Weekly News Report August 20

Is It a Sin not to Vote?

Chuck Colson offers more on the need for Christians to get their say in the public square.

This is why Christians must never “fast” from politics. And it’s why Christians, of all citizens, ought to be lining up to vote on Tuesday. Do your civic duty because you’ll do your duty to God in the process.

And to abandon the battle on behalf of the sick and the suffering, the prisoner and the unborn: That would be a true sin.

Amen.

Hospitals ensure babies dead before abortion to avoid legal charges
Truly ugly. Truly evil.
How are abortion clinics protecting themselves against charges under the partial-birth abortion ban?

By ensuring unborn babies are dead by injecting them first with lethal drugs before aborting them.

The abortion pill RU-486 was much in the news over the last week. The most recent summary of the debate is in this story:

Reaction to RU-486 study: Omission of non-abortive women taints final results
Two pro-life groups in Washington, DC, are taking issue with a recent study on the risks to future pregnancies in women who have chosen to kill their unborn child via either surgical or medical abortion.

Other news reports on the RU-486 study:

Pro-Lifers Decry Misleading Abortion Pill Study

Another Misleading Headline about Abortion

You can learn heart help in a hurry
[Globe and Mail]

Medical Abortions Carry Same Risks as Surgical Abortions for Later Pregnancies

Medical and Surgical Abortions Pose Equal Risk to Future Pregnancies

Abortion pill won't risk future pregnancy: study

[CTV coverage]

Amnesty International Reaffirms Pro-Abortion Position, Bishop Resigns

Following Friday's vote to endorse abortion, a leading British bishop resigned.

The Rt. Rev Michael Evans, Bishop of East Anglia and the head of the Catholic Church in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, wrote a special prayer for the organization for Catholics to use to pray that it has a change of heart.

Amnesty Affirms New Abortion Stance; Catholics Urged to Cut Ties

The bishop pointed to the 1989 U.N. International Convention on the Rights of the Child, which reaffirms the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child in saying that a child needs “special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth”.

“This must surely be part of the body of international human rights law to which Amnesty International is committed,” said Evans.

More on Amnesty and Bishop Evans here and here.

Right to Life New Zealand’s press release on the news.

UN Population Fund, Planned Parenthood push for legal abortion in Africa ...
The death mongers are pushing hard for legal and unrestricted abortion in EVERY nation of the world. Amnesty International was simply one more organization that officially joined the call last week.

The UN Population Found (UNFPA) and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) are ramping up abortion campaigns in Africa, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) observes.

In C-Fam's Friday Fax, Samantha Singson reports that IPPF and UNFPA have been working diligently at the African Union (AU) for a continent-wide strategy that delivers "sexual and reproductive health services," including "safe abortion."

Activists blamed by doctor
From The Leader, Surrey, B.C. on sex selective abortions.
While community leaders and health organizations link the Koala Labs ads to the issue of sex-selective abortions, there is no public data proving the information obtained in prenatal tests and clinics influences a woman’s decision to abort a fetus.

“It’s nobody’s business,” said Stephens about the information obtained in an ultrasound clinic about the sex of a baby.

Oh, but it is Dr. Stephens, because of what some mothers will do with that information. And it’s downright immoral for the doctor to capitalize on such opportunity.

I'll Have to Pray on It
Cowards want someone else to stand up to evildoers by Coach Dave Daubenmire

Where are the men?
The Toronto Star asks a big question…and reveals big concerns about children growing up without fathers.
There's a hidden crisis in this city. Single moms speak out about the scary struggle to raise children who don't expect to survive past the age of 25.

Albert Mohler previously offered some commentary on this same subject.
"Fathers Are Not Fungible" -- Why Fathers Matter

OR Joins Massive Effort to Stop Aurora, IL Planned Parenthood
Operation Rescue announces that it is joining forces with Joe Scheidler and the Pro-Life Action League, to urge pro-lifers from around the nation to help prevent an "abortion fortress" from opening in the Chicago suburb of Aurora.

The “secular” pro-abortion press reports on the event.

This will prove to be a HUGE event I believe. Get the one-stop treatment of news here.

Contraception Testimony: I didn't realize it was an abortifacient
A great testimony from a Catholic Mom. Good story though for all Christians, Catholic or Protestant.

My husband Alton and I married in the Catholic Church in July of 1969. During our marriage instruction, the priest told us that it was uncertain whether the Church might be changing regarding birth control, but we didn't want to take any chances, so we read a book on the rhythm method which my mother used when she got married in 1947.

Originally posted on No Room for Contraception

Video on YouTube of Graphic Abortion Tour sponsored by Missionaries to the Preborn.
It took place in Zanesville OH August 7.

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) is running for President in the US. He stands right now in about fourth place I think. Here’s what the pro-child killers say about Brownback, on their own website.
Sen. Brownback declined to provide a statement to NARAL Pro-Choice America expressing his views on reproductive choice, but click here to learn more about his record and read quotes he has made on choice.

He looks real good to me.

Ignatius Insight has a pretty devastating piece on President Kennedy called The Enduring Costs of John F. Kennedy's Compromise.

Perhaps the true lesson of Kennedy's Houston speech is this: A commitment to Jesus Christ and His Church challenges Catholics to stand as a sign of contradiction in the world. We can accept that challenge or we can reject it, but we must not convince ourselves that we can have it both ways. We can't. And that is good news for America and Europe, where the prophetic witness of courageous Catholics is needed now as never before.

Prenatal diagnosis - raising public awareness and eliminating fear
In this posting Mommy Life promotes Prenatal Partners for Life.

Knowing the horrible statistics of abortion for children prenatally diagnosed with Downs and the other trisomy's, I am co-sponsoring a nation-wide billboard campaign with Prolife Across America. Would you be interested in helping spread ...

Minority of Countries Allow Abortion on Demand
CitizenLink out of Colorado Springs, CO,USA makes this brief report.
A recent United Nations report on international abortion policies reveals that while most countries worldwide allow abortion in extreme cases in order to save the life of the mother, only 28 percent allow abortion on demand.

Unfortunately, Canada is one of those countries allowing abortion on demand. Actually Canada has NO LAW whatsoever respecting abortion.

The pastor of a conservative Christian church says it is being targeted over abortion.
Mark Holick is pastor of Spirit One Christian Center in Wichita. He says the church will continue to speak out regardless of what the IRS does. He says the church is being investigated because it speaks out against abortion. …

Ax the Debate
A blogger speaks up about CCBR’s Stephanie Gray and the recent interview with NAF.

It's not something many pro-life individuals are comfortable with. As I've witnessed, however, these images force response to a horror we've managed to cover up and live seemingly indifferent to for the past 40 years -- these images ...

Aging Global Population is "Profound" and "Irreversible": UN Report
The United Nations recently released its global population estimates, revealing an alarming population shift that will have serious worldwide consequences within the near future. While blaming the problem on lowered fertility and increased longevity, the report fails to make the connection with contraception, abortion and sterilization.

Abortion policy at Ellis in doubt
Really great insight in this article on hospital policy/mergers and performing abortions.
The change will likely create difficulties for some women, Saile and McGinnis said. What if a patient wants her doctor to perform the abortion in a hospital setting? What if patients are intimidated by protesters outside the Planned Parenthood building?

Health chief tells of abortion experience
Australia’s Health Chief makes a pitch for more abortions by telling her abortion experience. Not quite ready though for SilentNoMore.

"That doesn't mean that I don't have any regrets or that it wasn't awful. Back in those days, though, because we were fighting hard for women's legal right for abortion, you weren't really allowed to admit that you had suffered any distress or trauma … because we were engaged in a social and political battle."

Is the "Pro-Life Movement" Really Concerned with Reducing Abortion?
There’s much in this article that might be questionable, but there are some interesting perspectives raised. See what you think.

And so here we are. The political trends of the past quarter century have brought us to a place where pro-life Catholics have aligned themselves with the Republican party. Some hold their noses while doing so. Others inhale the fragrance with glee. And the institutional pro-life movement is boxed into the narrowest of strategies, one that places a premium on rhetoric, while not burdening politicians with the need to actually do anything. It begs the question: is the Republican party really serious about reducing abortion or is it a ploy for votes? The fact that Rudy Giuliani is currently that party's presidential forerunner speaks volumes.

Legislators touched by leukemia push cord blood measures
Great article emphasizing the importance of umbilical cord blood. With such stories it makes you wonder why more is not being done in this area. [and less talk about ESCR.]

For a decade, state Sen. Carole Migden quietly battled a death sentence - an unusual form of leukemia. Now cancer-free, she wants to create a state system to collect and store umbilical cord blood, which shows enormous promise as a treatment for leukemia and other diseases.

The crime of abortion
Great article by Judie Brown, president of ALL. Please read.
We are not engaged in a quest to round up women who've had abortions and imprison them. But abortion is a crime. And because it is a crime, it is impossible to deny that crimes have consequences.

But first, we have to make it well understood to everyone involved — everyone in the nation — just what it is an abortion does. It ends the life of a living human being; not a fetus, a potential human being, a mass of tissue or a fertilized egg.

Pro-Abortion Catholics Undermine The Cause Of Justice
A Princeton professor warns that prominent pro-abortion Catholics pose a greater danger to their Church then the scandal of pedophile priests. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of Princeton's James ...

A blogger comments on the story.

To Prevent Unintended Pregnancies, Abortions, New Zealand Health Insurer Will Provide No-Cost Vasectomies, IUDs
Is this what governments ought to be doing with taxpayers’ money?

Shunning isn’t an option
This article says the Knights of Columbus will "attempt to persuade," but not expel, pro-abortion members. I’ll be having more to say about this phony, hypocritical approach. Be sure to read some of the comments.

But what about notorious pro-same sex marriage and pro-abortion politicians who remain on the Knight's membership rolls?

"We don't give up on them, nor, as some Protestant groups once did, do we "shun" them. They are our brother Knights. Out of brotherly love, we wish to help them save their souls," Korten explained in an e-mail message to California Catholic Daily.

Joel Osteen wavers, his Brother-in-Law doesn't
I’ll take his bother-in-law’s church—any day.
A lot of people of faith are opposed to it for moral reasons, and I wonder if your church or if you personally have talked on this subject or feel that the church ought to have a place in talking about, say that issue or abortion, ...

Two great postings from Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Why the Baby Bust?

The Fate of the Family and the Future of the Church

God's vote is counted, say Christians
Two hundred years after Wilberforce, we still have the dehumanisation of the individual through abortion, sex slavery, poverty, pornography and the sexualisation of the young in advertising.

The church remains a necessary player in these and many other areas of public policy.

Bulgaria Has One of the World's Highest Abortion Rates UN Report Says
Read the complete story.

Russia Allows Citizens Time Off to Have Babies as Underpopulation Worsens
[Subtitle: Lost and weird—pray for them.]

Vietnam Abortions Causing High Infertility Rates There, Studies Back Data

Ethical blind spots
When I traveled to Auschwitz a few years ago, one question played over and over in my mind: Did they know? Did the German people know what was happening in this camp near their own border, in their own occupied territories? With the trains coming and going year after year, with the long lines of prisoners and the billowing smokestacks, did they just turn a blind eye to the atrocities?

Day Gardner, President of the National Black Pro-Life Union in Washington, DC Released the Following Statement Regarding the New Crime Statistics
Abortion is the number one killer of African Americans--killing more black people than heart attacks, stroke, HIV-AIDS, accidents, cancer, violent crime and all other deaths--COMBINED! More than 15 million black people--lost to abortion since 1973.

Where is the Church?
Silence is golden, everywhere but the Church. Yet, silence has largely been the Church’s response to the issue of drugs in American culture.

In his most recent book High Society, Joseph Califano, a personal friend and the chairman of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, offers a harsh, but accurate, look at America’s addiction to addiction.

Baptist leader: Critical battle involves absolute truth vs. 'postmodernism'
Dr. Paige Patterson is president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and also a former president of the SBC. He contends that unless Christians stand against postmodernism -- which says there is no absolute truth -- society will face a moral meltdown.

Breast Implants Linked With Suicide
I had no idea. But I’m not surprised.

Women who get cosmetic breast implants are nearly three times as likely to commit suicide as other women, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. The study, published in the Annals of Plastic Surgery, reinforces several others that have shown women who have breast enlargements have higher suicide risks.

Cardinal hopes int’l ‘08 Eucharistic Congress will start a globalization of love
He noted the boy’s first name Jeremy is like that of Jeremiah, the prophet of the New Covenant, and his family’s name is Gabriel, the same as the angel who announced the birth of the messiah. He said the boy’s mother had been pressured to get an abortion, but she chose to keep him out of respect for human life.

Cardinal Ouellet said Jeremy was chosen by God to affirm the sacredness of human life and “to be the prophet of the 2008 congress.”

Dr. Alveda King on New Crime Statistics: We Have Sown the Wind of Death in Abortion Clinics and Reaped the Whirlwind of Violence in Our Streets
"That 49 percent of all Americans murdered are black is shocking," said Dr. King. "That 93 percent of those people are victims of black on black crime is not really surprising. The abortion industry has told African Americans for decades that killing our own children is beneficial, even therapeutic. We bought their lies and life in the inner city has become cheap."

South African Church Tops List Recognized For Helping People Affected by AIDS
A church with 315 members helping people affected by AIDS in one of the nations hardest hit by the pandemic has been selected for the Courageous Leadership Award, a joint project of the Willow Creek Association and World Vision.

Known as "the church that cares," Fish Hoek Baptist Church in Cape Town, South Africa was selected among nearly 100 entries, and will receive $120,000 for its efforts.

What about an award for the church that does the most to save unborn children? Now there’s a project!

Company Kills Couple's "Leftover" Embryos for Personalized Stem Cell Cures

Make No Mistake, President Hillary Clinton Would Promote Unlimited Abortion

Nepal Sees Same Sex-Selection Abortion, Infanticide Problems as India

NZ Catholic: Child abuse linked to abortion mentality
The warranted outrage at the recent horrific cases of child abuse in New Zealand are the end result of a society that allows abortion, Right to Life New Zealand has asserted.

Abortion forum cracks whip on 'dissidents'
An event held in New York last week that was promoted as an abortion forum was actually designed to "crack the whip" on dissent within the pro-abortion movement. That's according to a spokeswoman for an organization that reaches out to women and men who suffer from the after-effects of abortion.

Catholics, Protestants Map Out Ethical Conversion Code
Dozens of theologians from a wide range of Christian traditions recently gathered to map a common religious conversion code that would both affirm religious freedom yet dissuade unethical means of conversion.

40 Days for Life
A new campaign sweeping through U.S. cities is hoping to remind Americans that the most effective weapon in the fight against abortion is prayer. As part of a 40 Days for Life initiative, more than 20 cities have signed up to participate in 24-hour prayer vigils outside their local abortion center.

Seminary's new courses focus on the home
"We discuss conception and abortion." Critics are already taking potshots at the curriculum. The Rev. Benjamin Cole, pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Arlington, and a frequent Southern Baptist critic, criticized the homemaking ...

Are there any Canadian Bishops who do this?

San Angelo, Amarillo bishops to concelebrate annual Respect Life ...
San Angelo, Amarillo bishops to concelebrate annual Respect Life Mass in Midland. Mass will be held across from the Midland Planned Parenthood office on the day of the week that Planned Parenthood conducts abortions.