centers for Disease Control Officials.

In a letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine dated September 30, 2010, Dr. Elissa Meites et al., described two additional mifepristone-induced septic shock deaths.  Both deaths were caused by c. sordellii, the bacteria linked to a number of RU-486 deaths from 2000-2006.

One woman who died was 29; the other was 21.

Monty Patterson, the father of Holly Patterson – an eighteen-year-old who died after using the mifepristone regimen, released a statement with these three concluding paragraphs:

It has been proposed by medical professionals that the properties of the mifepristone abortion pill can seriously impair or alter a women's immune system and predispose her to serious or fatal infections.

The 9 deaths from Clostridium sordellii can no longer be ignored, particularly at the regulatory level. The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health. They need to reevaluate the risk, safety and efficacy of the drug they approved 10 years ago.

Ultimately, women will have to make the final choice based on the most accurate information they can obtain. They need to question if the risks of medical abortion pills are really in the best interest of their health, safety and welfare. Women can make informed decisions when they have timely, reliable and truthful information.

Mr. Patterson is clearly correct, and FDA also needs to re-think its policies surrounding the release of its newest abortifacient and mifepristone-twin, Ella.

Contact: Chris Gacek

Source: FRC Blog
Date Published: October 1, 2010

Embattled Abortionist Claims States Can't Prosecute over Interstate Abortion Scheme

      

A New Jersey abortionist under criminal investigation has made an attempt to slip out of prosecutors' grasp by claiming that neither New Jersey nor Maryland, where he ferried his clients mid-abortion to complete the late-term procedures, are in a position to sue him.

Stephen Chase Brigham, who once operated an empire of abortion clinics in four states, has come under scrutiny after a botched abortion last month led government officials to uncover his practice of starting late-term abortions in New Jersey and completing them in Maryland. The abortionist is not licensed to conduct late-term abortions in New Jersey, nor is he licensed to practice medicine in Maryland.

But in documents filed earlier this week, Brigham claims that New Jersey is not able to prosecute him, because he won a similar New Jersey suit and kept his license following a 1994 botched abortion. That incident led to the loss of his license in New York, where officials condemned his "inexcusably bad judgment" for slicing a woman's uterus, cervix, and uterine artery and failing to realize it until hours later.

Joseph Gorrell, Brigham's attorney, told the Courier Post that all the abortionist's actions "complied with applicable law and was in conformance with accepted standards of medical practice." Brigham also claims that New Jersey has no jurisdiction regarding the Maryland abortions, and that state had launched "no disciplinary or criminal action" against him.

However, officials dispute the claim that Brigham's case can be so easily discarded.

C. Irving Pinder Jr., executive director of the Maryland Board of Physicians, said regulators are cooperating with criminal investigators, adding that Brigham is "playing a word game."

"He hasn't been charged by the board because he's not licensed by the board. But there are criminal investigations going on. We've been in touch with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies," said Pinder, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The New Jersey Attorney General's office says that Brigham's activities "flagrantly" disregarded medical rules, and jeopardized patients' health.

The scheme was uncovered when one of the abortionists under Brigham, Nicola Riley, cut the uterus and bowel of an abortion patient so badly that she had to be flown from Elkton Md. to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

The case is reportedly slated to go before the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners on Oct. 13.

Contact: Kathleen Gilbert

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Date Published: September 30, 2010

Appeals Court Rules Tax Dollars for Human Embryo Research ‘Okay’

      

A federal appeals court agreed today with the government's request to temporarily block the enforcement of a ruling that banned tax dollars from being used in life-destroying human embryonic stem-cell research.

 U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted the emergency hold on District Judge Royce Lamberth's Aug. 23 order, while awaiting Lamberth's ruling on the original lawsuit.

 An Aug. 27 Rasmussen poll revealed that only 33 percent of Americans approved of using tax dollars to fund this controversial research – a marked drop from the 52 percent that supported it when Obama signed his Executive Order on March 9, 2009. The order dramatically expanded federal funding streams and opened the gateway for new embryonic stem-cell lines to be used for research – opening the door for further destruction of human life.

 While the poll reflects a slight decrease in the number of voters who believe research on embryos is morally wrong, it does make one thing clear: People do not want to see federal funds go toward this controversial issue.

 Wesley J. Smith, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, said while the news is encouraging about government intervention, he wishes more people were educated about embryonic versus adult stem-cell research.

 "The hype of embryonic stem cell research," Smith said, "the promise that was so often made that people would be out of their wheelchairs…that Uncle Charlie's Parkinson's will soon be cured – has been busted."

Contact: Catherine Snow

Source: CitizenLink
Date Published: September 28, 2010

Adult Stem Cells–Best-Kept Secret, Treating Chronic Heart Failure

      

As noted before, Dr. Jean Peduzzi Nelson testified at the U.S. Senate hearing on the promise of stem cells, Sept. 16, 2010. Her testimony discussed published adult stem cell science and real results for patients; as she noted, adult stem cells are "the best-kept secret in the galaxy."

Adult stem cells have shown published success is treatment of chronic (congestive) heart failure. In her testimony, Dr. Peduzzi Nelson discussed the case of Doug Rice. Doug was told that he had only a short time to live due to chronic heart failure after multiple heart attacks. At that time he could hardly walk. He did not qualify for any U.S. clinical trials, so he went to Thailand in early 2006 to be treated with his own adult stem cells (using a technique developed in the U.S. by Dr. Amit Patel.) Since his treatment, Doug's heart has improved and pumps better, he has more energy and is enjoying life. He surprised even his cardiologist.

Doug Rice is not an isolated case. Recently a German team led by Prof. Dr. med. Bodo Strauer published the results of a long-term study treating a large number of chronic heart failure patients with adult stem cells. The study, published in the European Journal of Heart Failure, is the largest study to date of patients treated for heart failure with bone marrow adult stem cells. A total of 191 patients received intracoronary injections of their own bone marrow adult stem cells, compared with 200 patients who received standard care, and patient health was monitored for up to five years. The results showed that treatment with adult stem cells improves heart function based on a large number of tests, quality of life and survival in patients with heart failure.

Prof. Dr. med. Strauer presented the published evidence at a recent meeting of the European Society of Cardiology. He noted that:

"Our study suggests that, when administered as an alternative or in addition to conventional therapy, bone marrow cell therapy can improve quality of life, increase ventricular performance, and increase survival. Intracoronary therapy has been shown to be effective in acute myocardial infarction, and the STAR-heart study now indicates its efficacy in chronic heart failure."

Adult stem cells are improving health and saving lives now.

Contact: David Prentice

Source: FRC Blog

Abortionists and their legal woes

      

A Florida abortionist has been arrested for assault, while surprising information has surfaced concerning a Utah abortionist who has plied her trade in Maryland.
 
Orlando police recently surrounded a local abortion clinic and arrested abortionist Randall Whitney. Cheryl Sullinger of Operation Rescue explains that Whitne "had earlier been charged with a felony assault for striking a pregnant woman during an abortion. He was trying to give her an injection, and he had failed several times. She started to complain, and so he slapped her. That was his first arrest."

The second arrest took place after Whitney failed to show up for the trial. Witnesses say that while the abortionist was being apprehended, he told pro-lifers they would "be sorry" for informing police that he was living there in his car, which he was doing to avoid the police.

 Meanwhile, Utah abortionist Nicola Riley, employee of Stephen Chase Brigham, has also had her Maryland license revoked. Sullinger tells OneNewsNow that Riley was "convicted as an accessory to a credit card and identity theft fraud ring that was going on under her command" when she was in the Army.

After admitting to knowing about the criminal activity, Riley served one year in the Ft. Leavenworth military prison for not reporting it in a timely manner. Following her discharge, Riley went on to receive a medical degree and took several attempts over two years to pass step one of her licensing exam, eventually scoring only five points above the failure mark. It took another 15 months for her to pass steps two and three and become licensed.

 Upon finally passing her exam, Riley went directly into the abortion business as a convicted felon who was barely qualified to practice medicine. She now admits to assisting Brigham at his secret abortion clinic in Elkton, Maryland, though she was not qualified to do so -- and she is currently performing abortions at the Wasatch Women's Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Operation Rescue contends that if she was not fit to practice in Maryland, she it unfit to practice anywhere else.

Contact: Charlie Butts

Source: OneNewsNow
Date Published: September 29, 2010

Judicial Watch Uncovers FDA Records Detailing 16 New Deaths Tied to Gardasil

Records Document 3,589 Adverse Reactions Related to Gardasil between May 2009 and September 2010, Including 213 Cases Resulting in Permanent Disability

      

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has received new documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), detailing reports of adverse reactions to the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil. The adverse reactions include 16 new deaths (including four suicides) between May 2009 and September 2010. The FDA also produced 789 "serious" reports, with 213 cases resulting in permanent disability and 25 resulting in a diagnosis of Guillian Barre Syndrome.

Adverse report excerpts include:

 •A nineteen year old girl with no medical history except occasional cases bronchitis received Gardasil and in 53 days, had "Headache, Nausea, dizziness, chilling, tiredness, shortness of breath, complained of chest plain, severe cramps." She experienced an Acute Cardiac Arrhythmia. Attempts to resuscitate her resulted in a sternal fracture, but were unsuccessful and the patient died. -- V. 356938
 
•A thirteen year old girl was vaccinated on July 17th, 2009. Ten days later, she developed a fever and was treated. However, "the patient did not recover and was admitted to the hospital on [August 8th]...She developed dyspnoea and went into a coma...she expired [that day] at around 9:00 pm. The cause of death was determined as 'death due to viral fever.' ... This event occurred after 23 days of receiving first dose of Gardasil. -- V. 380081
 
•Thirteen days after vaccination, a ten year old girl developed "progressive loss of strength in lower and upper extremities almost totally...Nerve conduction studies [showed Guillain Barre Syndrome]." Case was "considered to be immediately life-threatening." -- V. 339375
 
•One mother of a 13-year old girl who died 37 days after receiving the vaccination noted in a report: "I first declined getting her the vaccination but her doctor ensured me that it was safe..." After her daughter complained of a severe headache, no feeling in her foot and a tingling feeling in her leg, a doctor's appointment was set for October 23, 2009. "My daughter never made it to Oct[ober] 23rd, which is also her birthday," the mother noted. "She passed on Oct[ober] 17th, I found her cold unresponsive in her room at 7am...." 

"To say Gardasil has a suspect safety record is a big understatement. These reports are troubling and show that the FDA and other public health authorities may be asleep at the switch," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "In the meantime, the public relations push for Gardasil by Merck and politicians on Capitol Hill continues. No one should require this vaccine for young children."

In 2008, Judicial Watch launched a comprehensive investigation of Gardasil's safety record. All previous FDA documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, as well as a Judicial Watch special report, entitled "Examining the FDA's HPV Vaccine Records: Detailing the Approval Process, Side-Effects, Safety Concerns & Marketing Practices of a Large Scale Health Experiment," are available at www.JudicialWatch.org. 

Source: Judicial Watch
Date Published: September 28, 2010

Three Decades of Forced Abortion...and Counting: China to Continue One-Child Policy

      

On Sept. 25, 1980, the Communist Party Central Committee issued a statement saying that "in 30 years, when our current extreme population growth eases, we can then adopt a different population policy." But while the 30th anniversary of China's coercive one-child policy came and went this past week, the Chinese government has shown no signs of easing the policy, and instead expressed its intent to continue the use of forced abortion and sterilization, with no end in sight.

Chinese state-run media quoted Li Bin, head of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, saying, "Historical change doesn't come easily, and I, on behalf of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, extend profound gratitude to all, the people in particular, for their support of the national course."

"We will continue the one-child policy until at least 2015,'' she said. 

Vice Premier Li Keqiang echoed these remarks, saying, "We will stick to the family planning policy in the coming decades and advance the balanced development of population over the long term." 

Steven Mosher, the president of the Population Research Institute (PRI), who was the first Western social scientist to document the abuses of China's one-child policy on the ground, told LifeSiteNews.com today that "enough is enough."

"The policy was flawed in conception, was and is brutal in execution, and, we now learn, is to be continued for decades into the future. … It is past time to call a halt to a policy that has, by means of forced abortion and forced sterilization, eliminated 400 million people from the Chinese population."

Mosher told LSN that when he went to China in 1980, around the time when the one-child policy was first implemented, he "saw women arrested for the 'crime' of being pregnant, locked up, brainwashed, and ultimately forced to have abortions.  Such crimes against humanity remain everyday occurrences in today's China."

The 30th anniversary of the one-child policy was marked in Washington DC by a rally of pro-life activists and politicians who called for greater pressure to be put on the Chinese government over its human rights abuses.

"Unless this is marked by at least some of us, tomorrow (Saturday) will be just another day," New Jersey Republican Representative Christopher Smith, a vocal opponent of abortion and the abuse of women, told the media. (Read his complete remarks here)

"It's 30 years of the worst violation of human rights ever," Smith said. "I work on all human rights issues and I don't know of any policy that has hurt so many women and so many children and families than the one-child policy."

Rep. Smith called for Obama to address the issue with Chinese leaders. "I have not seen one word about forced abortion in China come out of the president's mouth. That is numbing in its indifference," Smith said.

Joseph Meaney, Human Life International's Director of International Coordination, strongly condemned China's decision to continue the one-child policy.

"The Chinese government is stubbornly persisting in leading their country into a demographic disaster with their population control policy," said Meaney in a press release today.

"It is simply incomprehensible that the Chinese National Population and Family Planning Commission can seriously mean to extend this destructive policy for an unspecified number of decades into the future."

Meaney pointed out that "China's population is currently projected to start shrinking in absolute numbers by 2026" and that the "coerced low fertility of Chinese women means that the Peoples' Republic of China is one of the fastest ageing societies in the world."

"There are four grandparents for each only child resulting from the 'One Child Policy.' What is the Chinese government's economic plan for paying the pensions of these hundreds of millions of elderly persons?" 

"One shudders to think what draconian measures will be implemented by the Chinese government once it becomes fully apparent that they cannot financially support the millions of disabled and elderly persons who are no longer seen as contributing to society. Coercive euthanasia cannot be far behind their renewed commitment to coercive abortion and birth control."

According to government statistics, the one-child policy has prevented 400 million births since the restrictions were first introduced into the country. This has resulted in a worker to retiree ratio of 10 to 1 in 1999 dropping to an expected 3 to 1 in 2050.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences reported earlier this year that the policy that mandates abortion for many pregnancies, combined with sex-selection and a cultural preference for boys, has created a gender imbalance that will result in 24 million men who cannot find wives by 2020.

The Academy study said that the national ratio stands at about 119 males to 100 females, and the gap expands to as much as 130 males to 100 females in some provinces.

Researcher Wang Guangzhou was quoted by the Global Times newspaper saying, "The chance of getting married will be rare if a man is more than 40-years-old in the countryside. They will be more dependent on social security as they age and have fewer household resources to rely on."

Mosher said that the decision to extend the policy "makes no demographic or economic sense." 

"China's population growth has already stalled, the population is aging rapidly, and there is a massive gender imbalance as little girls are being eliminated by sex-selection abortion and infanticide. In other words, the one-child policy is driving China over a demographic cliff."

Contact: Thaddeus M. Baklinski

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Date Published: September 29, 2010

Mexico City Reaches 47,000 Abortions after 42 Months of Legalization

           

Almost 47,000 unborn babies have died by surgical abortion in Mexico City during the three and a half years of its legalization, according to official statistics announced this week.  However, according to one federal legislator, the numbers are understated due to a lack of reporting by private clinics.

The figures were given to the Mexican press yesterday by Maricela Contreras Julián, a representative in the federal Chamber of Deputies who intends to introduce legislation requiring private abortion providers to report the number of times they perform the deadly procedure, on a daily basis.

"The objective is to have all of the information of all institutions, public or private, that practice abortions in Mexico City, because there is an underreporting of the abortions that are practiced in private clinics, which have proliferated in recent years with the reforms that the Legislative Assembly approved in the last legislature," Contreras said.

The statistics offered by Contreras indicate that the abortion rate in government clinics has reached approximately 16,000 per year, and is often being used by unmarried women to avoid the consequences of their sexual behavior. The vast majority of abortions (70%) are performed on girls between the ages of 18 and 29, and only 17% are married. 

Rocio Galvez of Mexico's National Pro-Life Committee estimates there may be as many as 5,000 more abortions per year in private institutions, bringing the total to 21,000 annually.

Approximately 40 percent of women who inquire about abortions at government agencies never obtain one, in part because the Mexico City government informs women of the option to give birth at government expense, and to place their children in adoption.  However, abortions are also government financed, and can be obtained for any reason during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Since the passage of Mexico City's abortion law in 1997, seventeen Mexican states have passed right to life amendments to their constitutions prohibiting the procedure.

Contact: Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Date Published: September 28, 2010

Congresswoman Calls for Repealing Hyde Amendment; Backs Assertion That Abortion is Safer than Childbirth

     

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortion except in certain cases, should be repealed, and also said "there's no evidence" that  increasing access to abortion services encourages people to get abortions.

At an event on Capitol Hill sponsored by the Center for Reproductive Rights to call for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, CNSNews.com asked Rep. Schakowsky, "So, increasing access to abortion, you think, does not encourage some people to get abortions?" 

Rep. Schakowsky said, "No, there's no evidence of that around the world, where access to abortion is more available but somehow women are more inclined to get one."

 "What happens is that women who don't have access resort, as we heard today, to very dangerous, self-inflicted kinds of things in order to end, terminate the pregnancy," she said. "And so, you know, we go back to back alley abortions. We go back to coat hangers. And, I mean, is that what we want?"

She continued, "Women who are desperate enough to do that to themselves are going to somehow – going to try to abort that pregnancy. We don't want to do that. We don't want to put women at greater risk."

     
Click here for the video.

Terry Sallas Merritt, vice president of Whole Woman's Health, said during the event on Capitol Hill that abortion is 10 times safer than childbirth.

CNSNews.com asked Rep. Schakowsky if she agreed with Merritt.

"I'm assuming that was on a scientific finding that the insistence of mortality or illness or whatever is an adverse health affect is much more common in childbirth," the congresswoman said. "There are many more things that can go wrong than a first-trimester abortion, but, as was pointed out, in order for poor women to afford an abortion, it may take them a long time to get the money together. They're put in a more precarious health situation, the risks increase as well as the cost."

"We want to make sure this very safe, outpatient procedure is available and accessible to poor women," said Rep. Schakowsky. "That is not to say that we don't want to also increase the availability of family planning, of birth control, which again, there's sometimes discrimination even in that."

"The very same people who vociferously oppose abortion often are not in favor of sex education, they're not in favor of easy access to contraception," she said.  "None of it makes sense, and it's all discriminatory against women and their children."

CNSNews.com also asked Rep. Schakowsky if it is morally right to use the taxpayer funds of pro-life Americans to pay for abortion services.

"If we start down that path, then we say that people who don't want to fund wars don't have to pay taxes," she told CNSNews.com.

"You know, there are a number of things that are policies of the government in which many of us may disagree all over the map and, so, I would say that, you know, if as the Supreme Court did, decided that this is a right that women have, then we need to fulfill that obligation and make it accessible to all people," said the congresswoman. "Choice is about choice."

The Hyde Amendment, created in 1976, is attached each year to the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and prevents any program under HHS, such as Medicaid, from paying for abortion except in the cases of rape, incest, or where the life of the mother is at risk.

Contact: Nicholas Ballasy

Source: CNSNews.com
Date Published: September 28, 2010

Global Abortion-Expansion Bill Fast-tracked in House

           

Both chambers of the U.S. Congress plan to take up this week what purports to be an innocent bill to help women around the world. Unfortunately, the proposed International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) also would promote worldwide access to abortion services and export a hostile, anti-family, pro-gay agenda on nations, by using it as a bargaining tool.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will likely try to take up their version of the measure (HR 4594) on Wednesday during a markup hearing. The Democrat-controlled committee could try to slip-in the billion-dollar abortion program and get it passed without a recorded vote – a preferred scenario before any election.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will also review its version of the bill (S. 2982) on Wednesday.

There is little coincidence in the timing – days before Congress adjourns until after the election – or the motive – feminists groups have an aggressive global media campaign to influence Congress to act.

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, political commentator for the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, said the urban myths promoted by liberal feminist groups are long-standing and dangerous.

"Further, the urban myths continue alongside the long-standing practice of feminists equating a lack of 'reproductive services' with 'domestic violence.'
…
"The I-VAWA would allocate $10 million a year to the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM (Section 201), one of the major U.N. agencies devoted to promoting the Millennium Development Goals, which prominently feature reproductive and gender rights.

…
"The broad definitions of 'violence' and the use of terms like 'psychological harm' and 'coercion' leave plenty of room for false accusations of abuse that will break up families and increase welfare dependence. The bill establishes an 'Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues' — what some have called a 'feminist czar'…

"Though these vague, nebulous goals are dressed up to sound wonderful and disguise the intent of the ideologues who promote them, their meaning can be as misleading — and disastrous — as the campaign slogan of "hope" and "change."

TAKE ACTION

Help stop I-VAWA in its tracks. No taxpayer dollars should be used to promote abortion and anti-family policies.

Finally, please call Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the Ranking Member on the committee at 202-226-8467.

Please encourage her to resist the feminist demands to support this bill. She needs to hear from thousands of prolife Americans TODAY. 

Contact: Catherine Snow

Source: CitizenLink
Date Published: September 27, 2010