Pro-Life News & World Review October 11, 2007

Recent posts by Vote Life, Canada!

Mark Pickup Reports That He Has Closed Down Human Life Matters

PRI Criticizes Today’s Guttmacher Institute Report On World Abortion Rates

News & Views—Canada

Barbara Kay: Babies on the brain
National Post - In a heated column in Chatelaine magazine’s October issue, Kristina Onstad expresses disgust that a young woman on a U.S. book tour (“she hasn’t cast her gaze northward, praise be”) is promoting the joys of a committed relationship and motherhood.

Killings reopen debate on rights of fetuses
Toronto Star -Last week, an unscientific poll on the Star's website asked if a 7-month-old fetus should have legal rights. The reaction was almost evenly divided. Fifty per cent said yes, 49 per cent said no….To me it's clear: When a pregnant woman is killed by her partner, that's murder. Isn't that enough to lock up a killer for life? No separate charges should be laid. Our uteruses are not public property.

Abortion in the city
The Eyeopener –Toronto—Ryerson University's Independent Student Newspaper
After a summer that saw abortion wait times grow as long as six weeks in Ottawa, a founder of an abortion clinic near Ryerson is warning that if Toronto isn’t vigilant, the city could be found waiting too.

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News—Roman Catholic

Bishop rebukes Holy Cross
Bishop Robert J. McManus yesterday said he was outraged and shocked over a decision by College of the Holy Cross officials to rent space for a conference that will include workshops presented by Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice, two organizations at odds with the Roman Catholic Church on the issues of abortion and contraception.
See the Worcester Diocesan statement from the Bishop
Amy reports on the story and includes an update

Texas bishops: Catholics must sever ties with Amnesty International
In a letter dated October 8, 2007 the Catholic Bishops of Texas have ordered all parish and diocesan staff and other Catholic organizations to no longer support financially nor through publicity, nor participate in joint projects or events sponsored by the organization known as Amnesty International.

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News—USA

Illinois, Pharmacists Reach Deal on 'Plan B Abortion Pill'
SPRINGFIELD, IL -- A new deal could end a dispute over whether Illinois pharmacists must dispense emergency birth control even if they have moral objections. The proposed settlement would allow someone else to dispense the so-called "day after" pill under the supervision of a different pharmacist.

20th Annual WRAP Week to Kick Off Year-Long Effort to Raise Public Awareness About the Pornography (Obscenity) Problem and to Make Both Political Parties Aware of the Need to Enforce Obscenity Laws
The primary goal of WRAP Week is to inform the public and public officials about the harms of pornography and the need to enact and enforce constitutional obscenity and related laws.

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Elections—USA

JivinJehoshaphat joins in with opinion on Presidential candidate Giuliani
Weighing consequences (long and short)
Anyone who thinks that Giuliani would disregard his deeply held commitment to abortion rights to placate a constituency who he despises doesn't know the former Mayor of New York. He will relish sticking it to social conservatives, a group that will have done nothing to help him get elected.

Reckless Threats Regarding Third Party Candidacy
Conservative Christian leaders' willingness to support a third party candidate for U.S. president, if the Republicans nominate abortion-friendly Rudy Giuliani as their pick, is a rash and reckless move.

A Religious "Pro-Choicer"
If you’re a pro-lifer, and if no issue is more important to you than the right of an unborn child to have life, then nothing could be more calamitous than a President Hillary Clinton. I don’t know of any politician who is more uncompromising and extreme on abortion rights than Hillary Clinton. I know this well and don’t state it with anger or hyperbole.

Hillary vs. Rudy - A pro-life dilemma?
Dr. Warren Throckmorton interviews presidential historian Paul Kengor regarding the role of faith and social policy in the upcoming election, commenting on the religious views of front-runners Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, specifically with regard to abortion policy.

Obama's Pastor: "True Gospel" only for poor and black!
Town Hall - Washington, DC—If Dr. Jeremiah Wright is the spiritual mentor that guides Barack Obama then it becomes easier to understand how and why Obama himself may not have that Biblical of a grasp in terms of understanding the gospel.

La Shawn Barber asks a question of Barack Obama
Question for Obama: What faith is this?
For instance, Obama voted against a ban on infanticide while a senator in Illinois. A partial birth abortion, as child murder is euphemistically called, is when a “doctor” grabs the unborn baby’s body and pulls him down the birth canal.

Selling Theological Birthright for a Bowl of Political Porridge
If we select a genuine conservative as the Republican standard bearer and lose we will recover to fight for our principles another day. But if we run a pseudo conservative and lose we will find ourselves with no principles left to fight for. We will have sacrificed them on the altar of expediency.

Republican candidates say they want pro-life nominee
DEARBORN, Mich. (BP)--The issue of abortion surfaced again at the Republican debate Oct. 9, when a handful of lower-tier candidates made it clear they hope the party nominates someone who is pro-life.

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News—World

Babies for Sale: The Scandal of China's Brutal Single Child Policy
Lying on a spartan bed, feeding her tiny daughter from a bottle, teenager Wai Ling describes her heartbreaking dilemma. Under China's strict birth-control laws, Wai Ling, 19, and her boyfriend, 21, are too young to get married - and without being married they can't register their daughter's birth.

International Planned Parenthood attitude towards Nicaragua: We Know What’s Best
Nicaragua: Killer law
The campaign's problem is that at home it is politically outgunned and unpopular. Lobbying for abortion rights, however limited, is a hard sell to a population largely deferential to the pulpit. The taboo is especially strong in rural areas.

4D ultrasounds may test abortion laws
ABC Science Online – Australia—Ultrasounds that produce video-quality moving images of the foetus have changed the debate about late-term abortion and is challenging current regulations, an Australian ethics expert says.

Mexican cardinal reports threats
Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carerra of Mexico City has reported receiving death threats, and asked for police protection…the cardinal disclosed that he has requested additional security measures, after a confrontation outside his cathedral in which protestors jostled the prelate and spat upon his car as he left the building.

More young girls having sex but abortions decline Japan Times
Amid a flood of biased information about sex, an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases and a rise in sex crimes, the Japan Society of Adolescentology is addressing the problem of teens having sex and how to protect their health.

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Eye-Catching Items

YouTube Video: Development of the Unborn Baby.
Views: 13,484 Comments: 104 Favorited: 49 times
h/t: The Maritime Sentry

13 session bible study course offered in Bioethics
Hot Topic: Bioethics
In this 13-session quarterly plan, we look at how Christians should view the ethical debate that swirls around scientific discoveries that both extend and take life. This innovative resource will help you think about bioethical issues from a Christian perspective

First She Backs Abortion and Now "Dear Abby" Supports Homosexual "Marriage"
Famed Dear Abby columnist Jeanne Phillips, aka Abigail Van Buren, is being given an award by the homosexual activist group Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) for her endorsement of homosexual 'marriage'.

Aiding Rudderless Women
Dawn Eden, a Jewish convert to Catholicism, lived the ubiquitous "Sex in the City" lifestyle for years, but then found her way out of it and into the role of chastity speaker. Eden is a chastity speaker for the Cardinal Newman Society. Her qualification? She understands the pressure to live the "hook-up" lifestyle that is so rampant on college campuses, having battled it herself for years.

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Research & Reports

Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer Challenges LiveScience.com Columnist to Publicly Debate Abortion-Cancer Link
The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer notes that Christopher Wanjek of LiveScience.com labeled the abortion-breast cancer link as a "persistent myth."
"We issue four challenges to Wanjek," declared Karen Malec, president of the Coalition.

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Commentary, Letters & Stories

Falling Birthrates, Empty Cribs, and Collapsing Worldviews
Commentary from Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
What really explains the disastrous fall in European birthrates? The collapse of birthrates in Europe covers almost the entire continent and has left many observers scratching their heads in puzzlement.

Recommended post from Jay at LTI blog
Ending Abortion With A Group Hug (Jay)
I firmly believe the love of Christ is central to winning the battle of abortion, but I fail to see how advising us all to love children so much that they never get abortions constitutes a sound tactic.

Three noteworthy and current postings from the Stand to Reason blog.

Are You Offensive?
Many Christians don't talk with their friends, colleagues, neighbors, or even strangers about Christianity because they are worried about offending them. Offense is a fairly common cry these days when certain issues are raised. But I think most of the time the claim to be offended is just a way of stopping the conversation, actually manipulating the Christian to stopping.

The Pro-life Vote: Win, Lose or Draw?
Reading Frank Pastore's article about how pro-lifers might vote helped me see a mistake I believe some pro-lifers are making, especially those who are considering a third party vote.

Would Jesus Use a Graphic Picture to Get His Message Across?
Mike Adams made the case Monday that groups like GAP and JFA should quit showing graphic pictures in public. Instead, pro-lifers should share the good news of Jesus. There is so much wrong in the article, it's hard to know where to start.

Embryo Selection and Intelligence
Humankind may be changed radically by the recently developed technique allowing the safe gathering of thousands of immature eggs from a woman's ovarian tissue. This technique combined with cheap DNA sequencing and embryo selection will soon allow parents to multiply their newborn children's intellectual potential.

Life Extension Technologies to Facilitate Elite Technocracy
The development of successful life-extension technologies will be a reality within 30 years, but the application of such stunning advances will be tightly restricted by a ruling elite, and eventually may be used as a justification to completely wipe out humanity, according to some of the scientific community's leading pioneers.

Jill Stanek has a comprehensive survey of reviews on the documentary Lake of Fire
Lake of Fire

Pro-Choice Dishonesty
I have, as anyone who reads my blog can attest to, taken the "What is the pro-choice crowd thinking?" angle. I try to, through my writings, show that all of the "arguments" the pro-choice movement puts out mean absolutely nothing to even them. They can drone on about "rape and incest", "poor single mothers", "impoverished conditions", and "coat hanger abortions" all they want, when, in reality, this issue comes down to "choice" for them.

Welcome NARAL Pro-Choice America!
Blogger Dennis at Vita Mea takes on “pro-choicers”
Are you saying that social mores against murder, as well as laws with consequences, might force or coerce you to allow me to exist? That, if I bothered you in some way, you’d find your own ways of terminating my life if you could get away with it?

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40 Days for Life

40-Day Anti-Abortion Vigil Underway
News4Jax.com - Jacksonville, FL—Anti-abortion supporters in Jacksonville have vowed to stay outside a local medical center day and night as part of a campaign called 40 Days For Life.

From the 40 Days for Life blog
DAY 14
We have started getting reports from 40 Days for Life locations around the country about Planned Parenthood offices and other abortion facilities closing early, opening late, or not doing abortions on scheduled abortion days during the 40-day vigils.

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Canadian Bloggers Speak Up

Leonard at Stand Your Ground says justice begins with the Unborn
An Extension Of A "Right To Choose"?
If poor-choicers believe it's ok to kill unborn babies - why would they oppose killing a newborn? The same arguments abort-mongers use to justify murdering a baby before his first breath (whom the law regards as "unperson") could be used to justify murdering a baby after his first breath.