Washington, D.C. Protects Abortion and Planned Parenthood Yet Crushes and Prohibits the First Amendment and Free Speech

    

 It is now more important for government and law enforcement officials to protect abortion in our nation's capital then it is for them to protect the First Amendment, free speech and civil liberties.
 
Is this the future of America?
 
Police officers arrested Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney for praying on a public sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood on Tuesday, June 8.

    
     Click here for the newly released video.
 
This arrest followed weeks of Washington, D.C. police officers threatening to arrest members of the pro-life community for praying and counseling on the public sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood.
 
For years, the pro-life community has prayed, counseled and held peaceful witness on the public property in front of Planned Parenthood.
 
Click here to view photo of pro-lifers peacefully praying in front of Planned Parenthood
 
This situation developed after Planned Parenthood applied for a public permit to construct an iron fence around their property.
 
Click here to view pictures of the recently constructed fence with "No Trespassing" signs

However, the construction of the fence did not change the description of the land and according to city records it still remains public.  Also, Planned  Parenthood and the City of Washington, D.C. have not presented one piece of evidence or documentation showing the property has now become private.
 
James Henderson, Senior Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice who is representing Rev. Mahoney, states,

"After we learned that Planned Parenthood installed the fence, and that police were threatening to arrest those that prayed or counseled on the public spaces within the fence, we extensively researched the status of that property.
 
"The Public Spaces Branch of the District's Department of Transportation maintains the the database of public properties in Washington, D.C.  During meetings with that department, two different sources confirmed to us that Washington, D.C. owned a 50-foot right of way along the public sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood.
 
"So, we know for a fact that Rev. Mahoney was arrested on public property when he was charged with crime of unlawful entry."
 
The Christian Defense Coalition plans a major national campaign to  address this ban on the First Amendment in Washington, D.C. later this summer.

Contact: Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney
Publish Date: June 10, 2010
Link to this article.
Send this article to a friend.

40 yrs+ celebrity IVF pregnancies: Celine Dion and Kelly Preston

    
     Kelly Preston and husband John Travolta

Three weeks ago 47-yr-old actress Kelly Preston and 56-yr-old actor husband John Travolta announced they were expecting a baby. (Twins denied.)

    
     Celine Dion with husband René Angélila

Then a week ago 42-yr-old singer Céline Dion announced she and 68-yr-old husband René Angélil were expecting twins.

Both pregnancies were reportedly conceived via in vitro fertilization.

(And if these things do come in 3s, keep an eye on 40-yr-old singer Mariah Carey, whose 29-yr-old singer Nick Cannon didn't exactly quash rumors a few days ago that she's pregnant as well.)

Congrats to all. We're praying for healthy babies.

Even though we recently observed in 44-yr-old Michelle Duggar that women over 40 do conceive naturally, pregnancy past 40 isn't the norm.

On May 31 OB/Gyn Dr. Jennifer Ashton described on CBS's The Early Show the staggering preborn death toll to achieve a successful 40+ pregnancy...

We're seeing this more and more among celebrities, and it appears that 40 would be the new 30 when you're talking about pregnancy and fertility. Not exactly the case.

"When you look at the numbers in terms of women and their fertility, there is no question it declines as they get older. We're meant to reproduce in our early 20s. So, when you look at women in the 20-to-24 age group, only 7% will be infertile. When you go up over 40, that number approaches 30%. That's because the quality of their eggs goes down and the number of their eggs goes down."

Outside intervention to help start such pregnancies is "pretty common," Ashton says. "Actually, there are 4 million births in the U.S. every year, approximately, and the estimates are that 1% of them, so that's about 40k babies, were conceived using what's called assisted reproductive technology. So, not totally mainstream, but very, very common.

    
     Sarah Jessica Parker, husband Matthew
      Broderick, son James with twin daughters
      Marion and Tabitha

"There's a whole spectrum of what we call assisted reproductive technology," Ashton continued, "and it could be anything from in-vitro fertilization, which could be due to anything from sperm problems or egg problems, and then it could encompass donor egg, donor sperm and, in the most aggressive cases, uterine surrogacy....." [Photo above is of 45-yr-old actress Sarah Jessica Parker, 48-yr-old actor husband Matthew Broderick, and 7-yr-old son James with twin daughters Marion and Tabitha, born June 22, 2009, via surrogate.]

How often do such pregnancies take hold and get carried to term?

"When you look at ... all cycles using non-frozen embryos, the success rate approaches about 30%," Ashton says. "Now, that is heavily dependent on age. The older you get, whether you're using your own egg or not, the success rate of a live birth goes down. Again, just because we're seeing it in the 40s does not mean it's easy."

Dion underwent 5 failed IVF fertilization attempts before the 6th took.

Now to the hard truth. While these children are all blessings, the pathway of death to get them was immoral.

More of the hard truth: Liberal feminism trampling over biological norms has brought us to this point. The fertile female human body during her early 20s as well as the simultaneous increased male and female sex drive indicates women and men were instinctively built to have babies much earlier than is now societally accepted.

Feminists have actually not told women they "can bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan." They've told women to 1st get educated to learn how to bring home the bacon, then begin bringing home the bacon, and then begin thinking about the home in which to fry it up in the pan, tinkering by 5 to 10 to 15 years with their biological clocks.

Conversely, feminists have told young women and men not to strive for relational maturity during their prime reproductive cycle of the early 20s.

They say instead to sow wild oats during that highly fertile span of time. This only increases the likelihood abstinence until marriage cannot be achieved and that both parties will be bringing along damaged hearts and bodies when saying "I do." And of course there's abortion, highest in that age group, of course.

Women have been instructed to replace the desire for a husband and family with a desire for a career. They have been told children detract from rather than enhance whatever else women have going on.

This is not to say career and kids cannot coexist. The most perfect wife and mother ever described in the Bible, the Proverbs 31 woman, independently purchased real estate, planted her own vineyard, and made and sold goods.

But today's career options often separate mothers from families rather than synergize them.

And so today we see women past their child-bearing prime pumping themselves with dangerous artificial steroids to conceive and bear children they belatedly realize they long for, killing many along the way and also increasing the odds of killing themselves.

Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: jillstanek.com
Publish Date: June 10, 2010
Link to this article.
Send this article to a friend.

People 'being killed for their organs'?

    
     Human Organ Transplant transporation cooler bag.

A dangerous precedent was set in Belgium, an ethicist said, when a woman chose assisted suicide and then opted to donate her organs.

Wesley Smith, a bioethics fellow at the Discovery Institute, said agreeing to harvest organs from euthanasia "raises the very realistic prospect that despairing people with terminal illnesses or disabilities (or perhaps, just despair) could latch onto being killed for their organs as a way of bringing meaning to their lives."

"This very dangerous territory, made all the more treacherous by doctors, spouses and a respected medical journal validating the ideas that dead is better than disabled and that living patients can, essentially, be viewed as a natural resource to be killed and mined," Smith wrote on the Secondhand Smoke blog at FirstThings.com in May.

The woman in Belgium was not terminally ill, Smith said. She was fully conscious but completely paralyzed, a state he called "locked-in." She asked for her doctor's assistance in carrying out her desire to die, and the day before the euthanasia procedure, she decided to allow her organs to be transplanted.

In the presence of her husband, Smith recounted, the woman was killed intravenously and her body was moved to the operating table 10 minutes after cardiac activity had ceased. Her liver and both kidneys were removed, and a year later the three recipients have responded well.

"If this doesn't set off alarm bells about how the sick and disabled are increasingly being looked upon not only as burdens (to themselves, families, and society), but potential objects for exploitation, what will?" Smith wrote. "A disabled woman was killed, even though people with locked-in states often adjust over time to their disabilities and are happy to be alive."

The woman's story appeared in the bioethics journal Transplantation, perhaps authenticating the coupling of the two procedures in the minds of some.

"This case of two separate requests, first euthanasia and second, organ donation after death, demonstrates that organ harvesting after euthanasia may be considered and accepted from ethical, legal and practical viewpoints in countries where euthanasia is legally accepted," Smith wrote.

"This possibility may increase the number of transplantable organs and may also provide some comfort to the donor and his (her) family, considering that the termination of the patient's life may somehow help other human beings in need for organ transplantation.

"Taking the organs was the easy decision. Once you've pulled medicine into the forbidden zone of active killing, finding self-congratulatory justifications becomes a most desirable quest," Smith wrote, adding that "once society accepts that the two can be joined, saving others could easily become a frequent motivation for asking to be killed."

Also in May, articles in the Canadian Medical Association Journal said about one in 25 deaths in Belgium is by euthanasia, and of those, 2 percent take place after a direct request of a doctor; 1.8 percent occur without such a request.

Voluntary euthanasia must be performed by a physician in Belgium, but it is done 12 percent of the time illegally by nurses, the report said. In 2009, Belgium officially had 700 euthanasia deaths, a jump from 500 such cases in 2008, according to a March report by Flanders News. These are officially reported figures, and experts say they represent only 25 percent of the actual totals.

Contact: Erin Roach and Tom Strode
Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: June 9, 2010
Link to this article.
Send this article to a friend.

Poll: Half say abortion morally wrong

Poll: Half say abortion morally wrong

    

A new Gallup poll reports the American public takes various stands on the moral acceptability of life issues.

The survey showed the following opinions:

-- On abortion, 50 percent of Americans believe it is morally wrong, while 38 percent believe it is morally acceptable.

-- Americans are evenly divided on physician-assisted suicide, with those who say it is morally acceptable and those who say it is morally wrong at 46 percent each.

-- Regarding embryonic stem cell research, 59 percent believe it is morally acceptable and 32 percent believe it is morally wrong.

-- On human cloning, only 9 percent say it is morally acceptable, while 88 percent say it is morally wrong.

The country's major pro-life organizations oppose abortion, embryonic stem cell research, assisted suicide and human cloning, both for research and reproductive purposes. Embryonic stem cell research requires the destruction of human embryos.

The poll's results -- released May 26 -- demonstrate "how important it is to frame issues properly," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

"For example: Gallup asks if 'cloning humans' is morally acceptable or not. Framed that way, fully 88 percent of Americans say no," Perkins wrote May 27. "The poll then asks if 'medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos' is okay. Fifty-nine percent go along with this; only 32 percent oppose. What if Gallup were to ask the question this way: 'Is it morally acceptable or not to kill embryonic human beings to obtain their stem cells?' Wouldn't this greatly change the poll's response?"

Contact: Tom Strode
Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: June 9, 2010
Link to this article.
Send this article to a friend.

What hath Nebraska wrought?

    
     Steven H. Aden serves as Senior Legal
      Counsel to the Alliance Defense Fund

You can't keep a good state down. Proving that its state motto, "Equality Before the Law," truly applies to all its residents, Nebraska has again stepped up to take the lead against the horrific practice of late-term abortion and its main proponent, LeRoy Carhart.

By the overwhelming margin of 44-5, Nebraska's unicameral legislature passed a bill April 13 that bans abortions after 20 weeks of gestation, except when the abortion would preserve the life or physical health of the mother. Gov. Dave Heineman signed the bill into law that same day.

Nebraska is the state that launched the "partial-birth abortion" debate by banning the procedure favored by its infamous resident, Dr. Carhart. The Supreme Court struck down the statute as an "undue burden" on access to abortion in Stenberg v. Carhart in 2000, but the Bush administration soldiered on and banned the practice in all 50 states through federal legislation.

The Supreme Court finally upheld the federal ban in 2007 in a second case brought by Carhart, Gonzales v. Carhart, and by implication, affirmed the right of states to outlaw the procedure. In so doing, the court seemed to open the door for new state regulations of abortion by expanding the list of constitutionally legitimate state interests for regulating abortion beyond the two enunciated in Roe, the health of the mother and the interest in -- as the Court called it -- "potential" life.

LB1103, introduced by Speaker Mike Flood, requires abortion providers to determine the baby's probable post-fertilization age. Abortions past 20 weeks are prohibited, based on medical evidence that babies feel pain by that stage of development. Nebraska is betting that the federal courts -- and ultimately, likely, the Supreme Court -- will conclude that states have an interest in preventing excruciating pain to an unborn infant as he or she is ripped apart and pulled from the womb that is at least as compelling as the desire to preserve the integrity of the medical profession from the barbarous practitioners of partial-birth abortion that was upheld in Gonzales v. Carhart.

The Nebraska law also takes dead aim at the Supreme Court's virtually illimitable "health" exception that dates back to Doe v. Bolton, the companion case to Roe v. Wade. Doe permits doctors like Carhart to authorize abortion through full gestation: "[T]he medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors -- physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age -- relevant to the wellbeing of the patient. All these factors may relate to health," the court said.

And while Carhart claims that Nebraska's new law will result in denying abortion to "a woman who has been hospitalized and diagnosed suicidal," there is every reason to believe that the bar is not nearly that high for authorizing abortions under the constitutional "health exception." Operation Rescue reported that Dr. Paul McHugh, a psychologist who headed the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital for 26 years, examined over 30 medical records subpoenaed from abortionist George Tiller, whose practice Dr. Carhart offered to take over upon his death last year.

Dr. McHugh concluded that Tiller was authorizing abortions at 26 to 30 weeks for "trivial" reasons under the guise of "mental health" concerns, with women stating, for example, "I won't be able to go to concerts," or, "I won't be able to take part in sports." Dr. McHugh found "no evidence" that any of these abortions was truly necessary to save a mother's life or physical health.

The new law goes into effect Oct. 15, but Carhart and pro-abortion legal groups such as the Center for Reproductive Rights have already promised a court battle. "This latest anti-woman and anti-health legislation merely strengthens my commitment to fight for women's reproductive health and rights," Carhart says.

Let it come. For its part, the Alliance Defense Fund and its alliance of more than 1,600 attorneys will be standing by to defend Nebraska's new law from Carhart's attacks, as we have before. If "reproductive health" means that abortionists have the right to inflict the kind of pain and suffering on a baby in the womb that our civilized society found intolerable with convicted animal abuser Michael Vick, here's hoping that Nebraska continues to lead the way -- all the way back to the Supreme Court.

Contact: Steven H. Aden
Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: June 9, 2010
Link to this article.
Send this article to a friend.

NEWS SHORTS FOR THURSDAY

The Christian Post: Most Evangelical Leaders OK with Killing Babies using 'Birth Control'

    

A majority of so called "evangelical leaders" approve of artificial methods of contraception, a new survey reveals. The National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 churches in the United States, released a report Tuesday showing that nearly 90 percent approve of contraception. Several leaders, however, expressed opposition to drugs or procedures that terminate a pregnancy once conception has taken place. "Most associate evangelicals with Catholics in their steady leadership in pro-life advocacy, and rightly so," said heretic Leith Anderson, president of the NAE, in a statement. "But it may come as a surprise that unlike the Catholic church, we are open to contraception."
Click here for the entire article.


Chicago: Mother in Battle with Doctors over conjoined Twins on Life Support

    
     Brianna Manns visits her
      conjoined twins, Kameron
      (left) and Kaydon.

Lying face to face, with one arm draped around the other, Kaydon and Kameron appear to be locked in a loving embrace. But the boys, not yet 3 months old, have no choice but to hug each other every minute of every day. They are conjoined twins who share a liver and a single malformed heart. Doctors discussed terminating the pregnancy with the mother, Brianna Manns, 21, after they determined the twins were not likely to survive. But Manns said abortion was never an option. "I am a strong believer in not having abortions -- very, very strong," said Manns, taking a break from the neonatal intensive care unit at University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, where her sons are hospitalized. "And they are my babies."
Click here for the entire article.


Pro-Life Pamphlets to be Banned in Australia?

    
     One side of the leaflet.
     Click here to enlarge.

An "offensive" anti-abortion leaflet distributed to Waverley households is under investigation and could be banned. In the lead-up to State Parliament debating a bill to decriminalise abortion, pro-life group Tell the Truth Coalition dropped 20,000 leaflets into the letterboxes of Mt Waverley MP Maxine Morand's constituents. Ms Morand, as Women's Affairs and Children's Minister, sponsored the bill, which passed through the State Parliament's lower house last Friday morning. One side of the leaflet labels Ms Morand as an "extreme pro-abortionist" and on the other side it depicts a foetus at different stages of development up to 12 weeks. The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) is reviewing the leaflet, which could be banned, but the coalition has vowed to continue its fight against the decriminalisation of abortion. 
Click here for the entire article.


Young Pro-Lifers Begin Trek Across Canada

    
The third Canadian Crossroads walk for life got off to a wet start on Monday May 24. The 6 walkers - 4 seminarians from Christ the King in Vancouver B.C., and 2 students from Our Lady Seat of Wisdom in Barry's Bay, Ontario - went to Mass and then drove in the rain out to the very edge of Vancouver, where it meets the Pacific Ocean. They dipped their hands and feet in the ocean, then turned their faces toward Ottawa and began their 5,000-kilometer trek.
Click here for the entire article.


Over 60 pro-life groups to protest abortion law outside Spanish Supreme Court

    
     Spanish Supreme Court in Madrid.

More than 60 pro-life associations will gather outside the Spanish Supreme Court on July 3 in Madrid to express their rejection of the country's new law on abortion.

The groups will also demand that the legislation be placed under an injunction until a ruling is made on a case challenging its constitutionality filed by the People's Party.

The theme of the protest will be "25 Years Are Enough! Yes to Life for All," and will take place two days before the new law is scheduled to take effect on July 5. Though abortion is already legal in the country, the new legislation allows abortion up to the fourteenth week of pregnancy and in some cases, up to the twenty-second week.
Click here for the entire article.


Abortion pill being shoved down Mexico's throat

    

Mexico's Supreme Court is taking extreme measures to force distribution of the "morning-after pill."
 
The court issued a ruling that will force all doctors in public and private hospitals to provide the morning-after pill. A Supreme Court minister stated that those who refuse to do so will suffer serious penalties, including termination, prosecution, and imprisonment.
Click here for the entire article.

Blago's crimes against sanctity of life

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Opening arguments were heard yesterday in the federal corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich stands accused of attempting to sell President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat. Blagojevich and wife Patti have recently portrayed themselves as sympathetic figures on reality television, he on "Celebrity Apprentice" and she on "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" Both attempts have worked to a degree. About Patti's on-air stint in a Costan Rican jungle Huffington Post noted:     It was image changing, too, for Blagojevich, who came off as a down-to-earth, well-liked mom. Before the show, Blagojevich was mostly known for being a foul-mouthed political spouse caught on federal wiretaps prosecutors had made of her husband. Rod even managed to win over Donald Trump. When Trump fired Rod in episode four because he didn't know how to use modern communication methods (texting, e-mail) to communicate with his team, the Chicago Sun-Times reported:     Donald Trump was hesitant to fire Blagojevich, saying he thought the impeached ex-governor was afraid to offend potential jurors while competing.     "I think Rod is being overly nice because he has some pretty big things to do when we're finished with this," Trump said. "I think he's in a very tough position. I think you're a guy with great courage." Oh, please. As governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich was anything but courageous, taking inordinate pleasure in picking on people way smaller than himself. On the life issue in particular, Blagojevich was a bully for death. In 2005, the issue of state public funding for embryonic stem-cell research was big. California had just passed Proposition 71, which authorized $3 billion in taxpayer funding for ESCR (estimated final cost per the California Legislative Analyst: $6 billion). In Illinois, the Democrat-controlled legislature had twice failed to pass similar legislation. But Blagojevich surprised all by taking matters into his own hands and signing an executive order, making Illinois the first and only state to date to authorize controversial ESCR public funding without legislative or public involvement. To do this, Blagojevich hid $10 million in a budget line item "for grants and related expenses of hospitals and universities for scientific research." Blagojevich's treachery angered everyone, even the mainstream media, which went on to skewer him in editorials, for instance The Daily Illini:     [I]t takes some narcissism to make a call like this. ...     Blagojevich has made a bold decision. But it does not appear that he considered the voice of anyone other than himself in this case. He was elected to make decisions on the behalf of the citizens of Illinois, but he appears to be making decisions based solely upon his beliefs. There is no excuse for circumventing the legislature and deviously allocating money from the budget to further his personal agenda. …     Regardless of what the executive order brings in the future, Blagojevich's dereliction should not be forgiven or forgotten. No worries there. To rationalize his actions, Blagojevich famously quipped at the time, "Anytime you do what is morally right … however you get there is immaterial." No clearer statement could be made that the ends justify the means. Also in 2005, Blagojevich filed an "emergency rule," making Illinois the first state to force pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives "without delay" even if in violation of their consciences. Emergency contraceptives may cause abortions. Standing with Blagojevich when he made his announcement were NARAL President Nancy Keenan and then-Planned Parenthood President Karen Pearl. On Lou Dobb's CNN program, Blagojevich compared the moral quandary of prescribing chemical death to preborns to a vegan selling hamburger:     To suggest that somehow pharmacists should be treated differently would be to suggest, for example, that when you go to your supermarket and the clerk is checking out your food, and that clerk may be a vegetarian, that when you check through the counter to pay your bill, he's checking the asparagus and the potatoes and the pasta, but when he gets to the ground sirloin, says: I'm sorry, I have a moral objection to meat; I'm not going to sell you the hamburger.     The fact is, if he can't do his job, don't work there. And when it comes to these pharmacists who are making political statements, they can choose to fill their prescription and do their job, or they can work at a pharmacy that doesn't stock birth control. Yet I'm willing to bet Blagojevich wouldn't call Muslim refusal to eating pork a "political statement." After Blagojevich made his "emergency rule," Walgreens immediately fired four pharmacists who refused to prescribe the morning-after pill, and three other pharmacies immediately filed a lawsuit. Five years later, that lawsuit is ongoing, and Blagojevich is still named as a party. Currently, the state has a preliminary injunction ordered to keep it from forcing the plaintiffs to dispense emergency contraceptives. Blagojevich may have been involved in other hanky-panky. In May 2007, Planned Parenthood Chicago Area requested and received a bond rating as a nonprofit organization from the Illinois Finance Authority that allowed it to borrow at a cheaper rate to build its Aurora abortion mill. I smell a rat. Who knows what collateral damage will be meted in Blagojevich's corruption trial. But even if justice isn't served for Blagojevich's crimes against preborns now, it will be served eventually. And at least he has been stopped. Meanwhile, don't expend one ounce of sympathy for the guy. Contact: Jill Stanek Source: WorldNetDaily Publish Date: June 9, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Pro-Life Primary Victories Confirm Resurgence of Authentic, Pro-Life Feminism

Dannenfelser: "Tuesday's election results are the greatest affirmation of our mission in the history of the organization."           Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser called Tuesday's victories for pro-life women candidates "the greatest affirmation of our mission in the history of the organization," and "proof that Americans are responding to authentic, pro-life feminism." "We applaud Americans in California, New Jersey, Nevada, South Carolina and South Dakota for taking steps to support authentic, pro-life feminism with their votes," said Dannenfelser.  "Now more than ever, we need pro-woman, pro-life leadership.  These women will usher in the year of the pro-life woman and win back critical pro-life margins in the House and Senate." "California is now a top priority race for the SBA List and a battleground that sets the tone for the rest of the country. With a pro-life leader like Carly Fiorina facing the ultimate pro-abortion advocate, Barbara Boxer, the stakes couldn't be higher." "In Nevada we experienced an embarrassment of riches, with two pro-life women running for the Senate Republican primary and taking over 66 percent of the vote combined," said Dannenfelser.  "With her victory, Sharron Angle is poised to unseat Harry Reid, the leader of the Senate and the key proponent for Obama's health care plan that included taxpayer funding of abortion." California, Nevada, New Jersey, South Carolina and South Dakota all saw major victories for pro-life women.  In California, Carly Fiorina defeated Tom Campbell and Chuck DeVore with 56% of the vote and Star Parker of CA-37 continues on to the General Election after an uncontested primary.  Sharron Angle won the Nevada Senate Republican Primary with 40% of the vote.  While, in New Jersey's 6th Congressional District, Anna Little leads with less than 100 votes in a race that has not yet been called.  Nikki Haley won 48.9% of the vote in the South Carolina Gubernatorial Primary, qualifying her for the run-off and, in South Dakota, Kristi Noem received 42% of the vote in South Dakota's At-Large Republican Primary.  "Tuesday's successes show the clear electoral power of authentic, pro-life feminism," Dannenfelser said of the key pro-life victories. "These are the first of many victories to come." The Susan B. Anthony List plans to spend $6 million on voter education in the midterm elections, including $3 million on key Senate races.  The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide network of over 280,000 Americans, residing in all 50 states, dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics.  Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in the political process.   Contact: Kerry Brown Source: Susan B. Anthony List Publish Date: Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

New Adult Stem-Cell Treatments for Head and Heart Advance

The University of California in Irvine New reports indicate that real hope for 'miracle' treatments using adult stem cells is on the way for those suffering from diseases afflicting both the brain and the heart. In California, researchers at the University of California in Irvine say they have discovered the method and mechanisms by which adult stem-cells can repair and replace damaged tissue in the brain. The discovery could lead to treatments for individuals with multiple sclerosis and other brain inflammation diseases. "Previously, we've seen that adult neural stem cells injected into the spinal column knew, amazingly, exactly where to go," said Tom Lane, a professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, and co-author with Kevin Carbajal of the new study. "We wanted to find what directed them to the right injury spots." Lane and Carbajal's team experimented with mice whose central nervous systems were damaged by viruses in a way that imitated the effects of MS. The virus destroys myelin, a protective tissue that covers the nerves, resulting in chronic pain and loss of motor function. They injected adult neural stem cells into the mice and observed that the inflamed cells activated receptors on the adult stem cells called CXCR-4 receptors. These receptors then gathered "chemokine proteins" (CXCL-12), which guided the adult stem cells to the damaged cells in need of repair. As the adult stem cells made their journey through the brain, they transformed into precursor cells for oligodendrocytes, a key building block for myelin, that can both repair or replace the damaged tissues. Once latched onto the affected sites, the stem cells continued to differentiate, and after three weeks 90% of the cells had transformed into mature oligodendrocytes. Lane stressed that not only did the work reaffirm the power of adult neural stem cells to improve the brain's motor function, but also provided a crucial stem cell roadmap for researchers looking to develop therapies for those suffering with MS. "In this study, we've taken an important step by showing the navigational cues in an inflammatory environment like MS that guide stem cells," explained Lane. "Hopefully, these cues can be incorporated into stem cell-based treatments to enhance their ability to repair injury." While advances have been made in treating the diseases of the head, a young girl is undergoing an experimental adult stem cell treatment that, if successful, would finally allow her to overcome a rare disease of the heart called Eisenmenger syndrome. The News Tribune reports that Washington State resident Mailia Goforth, 16, has suffered from the disease since birth. The condition is caused by a structural defect in the heart, where blood flows through a hole in the heart wall. Additionally she suffers from secondary pulmonary hypertension because too much blood flows to her lungs; the blood vessels then constrict, putting even more strain on the heart. In Mailia's case, doctors identified her condition too late for normal surgical repair or even the more drastic measure of a double lung and heart replacement. The teenager, however, is being treated in the Dominican Republic with stem cells derived from her own blood, which are injected into her lungs via a small catheter. If successful, the therapy – developed by Dr. Zannos Grekos, MD – would significantly reduce the pressure on Mailia's heart, and enable her to breathe freely. It would also theoretically allow surgeons to repair her heart. The treatment has so far cost Mailia's parents $64,000. Forty-seven thousand of that amount was raised by the parents, with the rest being covered by a private charity. The family, however, expects that Mailia will need a second round of stem cell treatments in addition to the surgeries, which Grekos speculated to the Tribune could enable her to play sports one day. The Tribune reports that the family has just $33 left, but they have set up a website MailiasMiracle.com http://mailiasmiracle.com/, which lets people know Mailia's story and how they can help. Contact: Peter J. Smith Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: June 9, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Princeton Philosopher: ‘Why Not Sterilize the Human Race and Party into Extinction?’

Princeton philosopher Peter Singer Princeton philosopher Peter Singer one of the world's foremost contemporary utilitarian philosophers infamous for his advocacy of infanticide, would like individuals to consider this question: would sterilizing the human race to spare future generations the pain of existence be a good idea? In a blog post for the New York Times entitled "Should this be the last generation?" Singer discusses in glowing terms the thought of South African philosopher David Benatar. Singer calls Benator the "author of a fine book with an arresting title: 'Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence.'" "To bring into existence someone who will suffer is, Benatar argues, to harm that person, but to bring into existence someone who will have a good life is not to benefit him or her," explains Singer. Both Singer and Benatar both believe that human beings do not have inherent dignity. Singer, the Princeton Chair of Bioethics, has gained notoriety for asserting that infanticide is justifiable, especially for disabled infants, because they lack self-awareness, which he asserts is a requirement for personhood. A key difference, however, between Singer and Benatar, an existential nihilist who chairs the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, is that Singer believes life could be worth living in certain conditions. But Benatar flat out rejects existence as good, and the still-living author discusses that view in his controversial book. Singer explains Benatar's antinatalist philosophy, which bases its moral framework by weighing the consequences of existence, in this way: "everyone will suffer to some extent, and if our species continues to reproduce, we can be sure that some future children will suffer severely. Hence continued reproduction will harm some children severely, and benefit none." Singer then invites readers to engage in a thought experiment: "So why don't we make ourselves the last generation on earth? If we would all agree to have ourselves sterilized then no sacrifices would be required — we could party our way into extinction!" "Even if we take a less pessimistic view of human existence than Benatar, we could still defend [this scenario], because it makes us better off — for one thing, we can get rid of all that guilt about what we are doing to future generations — and it doesn't make anyone worse off, because there won't be anyone else to be worse off," he continued. Singer distances himself from Benatar's conclusions, however, and says, "I do think it would be wrong to choose the non-sentient universe." Nevertheless, he said that for the human race to continue justifying reproducing itself over the next two centuries, individuals should ask themselves the hard questions of, "Is life worth living? Are the interests of a future child a reason for bringing that child into existence? And is the continuance of our species justifiable in the face of our knowledge that it will certainly bring suffering to innocent future human beings?" Bioethicist Wesley J. Smith, a longtime critic of Singer's work, responded to Singer's recent article, saying, "This is nihilism on stilts and it is polluting the West's self confidence and belief in universal human equality like the BP oil well is polluting the Caribbean. "Only the resulting mess isn't measured in polluted beaches and dead birds, but existential despair that destroys human lives." "Under the influence of anti-human advocates like Peter Singer, we have gone in the West from seeking to 'secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity,' to seriously questioning whether there should be any posterity at all," Smith wrote on his blog. "This is not healthy. But it is the natural consequence of rejecting human exceptionalism." Contact: Peter J. Smith Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: June 8, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Planned Parenthood does two-step on telemed abortions

Click here to read the backstory. On May 21 IA Public Radio reported:          ... Clinics around the country have been inquiring about the [abortion telemed] system, and already Planned Parenthood of East Central IA will also be signing on, making abortion available for the first time at their clinics in Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, which lack full-time physicians on staff.     [PPECI] Dir. of Patient Services Barbara Chadwick says it's the goal of PP to expand abortion services at its clinics nationwide over the next 5 years....     "We have been looking at initiating abortion service as a core service of all PPs, part of the Federation's strategic plan for 2015."     Medical abortions, Chadwick says, will be a key element in that strategy, and signing up for the long distance option will get her organization toward the goal faster.... If you listen to the news story, you'll hear Chadwick herself speaking. Add that to what PP CEO Cecile Richards said in a May 20 interview with the Iowa Independent:     ... I think telemedicine is an incredibly important advance, particularly for women in rural areas.... It's very safe and very effective. It's an incredibly important option for women who decide to terminate a pregnancy. And what former PP director Abby Johnson wrote in a May 30 op ed:     Two years ago, I went to a National Abortion Federation meeting and listened to a nurse from PP of the Heartland brag about the new telemed abortion method. He said it would revolutionize the way medical abortions were conducted, starting in IA and then expanding throughout the nation. The plan seems clear. But not so fast. Apparently Chadwick let the cat out of the bag before PP had properly greased the skids. PP's PR machine wasn't yet prepared for the ensuing uproar, so all it could do at this point was back away. According to THOnline.com on May 28:     A misstatement last week by a PP representative about abortions has set off a firestorm of response from abortion opponents.     Contrary to statements made last week to a public radio reporter, there are no plans to offer the "telemedicine program" (a teleconference-based delivery of drugs to end a pregnancy) in Dubuque, according to PP.     "Chadwick misspoke when she said that telemedicine abortion would be available in the Dubuque and Cedar Rapids health centers," said Jenifer Vick, director of development and communications for PPECI. "She was speaking broadly, that telemedicine is the way medical care is moving in the country."... Well, no, that's not what Chadwick said at all. And apparently Vick backed away too far. She should never have said there were "no plans" to offer telemed abortions, because PP could rightfully be called a liar when plans it knows it has are unveiled. So PP had to follow up Vick's retraction with a half-retraction. According to THOnline.com on June 6:     The group issued a news release that states, "It's not that PPECI wouldn't like to have specific plans to provide abortion care to women in need - it's just that there is not currently a blueprint developed as to how exactly that could take place....     "There are many considerations that would need to take place before implementing this service - for example, approval by the PPECI Board of Directors is one action that would have to take place, and that has not happened," the release states....     "I thought it was inappropriate to have any discussion with media regarding any future possibilities of offering the provision of abortion services unless plans were in place," said... Vick.... "That foundation has not been developed." Riiiight. Keep dancing. Contact: Jill Stanek Source: jillstanek.com Publish Date: June 8, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

British Abortion Ads Generate over 1,000 Complaints in First Two Weeks      Television spots airing in Britain advertising Marie Stopes International (MSI) abortion facilities have garnered over 1,000 complaints from viewers in their first two weeks. The volume of complaints has prompted the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to agree to investigate whether the ads have violated broadcasting rules. Channel 4, the independent broadcaster that agreed to run the ads, has received 611 complaints to date, with the ASA receiving 370 more, the Daily Telegraph reports. Channel 4's statement included a complaint from one viewer: "I just want to say how appalled I am that you have allowed this advert to be shown. Also I can tell you that Channel 4 will not be watched in this house ever again." Click here for the entire article. Baby Jesus 'scan' features in churches' Christmas campaign           A scan of "baby Jesus in       the Virgin Mary's womb" Ruth Gledhill, religion correspondent of The Times, has a good story today headlined "'Scan' of baby Jesus plunges Churches into abortion debate." She writes: "Protestant Churches are joining forces in an advertising campaign that shows a scan of "baby Jesus in the Virgin Mary's womb", complete with halo. "The poster campaign ... reads: 'He's on His way. Christmas starts with Christ.'" Click here for the entire article. US Supreme Court seen open to incremental pro-life legislation           U.S. Supreme Court building Surveying the recent decisions of the US Supreme Court, legal theorist (and newly baptized Catholic) Hadley Arkes concludes that in effect, the Court is saying: "We are prepared to entertain seriously the argument that abortions, under certain conditions, may rightly be restricted and even barred." That message should be a great encouragement to pro-life activists at the state level, he says. Click here for the entire article. University of Wisconsin Is Training People How to Kill Babies AG Recommends Audit of UW Abortion Training      Auditors should look into whether the University of Wisconsin health system may be improperly funding abortion training for medical residents, state Justice Department officials said in a letter released Thursday. Wisconsin law prohibits state agencies from paying doctors or medical facilities for performing abortions. The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Authority pays medical residents specializing in gynecology to train at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, where they can choose to undertake abortion training. Click here for the entire article. Miss. opts out of health care abortions           Missisissppi Gov. Haley Barbour Mississippi has become the third state to opt out of a provision in the new federal health care law that would require coverage for abortion in "insurance exchanges." "Mississippi continues to be the safest place to be an unborn child in America today," Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, said when he signed the bill May 24. "This bill ensures that taxpayers' money will not fund abortions if the health insurance exchanges are implemented under the federal health care law." Click here for the entire article. 'No to abortion, Yes to marriage,' Peruvian cardinal tells congress attendees           Cardinal Cipriani During the closing Mass of the First Eucharistic and Marian Congress in Lima, Peru on Sunday, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne called on the thousands of participants to defend life and say "yes to life-long marriage between one man and one woman." In his homily, Cardinal Cipriani encouraged the faithful to be "defenders of life."  Click here for the entire article.

Clinton Library Documents Offer Hints About Supreme Court Pick

Clinton Library Documents Offer Hints About Supreme Court Pick             Elena Kagan - nominated to the       U.S. Supreme Court With no judicial experience, family advocates rely on writings and former employers for clues to Kagan's judicial philosophy. Elena Kagan's nomination to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court is still raising more questions than it's answering.  Even 46,000 pages of documents from the Clinton Library, released over the weekend, are offering precious little in the way of information. Republicans, looking for clues to Kagan's judicial philosophy, have turned to memos written throughout her career and to the judicial philosophies of those for whom she worked. Elena Kagan has contributed money to the National Partnership for Women and Families, which has ties to NARAL Pro-Choice America and Emily's List, an organization that helps get pro-abortion Democratic women elected to Congress. Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network, said the little information available is revealing. "A lot of people have been trying to paint her as a moderate," she said. "These documents really show that that's not who Elena Kagan really is." Kagan has also been an outspoken critic of Rust v. Sullivan.  In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court said Department of Health and Human Services regulations, which keep Title X family planning funds from paying for abortion programs, are constitutional. "Rust illustrates the way in which government funding may have both more potent and more disruptive effects than direct government speech," Kagan wrote in an article.  "How better, then, to communicate an anti-abortion message:  through direct speech or through selective subsidization of health care providers?  The latter course…wreaks havoc on the ability of those private parties in the best position to challenge the message to provide a counterweight to government authority." "That raises questions as to whether she'll be able to leave the politics behind, if she's on the Supreme Court," said Severino, "because it's a very different type of role." As counsel for President Clinton, Kagan worked on a memo regarding the partial-birth abortion ban legislation.  Clinton had vetoed the measure and several Democrats had offered amendments to the bill that made it ineffective, including Rep. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, whose amendment included broad exceptions that would have gutted the law. "We recommend that you endorse the Daschle amendment in order to sustain your credibility on HR 1122," she wrote, "and prevent Congress from overriding your veto." Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said there is little doubt where Kagan stands. "You see quite a radical liberal and President Obama knew what he was doing when he nominated her," he said.  "These documents are confirming that she's as far left as everyone suspected." Opponents to the nomination are also looking at those whom Kagan deems "heroes," including Aharon Barak, a retired chief judge of the Supreme Court of Israel, who was made famous by his willingness to legislate from the bench. Barak was awarded the Peter Gruber Foundation Justice Prize at Harvard Law School in 2006. In her introduction of Barak, Kagan called him "my judicial hero.  He is the judge who has best advanced democracy, human rights, the rule of law and justice." But it should be noted that Israel does not have a Constitution, so following Barak's example that a judge "should adapt the law to life's changing needs," does not work in the U.S.  "The question Americans want answered?" Fitton asked, "Is this the type of person we want appointed to the highest court in the land?" Contact: Kim Trobee Source: CitizenLink Publish Date: June 7, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

IL clinic takes another shot at Christian pro-lifers

IL clinic takes another shot at Christian pro-lifers           Northern Illinois Women's Center        abortion Clinic A Rockford pro-life counselor feels that an Illinois abortion clinic has reached a new low in an attempt to offend Christians. The Northern Illinois Women's Center abortion clinic has gained notoriety nationwide for the signs placed in its windows that mock Christianity and Christians. In the past, the workers have displayed rubber chickens hanging from nooses, a nun in a coffin, and other taunting posters with hateful messages. But Kevin Rilott, one of the prayer warriors keeping a vigil on the abortuary's sidewalks, notes that the clinic's new "decoration" reaches another level of hate for pro-life views. "They've become increasingly belligerent and hateful, directed primarily towards Jesus Christ and the Christians who are praying outside," he explains. "About two years ago, the Christian presence at this abortion facility began to increase, and you wouldn't even call it protests; what you'd call it is people in prayer." The effort has reduced abortions, which the prayer warrior believes is a remarkable testimony to the power of prayer. The latest method used by the owner to blast Christians is a picture of Jesus making an obscene gesture with words at the bottom that read: "Even Jesus hates you." Rilott assures that in response, Christians will simply pray harder. But his concern is with the women entering the clinic, who may respond differently. "For her to see a sign that says, 'Even Jesus hates you' is just like this clinic is trying to cut the heart out of these women before they enter the building," he contends. The pro-life advocate adds that a couple of the clinic operators whom his group has gotten to know make it clear that they despise everything about Christianity. Contact: Charlie Butts Source: OneNewsNow Publish Date: June 8, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Assisted Suicide: CT Judge Dismissed Attempt to Legalize by Redefinition

Assisted Suicide: CT Judge Dismissed Attempt to Legalize by Redefinition      Compassion and Choices backed a lawsuit in Connecticut to legalize assisted suicide by redefining the term to "aid in dying" when committed by doctors at the request of terminally ill patients.  No go.  From the story:     A Superior Court judge has rejected a request from two doctors who sought to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill, mentally competent patients who asked for help to die peacefully. In dismissing the doctors' case, Judge Julia Aurigemma wrote that a state law against assisting suicide applied to physicians helping dying patients end their lives, and that the issues raised in the doctors' lawsuit should be addressed by the legislature, not the courts. "[The statute] is aimed at precisely the situation presented by the plaintiffs — aiding a terminally ill patient, in unbearable pain, to end his or her own life — and precisely the situation in which physicians are most likely to participate," Aurigemma wrote. Duh.  This theory is so disrespectful of democracy it takes one's breath away. But it was still worth doing from the C & C perspective since pro assisted suicide types are never called to account for filing frivolous cases that take up strained judicial resources.  Besides, it generated the usual fawning stories about how assisted suicide is just "compassion."  (I was in one on Anderson Cooper 360 that was so biased it made me buy a mouth guard to keep my teeth from grinding.)  And make no mistake, C & C will try again.  They know that it only takes one activist judge to breach the barricades.  Expect an appeal, if just to keep the stories coming. Stay tuned. Contact: Wesley J. Smith Source: Secondhand Smoke Publish Date: June 8, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

7th Graders to Learn About IUDs, Abortifacients, Condoms

7th Graders to Learn About IUDs, Abortifacients, Condoms           Seventh Graders from North Carolina Schools in North Carolina are preparing to implement the "Healthy Youth Act," which was signed on June 30, 2009 and is set to take effect in the 2010-11 school year. It states that students from 7th to 9th grade should be taught "about the effectiveness and safety of all FDA-approved contraceptive methods in preventing pregnancy." This means that they will be taught about male and female condoms, diaphragms, sponges, cervical caps, spermicides, oral contraceptives, contraceptive rings, the abortifacient "morning after pill," and other methods of birth control, unless their parents explicitly request that they be excluded from these classes. The measure was backed by the ACLU of North Carolina, Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice NC, the North Carolina Association of Educators, and the "gay-rights" group Equality NC. The original version of the bill would have required schools to offer both an abstinence-only curriculum and a comprehensive sex education program, allowing parents to decide which program their child would attend.  It was modified, however, so that students will attend "comprehensive sexual education" unless parents affirmatively opt them out of it. Prior to the Healthy Youth Act, abstinence-only education predominated in North Carolina schools.  School boards were required to hold public hearings before schools could offer "comprehensive" sexual education. The ACLU of North Carolina hailed the law because it eliminated this requirement.  Such hearings, the ACLU stated, would now be "a thing of the past." Nevertheless, the Healthy Youth Act also states that abstinence from sexual activity is to be taught as "the expected standard for all school-age children."  It also instructs schools to teach that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain means of avoiding pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Finally, it also instructs classes to teach that "a mutually faithful monogamous heterosexual relationship in the context of marriage is the best lifelong means of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS." The ACLU and the homosexualist Equality NC decried such aspects of the bill.  Equality NC stated that it was "disappointed [that] the final bill left in inaccurate and discriminatory language from the existing curriculum." But it nevertheless maintained that the law was a "huge step forward." Contact: James Tillman Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: June 8, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Disabled Need Help to Live, Not Die: Handicapped UK Baroness

Disabled Need Help to Live, Not Die: Handicapped UK Baroness           Jane Campbell, Baroness Campbell       of Surbiton While pro-assisted suicide campaigners continue to press for relaxation of Britain's law against assisted suicide, one disabled member of the House of Lords is fighting back. Jane Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, has urged MPs to sign on to a charter that affirms the value of the lives of disabled people and says they should receive the same protections under the law as all other citizens. Writing in the Guardian newspaper, Campbell said, "In recent years, calls for a change to the law prohibiting assisted suicide have grown louder and more frequent. They capitalise on fear. Fear of pain, fear of loss of dignity, fear of being a burden. And, yes, fear of witnessing those fears being felt by those we know and love. The solution offered to the fear of disability and illness is final: suicide. "We face a bleak situation if calls for assisted suicide to be lawful are renewed whilst vital services are being withdrawn or denied." The charter is the work of the disability rights group Not Dead Yet UK, who launched a campaign last week to counter the efforts of the euthanasia and assisted suicide lobby. The campaign comes at the same time as euthanasia campaigners have vowed to continue to pressure for legalized assisted suicide in the new government. "We cannot allow others to speak for us – especially those who seek to offer us the choice of a premature death: it is not a choice, it is to abandon us," wrote Campbell. She also warned of the slippery slope of legal "assisted dying." Once campaigners have succeeded in legalizing assisted suicide, she said, "they will then seek to broaden the criteria." "Once early death becomes an 'option', it will gain a respectability that will erode the resolve of many people experiencing personal difficulties. Not only will it enter our heads, it will also enter the heads of our families and friends, those who provide us with health and social care support and, ultimately, those holding the purse strings." The charter asks MPs to assert that, like those suffering from suicidal thoughts, disabled people should be encouraged to live. It includes a pledge to support palliative care initiatives and to ensure the disabled and ill receive the health care and social services they require to "live with dignity." Earlier this year, the UK's Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, issued guidance on the application of the assisted suicide law that said violators in England and Wales would not be prosecuted if they acted out of disinterested or "compassionate" motives. The guidance was issued after a decision by the House of Lords Judicial Committee saying that public prosecutors must "clarify" current law. The decision was a victory for assisted suicide campaigner Debbie Purdie, a woman with multiple sclerosis who wants her husband to be allowed to accompany her when she goes to commit suicide at the Dignitas suicide facility in Switzerland. Baroness Campbell, who as Britain's leading voice against assisted suicide for the disabled, is effectively Purdie's opposite number in the debate. Campbell was diagnosed at the age of nine months with spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative condition which has left her confined to a wheelchair and open to regular respiratory crises. She serves as a Commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and is a former chairman of the House of Lords Disability Committee and Commissioner of the Disability Rights Commission. She told the Daily Telegraph last year of a terrifying incident in which she was rushed to a hospital emergency room, where doctors tried to persuade her husband to "allow her to die." Campbell credited the intervention of her husband Roger, who had to show hospital staff photos of his wife receiving an honorary doctorate in law from Bristol university in order to demonstrate her quality of life. She said in the interview, "What was even worse was the isolation I would have felt if I had been alone...If Roger wasn't here, would I have been allowed to die because the doctors believed it was kinder to end my life?" In an impassioned speech in the House of Lords, opposing an attempt by Lord Falconer to relax the law, Campbell said that legal assisted suicide "'is to abandon hope and ignore the majority of disabled and terminally ill." The defeat of Lord Falconer's bill was credited to that speech, but the vote was close at 194 to 141.  Contact: Hilary White Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: June 8, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

Women Sue Birth Control Pill Manufacturer

Women Sue Birth Control Pill Manufacturer            Bayer Pharmaceutical A group of Canadian women is suing Bayer Pharmaceutical, claiming that the contraceptive pill manufacturer does not adequately inform users of the potential serious health risks associated with the oral contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin. The legal firm of Siskinds LLP is representing the group. It will present evidence that the hormonal birth control pills cause conditions ranging from decreased bone density, to strokes, gallbladder problems leading to surgery, pulmonary embolisms, and numerous other serious health issues. Matthew Baer, legal counsel at Siskinds, told the media that he has evidence about the health risks of the product, which uses drospirenone, a synthetic progestin, that has been linked to over 25,000 reported cases of adverse effects and several deaths. "We're hearing about pulmonary embolisms, deep vein thrombosis, stroke and, a more unusual one, people having issues with their gallbladders," he told CTV. The lawsuit alleges that Bayer downplayed the serious side effects of the pills, failed to conduct proper research before releasing them onto the market, and failed adequately to warn patients and doctors about the increased health risk associated with use of Yasmin and Yaz. Over 100 lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. against Bayer by Yasmin and Yaz users. Several medical advisory groups have called for an outright ban on the contraceptives. The Swiss Federation of Service to Patients recently called for a ban on Yaz, Yasmin and other contraceptive pills containing drospirenone, after the drug was linked to the death of a 17-year-old German girl who died in a Swiss hospital. This was the third serious incident reported in Switzerland last year involving such contraceptives. In each case, the women suffered pulmonary embolisms. In May of 2009, a woman ended up severely disabled after a three-month coma, and in September another woman died. This past weekend a coalition of pro-life groups, led by the American Life League (ALL), sponsored "The Pill Kills" day. The annual event, which took place June 5, seeks to provide women with information on the dangers of hormonal birth control that the pill manufacturers suppress. This year's "The Pill Kills" day added an environmental note to the health concerns of contraceptive drugs. Under the title "Protest the Pill Day: The Pill Kills the Environment" organizers presented the often hidden negative effects of hormonal contraceptives on the ecosystem. Katie Walker, Communications Director for ALL, observed that, "In a world obsessed with 'going green,' we hope to use this hypocritical acceptance of birth control – which is a notorious pollutant – to open up a conversation about the pill that you won't hear anywhere else." "Scientists are discovering 'intersex' fish in various areas around the world," said Marie Hahnenberg, The Pill Kills project director. "Studies in the United States, from California to Maryland (including the Potomac River), have revealed that some male fish have been feminized by the vast quantities of synthetic estrogen in the water." "It's about time women were made aware that the birth control they are taking could have negative consequences on their health and on the environment," said Judie Brown, president and cofounder of American Life League. "They deserve the truth – regardless of political pressure to conceal it." Contact: Thaddeus M. Baklinski Source: LifeSiteNews.com Publish Date: June 8, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.

NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY

NEWS SHORTS FOR TUESDAY Charlie Crist Removes Pro-Life Message From Web Site           Florida Governor Charlie Crist Florida lawmakers passed a bill that would require doctors to perform an ultrasound on women who want to kill their babies during the first trimester and to describe what they're seeing. Unless women can prove they were impregnated through rape, incest, or domestic violence... This week, Governor Charlie Crist, running for the U.S. Senate, will decide whether to sign the bill. "Now that he has left the Republican Party in order to win an election and is trying to attract liberal votes, the Crist campaign yesterday removed the 'pro-life/family' issue page of its website," Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos told LifeNews.com. "In doing so, Charlie Crist eliminated any reference to being 'pro-life' in a transparent attempt to hide his position in order to win an election." Click here for the entire article. Orlando Abortionist Arrested for Aggravated Battery           Randall B. Whitney ProlifeFlorida.com has reported that long-time Volusia County abortionist Randall B. Whitney was arrested by Orlando Police inside the Orlando Women's Center after he slapped a woman patient while preparing her for an abortion procedure. This is not the first time Whitney has assaulted patients. He gave up his own clinic in Daytona Beach when he decided he would rather close than face scrutiny by state investigators.           Click here for the video. Click here for the entire article. Planned Parenthood Officials: No 'Blueprint' For Abortion Care           Planned Parenthood in Iowa Organization says that 'many considerations' would have to take place before implementing the service in the Cedar Rapids and Dubuque health centers. Officials at Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa said Friday the organization has no finalized plans to implement abortion services in the Cedar Rapids and Dubuque health centers. The group issued a news release that states, "It's not that Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa wouldn't like to have specific plans to provide abortion care to women in need --it's just that there is not currently a blueprint developed as to how exactly that could take place. Click here for the entire article. FDA Panel To Mull 'Morning-After Pill' Effective 5 Days After Sex             Plan B abortifacient A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee will meet June 17 to consider whether the agency should approve a new emergency contraceptive that studies show is more effective than Plan B, the only "morning-after pill" on the U.S. market. HRA Pharma of Paris launched ulipristal acetate in October 2009 and sells it in 21 European countries under the brand name ellaOne. As in Europe, ulipristal would be available only by prescription in the USA. Plan B, the brand name for levonorgestrel, is available without a prescription to women 17 and older, but those under 17 require a prescription. Click here for the entire article. Gates Foundation Pledges $1.5 Billion To Child And Maternal Health           Bill & Melinda Gates What's the next big focus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation? Maternal health. Melinda Gates announced the Foundation will invest $1.5 billion over the next five years in programs promoting maternal and child health, family planning, and nutrition in developing countries. "We said AIDS is important, we said malaria is important, we're saying now maternal and child deaths are important — and guess what? It's actually possible to fix them," Gates told NPR All Things Considered Host Michele Norris. The move comes at a time when AIDS activists are expressing concern that the U.S. is stretching foreign aid programs without putting a lot more dollars into the pot. Click here for the entire article. 80 British IVF Babies Aborted per Year           In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Figures released under Britain's Freedom of Information Act show that an average of 80 children conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other artificial means of artificial procreation, are being aborted each year in England and Wales. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the government body that regulates artificial reproduction practices, has revealed that some of those aborted were conceived by IVF treatments funded by the country's tax-funded medical system, the National Health Service (NHS). Click here for the entire article.