Monday musing: Speaking up for the "hobby lobby"

There is no "hobby lobby," but maybe there should be -- advocates of crafting everywhere, UNITE!

There is a Christian-owned company by that name, and it has become a focal point in the battle over government intruding on basic religious freedoms.

Earlier this year, Hobby Lobby petitioned the government for relief from the mandate that employers provide insurance covering contraceptives that can cause abortions. The case is still pending appeal, but the Supreme Court recently denied a request for an emergency injunction. Hobby Lobby says it has no intention of complying, and so, beginning on January 1, the government will fine them an unfathomable $1.3 million dollars per day!

In an open letter, CEO David Green lays out the principles that guide the company:

We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I’ve always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God’s laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week’s biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. 

We believe that it is by God’s grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We’ve not only added jobs in a weak economy, we’ve raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.
But now, our government threatens to change all of that. . . . Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one.

. . . So, Hobby Lobby – and my family – are forced to make a choice. . . . My family has lived the American dream. We want to continue growing our company and providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but the government is going to make that much more difficult. The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith and following the law. I say that’s a choice no American – and no American business – should have to make.

Blogger Kevin DeYoung says, "Millions of Americans are already outraged. And rightly so. Our government not only allows for abortion, and celebrates abortion rights, and wants women to have unfettered access to abortion on demand, it now requires other Americans to pay for abortion-inducing drugs or face crippling fines. It is not an endorsement of any political party to conclude that this policy is morally degenerate. More Americans should be alarmed than are already."

Denny Burk agrees: "This is the most egregious violation of religious liberty that I have ever seen." He goes on to explain this case is not about banning contraception. "Nothing could be further from the truth. No one wants to outlaw contraception. This controversy is about the fact that the government is forcing pro-life business owners to pay for chemical abortions. If the federal government can force citizens to purchase items that they believe to be immoral, where will this end?"

And sometimes it's about employers who do see contraception itself as immoral.

To borrow freely from Martin Neimoller:

First they came for Hobby Lobby,
but I didn't speak out because I wasn't crafty . . . or a Christian employer;
then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

January 5th was a Hobby Lobby Appreciation Day, but it's going to take more than one day of shopping at the chain of big-box arts and crafts stores to win this battle. Something sacrificial. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represents the company in its lawsuit, going as David against the Goliath of the U.S. government. I don't know how much it will take to win, but they are accepting donations.

Related: 
Hobby Lobby: First martyr under Obamacare?
Contraception coverage heads to high court

Update: Hobby Lobby Delays Obamacare Fines for Now

Tuesday prayer: Our leaders

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8)

As we mused yesterday, political leaders are often less than what are to be desired. The question before us today is, will Jesus find us praying for them when He returns (1 Timothy 2:1-4)? "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 

So let's pray for President Obama and his cabinet. For Senators and Congressmen. 

For state legislators and assemblymen. City councilmen and mayors. 

Supreme Court Justices and judges of the appellate courts. 

For those who fear God and those who do not. 

For those who respect the sanctity of human life and those who are "pro-choice." 

May God turn their hearts to rule justly for the unborn. Whether they want to or not.

Related article by Russell Moore: Christians, let's honor the president

Thankful Thursday: God is still God

This post-election Thursday, I'm thankful my trust is in a never-changing God. From Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has wrought desolations in the earth.
He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
“Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

What a comfort!

What are we to make, however, of election analysis by the Pew Forum that shows many who would claim "the Lord is with us" were not with Him in the way they voted?
 

Tuesday prayer: Awaiting the outcome

If you've voted, you can now rest in God's sovereignty. Ponder (and pray) Psalm 33:

Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.

The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
To deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.

Here's more on God's sovereignty and voting. And a prayer for election week.

Monday musing: The other pro-life election issue

As you pray over tomorrow's momentous election, remember Massachusetts. Voters there are deciding on a proposal to legalize physician-assisted suicide. They would be the third state to do so (behind Oregon and Washington).

But there are a chorus of influential voices in opposition:

• Boston Globe: No on Proposal 2
• Ted Kennedy's wife: Vote no on assisted suicide in MA
• American Nurses Association: Draft statement opposing assisted suicide/euthanasia
• Providence Journal blog: Why to vote no on Mass. Question 2
• E. J. Dionne: Liberals should be wary of assisted suicide
• NY Times opinion: Suicide by choice? Not so fast
• Ira Byock: Assisted suicide is not progressive
• Choice is an Illusion blog: Users of assisted suicide are senior with money
• Dr. Barbara Rockett: Physician-assisted suicide “in direct conflict” with doctor’s role
• Wesley J. Smith: Our dangerous obsession with 'health'
• Ezekiel Emanuel: Four myths about doctor-assisted suicide

Don't, however, be lulled into complacency! Advocates of euthanasia are persistent and will, no doubt, bring it up for a a vote again. And again and again. So pray!

This might also be a good time for more churches to look into offering LIFT, our program of respite care for people with chronic or terminal illnesses and their families. If we can help your church get started, email or give us a call: 1-800-968-6086.

Finally, a few words from Hosea 10 this election-eve:

          Sow with a view to righteousness,
                Reap in accordance with kindness;
                        Break up your fallow ground,
                              For it is time to seek the Lord
                        Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.
                You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice,
          You have eaten the fruit of lies.

Postscript: A couple other last minute pre-election reads:

• Albert Mohler: A prayer for America on Election Day
• Joe Carter: 5 ways presidents affect the pro-life cause

Post-postscript: The assisted suicide proposal was narrowly defeated Tuesday.

Thankful Thursday: Free and fair elections

As difficult as this election season has been, we still have a lot to be thankful for. That point was brought home to me earlier this week in a Facebook chat with a friend in Kenya.

I'd asked him to pray for our country as we undertake the election next week. He replied, "I fervently pray for your nation. May God give you a leader after his heart and give all of you wisdom as you elect."

And then he said something that put everything we endure -- endless robo-calls and attack ads -- in perspective: "Pray for us also as we come to elections. Civil wars arise and many kill each other."

As brutal as our election campaigns can be, we don't worry about them erupting into violence or war. Thank the Lord with us that we have the privilege of voting (many nations do not), and that our system works relatively smoothly.

Resources --

• Earlier this week we highlighted a video that your church might want to use this weekend to encourage people to vote according to biblical values. 
• Here's a link to a powerful sermon by John MacArthur: Abortion and the Campaign for Immorality.
• Here's an article by Randy Alcorn: Do the Candidates Have Different Positions on Abortion and Does it Matter?

Tuesday prayer: For our nation

Pray and vote. Will you vote the values that stand the test of fire? Even if those values are ridiculed?

Monday musing: Rape, abortion, and your worldview

Even though "progressives" wish we'd gotten past the abortion issue by now, it has certainly not faded from this election cycle. In fact, "social issues" (marriage and abortion) once again offer some of the clearest distinctions between candidates at all levels.

Both candidates for president, however, agree abortion should be admissible in cases of rape, incest, and the life (and health) of the mother. This has not been the case in other contests and the rape issue has somewhat blown up in all our faces. Republican candidates could do a better job expressing themselves, but it's surprising how surprised the media has been by the idea that executing one of the victims of a crime ought to be a crime. (And, no, scorn for opposing views does not qualify as a rationale.)

Aside from the standard objection to such "hard case" abortions -- that a person's right to life is not altered by the circumstances of his or her conception -- the pro-life view seems to steadily lose resonance. That's as Jesus predicted (John 15:18-21), so please let us not act surprised.

Tired of being on the defensive, one Christian blogger put together a list of 10 questions that pro-choice candidates should be forced to answer. I'd add an eleventh: Why should being conceived in rape or incest be a death sentence? "Liberals" are usually so good at identity politics, so I wonder why they can't distinguish between a rapist and his baby.

Pregnancy resulting from rape touches on a host of meaty doctrinal issues. A theologian would really be able to sink his teeth into them, but I'll sketch out a few aspects of the biblical worldview that have been overlooked in the recent drama:

• Sin - Non-biblical worldviews deny its existence, but the Bible says there is such a thing, and that rape belongs under the heading (Deut 22:25-29). God is the ultimate One sinned against, as well as the victim (Psalm 51:4). Rapists and abortionists must answer to Him (Gen. 9:5).

• Justice - Non-biblical worldviews mistakenly blame the victim for rape, or punish the children. Deuteronomy 24:16 says only the perpetrator is guilty. 

• Suffering - Non-biblical worldviews say a sovereign God would never allow suffering, so instances of rape mean God either doesn't exist or is weak and not worth our time. In the biblical worldview, God is always great and good, no matter what happens to His creatures. Suffering is a result of Adam's sin and sovereignly allowed by God for purposes known to Him and rarely revealed to us (Job 1-2, Gen. 50:19-20).

• Life - Non-biblical worldviews view life as random and essentially meaningless. The Bible teaches, however, that God is the source of all life (Genesis 1-2, John 5:26, Col. 1:16-17, 1 Tim. 6:13). Human life is no accident and all human beings are created in God's image (Gen. 1:26-27, Ps. 139:13-16). This includes the child of rape or of any illicit sexual encounter. It even includes the rapist!

• Parenthood - Non-biblical worldviews increasingly consider children as commodities owned by their parents, but in the biblical worldview, children belong to God and are granted to parents in a stewardship arrangement (Psalm 127:3). Adoption reflects God's loving character and is an excellent alternative to abortion (Eph. 1:5). 

• Redemption - We who know the Savior who redeems and restores sinners should let these truths shape our responses to rape victims and their children. We should also never let the magnitude and horror of such a violation be too far from our imagination. We should suffer alongside women as they relive their trauma. When they elect to continue a pregnancy, we should support them with a sense of respect, awe, and gratitude for the abundance of God's grace in their lives. We should love and welcome their children.

This has been an admittedly rudimentary treatment of theological issues at stake in our culture. [Added 10/31/12: To demonstrate the difficulty of saying everything you need to on this subject, I found myself today regretting I hadn't made a point about how abortion solves nothing -- doesn't erase the rape or negate the trauma -- it only compounds the violence and violation that women feel. I also should have provided a link to What About Abortion for Rape or Incest? on our website.]

Related: Read these additional contributions from Christian leaders and other thinkers --

• Mohler: The Mourdock Moment -- Life, Death, and Lies on the Campaign Trail
• Christianity Today: Are Pregnancies Even from Rape a Gift from God?
• Douthat: The Press and Abortion, Revisited
• Richard Mourdock Gets in Trouble for His Extremely Conventional Religious Beliefs
• Rape, Conception, and God: Why Mourdock Was Right
• Our Media & The Blessed Rape Baby
• Rape, God, Life, and Liberals
• Reardon: The Despicable “God Intends Rape” Comments
• Mohler: The Great American Worldview Test -- The 2012 Election
• Pro-life group vows changes after Akin debacle

Personal testimonies:

• “Rape hurt my mother, but abortion devastated her.”
• ‘I’m not a mistake.’ Five women conceived in rape support Mourdock
• I was conceived in rape. Did I deserve to be aborted?
• My Rape Pregnancy and My Furor Over Social Myths
• Dear Ann Coulter: babies conceived in rape are not cannon fodder

Postscript: I was just chatting on Facebook with a friend in Kenya and asked him to pray for our country as we undertake the election next week. He replied, "I fervently pray for your nation. May God give you a leader after his heart and give all of you wisdom as you elect." And then he said something that put everything we endure -- endless robo-calls and attack ads -- in perspective: "Pray for us also as we come to elections. Civil wars arise and many kill each other." Wow. Good reminder, huh? Please pray for Kenya!

Tuesday prayer: Willing. Ready. In position.

In light of yesterday's musing on the Gospel and compassion ministries, pray --

• That each of us will be willing to help people and share the Good News
• That we'll be ready to help people and share the Good News
• That we'll be in position to help people and share the Good News

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. --Ephesians 6:18-20

Monday Musings: Christians in an age of aggression

Aren’t you tired of being whipped into a frenzy every time someone insults us or infringes on our rights? Isn’t it exhausting to keep track of the media’s offenses against Christianity? I look forward to a dissipation of heat on November 7, the day after the election, but it’s probably wishful thinking to believe real calm will set in. Soon a new round of accusations and recriminations will begin (or the old round will continue). And in no time the 2016 campaign will be upon us.

Is this how Christians are supposed to live, tied to a political cycle, at the mercy of 24-hour news feeds? Of course not. And yet, it feels as though to be a fully engaged person, hyper-vigilance is the watch-word and righteous indignation the predominant virtue. Too many of us run hot during election season and cold the rest of the time.

D. A. Carson noticed the trend back as far as 2005 in a lecture on the book of Revelation. David Rogers of SBC Voices helpfully transcribed pertinent parts of the audio recording for his blog post, “D. A. Carson on Angry Christians and the Devil’s Tactics”:

If you want to make a lot of money with a Christian book in this country, write a book that says what’s wrong with America, listing all the bad things that you possibly can on the Left, demonize the Left. It’ll sell like hotcakes on the Right. . . .

Now contrast that with the first Christians taking the gospel in the Roman Empire. They were nobodies. They didn’t have anybody taking away their heritage. They were out to take over the heritage. They looked around and saw an extremely pluralistic empire, and they said with Caleb, in effect, “Give us this mountain.” And they kept witnessing and kept getting martyred, and so on, and there was a revolution, finally—a spiritual revolution.

But we can’t do that today. At least we find it very difficult, because we’re so busy being angry all the time that at the end of the day not only do we lose our credibility with people on the Left—they start demonizing us back—but we have no energy or compassion left to evangelize them. When you’re busy hating everybody, and denouncing everybody, and seeking political solutions to everything, it’s very difficult to evangelize. Isn’t it? Very hard to be compassionate, to look on the crowds as though they’re sheep without a shepherd, very hard to look on them like that when they’re taking away “my heritage.” Do you see?

Yes, I do. More recently, blogger Don McBride sounded a similar note:

U.S. Christians are becoming more political and less evangelistic, and this is something they need to watch. It’s easy to wrap up in political anger and point out sin, but our call is to reach the lost. If we see the signs of the end fast approaching as they are, then we should be about the Master’s business of . . . preaching the Gospel, and being the light for Jesus. We are Christians, not Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, or Liberals. We need to be evangelistic. We need to shine Jesus, not politics.

The corrective, of course, will come from God’s word, this time in the mouth of James (1:19-20): “But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”

Indeed, as we’ve seen in the past week or so, the misplaced anger of some who claim the name of Christ has made it tougher, more dangerous, or impossible for Christians in Middle Eastern countries to patiently and gently go about the work of reaching lost souls.

The trouble is, in making a call to bring Christians back from an over-reliance on political or social change, the pendulum is bound to swing over to an unreasonable and unbiblical abandonment of civic duty. Neither extreme is acceptable.

We must not fall for any of the “Six Myths of Cultural Engagement” that Jim Daly of Focus on the Family identifies. Myth 2 is that “we must be loud, vocal and visible” and Myth 3, “getting angry is the path to success.” The truth is “if we truly want people to hear us, we must be humble, personable and subtle.”

And, while Myth 1 says “nothing can be done,” Myth 4 is that “we must fight the darkness.” Just because one position is false doesn’t mean its opposite is true. Instead, “we must increase the light by presenting the good, true and beautiful story that changes lives.”

It’s easy to be angry, apathetic, or even despairing , but we’re not called to the ease of giving in to natural inclinations. Rather than passion (intense emotion) or lack of passion (apathy), we’re called to self-control and to imitating Jesus’ life of compassion – a “sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” Rather than being right and having our say, we need to be wise and willing to give up some rights . . . for the sake of the Gospel.

We’re also called to be sober and alert in prayer, and I would suggest at this moment that we pray for those Christians on the frontlines who face death or being kicked out of their countries of service as a result of the misguided expression of rights here in America.

Also, in our appeals for God to bless America (or any country), we should admit we don't deserve it. Why should God bless a nation that exports abortion-on-demand? Rather we need His mercy so that the Gospel may flourish here and abroad.

We can be bold without being brash. As Rick Warren recently preached, the sanctity of life, sex, and marriage are "three aspects of the Christian worldview that are hated by this world. Most Christians clam up and shut up because they're afraid to even stand up." The stand we take in the voting booth is private and powerful. Don't miss the opportunity -- or shirk the duty -- coming up this November 6!

We are called to stand up for the rights of others by acting on their behalf and voting when we can. As we wrote in "Whatsoever . . . voting," a candidate's stance on abortion is more important than his or her position on the economy or the environment:

One could make the case that all issues affect the sanctity of human life, but none is more foundational than the right to life itself. If there is no justice for the most vulnerable human beings, there can be justice for none. Candidates ought not pit “interest groups” against the unborn.

Some say, “If you’re really pro-life you’ll join the [fill-in-the-blank] cause!” But these are often the same people who refuse to also speak for the unborn. Why should the tiniest of little ones be forced to wait at the end of the line behind those with more money or a louder megaphone?

I suggest you download this copy-ready flyer and make it available to your church family before the election.

One other way we can diffuse heat is by building credibility through service. Our president, Tom Lothamer, spent several years serving on his local school board. He had to work alongside others who didn't necessarily share a "Christian world and life view" and succeeded by being prepared, participating fully in discussions, and being respectful. That meant listening patiently and responding calmly. There's no short-cut to civility.

Just as the historical perspective helps -- thinking of what the early church endured and how they responded -- so does the biblical perspective. Our God is in control. Psalm 33:8-11:

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

British Doctors Let Baby Born at 22 Weeks Die

LifeNews: British doctors are coming under fire for letting an unborn child born just before 22 weeks of pregnancy die. The National health Service, the government-run health system that Congress may replicate in legislation in the United States, is blamed for guidelines disallowing treatment.

Sarah Capewell told the London Daily Mail that doctors refused to see her son, who lived almost two hours on his own without any medical support before dying. She said Jayden was breathing on his own without any medical assistance and was moving his arms and legs, but medical staff refused to transfer him to a neonatal intensive care unit. The newspaper indicated Capewell said medical staff told her they would have been able to treat her son had he been born two days later.

The Great American Worldview Exercise — The 2012 Election

Albert Mohler: Years ago, Governor George Wallace of Alabama once remarked with disdain that there is not “a dime’s worth of difference” between the Democrats and the Republicans. In a sense, he was at least partly right. A look back at the platforms of the two parties in the 1950s and 1960s reveals little division over many of the issues that now frame our national debate. . . .

Fast forward to 2012 and the distance between the two parties is breathtaking. The nation’s political polarization is clearly evident in the radical distinctions between the Republican and Democratic platforms. but this polarization is not merely political. It is fundamentally moral and ideological. These two platforms present two contradictory understandings of realities as basic as human life, liberty, and the institution of marriage.

Related: The Role of Genes in Political Behavior

Dem. convention champions legal abortion

Baptist Press - Dem. convention champions legal abortion - News with a Christian Perspective: Democrats spotlighted their support for legalized abortion Tuesday night at their convention, with at least 10 speakers -- including First Lady Michelle Obama -- trumpeting the issue, although the word "abortion" itself was rarely said. It was the most abortion rights-centric night for a Democratic convention since 1992, according to NBC News political director Chuck Todd, and the issue was referenced every hour, from 6 p.m. Eastern to the final hour of the night beginning at 10 p.m.

Related:

• Compare the Democratic and the Republican platforms
• NY Times editor says Dems are "aggressive" on abortion
• Where the candidates stand on abortion (printable flyer)
• 25 DNC speakers champion abortion

'via Blog this'

South Korean success story

C-Fam Friday Fax: This is so good, I'm going to reproduce most of it here --

Pro-life Doctors Movement and South Korea's Abortion Ban

South Korea’s highest court upheld that country's 59-year abortion ban last week, amidst a surge of pro-life activism led by former abortionists. On Wednesday the government reversed a decision that would have lifted the prescription requirement for emergency contraception.

. . . What dramatically changed dynamics in Korea was that the government, which had for decades encouraged doctors to perform abortion as a means of population control to foster economic growth, expressed official support for a pro-life doctor's group. Because of that, "the political terrain of abortion politics in South Korea is changing drastically," researcher Young-Gyung Paik said.

Young-Gyung's 2012 paper showed that pro-life activism, long marginalized as "religiously driven," suddenly gained prominence: "It was only after the formation of the group of doctors called 'Pro-life Doctors' in 2009 that the contentious issue of abortion started to gain public attention in South Korea." "In [the doctors'] opinion, the South Korea’s low fertility rate has originated from its high abortion rate, which, in turn, was the result of the immoral and profit-oriented conducts of Korean medical doctors," Young-Gyung found.

Whereas Korean media painted the pro-life activism as a "war between doctors," Young-Gyung's extensive interviews with both sides found it was fostered by the development of neo-natal medical technologies, decreased interest in embryonic stem cell research, the rise of disability activism, as well as concern about depopulation.

. . . "I bought into the government's argument that it was OK to do this," Shim Sang-duk told the Los AngelesTimes in 2010. The doctor received death threats and took a significant pay cut after abandoning the practice of abortion. "[I thought] it was good for the country. It boosted the economy," said Shim, who founded the Korean Gynecological Physicians' Association to encourage other doctors to stop performing abortions and call on the government to enforce the law's penalties.

. . . Abortion has been illegal in South Korea with exceptions for rape, incest or severe genetic disorders since 1953, but the law has been routinely flouted.

Kwak Seung-jun, chairman of the Presidential Council for Future & Vision, told reporters in 2010: "There are few people who realize abortion is illegal. We must work to create a mood where abortion is discouraged."

Related: What the Media Missed: Looking into South Korea’s Abortion Ban

Four ways the president affects abortion rights

Four ways the president affects abortion rights: In an interview with CBS News Monday night, Mitt Romney argued that abortion was not an issue for the presidential election. “This is a matter of the courts,” Romney said. “It’s been settled for some time by the courts.” The Supreme Court is certainly the only body that can overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion. But that does not mean the president does not hold sway over what abortion rights look like in a wide variety of ways.

See also: 
Christians Have Responsibility to Vote to Further Pro-Life Cause
Abortion gains as political issue

Editor: But what about when the candidate is so lukewarm? Tell me again why we should be excited about this ticket?
Romney's sister says he would never ban abortion (not that pro-aborts are buying it)
Romney's view on abortion are clear (that he allows for the exceptions of rape, incest, and a mother's health)

'via Blog this'

Wheaton's Birth Control Mandate Suit Dismissed

Wheaton's Birth Control Mandate Suit Dismissed - US - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com: The federal judge threw out Wheaton's suit after the government altered an exemption to include the college. That exemption gives religious institutions one year to comply. The government said it will re-do the mandate to protect religious freedom before the exemption expires.

Related: Evangelical Presbyterian Church states objection to HHS mandate to cover abortion

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Appeals court panel says federally funded embryonic stem cell research can continue

Appeals court panel says federally funded embryonic stem cell research can continue - The Washington Post: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court decision throwing out a lawsuit that challenged federal funding for the research, which is used in pursuit of cures to deadly diseases. Opponents claimed the National Institutes of Health was violating the 1996 Dickey-Wicker law that prohibits taxpayer financing for work that harms an embryo.

Americans United for Life analysis

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Hubert Humphrey opposed abortion

MCCL Blog: What you won't hear about Humphrey at his memorial dedication: He opposed abortion: Hubert H. Humphrey was a Democrat and a progressive for sure, but he was also a believer in civil rights and social justice. When asked on the campaign trail about legalized abortion he said flat out, "I am not for it." One of his most famous quotes from 1976 underscores his concern for society's most vulnerable citizens: "The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."

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Baptists vs. Sebelius

National Review: Last week, the Obama administration did it again. In a new bulletin, the Department of Health and Human Services implied that there are more faith-based entities who can apply for a “safe harbor” from its controversial “contraception” mandate.

The revised safe harbor does nothing for businesses — such as the Hercules HVAC company in Denver, which won an injunction in late July, or the Seneca Hardwood Lumber Company in Pennsylvania – with regard to conscience objections to the mandate.

The one-year delay may be the most insulting part of the mandate. All it does, as both Catholic Timothy Cardinal Dolan and Presbyterian Philip Ryken, the president of the evangelical Wheaton College, have noted, is to tell faith-based entities — many of them providers of social services — that they have a year to figure out how to violate their consciences.

New Republican Party platform strongly pro-life

New Republican Party platform strongly pro-life | LifeSiteNews.com: The Committee approved a new party platform that strongly defends the sanctity of human life. A key provision in the document is a call for a Human Life Amendment to the US Constitution, a provision that has been in place since 1976, just three years after Roe v. Wade. And, in an historic first, the document now includes information about the negative impact of abortion on women, a provision that was approved unanimously by the delegates.

Meanwhile, pro-abortion-rights leaders will speak at Democratic convention. And GOP grassroots furious at Romney over Akin, abortion rape exception. Finally, Full GOP pro-life platform strongly opposes abortion and euthanasia.

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