Newborn blood spots for research?

I just fielded a question about whether parents should allow the government (in this case Michigan) to save unused blood spots from newborn babies for future research. I wasn't able to give this mother any advice, but pointed her to these articles:

• http://jacquelineklosek.com/?p=85 – issues in informed consent 
• http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-04-16/health/bs-hs-baby-blood-samples-20110416_1_samples-screening-program-genetic-disorders - practice raises concern 
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR2009062903118.html?wprss=rss_technology – samples used for research without parent’s consent 
• http://www.wired.com/medtech/genetics/news/2008/05/newborn_screening - fears of abuse

The sanction of Eros

In an essay called “The Loves,” Shelden Vanauken describes how a Christian friend named John shocked him by announcing that he was leaving his wife to marry another woman. John explained his sudden change of heart by saying, “It seemed so good, so right. That’s when we knew we had to get the divorces. We belonged together.”

. . . Vanauken dubs these thrilling emotions “The Sanction of Eros.” When John spoke of the goodness of his new love, “the sacred approval [he said he] felt could not possibly have come from [God,] whose disapproval of divorce is explicit in Scripture. It is Eros, the pagan god of lovers, who confers this sanction upon the worshippers at his altar.” Chuck Colson

What’s Wrong with the Framework Hypothesis for Genesis 1-2?

What’s Wrong with the Framework Hypothesis? - Answers in Genesis: The Framework Hypothesis is essentially an attempt to reclassify the genre of Genesis 1 as being something other than historical narrative. Proponents have attempted to identify figurative language or semi-poetic devices in the text. Thinking they have successfully shown that the Bible’s first chapter is not to be taken in its plain sense, they make the claim that Genesis 1 simply reveals that God created everything and that He made man in His own image, but it gives us no information about how or when He did this.

New stem cell research could aid in battle against bulging waistlines

New stem cell research could aid in battle against bulging waistlines: Innovative adult stem cell research by scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston could aid efforts to apply the brakes to stem cells that produce the type of fat ringing the waists of millions. The scientists have developed a bold approach for targeting fat-generating stem cells that one day could aid in the delivery of drugs that slow the cells' ability to direct fat expansion.

Council of Europe Addressing Sex-Selection Abortion

Council of Europe Addressing Sex-Selection Abortion Problem | LifeNews.com: It took time for Europe to start addressing one of the saddest aspects of abortion: abortion for sexual selection. Finally, as a result of a motion for a resolution introduced May 11, 2010, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided to issue a report addressing this sensitive issue.

Federal judge: Life begins at conception

Planned Parenthood’s request to block a provision of an Indiana law that requires doctors to tell women who are seeking abortions that “human physical life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm,” was denied by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt last week.

The judge disagreed with Planned Parenthood’s suggestion that the phrasing was “misleading.”

“Here, the mandated statement states only a biological fact relating to the development of the living organism; therefore, it may be reasonably read to provide accurate, non-misleading information to the patient,” the court wrote. “Under Indiana law, a physician must disclose the facts and risks of a treatment which a reasonably prudent physician would be expected to disclose under like circumstances, and which a reasonable person would want to know.”

Editor: PTL for a rational judge!

Father of population control supports sex-selective abortion

Father of population control movement supports sex-selective abortion, mass sterilization | LifeSiteNews.com: In “The Population Bomb,” Paul Ehrlich had mentioned sex selection as a potentially effective tool for reducing population, although effective prenatal gender determinators such as ultrasound had not yet been invented.

When recently confronted with his support for sex-selective abortion, Ehrlich reportedly expressed his continued support for the practice. Ehlich said, “it would be a good idea to let people have their choice so that they could have fewer children and could have what they wanted. “You can be aborted as a conceptus, you can be killed at birth, or you can be sold into slavery and die in a slum someplace."

How to create a baby boom in Russia

How to create a baby boom in Russia | LifeSiteNews.com: Some say the battle to save the Russian people is being lost: that the population is destined to age and shrink dramatically over the next few decades. Some even predict that, like ancient Greece, Russia will extinguish herself completely over the succeeding centuries. I strongly disagree. . . . What Russia needs, of course, is not an incremental increase in the number of births. What is called for is a Russian baby boom.

Related: BFL's latest Life Matters

North Carolina to Compensate Eugenics Program Survivors

North Carolina to Compensate Eugenics Program Survivors | United States | Epoch Times: In the late 1800s, the ills of society were promised a solution from an emerging science—eugenics. Inspired by social Darwinism, eugenics sought to rid the culture of degenerate individuals through a practice of selective sterilization.

Although North Carolina was one of the last states to abandon the practice, it was one of the first to issue a formal apology for it. Now the Tar Heel state wants to take another step to rectify past behavior as it considers granting financial compensation for as many as 2,900 surviving men and women who were victims of their program.

Wisdom from Zambia: Respect for the people

A real democracy has to be built on the basis of justice and moral values and has to look to the common good. And this common good ultimately demands a correct understanding of the dignity and rights of a person. . . . A just society can exist only when it respects the dignity of the human person.

. . . Above all, we should realise that we have the moral responsibility to vote for candidates who follow the example of Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve and who emptied Himself for the good of everyone. We are reminded in John 13:14: “I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another’s feet.” We need saintly politicians who profoundly love their own people and wish to serve rather than to be served. Post Zambia

Dire Straights: Decline of marriage not the fault of gays

Dire Straights - WSJ.com: Last August, to far less public attention, lawmakers in Albany enacted legislation making New York the final state to institute no-fault divorce, thereby abolishing even the pretense that marriage is a lifetime commitment under the law. Under this regime, marriage is a lifetime commitment only until one spouse decides otherwise.

Minister Of Death Arrives At Rockford Abortion Mill

Minister Of Death Arrives At Rockford Abortion Mill | Pro-Life Corner: Frank Moyer, a retired Lutheran minister from Machesney Park, IL, is starting to become a regular fixture at Rockford's abortion mill, assisting Wayne Webster in his attempts to prevent mothers from receiving help at the abortion mill driveway.

Indiana Planned Parenthood reopens

Indiana Planned Parenthood reopens doors after judge blocks defunding law | LifeSiteNews.com: PPIN immediately reopened its doors over the weekend, after a federal judge struck down a new state law diverting federal and state funds from the abortion organization.

Jon Huntsman’s pro-life record marred by past embryonic stem-cell research support

Jon Huntsman’s pro-life record marred by past embryonic stem-cell research support | LifeSiteNews.com: Huntsman has also been criticized by his pro-life rivals for apparently refusing to sign a strongly-worded pledge proposed by the Susan B. Anthony List that calls on candidates to promise to elect pro-life cabinet members and work to defund abortion, among other items.

Updated: Huntsman confirms opposition to ESCR

Book Review: Unnatural Selection

Book Review: Unnatural Selection - WSJ.com: In her book Unnatural Selection, Ms. Hvistendahl is particularly worried that the 'right wing' or the 'Christian right'—as she labels those whose politics differ from her own—will use sex-selective abortion as part of a wider war on abortion itself. She believes that something must be done about the purposeful aborting of female babies or it could lead to 'feminists' worst nightmare: a ban on all abortions.'

It is telling that Ms. Hvistendahl identifies a ban on abortion—and not the killing of tens of millions of unborn girls—as the 'worst nightmare' of feminism. Even though 163 million girls have been denied life solely because of their gender, she can't help seeing the problem through the lens of an American political issue. Yet, while she is not willing to say that something has gone terribly wrong with the pro-abortion movement, she does recognize that two ideas are coming into conflict.

Related:

160 million and counting

The war on girls
Progressives perplexed after book highlights sex selection abortion

The birth of donor offspring rights in the USA?

BioNews - The birth of donor offspring rights in the USA?: The fertility industry in the US state of Washington will be transformed in late July, 2011, when a new law to recognise rights of donor-conceived people comes into effect. Under the changes, anyone who provides gametes.

700+ IVF babies aborted

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: IVF babies aborted: Most terminations were within weeks of the test-tube baby being implanted after a change of heart by the mothers. A small number were due to medical complications.

Up to 50 IVF babies are terminated each year as well as a smaller number of abortions for women who used other fertility treatments such as donor insemination. In the 19 years since the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has kept statistics, 749 IVF pregnancies have been aborted. Half the terminations were a result of relationship breakdowns or fears over motherhood. The most common medical reasons were Downs Syndrome and foetal abnormalities.

Josephine Quintavalle, of campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: “A baby is not a designer object to be rejected on second thought.”

Explore choice to die through euthanasia

Explore choice to die through euthanasia | Adelaide Now:
Baptist Reverend Craig de Vos, who will speak on behalf of Christians for Voluntary Euthanasia at a public meeting Wednesday, said death was a part of life - an option people did not deserve to have taken away. 'I believe in a compassionate God who does not want people to suffer,' he said. 'Death should be consistent with life in that a person who has had a good life should have a good death.'

Can cause of social justice tame our culture wars?

Can cause of social justice tame our culture wars? - USATODAY.com: "'The poor will NOT always be with us!' Thus proclaims a freshly launched Christian campaign to end extreme poverty in this generation. Scott Todd's '58:' project declares that eradicating poverty is not only possible but probable, if the people of the church put their backs into it. 58, as in Isaiah 58.

The Frugal Traveler: How to afford foreign adoption

The Frugal Traveler: How to afford foreign adoption - Sacramento Living - Sacramento Food and Wine, Home, Health | Sacramento Bee: While foreign adoption fees are significantly higher than the domestic equivalent, many people are finding that adoption outside of the United States is the right choice for their family. In addition to the actual fees, international travel expenses add significantly to the overall cost.

Social, economic conservatives need each other

Social, economic conservatives need each other | Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski | Op Eds | Washington Examiner: The vast majority of Tea Party members are also committed social conservatives. Conversely, many social conservatives advocate low taxes, economic opportunities free from government control, and requiring people to accept responsibility for their actions. Both of these philosophies don't just coexist; properly understood, they naturally reinforce and enhance each other.

Economy of sex: It's cheap these days

Economy of sex: It's cheap these days - Washington Times: For young single Americans, modern rules of romantic engagement “clearly favor men” and penalize women who want to marry — especially those who want to save sex for marriage.

A tale of two fathers

The role of fathers in the modern American family is changing in important and countervailing ways. Fathers who live with their children have become more intensely involved in their lives, spending more time with them and taking part in a greater variety of activities. However, the share of fathers who are residing with their children has fallen significantly in the past half century. Pew Research Center

Theology, Therapy, Twitter, and the Scandal of the Gospel

AlbertMohler.com – Theology, Therapy, Twitter, and the Scandal of the Gospel: Sadly, many Christians have accepted this worldview as their own, believing that their own deepest problems are therapeutic rather than theological in nature. To our shame, many books written by and for evangelical Christians reflect the therapeutic impulse, rather than the appropriate biblical and spiritual concerns.

Global Survey of Evangelical Protestant Leaders

Global Survey of Evangelical Protestant Leaders - Global Survey of Evangelical Protestant Leaders - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: In a number of ways, leaders in the Global South are more conservative than those in the Global North. For instance, leaders in the Global South are more likely than those in the Global North to read the Bible literally (58% vs. 40%) and to favor making the Bible the official law of the land in their countries (58% vs. 28%). More evangelical leaders in the Global South than in the Global North take the position that abortion is always wrong (59% vs. 41%), and more say that a wife must always obey her husband (67% vs. 39%). Leaders in the Global South are also much more inclined than those in the Global North to say that consuming alcohol is incompatible with being a good evangelical (75% vs. 23%).

Apocalypse prediction could spark mass suicide, French agency warns

Apocalypse prediction could spark mass suicide, French agency warns - CNN: The specter of a mass suicide tied to the widely predicted end of the world in December 2012 has prompted a warning from a government official in France, where people are already gathering at a place believers predict may provide the only escape from the apocalypse.

Leftover embryonic cells connect gastric reflux and cancer

Leftover embryonic cells connect gastric reflux and cancer: The ultimate source of some cancers is embryonic cells. Research published in the June 24th Cell traces the precursor of deadly esophageal cancers to leftover embryonic cells found in all adults.

Should we clone Neanderthals?

Should we clone Neanderthals? | Andrew Brown | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "I am at a conference in Dubai on science, religion and modernity, and the best question to come up was 'should we clone Neanderthals?' Let's assume the kind of technical progress which would make this look like a possibly ethical thing to do: the failure rate with mammalian cloning has been so high that it really would be rather dodgy to inflict the process on a human being. But for the sake of argument assume a reliable technology and a sufficiency of DNA to work with."

Destroying Parental Rights Over Kids’ Healthcare in California

Destroying Parental Rights Over Kids’ Healthcare in California » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: The once sacrosanct parental right to determine their children’s health care (in all but extreme circumstances) seems to be under constant assault as the lawmakers and bureaucrats apparently believe that school-based and special interest advocates are better able to decide what is best for kids than parents.

The men and women who want to live forever

The men and women who want to live forever - Ideas@Innovations - The Washington Post: People have always dreamed of living for eternity, but it has always been a dream filled with Faustian bargains. Deep down, we want to believe that it’s possible to live forever, and many of us are willing to pay the price. But maybe we won’t have to.

People who were sterilized by the state tell their stories

People who were sterilized by the state tell their stories - Politics - NewsObserver.com: The stories of about a dozen people who were sterilized in a state-sponsored program (NC) were shared today with a governor-appointed task force that will recommend ways to compensate them. The victims came from as far away as Georgia to tell secrets that they have kept for decades. Since former Gov. Mike Easley apologized to the victims in 2002, no forms of compensation have taken place.

Christian Scholar: Stem Cell Research Is Not 'Baby Killing'

Lutheran pastor and theologian Dr. Ted Peters outlined the “moral framework" under which he supports stem cell research while speaking at the Christian Scholars’ Conference at Pepperdine University last week. Referring to a scientific process within stem cell research that separates the fertilized egg prior to its cell generation, which occurs normally at 14 days old, he said, “I don’t think we are baby killers when it comes to disaggregating the blastocyst.” The blastocyst, which becomes the embryo, forms after five days. Christian Post

Editor: Of course, saying a blastocyst becomes an embryo is like saying a newborn becomes an adult. They are just different stages of human life, not different beings.

Stem Cell Breakthrough: Pigs could grow human organs

Stem Cell Breakthrough: Pigs could grow human organs: The technique included injecting stem cells from rats into the embryos or blastocysts of mice that could not grow their own organs. Results have shown that the mice were indeed able to grow rat organ. Professor Nakauchi said: 'Our ultimate goal is to generate human organs from induced pluripotent stem cells.'

An Excellent Wife is Forged, Not Found

An Excellent Wife is Forged, Not Found | The Resurgence: It takes a 10 minute ceremony to become a wife. It takes a lifetime to become an excellent wife – one who understands that Christ’s shed blood on the cross is needed to offer excellence to our husbands.

Assisted suicide advocates teaching at Catholic universities

Assisted suicide advocates teaching at Catholic universities: Report | LifeSiteNews.com: On Thursday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a strong condemnation of assisted suicide, warning of an “aggressive nationwide campaign” to legalize the deadly practice. But a special report published Tuesday by Crisis magazine reveals that four major Jesuit universities have employed professors with “scandalous associations” to the assisted suicide movement: Georgetown University, Marquette University, Santa Clara University and Boston College.

Jamaican missionaries launch massive pro-life center

EXCLUSIVE: Jamaican missionaries lead effort to stop abortion, launch massive pro-life center | LifeSiteNews.com: Although abortion is currently illegal in the Caribbean island of Jamaica, the effort to fight recent attempts at its legalization, as well as the back alley abortion trade, has required an enormous amount of energy and ingenuity. The leaders in this effort are The Missionaries of the Poor, an international monastic order of brothers and priests.

When should conscientious objection be accepted?

When should conscientious objection be accepted? -- Magelssen -- Journal of Medical Ethics: Conscientious objection should be recognised by society as acceptable whenever the five main criteria of the proposed set are met.

ACT's Blastomere Technology

ACT And Roslin Cells Announce Collaboration For Storage And Distribution Of Embryonic Stem Cells Using ACT's Blastomere Technology: Advanced Cell Technology and Roslin Cells will work together to establish a bank of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines using ACT's patented, proprietary "single-cell blastomere" technique for deriving hESC lines without destroying embryos. Stem cell lines from the resulting bank will be made available for both research and commercial purposes.

ACT's single-cell blastomere technique involves the isolation of a single cell from a 4-to-8 cell embryo, utilizing a one-cell biopsy approach similar to that used in pre-implantation genetic diagnostics (PGD). This single-cell biopsy is performed routinely around the world, and between one and two thousand children are born every year in the United States and Europe after being conceived by in vitro fertilization using this technique.

Stem Cell Model Offers Clues To Cause Of Inherited ALS

Stem Cell Model Offers Clues To Cause Of Inherited ALS: An international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to reveal for the first time how reduced levels of a specific protein may play a central role in causing at least one inherited form of the disease.

Republican Hopefuls Divided Over Anti-Abortion Pledge

Republican Hopefuls Divided Over Anti-Abortion Pledge : NPR: For the first time in memory, every Republican candidate running for president in 2012 proclaims him or herself to be anti-abortion. But just how anti-abortion are they?

Vancouver rioter: "I'm a good person"

Full text of original apology by Camille Cacnio: "I’m a good person. . . . I am majoring in Conservation Biology at UBC. I strongly belirve in ecological conservation and sustainability. That night, I saw a few people that were trying to knock trees down. So what did I do? I yelled at them, saying “Pleaaseee, not the treees!!!!” And what did they do? They stopped. And I felt like a hero.

Not to be forgotten: She participated in the drunken spree and stole a pair of pants. Her excuse? The mob/the adrenalin/my personality made me do it! This is a truly post-modern apology -- no guilt. But sad, because she doesn't know what to do with the shame.

Spiritual Help for a Hurting Child

Spiritual Help for a Hurting Child | Evangelism.net: Children are hurting everywhere. They also know when others are hurting and it concerns them. What can we do for them, and what role does faith play in helping them? Christ confirmed a child’s value.

Ron Paul: A Libertarian for Life

Ron Paul: A Libertarian for Life | SBA-List: Many Libertarians are pro-abortion. Thankfully, the most popular Libertarian in the country, Texas Congressman, and presidential candidate, Ron Paul, has asserted his pro-life beliefs. Specifically, he has refused to accept the notion “that believing in liberty means you can kill the unborn.” Rep. Paul also recently signed SBA List’s Pro-Life Presidential Leadership Pledge. Recently, Ron Paul released a statement concerning his budget priorities if elected to the presidency. One of his pledges is especially encouraging for all pro-life Americans.

The Fetus and Federal Regulations

FRC Blog » The Fetus and Federal Regulations: The arcane and involved language of the Code of Federal Regulationsis one reason why so few people read it. Yet within its myriad pages are the rules that govern government itself – how laws are applied, how legislation is to be understood, and even how words used in federal regulations are to be interpreted.

Some of those words are more important than others, and those that deal with the very nature of human personhood are, perhaps, the most important of all. In the October 1, 2009 edition of the Code, we read that “Fetus means the product of conception from implantation until delivery.”

Pro-life faculty often feel isolated on campus

Professor says pro-life faculty often feel isolated on campus for views | USCatholic.org: Many pro-life faculty on college campuses in the United States and Canada have experienced a strong sense of isolation and disrespect for their views, said the newly installed president of University Faculty for Life.

They also often are denied university resources that are commonly available to other faculty and some have experienced out-of-hand rejection or little review of their articles or books that take the pro-life perspective, said Teresa Collett, professor in the School of Law at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

‘Europe is dying’ U.S. population expert tells Senate hearing

‘Europe is dying’ U.S. population expert tells Senate hearing | LifeSiteNews.com: Given the precipitous decline in the birthrates of European countries, all anti-natal programs funded by the United States should immediately be replaced by pro-natal programs, Stephen Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute (PRI), told the U.S. Senate.

The hearing before the Senate Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe focused on the implications for the security, as well as the economic and social developments in Europe, due to demographic decline marked by diminishing and rapidly aging populations, in most of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s 56 participating states.

Already Gone - Free Video Download

Already Gone - Video Download - Answers Bookstore: The church is failing to give children real answers to their questions. We are losing our kids long before college. But this is far from a hopeless situation. Ken Ham explains how we can fight back for our children, and what we can do to ground our children in the faith and prepare them for the challenges of the secular world.

Stem-Cell Gamble

Stem-Cell Gamble - Technology Review: If anything, embryonic stem cells are too powerful. Early on, scientists hoped they would be magic bullets for a variety of diseases. Just inject them—and watch them race to injury sites and fill in for dying cells. In one early study, embryonic stem cells placed in the brains of rats suffering from symptoms of Parkinson's disease did precisely that. Not only did the cells become new neurons, but they began to squirt out dopamine, the chemical lost in Parkinson's. The problem was that they often ran amok, multiplying into frightening tumors called teratomas—disorganized mixtures of tissues, such as teeth, hair, and jawbone. Rats that developed such tumors died.

Democrats File Bill for Tax-Funded Abortions at Military Bases

Democrats File Bill for Tax-Funded Abortions at Military Bases | LifeNews.com: Taxpayers should be on the hook for abortions done on women and unborn children at military base hospitals, according to new legislation several Senate Democrats filed in order to advance an agenda item they’ve pushed in the past.

Explaining scandals

Dennis Prager: There are only two things that stop powerful and famous men from sleeping with available women. The first is a strong value system (that is, a sense of obligation to their wives and/or their religion's power over them). The second is an overwhelming fear of getting caught. In either case, these things must be coupled with powerful self-control.

Scientists build lasers using human embryonic cells

Scientists build lasers using human embryonic cells | LifeSiteNews.com: "The “living laser” uses human embryonic kidney cells and combines them with DNA in a petri dish, that the scientists later genetically modified to produce a green, fluorescent protein, similar to one that illuminates a jellyfish.

Challenge to Christians

Francis Schaeffer once asked, “If people who claim the name of Christ are not going to be willing to stand up against something as evil as killing a baby, then the world has the right to ask whether Christ is real?” Listen to this challenge from Gregg Cunningham of the Center for BioEthical Reform.

Tiger Dads vs. Sexualized Daughters

Tiger Dads vs. Sexualized Daughters | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: The first and most basic of parental duties is to protect one's children in a physical and especially a spiritual sense (Eph. 6:4). This involves training little girls to be modest and chaste, and to exude Christocentric virtue, not to be forward and promiscuous. If these ideals sound Victorian, antiquated to modern ears, they are actually much more historical (see 1 Tim. 2:9-10).

Study: Early Sex Leads to Higher Divorce Rate for Women

Study: Early Sex Leads to Higher Divorce Rate for Women | CitizenLink: A University of Iowa study has found that women who have sex as teenagers are more likely to divorce, especially if the experience was unwanted or if they had mixed feelings about it. Published in the April issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family, the analysis found that 31 percent of women who had sex for the first time as teens divorced within five years of getting married, and 47 percent divorced within 10 years. The divorce rate for women who delayed sex until adulthood was far lower: 15 percent at five years, and 27 percent at 10 years.

IVF–Perils of Egg Donation

IVF–Perils of Egg Donation: Here Come the Lawyers » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: The Center for Bioethics and Culture’s award-winning documentary Eggsploitation has been making a very big splash because it explores the hitherto rarely discussed risks associated with egg donation. Now, a recent million dollar-plus verdict illustrates not only the potential perils of egg donation, but the potential civil legal consequences to egg procurers.

Spitzer Silences Criticism of Planned Parenthood

Spitzer Silences Criticism of Planned Parenthood Misdeeds: In a fair debate, each participant either provides a counterargument when their opponent makes a point, or concedes the point. Spitzer did neither. And worse, instead of merely dodging the issue, and changing the subject, Eliot Spitzer shut down the debate, and ended the interview with Family Research Council's Tony Perkins.

Spitzer also failed to disclose to CNN’s viewers that Planned Parenthood had endorsed him during his run for governor of New York. Could it be he was returning a favor?

An American Family - Mom, Sperm Donor, Lover, Child

An American Family - Mom, Sperm Donor, Lover, Child - NYTimes.com: “Some of the strictures that were used to organize society don’t fit human change and growth,” said Ann Schranz, chairwoman of the Alternatives to Marriage Project. “What matters to us is the health of relationships, not the form of relationships.”

And so here on Plaza Street, four people are testing the fuzzy boundaries of an age-old institution, knowing there is no single answer to what defines family or what defines love.

Griffin, now almost 3, calls Mr. Russell “Uncle George” and Mr. Nimmons “Dave.” At some point, Ms. Einhorn intends to tell her son the truth. Mr. Russell worries about that moment. He never wanted to be a parent; he saw the sperm donation as a favor to a friend. He did not attend the birth or Griffin’s first birthday party. His four sisters were trying to figure out whether they were aunts.

Related:

A Father's Day plea to sperm donors

Tale from Ahmedabad, India, of two dads and twins

Commentary: Happy Donor's Day! WSJ

Book Review: Unnatural Selection

Book Review: Unnatural Selection - WSJ.com: Despite the author's intentions, 'Unnatural Selection' might be one of the most consequential books ever written in the campaign against abortion. It is aimed, like a heat-seeking missile, against the entire intellectual framework of 'choice.' For if 'choice' is the moral imperative guiding abortion, then there is no way to take a stand against 'gendercide.' Aborting a baby because she is a girl is no different from aborting a baby because she has Down syndrome or because the mother's 'mental health' requires it. Choice is choice. One Indian abortionist tells Ms. Hvistendahl: 'I have patients who come and say 'I want to abort because if this baby is born it will be a Gemini, but I want a Libra.' '

This is where choice leads. This is where choice has already led. Ms. Hvistendahl may wish the matter otherwise, but there are only two alternatives: Restrict abortion or accept the slaughter of millions of baby girls and the calamities that are likely to come with it.

Image credit: Sotheby's, 'No. 23' (2005-06), a painting by Ma Liuming

Related: Stop forced abortion in China (video)

Human rights, prisoners, and artificial insemination

The anger generated by the knowledge that in the UK only one prisoner since 2007 has been granted access to artificial insemination shows there is very little public support for prisoners starting a family while behind bars. Many people feel angry at the prospect, and think that when an individual is convicted of a crime, he or she should lose all of their rights, including the right to start a family.

. . . Nevertheless, is it the role of society to decide who should and who should not become a parent? Apart from when one seeks access to fertility treatment, there is no test one has to pass, nor questions that one has to answer to become a parent. When a prisoner is prevented from having children, his or her opportunity to do so may be lost. The innocent partner of the prisoner may also suffer 'collateral damage' as a result of restrictions placed upon their relationship. Many of these restrictions could be considered an inevitable consequence of imprisonment, but refusal of access to fertility services does not have to be one of them. The financial cost to the UK's Prison Service itself is minimal, and its involvement ceases once the semen sample has been handed over to the fertility clinic. BioNews

UK Government Ignores Underpopulation

British Pro-Life Group: UK Government Ignores Underpopulation | LifeNews.com: A prominent pro-life group in England says Andrew Mitchell, secretary of state for international development, “is stuck in the era of anti-birth dinosaurs” because he is missing the boat on underpopulation concerns plaguing the world.

Shocking Study Results Reveal Moral Imperative to Fix Medicaid

Shocking Study Results Reveal Moral Imperative to Fix Medicaid | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: Though Medicaid provides adequate coverage on paper, nationwide, beneficiaries experience low access and poor quality care. The reason is decreasing provider reimbursement, which is a symptom of a large issue: States can’t afford the current Medicaid program, and thanks to the new health care law, it is only going to get worse.

Crisis pregnancy group reflects Jewish divide on abortion

Crisis pregnancy group reflects Jewish divide on abortion - The Washington Post: Erica Pelman founded In Shifra's Arms — named for one of the midwives who saved Hebrew babies from Pharaoh in the biblical Exodus story — after a friend got pregnant in 2005 and planned to get an abortion. In 2009, she recruited a board to create an organization to provide a Jewish alternative to Christian crisis pregnancy centers. The goal: providing counseling, financial planning, employment and educational assistance, information on Jewish adoptions, rabbinic counseling and even maternity and baby clothes.

One thing ISA doesn’t provide, however, is information on or referrals for abortion, which has angered some Jews.

Editor: This anger is so crazy on so many levels.

Unions Taking Your Money and Using it for Anti-Marriage, Anti-Life Agenda?

Core Principles: Unions Taking Your Money and Using it for Anti-Marriage, Anti-Life Agenda?: If you are a member of the Michigan Education Association, (MEA), which is an affiliate of the National Education Association, (NEA), your dues are supporting an expressly pro-abortion agenda. The NEA outlines its position on abortion in its own Resolution I-12 (2003) , which states: 'The NEA supports family planning, including the right to reproductive freedom.' And according to the NEA's own literature, 'reproductive freedom' includes the right to have an abortion.'

2012 GOP Candidates Sign Pro-Life Pledge; Romney, Cain Decline

2012 GOP Candidates Sign Pro-Life Pledge; Romney, Cain Decline | LifeNews.com: The Susan B. Anthony List today announced its Pro-Life Leadership Presidential Pledge and said it asked all of the candidates who have officially announced a presidential campaign or exploratory committee to sign the pledge certifying they will not just check off the pro-life box but show true pro-life leadership if elected president.

Related:

Does Romney support Planned Parenthood?

Cain reaffirms pro-life views

Romney stresses abortion view in editorial

Patently Offensive: Human Beings Are Not Property

Patently Offensive: Human Beings Are Not Property | LifeNews.com: The House of Representatives is currently considering a controversial bill that would significantly change the U.S. patent system. Whatever other merits or defects the new bill may have, the America Invents Act (H.R. 1249) raises a serious pro-life concern. If it is passed, an existing policy restriction against the patenting of human organisms will disappear. Fortunately, an amendment to restore this ban and establish it as permanent law has been introduced.

Loving Our Enemies to Life!

Loving Our Enemies to Life! | ALL.org: Rather than write a scathing commentary responding to [abortion advocates], as a follower of Christ I need to love them into truth, pray for them to turn to Christ and do what I can to help them see the wisdom of pursuing equality for all persons — born and preborn.

Related: BFL's Pledge of Pro-Life Commitment

Conscientious refusals to refer

Conscientious refusals to refer: findings from a national physician survey -- Combs et al. 37 (7): 397 -- Journal of Medical Ethics: "Regarding controversial medical services, many have argued that if physicians cannot in good conscience provide a legal medical intervention for which a patient is a candidate, they should refer the requesting patient to an accommodating provider. In a survey of 1895 physicians, 1032 (55%) responded. 57% of physicians agreed that doctors must refer patients regardless of whether or not the doctor believes the referral itself is immoral. Holding this opinion was independently associated with being more theologically pluralistic, describing oneself as sociopolitically liberal, and indicating that respect for patient autonomy is the most important bioethical principle in one's practice. [Emphasis added.]

Keeping The Right To Die Alive

Responding to last week's letter from Catholic bishops, Barbara Coombs Lee, president of the nation's largest aid in dying advocacy group, Compassion & Choices, wrote in an e-mail to supporters: "What alarms us is their determination to use their standing to undermine end-of-life choice and chastise everyone — Catholic or otherwise — who believes in or practices it." 

A blogger from The Nation carries on in that vein: "But much more than the legality of aid in dying — commonly known as assisted suicide, which misrepresents the practice, limited as it is to patients with a terminal illness — is at stake. Even if, as Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the USCCB's Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, contends, Thursday's document is a moral statement and not a kick-off to a political campaign to end legal aid in dying, it will serve as marching orders in the coming years for already-mobilized and funded "prolife "activists — whether Catholic, evangelical, Mormon or unaffiliated — who will use it to determine how they vote and organize. That means, as veterans on the abortion rights front will tell you, a heightened assault on end-of-life rights. They'll also tell you that failing to see the larger implications of the church's domination of life and death discussions leads to an erosion of patients' rights, rights that, when lost, are seldom regained.

"Under pressure from the Catholic Church and its affiliates, rights of patients across the board could be weakened. From efficacy of advanced directives and living wills (documents used to state patients' healthcare wishes), to medical proxy laws (that appoint patient guardians), from hospice and palliative funding and regulation, to drug regulation, to laws that govern hospitals, hospital workers and home healthcare aids. But also at stake are the laws that govern inheritance rights, death certificate parameters and legality regarding suicide (which assisted suicide is often equated with). The list goes on."

Editor: They wholly miss the bishops' call to provide life-affirming alternatives to euthanasia and assisted suicide, and the fact this isn't a "Catholic issue." And the irony of the headline isn't lost on me, either.

South Korean pastor tends an unwanted flock

South Korea disabled: South Korean pastor tends an unwanted flock - latimes.com: In a country that prizes physical perfection, Pastor Lee Jong-rak, his eyes opened after caring for his own disabled son, has been taking in unwanted infants, who if not for his drop box would be left in the street.

The Cost to Taxpayers of Missing Fathers

The Cost to Taxpayers of Missing Fathers: With Father's Day coming up, we should ponder the sad plight of the 20 million American children who are growing up without their fathers in the home. Last year, the U.S. illegitimacy rate had grown to 41 percent, and among whites it was 29 percent.

Prior to Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, husbands and fathers provided for their families. The 1.7 million out-of-wedlock babies born last year and their unmarried moms now look to Big Brother as their financial provider.

Related: Importance of dads' rough-and-tumble parenting

Forced Abortion in China -- Activist's Wife Cries for Help

Forced Abortion in China -- Activist's Wife Cries for Help - Christian Newswire: In a letter released by China Aid yesterday, the wife of blind activist Chen Guangcheng tells the story of their torture under house arrest.

Apologetics Mega Conference 2011

Apologetics Mega Conference 2011 | Answers Outreach: Featuring Ken Ham, Dr. Charles Ware, Dr. Steven Boyd, Dr. David DeWitt, Dr. Joseph Francis, and more.

Parental consent for tanning bed bill dies after senator adds abortion consent provision

Parental consent for tanning bed bill dies after senator adds abortion consent provision | LifeSiteNews.com: If minors require parental consent to use a tanning bed, shouldn’t they also require it to get an abortion? That was the seemingly commonsense thinking behind a Connecticut senator’s move to amend a bill that was before the state senate – a move that ultimately contributed to the bill’s demise.

Second Embryonic Derivative Trial Moves Ahead

Second Embryonic Derivative Trial Moves Ahead, Maybe Dangerous | LifeNews.com: Reuters is reporting that Advanced Cell Technology has enrolled the first two patients for its experiments on human eyes using injected embryonic stem cells. The report says that one patient each has been signed up for its two experimental trials that were approved within the past seven months by the FDA; the patients were recruited at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA.

Oppose Assisted Suicide But Help Patients

Catholic Bishops: Oppose Assisted Suicide But Help Patients | LifeNews.com: In a new statement adopted today, the nation’s Catholic bishops have a firm message for how the end-of-life debate should be handled: oppose assisted suicide but provide help and support for patients.

Editor: Since 1999, Baptists for Life has had a program available to do just this, called LIFT.

The US Economy: Bullishness Based on Babies

The US Economy--Bullishness Based on Babies | ALL.org: “You could say we’re the best house in a bad neighborhood,” says a man who has spent 28 years managing money. “We have fewer problems and more solutions than Europe or Japan. And what are those solutions? Well one of them is demography.

"Over the next 20 years, the U.S. work force is going to grow by 11%, Europe’s going to fall by five, and Japan’s going to fall by 17. This alone tells me the U.S. has a huge advantage over Europe and a bigger one over Japan for growth,” he says. “And the reason for this is pretty simple. We have higher immigration than both of these, and we make more babies. We have a higher fertility rate. And they are the long-term determinants of population growth and therefore work force growth.”

Related: US births down for a 3rd year in a row, weak economy believed to be a factor

Documentary: The Problem with Same-Sex Marriage

Why Marriage Matters: Policy makers have a compelling interest in promoting a culture of marriage and strengthening family formation.

Fact: 96% of Pregnant Women at Planned Parenthood Get Abortions

Fact: 96% of Pregnant Women at Planned Parenthood Get Abortions | LifeNews.com: No two ways about it, Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider and 96% of its services for pregnant women are abortions.

MI House begins partial birth abortion ban process

Weekly Prolife Links: The Michigan House Families, Children & Seniors Committee will take testimony on House Bill 4109 and 4110 at a public hearing today, Thursday, June 16, in Lansing. The first bill makes performing a partial birth abortion a crime; the second is a technical bill providing the sentencing guidelines for anyone convicted of the crime. This hearing is only for receiving testimony and no vote on the bills will take place.

New Billboard Campaign: "Abortion Enslaves Us"

New African-American Billboard Campaign: "Abortion Enslaves Us" | LifeNews.com: A black pro-life activist responsible for creating earlier billboard campaigns that drew national attention is back with a new creative and a new message for how the abortion industry targets black Americans: “Abortion Enslaves Us.”

That’s the message behind a series of billboards that will go up in the Atlanta, Georgia area sponsored by the Radiance Foundation and celebrating Juneteenth (June 19th) and the liberation of black Americans from the shackles of slavery. Ryan Bomberger, the head of the foundation says the billboards are meant to “expose the epidemic of abortion” and 50 of them will be place in metro and downtown Atlanta.

The True Meaning of Marriage

The True Meaning of Marriage « The Gospel in the Digital Age: 'In [China and North Korea], government presumes daily to “redefine” rights, relationships, values, and natural law. There, communiqués from the government can dictate the size of families, who lives and who dies, and what the very definition of “family” and “marriage” means. But, please, not here!'

Billion dollar babies of the human genome

Billion dollar babies of the human genome | The Scientist: The Human Genome Project has generated nearly $800 billion in economic output and hundreds of thousands of jobs in genomics and related industries.

Abortion in the Holy Land

Israel had 150,000 live births in 2010 and an estimated 50,000 abortions – one in four babies aborted. Very few Israelis know the severity of the abortion issue here. Most people assume that abortions are done only in extreme cases involving young girls, handicapped babies or rape, but actually 42% of abortions are done by married couples. Two abortions are offered to female soldiers. The majority of abortions are done for convenience. Israel Pro-Life Association

Eugenics listening session to determine how to compensate victims

Eugenics listening session moved - Local/State - NewsObserver.com: Between the 1920s and 1970s, the Eugenics Board of North Carolina held the legal power to sterilize people it deemed unfit to be parents. The task force will recommend methods of compensation to the legislature, based on the stories and suggestions of eugenics victims.

Woman's dream to have child fulfilled after death

Woman's dream to have child fulfilled after death - Israel News, Ynetnews: Thanks to frozen embryos, surrogate - Nissim Ayish makes late wife's dream to become mother come true two years after she dies from deadly tumor.

Related: American Gay Couple Thanks Surrogacy for Realization of Their Dream to Become Parents

Editor: Dream it, do it?

Korean police crack down on illegal ova trading

Police crack down on illegal ova trading | YONHAP NEWS: Police in Seoul sought arrest warrants for two brokers on charges of trafficking human eggs, while booking 13 women for allegedly offering their eggs for money. The two alleged brokers were accused of brokering human egg transactions 16 times while running a Web site on infertility between 2009 and 2010. They took a total of about 30 million won in commission. The brokers drew up a list of egg providers, setting different prices for ova -- up to 10 million won (US$927) per egg, depending on the age, education background and appearance of the donors.

Euthanasia, Immortality, and The Natural Death Paradox

Natural death as a concept binds us in the shackles of paradox. To make choices around death seem to violate a natural law to which we’ve all unconsciously agreed. None of us know when our time will come, but don’t try die too soon, and don’t try live too long. Death, it seems, is too important a decision for us to make. Like many anti-enhancement arguments, the answer is all too familiar: the most critical choices – those that impact our basic genetic code, what type of children we have, and how we die – ought be left to chance. 

Transhumanism is, in large part, an opposition to the mentality that creates the paradox of death. Death by natural causes is not good, it’s just no one’s fault. But in a world where so much death is caused deliberately, maliciously, and pointlessly, a death by natural causes can seem not just a mercy, but a blessing. Thus, we have come to cherish and value that which is but a morally neutral necessity.

When another person chooses our death against our will, that is a moral wrong.
Death by natural causes is morally acceptable because we cannot choose otherwise. But it is not morally good. 

Volitionally and autonomously choosing when one dies, now there is a moral good. There is no reason the circumstances of one’s biological make-up and environment that determine one’s expiration date must be abided by. If technology can allow us to stop short in the face of years of suffering or overcome an untimely gentle passing for another 20 years, why not? 

A fetishization of natural death should not hold us hostage to the quality and duration of our lives. IEET

In Israel, a Call To End Anonymous Sperm Donation

In Israel, a Call To End Anonymous Sperm Donation – The Sisterhood – Forward.com: In a recent op-ed in Haaretz, Rabbi Dr. Einat Ramon "calls for making illegal anonymous sperm donation and all forms of surrogacy, and replacing it with an exclusive Jewish sperm bank filled only with the seed of Jewish men who died childless. I am sure that mine is not the only jaw that needs lifting from the floor."

Daughter to Undergo Transplant of Mother's Womb

Daughter to Undergo Transplant of Mother's Womb - ABC News: Sara Ottoson, 25, of Stockholm, Sweden, could be the first woman to give birth to a baby using the same womb in which she was conceived and carried to term. 'It's the only way my daughter can have a child by herself,' Eva Ottoson, Sara's 56-year-old mother, told BBC News. Eva Ottoson agreed to donate her uterus in hopes that her daughter could one day give birth.

Editor: For the record, conception usually takes place outside the uterus, unless the "womb" transplant includes her mother's Fallopian tubes.

Get to Know: FamilyFacts.org

FamilyFacts.org provides data on the family and religious practice and analysis of their role in maintaining civil society in America. Get relevant facts for sermons and lessons, such as this chart:

Health Care to Die for

Health Care to Die for: People in the press and on the other side of the aisle accused Republicans of exaggerating about 'death panels,' but now that leaders have had a year to read the law, many of those same detractors are coming around to the truth. Tucked into the law's 2,000-plus pages is the creation of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Among other things, IPAB would be responsible for keeping Medicare costs down.

That sounds innocent enough. But the big controversy isn't whether IPAB should save money--but how it does. As Medicare's own chief, Donald Berwick, has said, it's much cheaper for the government to let sick people die than care for them. If Medicare costs balloon above a certain point, this board would have the power to decide what gets cut from Americans' coverage. Essentially, the President would be putting a trillion dollars' worth of decisions in the hands of 15 unelected political appointees.

These men and women would have the power to limit which doctors you see, what treatments are available, and in some cases, whether you're eligible for care at all. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) called it a 'rationing board.' And even liberal groups are starting to agree. Still, the President isn't backing down.

Census Shows Rise in Number of Gay Adoptions

Census Shows Rise in Number of Gay Adoptions - NYTimes.com: Same-sex couples are explicitly prohibited from adopting in only two states — Utah and Mississippi — but they face significant legal hurdles in about half of all other states, particularly because they cannot legally marry in those states. Despite this legal patchwork, the percentage of same-sex parents with adopted children has risen sharply. About 19 percent of same-sex couples raising children reported having an adopted child in the house in 2009, up from just 8 percent in 2000.

Editor: Just keep telling yourself they're only 2 percent of the population. Or perhaps 3.5 percent.

Blood test for Down syndrome creates ethical debate

Blood test for Down syndrome creates ethical debate - Health - Pregnancy - msnbc.com: Dr. Brian Skotko, a Down syndrome specialist at Children's Hospital Boston who has written a research paper for doctors on how to deliver a diagnosis, said 'the vast majority of people with Down syndrome and families affirm that their contributions to their communities are significant, and their lives are very valuable.'

Current prenatal screening has already cut into the number of babies born with the syndrome, which now stands at about 6,000 each year in the United States, or about 1 in every 691 babies, says Skotko, who serves on the board of the National Down Syndrome Society. He cites one study that concludes the number of Down syndrome births in the nation dropped 11 percent between 1989 and 2006, a time when it would otherwise be expected to rise 42 percent.

The 97 Percent Fight

The 97 Percent Fight | ALL.org: According to Planned Parenthood’s Services Fact Sheet, they perform 11,383,900 services every year and 332,278 are abortions. Thus, abortions are 2.9 percent of the total services and everything else is 97.1 percent.

To be more accurate, however, they could emphasize that those 11.4 million services were provided to 3 million unique customers. 332,278 abortions represents 11 percent of PP’s unique customers—not three percent. Furthermore, 332,278 abortions bring in $162.8 million—which is 40 percent of its annual clinic income.

Human Adult And Embryonic Stem Cell Research Is Complementary

Human Adult And Embryonic Stem Cell Research Is Complementary, According To Social Scientists: Researchers analyzed more than 2,000 scientific papers and found adult stem cells are not replacing human embryonic stems cells in the laboratory. Instead, the two cell types have proven to be complementary and any disruption of federal funding, they say, would negatively impact stem cell research overall.

Commentary from FRC's David Prentice:

National Science Foundation's Appalling Stem Cell Ignorance

Urges Foundation to Issue Retraction, Offer Full Correction

Family Research Council (FRC) today criticized the National Science Foundation (NSF) for displaying appalling ignorance about stem cells. In touting NSF funding of a publication about stem cell comparisons, NSF put out a press release titled "Social scientists study impact of human adult stem cell research." But the paper NSF references, and which the science agency funded, does not discuss adult stem cells at all.

The paper promoted by NSF, published in the journal Cell, compares embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. iPS cells are embryonic-like stem cells made directly from adult tissues by adding a few genes to normal cells, without using embryos. The iPS cells are not adult stem cells.

Humanity Plus: How Transhumanism Could Change the Human Race

Humanity Plus: How Transhumanism Could Change the Human Race - Industry: Transhumanism, as it’s known, is the process of augmenting ourselves with advanced technology; the point where the technology isn’t merely an extension of ourselves — like your smartphone probably is — but a part of ourselves. In shorthand, futurists refer to transhumanism as H+, or humanity plus. In just two characters they make the claim that technology can make us better than we are.

We’re a flawed species. I’m sure there are many things that can make us better than we are, like meditation for those inclined. But this concept of transhumanism — and the technologies that put it into practice, both conceptually and in practice right now — is the method of species improvement that fascinates and captures the imagination beyond any other.

Editor: "Flawed species" all right, but not in the way they suppose. See why a biblical worldview is so important?

Related: Transhumanist to natural, omnivorous diet

IVF pioneer knighted

BioNews - IVF pioneer to be knighted: Professor Robert Edwards has been awarded a knighthood in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours. The knighthood follows Professor Edwards' Nobel Prize in Medicine win last year for his work developing this fertility treatment. His work led to the birth of Louise Brown, the first so-called 'test tube' baby, in July 1978. Since then, around four million babies have been born after IVF treatment.

Why families and advocacy groups accept the torture of dying patients

Why families and advocacy groups accept the torture of dying patients: Autonomy to refuse treatments is accepted and is an improvement over the forced treatments that were common just a few decades ago. Yielding to autonomy that leads to demands for unreasonable/futile/unworkable treatments is not the same.

Alabama lawmakers ban abortion after 20 weeks pregnancy

Alabama lawmakers ban abortion after 20 weeks pregnancy | Reuters: Alabama lawmakers late on Thursday passed a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, the latest state legislature with Republican majorities to tighten abortion restrictions. The measure, which was approved by large majorities in both chambers of the Legislature on the final day of the session, makes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

The Hidden Epidemic: Forced Abortions In America

The Hidden Epidemic: Forced Abortions In America | After Abortion: A homeless woman denied shelter until she submitted to an unwanted abortion … a teen ridiculed by a school counselor and bussed to the abortion clinic … a daughter pushed into an abortion clinic at gunpoint by her mother … a girlfriend injected with an abortifacient outside a parking garage … a 13-year-old returned to her molester after her abortion … three sisters raped repeatedly by their father and forced into abortions for nearly a decade … a wife miscarried after her husband jumped on her stomach to force an abortion … a waitress fired after she became pregnant.

The headlines above represent just a few of the many women who were offered only one choice–abortion. They are just a few of the hundreds of appalling stories of abuse, violence, and manipulation that are found in the Elliot Institute’s 21-page special report, Forced Abortion in America.

More from the recent Gallup poll

Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs poll shows that 84% of Americans still oppose human cloning. It was ranked the third most unpopular issue, before polygamy (86% opposed) and adultery (91% opposed). Animal cloning was also unpopular (62% opposed).  Gallup, May 31

Think Twice Before Joining Komen Race for Cure

Pro-Life Group: Think Twice Before Joining Komen Race for Cure | LifeNews.com The Susan G. Komen foundation has made grants to Planned Parenthood and supports human embryonic stem cell research.

Women Who Miscarry Need Love, Support

Women Who Lose Unborn Children in Miscarriage Need Love, Support | LifeNews.com: Dr. Byron Calhoun, President of the American Association of Pro-life Ob-Gyns, has observed that prior to 1970, the loss of a child before or during birth was often treated in medical literature as a “non-event,” but that now there is a growing awareness of the grief associated with such loss. In fact, Dr. Calhoun has developed a hospice program for unborn children.

The sacrament of abortion

The sacrament of abortion | LifeSiteNews.com: The Sacrament of Abortion is the title of a book written by Ginette Paris and published in 1992. In this short book, the author claims that abortion is a sacred act, a sacrifice to Artemis (known to the Romans as Diana).

Artemis is both a protector of wild animals and a hunter who kills them with deadly aim. How can these contradictory roles be found in the same female deity? The view proposed in this book is that a mother properly cares for life only if she possesses full power over life and death.

Our government at work

Conflict Of Interest: Nearly 700,000 teens in the United States will become pregnant each year. Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school and fall into poverty. Children born to teen mothers also face significant life challenges. They are more likely to drop out of school, experience unintended pregnancies early in life, and experience more financial and health disparities compared to children of older parents.'

Who will be there to lend our youth a hand in their most desperate time of need? Who will be there with 20 million U.S. taxpayer dollars in their pocket? Who will be in their schools and schoolbooks? Who will be in their public squares? Who will be in their public offices? Who will be in their social media haunts? A federally funded Planned Parenthood, that's who.

Advantages Of Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation Established

Cord Blood Banks Contain More Than 500.000 Umbilical Cord Blood Units Advantages Of Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation Established: Since the first human cord blood transplant, performed in 1988, the safety and efficacy of umbilical cord blood transplantation in both children and adults with a variety of malignant and non-malignant diseases have been clearly established.

Russians Adopt U.S. Tactics in Opposing Abortion

Russians Adopt U.S. Tactics in Opposing Abortion - NYTimes.com: While the United States is often derided as a model of immorality in Russia, its anti-abortion movement has become a model for Russian activists, who have even adopted the English-language term “pro-life” as their own. American-style pickets of abortion clinics are becoming a staple of the movement in Russia.

The campaign is heavily influenced by the Russian Orthodox Church, which is drawing on the tacit support of the first lady, Svetlana Medvedeva, and prominent politicians.

Americans Believe There Are More Homosexuals in the U.S. Than There Are Catholics

Americans Believe There Are More Homosexuals in the U.S. Than There Are Catholics » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog: "Are Americans (a) really bad at estimating, (b) really gullible, (c) both really gullible and really bad at estimating? After seeing the results of this Gallup survey, I think the answer is obvious."

Christian Parents and the HPV Vaccine

Christian Parents and the HPV Vaccine | First Things: More than 20 million people in the U.S. alone have HPV, a sexually transmitted infection that can and has lead to sometimes fatal cervical cancer. The vaccination, Gardasil, prevents the most common four strains of HPV but leaves the recipient of the vaccination unprotected against 36 other strains. It can greatly reduce the likelihood of cervical cancer and genital warts caused by HPV. But do parents who vaccinate their children risk sending a mixed message about the importance of abstinence?

No Adam, No Eve, No Gospel

No Adam, No Eve, No Gospel | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: This issue's cover story, 'The Search for the Historical Adam,' reports the claims of recent genetic research that the human race did not emerge from pre-human animals as a single pair, as an 'Adam' and an 'Eve.' The complexity of the human genome, we are told, requires an original population of around 10,000. What's at stake?

Fear Not the Disabled

Fear Not the Disabled | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: We all benefit when people with disabilities are valued in our churches.

You are funding forced abortions in China

You are funding forced abortions in China | LifeSiteNews.com: You are funding forced abortions in China. So am I. Not only elective abortions. Forced abortions. It doesn’t matter whether you are pro-life or pro-choice on this issue. No one can support forced abortion, because it is not a choice.

Hitler's First Anti-Semitic Letter Goes on Display

Hitler's First Anti-Semitic Letter Goes on Display - TIME: In September 1919, the year after the end of World War I, a German captain named Karl Mayr, who ran a propaganda unit in charge of educating demobilized soldiers in nationalism and scapegoating, received an inquiry from a soldier named Adolf Gemlich about the army's position on 'the Jewish question.' Mayr tasked a young subordinate named Adolf Hitler to answer. The resulting Gemlich letter, as it is known to historians, is believed to be the first record of Hitler's anti-Semitic beliefs and has been an important document in Holocaust studies for decades.

10 years of changing attitudes on gay marriage

Pew-Forum: Gay Marriage Attitudes

Prenatal protection laws

The effect of Michigan's Prenatal Protection law 10 years ago is an example of how prolife laws reinforce the humanity of unborn children. These laws set precedent in our law books while we work towards the day when all children are protected inside and outside the womb. RTL-MI

Poll: Majority of Americans, Young Adults Say Abortion Wrong

Poll: Majority of Americans, Young Adults Say Abortion Wrong | LifeNews.com: A third poll in the last three weeks has results showing a majority of Americans are opposed to abortion and say that it is morally wrong. Based on interviews with 3,000 adults, the Public Religion Research Institute finds that Americans, regardless of generation, believe abortion is morally wrong — but young Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 agree with that conclusion as well.

They do so even though the poll found they are supportive of same-sex marriages. While there is a generation gap on that issue, there is none on the issue of abortion. “It’s not the kind of issue that one celebrates.”

Abortion for rape?

Maddow says I'm "the rapist's child"! (1): A baby is not the worst thing that could ever happen to a rape victim -- an abortion is. To be pro-woman is to recognize that women are much stronger than they are given credit for, and to understand that a baby is not the scary enemy. No woman has to be afraid of a baby!

Stem Cells May Prevent Need For Joint Replacements

Stem Cells May Prevent Need For Joint Replacements, If FDA Allows It: Patients' own adult stem cells show great potential in regenerative medicine, including orthopedic applications. Stem cells isolated from bone marrow can enable bone and cartilage to heal. Once removed, the patients' cells are processed and allowed to multiply in tissue culture. Then they are injected back into the knee joint of the same patient. The meniscus of the knee can be repaired, despite its poor blood supply.

Stem cell research branches out to new horizons

Stem cell research branches out to new horizons - The Irish Times - Tue, Jun 07, 2011: One project ongoing in Ireland is taking skin cells from consenting patients with motor neurone disease and Parkinson’s disease and reprogramming them to become iPS cells. From there, the scientists can direct these former skin cells to become brain cells, and so create a disease model in a dish.

Ron Paul: breakdown of family values at heart of legal abortion

Ron Paul: breakdown of family values, not gov’t, at heart of legal abortion | LifeSiteNews.com: The right to life was the foundation of American liberty, but a widespread moral change must occur before abortion is made illegal again, Republican lawmaker and presidential candidate Ron Paul told religious conservative activists on Friday. “Life is precious, I’m an OB-doctor, I’ve delivered over 4000 babies,” said Paul. “But as an Ob-doctor, let me tell you – life does begin at conception.”

Debunking Elite Opinion on Abortion Policy - By Michael J. New - The Corner - National Review Online

Debunking Elite Opinion on Abortion Policy - By Michael J. New - The Corner - National Review Online: Marianne Mollmann, the director of women’s rights advocacy at Human Rights Watch, had a post last week on The Hill’s Congress blog that nicely encapsulated elite opinion on abortion policy. It is well written, measured in tone, and respectful of the concerns of pro-lifers. It also offers policy prescriptions that are totally incorrect.

Dr. Death dies

Kevorkian's actual motives in pursuing his assisted suicide campaign were grotesquely utilitarian. He believed that nearly anyone who wanted to die should have access to euthanasia, writing for example, that the Jonestown victims should have been allowed to be dispatched by a professional euthanizer. . . . Indeed, the point of his whole campaign was to ultimately fulfill his ghoulish obsession to experiment on the bodies of people he was euthanizing. So, how did such a clearly disturbed man, whose views were (and still are) so clearly out of the societal mainstream, come to be viewed positively by large segments of media and society?

. . . I think there are several factors at work. First, we live in an era that extols and admires the social outlaw. Second, a large segment of our increasingly secularized society disdains moralism, fixed principles of right and wrong involving individual behavior, and dreads anything that smacks of "judgmentalism." These phenomena seem particularly potent when someone defies values deemed to reflect Judeo/Christian religious dogma, such as the general disfavor of suicide. Third, giving moral support to the suicides of ill and profoundly disabled people who want to die arises naturally in an era in which the emotional narrative and Oprah culture drive public opinion.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, "compassion" has become the great justifier for breaking laws and violating social norms. Once Kevorkian stopped talking openly about obitiatry and began proclaiming that he was motivated by his care for suffering patients—even calling himself "Dr. Life" in an interview with Barbara Walters—everything changed. To the Source

Remembering the Real Jack Kevorkian

Remembering the Real Jack Kevorkian | Daily News | NCRegister.com: We should not speak ill of the dead, we are told. . . . But not speaking ill does not mean avoiding the truth. Nor does recounting facts constitute a casting of aspersion. Moreover, Kevorkian was a proud atheist who frequently stated — and acted on — his intention to force society to tack into the wind of his own dark desires. He never recanted his beliefs. This article allows him to speak for himself.

John MacArthur: Creation Day 6, Part 2

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3 talks about the purposes of God, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ...why?...just as He chose us in Him before...what?...the foundation of the world." So the whole divine decree unfolded before time began, before anything was ever created. And this was in the council of the trinity. Verse 4 says, "He predestined us." He did it simply because of His own will. . . .

Now this gets personal in Revelation chapter 13 and Revelation chapter 17 where twice in both cases, chapter 13 verse 8, and chapter 17 verse 8, it says the same thing, it refers to believers as those whose names have been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life. Those whose names have been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life. And again it takes us back before the foundation of the world. . . .

It is true that as a human being I resemble the creatures in my physical corporeal form. I am made up of flesh. I am made up of the same components. I am made up of the same atomic material, the same raw elements. But what makes me distinct is my invisible part. It's the part that you can't find in my DNA. It's the part that's not in the chromosomes. It's that invisible self. It's that true person that makes me like God, that is capable of relationship with you and with God. Grace to You

Listen to, download, or read the rest of the series on The Battle for the Beginning.

Is environmentalism infiltrating the pro-life movement?

Is environmentalism infiltrating the pro-life movement? | LifeSiteNews.com: More and more I hear my [pro-life] friends asserting such things as the pressing need to develop renewable energy sources, to grow or buy “organic” and locally grown food, to stop the destruction wreaked on the environment by certain chemicals and industries, to reduce the levels of waste that the West is pouring into landfills, etc. . . .

What we are witnessing is a new, and, I believe, commendable backlash against two different excesses: that of a radical form of capitalism that views incessant wealth creation (no matter the costs) as the primary purpose of human life, and that of a radical environmentalism that views humans as little more than a pest to be carefully controlled or even eliminated.

Fundamentally I believe this backlash is fueled by one simple, self-evident, but critical fact: that this is the only earth we have, and its resources are necessarily limited. Eco-extremists view this limitedness as a reason to stop humans from reproducing at all, to “save the planet.” Pro-life environmentalists, on the other hand, view this limitedness as a reason to exercise self-restraint and intelligence in the way we consume resources for the sake of future generations - to “save the humans.”

Editor: Interesting point of view. What do you think?

Republicans More Unified Than Democrats on Abortion

Republicans More Unified Than Democrats on Abortion: As the 2012 Republican presidential contenders begin to hone their campaign messages and court social-issues voters, a Gallup analysis reveals the striking homogeneity of rank-and-file Republicans on abortion. Roughly two-thirds of Republicans across most major gender, age, educational, and income lines describe themselves as 'pro-life,' while about a quarter call themselves 'pro-choice.'

CHECK THIS OUT (6 animated mini-videos on 1 DVD)

CHECK THIS OUT (6 animated mini-videos on 1 DVD) - Answers Bookstore: You’ve never seen the creation issue addressed quite this way before! If you want teaching that is fun and exciting, you need Check This Out! This creative, cutting-edge new DVD is loaded with six mini-videos, each covering a distinct “hot topic” in the creation/evolution debate and each answering the controversy at warp speed! Fully animated and colorful, this DVD is excellent for everyone—especially teens and college students. Perfect for youth to copy to their MP-3 player and share with friends!

Movement to establish 'personhood' of fetus gains ground in South, divides abortion opponents

Movement to establish 'personhood' of fetus gains ground in South, divides abortion opponents :: The Republic: Bills to define personhood don't always have the support of mainstream abortion opponents, such as the Roman Catholic Church.

Good ethics makes for good science

Good ethics makes for good science | Legatus Magazine: The stem-cell controversy rarely makes the news these days because the greatest advances in stem-cell research over the last decade have not involved cells taken from destroyed embryos. That doesn’t fit the media template of embryonic stem cells being the “gold standard” for regenerative medicine, and indeed, the “only hope” for people struggling against diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson’s. Hence, advances that would have resulted in screaming headlines if accomplished with embryonic stem cells, barely caused a ripple and in many cases weren’t reported at all.

Gallup: Churchgoers More Likely to be Pro-Life

Gallup: Churchgoers More Likely to be Pro-Life on Abortion | LifeNews.com: Regardless of whether the person surveyed by Gallup is a Democrat or Republican, the poll found those who attend weekly religious services are about twice as likely to self-identify as pro-life compared with respondents who say they seldom or never attend church services.

Suicide and Abortion

Suicide and Abortion - NYTimes.com: Will Saletan wrote, "Assisted suicide, it turns out, is a lot like abortion. No government can stop it . . . and efforts to enforce its prohibition only make it less careful and humane. But, like the right to abortion, it can be abused. People want to die for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it’s agony. Sometimes it’s boredom. Sometimes it’s fear. Maybe your mother needs a lethal prescription. Maybe she needs antidepressants. Maybe you just need to hold her hand."

Russ Douthat counters, "In a sense, Saletan’s account of his own father’s passing suggests a sense in which abortion is very unlike assisted suicide. It can be hard to tell exactly what counts as assisted suicide and what doesn’t, because there are obvious moral gray areas with end-of-life care — places where the line between easing pain and easing passing gets blurry, places where it’s unclear where reducing suffering ends and abetting suicide begins."

Should Men Be Allowed to Father Children After They’re Dead?

Should Men Be Allowed to Father Children After They’re Dead? – TIME Healthland: Fertility-treatment innovations mean that all sorts of people who would not have been able to have a baby a generation ago are now able to bring life into the world. Now, some are arguing the ranks of the newly fertile should include dead people.

Savior sibling ‘glad I am in this family’

Born to save sister’s life, she’s ‘glad I am in this family’ - Good News - TODAY.com: Looking at vivacious, outgoing college senior Marissa Ayala today, it seems several lifetimes ago that she set the medical world on its ear when she was born for the express purpose of providing bone marrow for her leukemia-stricken sister, Anissa. Time magazine featured the sisters on the cover of a 1991 issue that debated the ethics of “baby farming.”

Critics howled, and parents Abe and Mary Ayala found hate letters in their mailbox. Even today, Marissa hears the whispers of people who know her background story. But the 21-year-old Southern Californian said Friday that she and Anissa are as close as any two sisters can be — and that she lives in a family full of love and gratitude.

Jack Kevorkian's Death Reminds How Disabled Need Better Options

Jack Kevorkian's Death Reminds How Disabled Need Better Options | LifeNews.com: While some euthanasia advocates have sought to distance themselves from his bizarre positions and tactics, his tragic legacy illustrates the dangers to the most vulnerable when compassionate, humane responses to depression or disability are replaced with death as an acceptable final solution.

Editor: BFL developed LIFT in answer to Kevorkian and other advocates of death.

The Church and the ‘Clobber Scriptures’ — The Bible on Homosexuality

AlbertMohler.com – The Church and the ‘Clobber Scriptures’ — The Bible on Homosexuality: Is it “clobbering” people to point out that Scripture identifies their behavior or attitudes as sinful? Certainly not — at least not when the biblical truth is asserted honestly. In other words, not when we honestly confess that our sins, too, are condemned within the same Bible. Without a knowledge of our sinfulness, we do not know of our need for a Savior. In this sense, we all need to be “clobbered” by the Bible so that we will know of our need for Christ.

Why is the UN arbitrarily inflating population predictions?

Why is the UN arbitrarily inflating population predictions? | LifeSiteNews.com: The U.N. Population Division says the world’s population will reach 9.3 billion by 2050 — several hundred million higher than earlier predictions. Not only that, the UN now claims that the numbers will continue to grow until the end of the century, reaching 10.1 billion in 2100.

But these new predictions fly in the face of all we know about human fertility. Every last one of the factors affecting fertility — with the sole exception of advances in reproductive technology — are moving in an anti-natal direction. Factors like age at marriage, age at first child-bearing, educational levels, etc., are all tending to lower fertility. Birthrates are falling everywhere, farther and faster than anyone thought possible several decades ago.

PGD and mitochondrial disease

BioNews - PGD could offer new hope for mitochondrial disease parents: Women at risk of passing on mitochondrial disease to their children could use preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to give birth to an unaffected child.* Scientists claim their work has the potential to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial diseases.

Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are varied, and have serious implications. For example, if the mutations do not cause an early death, children may be affected by visual and hearing problems, loss of muscle co-ordination, poor growth, mental retardation, heart, liver and kidney disease, neurological problems, respiratory disorders and dementia.

Editor: *It would be more correct to say mtDNA PGD allows lab technicians to destroy affected embryos.

Disproving the Abortion Lie: Pro-Lifers Don't Care After Birth

Disproving the Abortion Lie: Pro-Lifers Don't Care After Birth | LifeNews.com: One of the greatest lies and slurs hurled at pro-lifers is that we only care about the baby until it is born. “Are you prepared to pay for that child of poverty in order to help raise it for the next eighteen years? No?? Then shut up about abortion!” It’s a clever little manipulation, though not much in the way of an argument.

The urgency of abstinence education in the Black community

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2009, Black Americans had 8.7 times the reported Chlamydia rates of Whites. (About 48% of all reported Chlamydia cases occurred among Blacks.) Also that year, Black Americans had 20.5 times the reported Gonorrhea rates of Whites. (About 71% of all reported cases of Gonorrhea occurred among Blacks.) Black Americans had 9.1 times the reported Syphilis rates of Whites. (In 2009, 52.4% of all cases reported to CDC were among Blacks and 30.4% of all cases were among Whites.)

Pastor Walter Hoye asks, "Are we preaching and teaching abstinence, the only Biblical prescription for sex? God is not wrong. Abstinence works. We need to step up our game. Here's help. Dr. La Verne Tolbert, is the founder of Teaching Like Jesus Ministries, Director of The Society for Children's Spirituality, a former board member of Planned Parenthood, New York City (1975-1980) and a member of the National Black Pro-Life Coalition. As author of Teaching Like Jesus: A Practical Guide to Christian Education and Keeping You & Your Kids Sexually Pure, a life-changing resource for parents and pastors. Professor Tolbert teaches children's pastors and youth pastors as an adjunct at Azusa Pacific University's graduate school."