Pro-Life News & World Review October 1, 2007

News items in brief follow but first check out this story.

The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform held a GAP display at University of Nebraska-Lincoln

STAFF EDITORIAL: Protests without intelligent debate worth nothing

The public space just north of the Nebraska Union will turn into crazy-vile for the next two days. Today and Thursday, the Genocide Awareness Project - a national group that stages anti-abortion rallies using large, violently graphic signs - will make a stop at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

…snip

The group has every right to use the space outside the union to express its views. The principles of free speech command our society to allow all forms of free expression in public forums, even expression that is abhorrent.

The Genocide Awareness Project's display happens to represent speech we abhor.

All comments on this editorial about the GAP display are here

Daily Nebraskan carries short YouTube video

Also see coverage from News Net Nebraska
GAP, which is presented by The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, posted pictures of aborted fetuses alongside images of lynched African Americans, ...
Photographs bring controversy

Recent postings by Vote Life, Canada!
China’s Stolen Children: Chinese Children Treated As Goods
China’s One Child Policy is truly evil and unimaginable in consequences. The unseen horror of millions of abortions, the majority sex-selective, which directly result from the policy is by far the greatest evil. But there are countless untold evil spin-offs, such as the kidnapping and trafficking of over 70,000 Chinese children annually.

The New Aristocracy of Human Dignity
A posting about human dignity, Down Syndrome, disabilities, and a new comparative basis for human dignity, one divorced from Judeo-Christian foundations.

Healing From Abortion Through The Power Of Jesus Christ
YouTube video telling the powerful story of how one young woman who experienced abortion found forgiveness, healing and a passionate ministry—all through the Great Physician!

Life Chain Coverage
Vote Life, Canada! reports on Life Chain in St. John’s, NL
Between 2:30 and 3:30 pm today, Canada's first Life Chain took place in the city of St. John's in Canada's most easterly province, Newfoundland and Labrador. The weather was cool and variable but spirits were strong.
Canada's First Life Chain (On Sept. 30, 2007) Held In St. John's, NL

Leonard, Stand Your Ground blogger, reports on the Moncton area Life Chain.
The public was quite supportive. We stood near Champlain mall. There were plenty of people driving to, from and by the mall and we got quite a few honks and thumbs up. With little or no hostile gestures.
Dieppe (Moncton Area) Life Chain

From Fargo, North Dakota, Sep 30, 2007 (CNA)
Facing the busy street in front of the state of North Dakota’s only abortion facility this morning, Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, led the prayers of the rosary.
Bishop Aquila led the prayers of the rosary at North Dakota?s only ...

Life Chain seeks participants for Oct. 7 event
Richmond, IN--The Life Chain is a time for prayer and for making a statement that you stand against abortion. Go one step further -- ask the pastor of your church to promote the chain and to encourage the congregation to participate.
Wayne Co. Life Chain seeks participants for Oct. 7 event

40 Days for Life Coverage
Christian Newswire - Vote Life, Canada! believes that the Catholic Bishops of Canada should likewise endorse this campaign and urge their parishes and pro-life organizations to quickly join in the effort by contacting 40 Days for Life.
Vote Life, Canada! Calls on the Catholic Bishops of Canada to Join…Nationwide 40 Days for Life Campaign Aimed at Ending Abortion

California Catholic Daily reports on 40 Days for Life in Sacramento, CA
An on-scene report of days 1 and 2 of Sacramento’s "40 Days for Life"
“Are you guys really going to be out here for 40 days?”

From Bryan College Station Eagle, Texas
The Coalition for Life, an anti-abortion organization, has begun its 40 Days for Life campaign. Protesters will be outside the 29th Street clinic 24 hours a ...
Clinic protest part of 40 Days for Life

From The Flint Journal, Flint, Michigan
Kris Aretha, group director, said protesters will hold anti-abortion signs to take part in the 20th anniversary of Life Chain Sunday, a national event.
Silent prayers to be offered to end abortions

From The Capital Times - Madison, Wisconsin
For the second time this year, anti-abortion activists are gathering outside the Madison Abortion Clinic for a 40-day demonstration, which so far has been ...
Abortion foes begin 40-day clinic protest

From the Catholic Sentinel - Portland, Oregon
The $4 million Salem clinic has been in place for four years, but opponents say it also opened by deception, with backers hiding the abortion part of the ...
Local Catholics organize prayer vigil at Salem Planned Parenthood

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- A 51-year-old surrogate mother for her daughter has given birth to her own twin grandchildren in northeastern Brazil, the delivery hospital said.
Woman Gives Birth to Own Grandchildren But Kills Two Others in Process

Presbyterian pastors offer advice on opposing abortion
When you actually go down to the abortion clinic, make sure you know exactly what could get you arrested. While I'm not necessarily opposed to getting arrested while protesting abortion, I am a strong advocate of knowing the pertinent ...
Is this only a Roman Catholic ministry?

Belfast Telegraph: Irish women want abortion
A new poll has revealed that an increasing number of women want the government to bring in legislation to allow abortions to take place here.
Over half of all Irish women believe abortion should be legalised

More blogger commentary on Georgetown University announcement
Cardinal Newman Society Executive Vice President Tom Mead said of the abortion friendly policy, "I am absolutely stunned by Georgetown's decision to fund abortion advocacy. "Since the Catholic Church teaches that abortion is always ...
Georgetown University Should Be Sued

Jill Stanek has a short blurb about Blog swarms in one of her Proliferations postings. Apparently they develop organically; they can't be forced. She makes mention of Hugh Hewitt’s book Blog. Hewitt described a blog swarm as "an early indicator of an opinion storm brewing, which, when it breaks, will fundamentally alter the general public's understanding of a person, place, product, or phenomenon."
Jill Stanek discusses blog swarms.

Other postings by Jill
Denver Planned Parenthood deathscort guards builder's home against pro-life protesters

Other great postings today on political candidates

Blogger Catholic Fire reports on yet another Jesuit run college violating Catholic Church teaching
Jesuit-run Holy Cross, the oldest Catholic college in New England, is hosting the 2007 Teen Pregnancy Institute with Planned Parenthood promoting teenage contraception. The Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy presents the conference every year, but by hosting the conference the Holy Cross Jesuits are sending the message that they have no qualms with its promotion of contraception and the presence of Planned Parenthood, which are intrinsically inimical to the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church.
Holy Cross College Hosts on-Campus Planned Parenthood Workshops

LifeSiteNews.com coverage

Violations of human rights and religious freedom continue to be widespread in China, says the author of a book on the Asian country.
Women are being forced to have abortions by the population police in every province. Bishops and priests who refuse to cooperate with the government-run Chinese patriotic church are oftentimes hounded down, arrested, imprisoned and sometimes tortured.
China's Seven Sorrows

A review of Mexico and the relationship of Church and State
Church has played vital role in reinvigorating democracy in Mexico, but anti-religious attitudes still persist in some political circles.
The Catholic factor

Blogger Veronica at “Planned Parenthood Aurora” blogspot is a passionate pro-choicer defending Aurora’s right to have a Panned Parenthood killing mill. She seems to be running her campaign from this colourful blog.
This is even more evidence that what is happening in Aurora is happening to you. Chicago is not immune to the anti's. Not all of so-called liberal viewpoints can keep the anti-abortion & anti-contraception forces away from our clinic. ...
It's not just Aurora

Califoria Catholic Daily covers the recent press conference of representatives of the new End of Life Consultation Service.
California assisted-suicide promoters adopt new tactic after defeat in legislature: using religion to help people kill themselves.
“No different than telling someone standing on a ledge to jump”

More on Ross Foti, a pro-life activist in San Mateo, CA who uses his truck to display graphic posters of aborted babies. Vote Life, Canada! has been updating on this story and carried an extensive posting last week.
Pro-life activist in San Mateo finds himself at odds with priest, fellow parishioners over graphic anti-abortion posters.
An aborted baby’s head

Traditional Catholic forum carries latest story on Ross Foti
Matthew Catholic Church in San Mateo has banned anti-abortion activist Ross Foti from the parish following a disagreement between the pastor and Foti about whether Foti should cover up his graphic anti-abortion message…
San Mateo Catholic Church bans anti-abortion activist

San Jose Mercury News report
San Mateo Catholic Church bans anti-abortion activist

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 /Christian Newswire/ -- On Monday, October 1, at 9:30 AM, representatives of the groups Faith and Action and the Christian Defense Coalition will hold a prayer service in front of the US Supreme Court to mark the opening of the Court's new term.
Prayer to Mark Opening of High Court -- 9:30 AM, Today

StatsGuy reports on National Post interview with Neuhaus
Ontario-born Father Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things, spoke with a National Post reporter after his annual summer vacation at the family cottage in Quebec.
Neuhaus: Christianity banished from Canadian public life

Letter to AppealDemocrat.com on Blacks and Abortion
Planned Parenthood is accomplishing what the Klan failed to do. The NAACP leadership plays right along. At their July convention, they canceled Alveda King’s (Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece) scheduled pro-life speech. Who is the black leadership looking out for anyway?
Abortion Does Most Harm to Blacks

More on the Connecticut Bishops and Plan B “emergency contraceptive”
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Roman Catholic bishops in Connecticut have agreed to let hospital personnel give emergency contraception to all rape victims, reversing their decision days before a new state law.
Catholic Hospitals to Hand out Bush's Plan B

From The Connecticut Catholic blogspot
Outrage and Shame over Plan B in Connecticut

Catholic World News report
Connecticut bishops reverse stand on Plan B

Abortion Stats for USA from Kaiser and CDIC
Number of Abortions Distribution of Abortions by Age/Abortion Rate/Ratio of Abortions to Live Births
Number of Abortions - Kaiser State Health Facts

On US Presidential Hopeful Ron Paul
The Union Leader - Manchester, NH--Thomas Clark, Minister of the Somersworth Tri-City Convenant Church, gave the invocation for the rally. Before the rally, he said he supports Paul because of his pro-life stance. "The pro-life issue is a major issue for me," Clark said.
Paul's call: end the IRS

Four months after the Rev. Jerry Falwell's death, his sons are emerging from his shadow with plans to expand their father's evangelical empire.
LYNCHBURG, VA--He founded the Moral Majority to mobilize the fundamentalist vote for conservatives and against abortion and gay rights, and he drew derision later for ...
Falwell's sons carry on in the name of their father with Photo Slideshow

Excellent new articles from latest issue of MercatorNet
Fear religion: CNN's message to the nation
Christiane Amanpour had a clear message in her three-part series on CNN: worshipping God creates scary people.

Medical drama with a message
Amid the vast wasteland of contemporary television, one of the few features that bears watching is House… by Rory Leishman

Balancing feminism and femininity
However politically incorrect it may sound, nature meant women and men to have complementary roles and mentalities…by Margaret Somerville

A sad farewell to Amnesty
What do human rights mean if they do not include the most vulnerable humans of all, the unborn?

Irish blogger posts on recent news by General Medical Council of the UK
The latest guidance to come from the GMC states that children should be treated without the knowledge of their parent regarding sexual “health” issues… Morality and decency aside. What are the legal implications from such loosely drafted and inept guidelines?
Why the General Medical Council of the UK Cannot Be Trusted To ...

From This is London on the GMC verdict
The new GMC guidance says that if a child aged between 13 and 16 asks for advice on sexual health, for contraception or an abortion, the doctor should make ...
Doctors' code of silence will hide under-age sex from parents

Pro-abortion letter to the editor from Barbados resident
I CANNOT in good conscience sit back and see the assault on the Barbados Family Planning Association as regards its abortion counselling services and not say something.
I CONFESS: Don't knock abortions

The Ledger.com carries commentary on the case laid out recently by Archbishop Burke in a prestigious journal widely read in seminaries and published by Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, an elite school for Catholic clergy.
A hardline US Roman Catholic archbishop is urging ministers to deny Holy Communion to politicians who support abortion rights, arguing that it's a "mortal sin" to offer the sacrament to "the unworthy."
Archbishop Advocates Refusal of Sacrament

Spirituality and Religious blog, linking to this article
Bishop preaches tough Communion rule

More little-known but interesting news here about Archbishop Burke
After viewing parts of the New Line Theatre's production, Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll, St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke today agreed to drop his bid for a permanent injunction that would have barred the play from opening as scheduled.
You Can't Say That in Church!

Commentary from Pregnancy Information Digest on Teenage Pregnancy
The statistics on abortion are particularly deceiving in their coldness. It is easy for someone to rattle off percentages when there is no face attached to them. But teenage pregnancy stories make it more difficult to reduce teenage experiences to mere numbers.
Teenage Pregnancy Stories - The Humanity behind the Numbers

Pro-life organization plans annual fund-raising stroll
Everyone who walks through the doors of the Victorian house that serves as the headquarters of Alpha Pregnancy Resource Center in Fairfield gets a hug.
Walking for life

From The Taipei Times,Taiwan—a heartbreaking report on Chinese children. Vote Life, Canada! blogged this story yesterday.
In China, 190 children are stolen every day to full the demand for sons. Brokenhearted parents trying to find their loved ones face retaliation from traffickers and government intransigence
Where's our child?

Here’s the link to the trailer video on the documentary by True Vision TV
China's Stolen Children

A Stafford County high school student is suing the county's school system for refusing to let her start an anti-abortion club. ...
Student Sues School For Rejecting Anti-abortion Club

Coverage from the DailyPress.com
Student sues after refusal of anti-abortion club

WCAV Charlottesville coverage
Student Sues School System For Rejection of Anti-Abortion Club

NBC5 in Chicago reports on the controversy in Aurora over opening of a huge Planned Parenthood abortuary
Parents Appalled At Graphic Anti-Abortion Fliers
The fliers were part of a larger effort in the anti-abortion community to stop the opening of the Planned Parenthood health center. ...

Image Gallery
Previous Images: Aurora Planned Parenthood

Video coverage
Previous Video: Debate Continues
Previous Video: Tuesday Protest

See the commentary from the public
Planned Parenthood In Aurora - Share Your Thoughts

Blogger Alert:Maybe there's a bigger story here
Reproductive Rights Prof Blog reports on new Symposium on Abortion in Canada
A Symposium to Mark the 20th Anniversary of R v. Morgentaler
Entitled “Of What Difference: Reflections on the Judgment and Abortion in
Canada Today” Friday, January 25, 2008, 9:00am 5:00pm; Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Symposium on Abortion in Canada and Call for Student Abstracts

Best of BigBlueWave
Struggle in Argentina Ends in Death for Unborn Child
I would like to encourage you to email the Argentine Ambassador at the address below. There is no email address for the Argentine Ambassador to the US, but no matter-- just write the Canadian one, they'll get the message through.

VIDEO: The Living Truth Behind the Abortion Lie
This is one woman's story of abortion and forgiveness...for those seeking some spiritual remedy to the pain of abortion:

FCP David MacDonald denouncing eugenic abortions at candidate's debate
In this video, we see the Family Coalition Party candidate in Ottawa South, David MacDonald denouncing eugenic abortions which are facilitated by CHEO's prenatal screenings:

The West is no better than India
From an article on sex selection in India.

The University of Northern Colorado has a controversy on its hands. The Justice For All has set up its exhibit of graphic abortion billboards.
A year and a half ago, Mandy Piper helped the anti-abortion group, currently set up on West Campus, come to the University of Northern Colorado. Now, she can't wait for them to leave. Piper, the president of UNC Students for Life, ...
Beware: Controversy ahead

On Friday past, Sen. Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to weigh in on the battle over a Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora.
"I fully support Planned Parenthood's desire to open a new facility in Aurora," he said in a statement released this afternoon. "The proposed center will serve the growing population in a part of the state where access to a full range of reproductive health care services is lacking."
Obama backs Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora

From AllAfrica.com
A church-run facility supporting pregnant women and girls who would otherwise resort to abortion is seeking funds to improve and expand its services. ...
Kenya: Christian Centre Seeks Funds for Women in Crisis Pregnancy

Randy Alcorn, founder of Eternal Perspectives Ministries recently chatted with Today’s Christian
One of the subplots of my first novel, Deadline (1994), involved the issue of abortion. I realized that if I offered a well-written story, I could present a case for the pro-life position in a way that may reach some pro-choice readers.
Randy Alcorn's Trojan Effect

Universities are indeed becoming "islands of repression in a sea of freedom."
Joseph Quesnel, columnist with the Winnipeg Sun, raises his voice.
Recent actions by the University of Victoria Student Society (UVSS) exemplify everything that is wrong with student governments on campus nowadays.
Just be student reps

Controversy shouldn't detract from the efforts of the high school students to raise money for a good cause.
The controversy began earlier this month when Douthit received some complaints that anti-abortion Catholic schools were involved in fundraising for the Dallas-based Komen foundation because of Planned Parenthood connections.
Catholic principals to decide on breast cancer charity

From The Times of India
THRISSUR: The decline in Christian population in Kerala from 24% in 1950 to 19% in this decade has sent alarm bells in India's southern-most state ringing. Unnerved clergymen rattled by the fall in the number of faithful in the state — Kerala's Thrissur district is believed to be the cradle of Christianity in India as it was here that apostle St Thomas is said to have first arrived in the subcontinent — are stressing on the need of Christians producing more babies.
Kerala church warns against abortion

Dr. Alveda King visits West Des Moines, Indiana
"At one time, we were told black people were only three-fifths human, so we couldn't vote. ... Now today, you're saying to some human beings that you can't live because you're not a person," King said. "Taking away the personhood of a person is taking away their civil rights."
Abstinence is key, activist tells students