Obama's Bioethics Commission - We Still Need Philosophical Debate

The oversimplification that scientific research is either obviously detrimental or obviously beneficial to humanity is completely inappropriate in the context of today’s biomedical landscape – a landscape rife with ethical nuances and controversial topics like embryonic stem cells, the ownership of genes, and genetic screenings. While there may be consensus that current goals in biomedical research are noble, there is dissent regarding how to achieve those goals. What is ethical to one person may very well be unethical to another. Thus, we as a society must be more cognizant of bioethical considerations. We must live and breathe in the middle ground, that pesky “grey area” between right and wrong. So, how to begin the discussion? GenEng & BiotechNews

Two new adult stem cell stories

Researchers from the UCLA AIDS Institute and colleagues have for the first time demonstrated that human blood stem cells can be engineered into cells that can target and kill HIV-infected cells — a process that potentially could be used against a range of chronic viral diseases. PhysOrg

Stem Cells Heal Lungs of Newborn Animals: May Lead to New Treatments for Lungs of Premature Babies Science Daily

Being a pro-life church

Is your church pro-life? I mean really pro-life? As a body, are you encouraging each other to not only think in a pro-life way but also act in a pro-life way? Undeniably, Christians have been the backbone of the pro-life movement since its inception. If more churches would harness their membership and organizational power on behalf of pro-life causes, however, perhaps the tide could be turned in America and we would once again live in a society that values every human life. Faith & Family

Open Mic: Does Human Life Begin at Conception?

Last fall, the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform traveled to the Upper Midwest as part of our campus outreach and training program. On each campus we visited we conducted an open microphone session which permits students to ask questions of one of our staff. Watch a video clip of one such interchange.

Building a baby, with few ground rules

Surrogacy arrangements that go badly can have profound implications, particularly for the children. Surrogacy is largely without regulation, with no authority deciding who may obtain babies through surrogacy or who may serve as a surrogate. Instead, surrogacy is controlled mainly by fertility doctors, who determine which arrangements are carried out and also earn money by performing the procedures. And while some agencies that coordinate surrogacies and some clinics that carry them out strictly adhere to guidelines, others do not. The lax atmosphere means that it is now essentially possible to order up a baby, creating an emerging commercial market for surrogate babies that raises vexing ethical questions. NYTimes

Building a baby, with few ground rules

Surrogacy arrangements that go badly can have profound implications, particularly for the children. Surrogacy is largely without regulation, with no authority deciding who may obtain babies through surrogacy or who may serve as a surrogate. Instead, surrogacy is controlled mainly by fertility doctors, who determine which arrangements are carried out and also earn money by performing the procedures. And while some agencies that coordinate surrogacies and some clinics that carry them out strictly adhere to guidelines, others do not. The lax atmosphere means that it is now essentially possible to order up a baby, creating an emerging commercial market for surrogate babies that raises vexing ethical questions. NYTimes

Case Shined First Light on Abuse of Children

It was Mary Ellen McCormackwho finally put a human face on child abuse — and prompted a reformers’ crusade to prevent it and to protect its victims, an effort that continues to this day. Tellingly, the case was brought by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In 1874, there were no laws protecting children from physical abuse from their parents. . . . The hard-boiled investigator assigned to Mary Ellen’s case, Etta Angell Wheeler, was shocked and became inspired to do something. Frustrated by the lack of child-protection laws, Wheeler approached the A.S.P.C.A. It proved to be a shrewd move. . . . [The little girl's] heart-wrenching testimony was featured in The New York Times under the subheading “Inhuman Treatment of a Little Waif.”. . . Mary Ellen’s case led [to the foundation of] the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in December 1874. It was believed to be the first child protective agency in the world. . . . Gone are the days when beasts of burden enjoyed more legal protection than children. NYTimes

Embryo donation is not like adoption

Psychologically, the biological link affects how parents feel about the process. Through my interviews with embryo donation parents, I found that they viewed the donation as on a par with blood or tissue donation, rather than adoption. They were grateful to the donors for their help in conceiving but did not see them as being a continuing part of the child's life. Less clear are the attitudes of the embryo donors. BioNews

Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths

The religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit conventional categories. A new poll finds that large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions. Many say they attend worship services of more than one faith or denomination. Many also blend Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs such as reincarnation, astrology and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects. And sizeable minorities of all major U.S. religious groups say they have experienced supernatural phenomena, such as being in touch with the dead or with ghosts. Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life

Offset Your Jet-Set Lifestyle by Eliminating African Babies

Neo-colonialism is still alive in the attitudes of some environmental activists who don't see any problem in urging developing nations to curb their population so that the carbon emissions of richer countries can be offset. Population control groups have been using the hype surrounding the Copenhagen climate change conference to promote their solution to hypothetical impending environmental catastrophes. LifeSiteNews

Pro-lifer's lawsuit raises alarming questions

Bryan Brown is a conservative, activist and unapologetic Christian. Of that there is no doubt. But does that mean he is also mentally ill? Too ill even to be a lawyer? The bureaucracy that controls access to Indiana's legal profession believes that very thing, according to a lawsuit in which Brown alleges that he was subjected to a series of hostile religious and political questions during a review of his fitness to practice law - a review that subsequently rejected him on mental-health grounds. News-Sentinal

Resource for Black History Month

Maafa21 meticulously chronicles the links from slavery to colonization to Darwin to eugenics to sterilization to birth control and finally to abortion. The documentary shows, without exception, how African-Americans are the targets of the social elite. You’ll learn that civil rights leaders in the 1960s gave a clear warning that abortion and population control was a tool of Black genocide. You will see the links between racism, eugenics, and Planned Parenthood's effort to market abortion to the African American Community.

Maafa 21 emotionally chronicles the story of an African American woman who was eugenically sterilized at the age of 14, a riveting testimony guaranteed to render the audience speechless. Photos, newspaper clippings, documentation, and direct quotes make Maafa 21 highly credible. Watch the trailer for Maafa21 and purchase copies: http://www.maafa21.com/. Maafa21 would be a great tool for churches to show for Black History Month !

Adult Stem Cells May Cure Sickle Cell in Adults

Researchers say that a new method of bone marrow transplantation cured nine out of 10 adult patients with sickle cell disease, an inherited condition that causes bouts of severe pain, organ damage and sharply limits life expectancy. Adults have typically not been candidates because they were thought to be too sick to handle the high doses of chemotherapy and radiation necessary to prep the body for the procedure. Until now, transplantation was generally reserved for more resilient children, whose bodies had not yet suffered as much damage from sickle cell disease. Drugs.com

Related: Tooth to Bone with Adult Stem Cells

Holocaust in Israel: Lives not worthy of life?

An article on YNET (one of the leading Hebrew-language dailies) reported on an Israeli couple that had numerous prenatal tests and doctors suspected their baby was carrying the chromosomes for Down’s Syndrome. The couple was urged to have an abortion, only to discover later that the baby was misdiagnosed. They are now suing three different hospitals.

Israel leads the world in sheer number of prenatal tests it offers to pregnant mothers. There have been numerous cases where the test results were incorrect. Yet, abortion is promoted as the quick and simple solution to any possible problem, without any consideration of the repercussions of that abortion on the woman or her family.

Sandy Shoshani, director of Be’ad Chaim Association for the Protection of the Woman and Unborn Child in Israel, writes: "My concern . . . is that children in the womb are not considered human beings unless they are wanted by their parents and by society.

"At Be’ad Chaim, we have been praying about lobbying in the government and press in order to further increase public awareness of the dangers of abortion to women and the value of unborn children. As a result of much prayer, we see early signs of this already taking place to a certain degree, yet we believe that further action needs to be taken. As a first step, we have decided to increase our advertising in major newspapers and to publish the testimonies of women who have been hurt by abortion alongside articles on those who’ve continued pregnancies despite difficult circumstances. Please pray for wisdom and resources as we pursue a major change in public opinion on abortion." Bead Chaim Life News

Amendment Would Protect Conscience Rights of Pro-Life Medical Staff

Although they were not successful in getting the Senate to ban abortion funding in healthcare reform, pro-life lawmakers aren't giving up on trying to lessen the number of pro-abortion problems with the Senate version of the government-run health care bill. Sen. Tom Coburn, a pro-life Oklahoma Republican who is a physician by trade, proposed an amendment to the bill on Monday that would provide protections for pro-life medical workers. LifeNews

Report Shows ‘Handwriting On The Wall’ For Failing Abortion Industry

Operation Rescue has released the results of an extensive research project into the abortion industry showing that the number of abortion clinics continues to dwindle as Americans become more pro-life. OR has listed all abortion clinics along with a map showing their locations. The information shows a general relationship between access to abortion clinics and the abortion rate in each state. With few exceptions, the states with greater access to abortion clinics have higher abortion rates.

“We now have an accurate listing of every open abortion clinic in the country,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “In 1991, it was estimated that there were nearly 2,200 abortion clinics in the country, today there are just 713. The pro-life movement has made significant strides exposing and closing abortion clinics and shifting public opinion toward the pro-life position. This has resulted in lower abortion rates.” Operation Rescue

Editor: In Michigan, according to health department statistics, most abortions are performed in doctors offices, not free-standing clinics. Overview of trends, 1985-2008. Operation Rescue explains that many abortionists categorize their clinics as "offices," so that would explain the disparity.

35 SENATORS WARN AGAINST SMUGGLING PRO-ABORTION POLICY CHANGES INTO OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL

In a letter delivered today to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (NV), 35 Republican senators, led by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), warned that if any of the provisions making pro-abortion policy changes are included, the omnibus legislation will face stiff resistance. To view or download a copy of the letter, click here. Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, commented: "At the same time that congressional Democratic leaders are trying to win enactment of government-funded abortion in their health care legislation, they are also considering using end-of-year omnibus appropriations legislation to try to smuggle in removals of longstanding bans on government-funded abortion in the nation's Capitol, and in their own insurance plans." LifeNews

Editor: These changes are NOT related to the healthcare debate, but are flying under the radar.

New look for BFL web site

Check out Baptists for Life's redesigned web site, sporting a new look and an updated logo. Coming soon -- the ability to make online purchases of bulletin inserts and other items from our catalog, and the ability to register online for events such as the upcoming banquet or Golf Classic! Our thanks to K-Data Systems!

The Anti-God Squad

The New Atheists' main short-term goal wasn't to turn believers into atheists, it was to turn atheists into New Atheists -- fellow fire-breathing preachers of the anti-gospel. The point was to make it not just uncool to believe, but cool to ridicule believers. And this year doubts about that mission have taken root among the New Atheists' key demographic: intellectuals who aren't religious and aren't conservative. Even on the secular left, the alarming implications of the "crusade against religion" are becoming apparent: Though the New Atheists claim to be a progressive force, they often abet fundamentalists and reactionaries, from the heartland of America to the Middle East. Foreign Policy

Abortion is a "God-Given Right"

During a rally yesterday sponsored by Planned Parenthood and other leading pro-abortion groups, Rev. Carlton Veazy, the head of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, said, “Don't let anybody tell you that religious people don't support choice. You not only have a constitutional right for abortion, but you have a God-given right.” LifeNews

NIH reverses Bush stem cell policy, OKs 13 new lines

The National Institutes of Health cleared 13 human embryonic stem cell lines for use in experiments by federally funded scientists, opening the door to a new era of research into promising but controversial treatments. SF Business Times, Reuters

Meanwhile, concerning stem cell research that is truly ethical and really works:
Bone Marrow Stem Cells May Prevent Chronic Lung Disease
Adult stem cells show promise in hearts
New stem cell technology leads to better treatment for complicated bone fractures
Breathing Easier with Adult Stem Cells
Learn more at Stem Cell Research Facts

THE EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY ON INDIVIDUALS, MARRIAGE, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY

Family Research Council released a new study today that comprehensively details the effects of pornography on marriages, children, communities and individuals. Pat Fagan, FRC's Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Research on Marriage and Religion, said, "As this academic review reveals, pornography is creating a debt of the spirit and a cost in the lives of family members that rivals any deficit the federal government is producing." PDF download

Mainline Protestant Churches Promote Abortion in Health Care

The lobbying offices of the mainline churches have joined with abortion advocacy groups in opposing the Stupak-Pitts restriction against taxpayer funding of abortion. Reverend Carlton Veazey of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, which includes such denominations as the United Methodist Church, Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ, recently sent a letter to members of the Senate. LifeNews

President Obama Establishes New Bioethics Council

President Barack Obama has established a new presidential bioethics council that may feature advisors who could push his decision to force taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research even further. They could also advise him to push human cloning. The Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues will be led by Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania, with James W. Wagner, president of Emory University, as vice-chair. LifeNews

Organ donation a “life” issue

While organ donation is typically a topic that arises once a loved one dies or, in many states, when you are renewing your driver’s license, it is an issue that all of us should ponder in advance of our demise. In a recent interview, Richard Land discussed this “life” issue that many families must confront during a particularly emotional time. ERLC

Responses to The Manhattan Declaration

"[F]or the sake of issuing a manifesto decrying certain moral and political issues, the Declaration obscures both the importance of the gospel and the very substance of the gospel message. This is neither a novel approach nor a strategic stand for evangelicals to take. It ought to be clear to all that the agenda behind the recent flurry of proclamations and moral pronouncements we’ve seen promoting ecumenical co-belligerence is the viewpoint Charles Colson has been championing for more than two decades." John MacArthur

"Great damage has been done to the cause of Christ by those who have sought to promote the Kingdom by compromising the gospel, the only power given to the church that can change hearts, and hence change societies. By relegating the gospel to a matter of opinion and difference, but not something that defines the Christian faith, these ecumenists have left their followers with a cause without power, a quest without a solution." James White

"Few today would criticize civil rights activists . . . for participating in or condoning the violation of laws that perpetuated white supremacy -- with the understanding that they would face punishment for their actions. But such civil disobedience is rightly regarded as the exception that proves that the proper redress for unjust laws lies in legislation or in court rulings based on the Constitution. That cautious approach has been thrown to the wind by Christian religious leaders who, even as they insist on their right to shape the nation's laws, are reserving the right to violate them in situations far removed from King's witness." LA Times

Canadians More Concerned About Killing Animals Than Unborn Children

A new poll finds a tremendous incongruency in the thinking of Canadians on key social and political issues. Canadians are more outraged with the killing of animals or their medical testing than the destruction of unborn children and using them for scientific study. The survey, conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion and published in Maclean’s magazine, finds practices pro-life advocates find objectionable are morally acceptable. LifeNews

Warren takes Obama to task over abortion

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren said on NBC's Meet the Press program that Obama is taking an odd stance by saying he wants abortions to be rare but not believing human life begins at conception. For Warren, the admission that abortions should be rare acknowledges there is something wrong with abortion. And if there is something wrong with abortion, why won't he also say they should be prohibited. "We've had 46 million Americans who aren't here. Those who could be here since Roe v. Wade, who are not voting. I think that innocence is a holocaust. I really do," Warren said. LifeNews, MSNBC (page 3)

In South Korea, abortion foes gain ground

Unlike in America, where doctors have been threatened and even killed for performing abortions, Shim Sang-duk says he's received death threats for deciding to stop performing them. The controversy illustrates the stark differences between South Korea's attitude toward abortion and that of many Western nations.

While often couched elsewhere as a battle between religious activists and those defending a woman's right to choose, the issue here carries no such emotional freight." Western societies see abortion as one of benchmark battles between conservatives and liberals -- while here there has not been even any academic discussion," said Lee Na-young, a sociology professor at Seoul's Chung-Ang University.

In South Korea, religious groups and women's rights advocates have remained largely silent on the issue, analysts say." During church sermons, we barely talk about abortion, which is considered an individual matter," said Hwang Pil-gyu, a minister on the life and ethics committee of the National Council of Churches in Korea. "Many churches have put this issue on the back burner." LA Times

Children are the key

Of the 900,000 people who have visited the Creation Museum in the last 2 ½ years, many have been secularists/atheists. They frequently express their dismay that the many children they see here are being influenced by biblical teaching. One secular humanist professor said he was worried because “children may come away confused. And that means we’ll have a harder job convincing them.” This professor wants to take your children and indoctrinate them against God — and he is furious that the Creation Museum has made his teaching job harder! Answers in Genesis

Sperm donor screening needs to be overhauled

The Donor Sibling Registry reported about the recent birth of a severely handicapped and profoundly retarded baby girl who had inherited an unbalanced translocation from sperm donor D-250. Now, the same problem has been disclosed as occurring at the London Women's Clinic. A donor was found to be a balanced translocation carrier only after his semen had been widely commercialised. A couple had to destroy 22 embryos created over the period of a year, at a cost of over 15 thousand pounds, and undoubtedly with considerable emotional investment. Eleven other women were also treated with the abnormal sperm, and are likely to also be suffering enormous turmoil. Whether they miscarried, are pregnant or were unsuccessful at conceiving, all of them will be asking tough questions about how this could happen. BioNews

Related: Fertility doctor accused of substituting own sperm for patient's husband's

'Empathy gene' may provide clues to autism

In the first study of its kind, researchers in the US have identified a genetic variant that appears to influence both a person's ability to empathise, and how they respond to stress. The research may shed significant light on scientists' understanding of autism, which is characterised by problems with empathy and social communication. BioNews

Human trials of ES cell research could begin soon

Stem cell therapy came one step closer to being tested for the first time in people this week, as a US company applied to the Food and Drug Administration for a licence to start a clinical trial. The embryonic stem cell therapy is being developed to treat Stargardt, a currently incurable disease that causes blindness in young people. Advanced Cell Technology, a Massachusetts-based firm, has tested the treatment on rats and mice which model the human Stargardt disease, and found it prevented further vision loss without adverse side effects. BioNews

New drug could help treat Down syndrome

A new drug that is being developed may lessen the effects of learning difficulties caused by the genetic condition Down syndrome. Children with the condition are not developmentally delayed at birth, but often fall behind as they grow older because of memory deficits. BioNews

Get to Know: NARTH

The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality is a scientific organization which defends the right to seek psychological care for unwanted homosexual attractions, and the right of therapists to provide care directed at changing a person's sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual if the client desires it. Unfortunately, these freedoms are under attack by homosexual activists who seek to persuade people that change is impossible, that efforts to change are harmful, and that homosexuality is harmless.

Pro-life Democrats let down movement, leaders say

Pro-life leaders expressed disappointment with Senate Democrats who advocate protecting unborn children after the upper chamber voted Nov. 21 to move forward with a health-care bill that authorizes federal funds for abortion. With all Democrats in support, the Senate voted 60-39 to invoke cloture and bring Majority Leader Harry Reid's legislation to the floor for debate. Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land expressed his displeasure. "When you compare the current Senate bill to scriptural principles embodied in the Baptist Faith and Message and in the ERLC's fifteen principles of health-care reform, it is a fatally flawed bill -- fatal in that it does not provide sufficient protections for unborn human life and would use public money to underwrite the abortion of unborn citizens." Baptist Press

New CDC Report: Abortions Rose 3.1% in 2006

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims the number of abortions has risen during 2006, the last year for which it has national data available. Yet a January 2008 report from the Guttmacher Institute, which is considered more effective in tabulating abortions, shows abortions declining. LifeNews, PDF file

Updated: President Barack Obama's Pro-Abortion Record

While Obama has promised to reduce abortions and some of his supporters believe that will happen, this recently updated list proves his only agenda is promoting more abortions. LifeNews

Gang accused of killing to sell human fat

Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang that allegedly killed dozens of people and sold their fat to buyers who used it to make cosmetics. Four Peruvians were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, murder and trafficking in human fat. Reuters

National Religious Leaders Release Historic Declaration on Christian Conscience

Today a group of prominent Christian clergy, ministry leaders and scholars released the Manhattan Declaration, which addresses the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious liberty. The 4,700-word declaration issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere to their convictions and informs civil authorities that the signers will not - under any circumstance - abandon their Christian consciences. Drafted by Dr. Robert George, Dr. Timothy George and Chuck Colson and signed by more than 125 Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical Christian leaders, the Manhattan Declaration is available at DeMossNews.com/ManhattanDeclaration.

The Future of Evangelicals: A Conversation with Pastor Rick Warren

The evangelical Christian movement historically has been defined by its members' distinctive doctrinal standards and practices. Yet in recent years many Americans have come to understand evangelicals more by their political, rather than religious, identity. The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life invited Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., to discuss how this political association has affected the evangelical movement, what evangelicals' most important concerns are today, and how the movement is evolving. Pew Forum, US News

Reid's Senate Health Care Bill Contains Monthly Abortion Premium for Taxpayers

House Republican Leader John Boehner says the new health care bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled yesterday contains a monthly abortion premium that taxpayers will be forced to pay. His analysis follows that of pro-life groups that say the bill contains massive abortion funding. "Just like the original 2,032-page, government-run health care plan from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s massive, 2,074-page bill would levy a new 'abortion premium' fee on Americans in the government-run plan." LifeNews

Action Needed: Contact your Senators

The Origin into Schools project

This November, Ray Comfort's Living Waters will be giving away more than 100,000 copies of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species at 100 top U.S. universities (other individuals and churches have purchased approximately 70,000 copies to also give to students). This will be the entire publication (304-pages). Nothing has been removed from Darwin’s original work, but Ray has added a 50-page introduction. Read the entire text here.

New UNFPA Report Goes Green to Promote "Reproductive Rights"

The United Nations Population Fund released its annual State of the World Population Report yesterday, linking efforts to promote "sustainable development" and affect "climate change" to its "reproductive rights" agenda. Critics see the report as a thinly-veiled attempt to harness popular environmental concerns in service of population control. The report, "Facing a Changing World: Women, Population and Climate," asserts that achieving "universal access to reproductive health" would both contribute to declines in fertility and "help reduce green-house gas emissions in the long run." It calls upon nations to "fully fund family planning services and contraceptive supplies." C-Fam

Get to Know: Adult Stem Cells Saved My Life Education & Awareness Campaign

On Saturday, November 14 in Kansas City, there was a celebration of hope for patients with disabling diseases and injuries, with the launch of the Adult Stem Cells Saved My Life Education & Awareness Campaign. For 3 hours, patients shared their stories of how adult stem cells had saved their lives, improved their health, saved their families, and given them hope. The campaign is committed to raising awareness that adult stem cell treatments are available for patients, promoting access to therapies, encouraging development of more adult stem cell treatments, and dedicated to educating the public, policy makers, and the medical community about the medical miracles of adult stem cell transplants. Over 1,500 adult stem cell transplants have taken place in the Kansas City metro area alone. FRC Blog

Former clinic director: Church chilly to my pro-life turn

Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood clinic director whose about-face on abortion prompted her to resign her job, says she's gotten flack for her decision from an unexpected quarter: her own church. Whereas clergy and parishioners at St. Francis Episcopal in College Stationwelcomed her as a Planned Parenthood employee, now they are buttonholing her after Sunday services. Mrs. Johnson, 29, spent much of her 20s searching for the right church. "I was raised Southern Baptist but didn't find the Southern Baptist community was very accepting of my work at Planned Parenthood," she said. Washington Times

Why do mutations pose a problem for evolutionists?

The mutations that we see in the world around us involve a loss of genetic information, not a gain. Mutations could never cause a species to gain genetic information and change into a more advanced species. This poses a problem for evolutionary claims that humans evolved from apes. Answers in Genesis

"Salad Bar" Christianity Popular on CA College Campuses

"During conversations with college students, I've often discovered what professors teach gets mixed in with scripture, although the two don't go together at all." California Family Council

'Three parent babies' take a step closer to reality

Researchers used eggs from young donors to repair damaged eggs of older women in order to increase their chances of fertilisation. They have not yet used the eggs to produce babies, but they have injected them with sperm to produce an early stage embryo in the laboratory. While the move breathes new life into "old eggs" and could also remove genetic illnesses, it is likely to provoke an ethical storm as critics believe it could lead to hybrid or genetically modified children.

IVF often fails in older women because there are abnormalities in the outside of their eggs, known as cytoplasm, which surrounds the nucleus. The team in Japan believes one way around the problem would be too implant the healthy nucleus - which contains most of the information to produce a baby - into the cytoplasm of a donor, usually a younger mother. Telegraph

Editor: This experimentation demonstrates the immorality of a lot of fertility research. In the process, embryos are allowed to form but not to "produce babies."

The Miracle of Life

Video from Real Alternatives.

Did Christianity cause the crash?

America’s mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife. But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated—one that promises to make believers rich in the here and now. Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism. It pumped air into the housing bubble. And one year into the worst downturn since the Depression, it’s still going strong. The Atlantic

The Impact of Abortion After Prenatal Testing

Couples are not prepared for the negative emotions that frequently ensue. Nor are they usually informed about the help that is available for raising children with special needs. For an informed choice to be truly available pregnant women and their partners need to be told about the possible impact of abortion on them and their other children, and they also need to have information about the care of children with special needs. Elliot Institute

See also: Psychological impact on women after second and third trimester termination of pregnancy due to fetal anomalies

Michael Glatze: The 'straight' scoop – 2 years later

For those healing from the sin of homosexuality, or connected to folks who might be trying to deal with this sin, one of the worst things people have to face in this situation is the feeling like stopping homosexual practices and starting heterosexual practices is a "big deal." You can carry around that sense of "big deal" in your brain, and it can cripple you from just letting go of all that mental muck, just letting go of what you think people might think of you, and just be yourself. I mean it! WND, LifeSiteNews

What happens during a 6 to 7 week abortion

(Not graphic) YouTube

Planned Parenthood's abortion quotas exposed

"There are definitely client goals," former clinic director Abby Johnson said. "We'd have a goal every month for abortion clients and for family planning clients." The Bryan, Texas, Planned Parenthood clinic performed surgical abortions every other Saturday, but it began expanding access to abortion to increase earnings."

One of the ways they were able to up the number of patients that they saw was they started doing the RU486 chemical abortions all throughout the week." Johnson said the chemical abortion costs the same as an early first-trimester abortion: between $505 and $695 for each procedure.

The clinic was experiencing financial difficulties due to the economic downturn. "Abortion is the most lucrative part of Planned Parenthood's operations. Even though they're two separate corporations, all of the money goes into one pot. With the family planning corporation really suffering, they depend on the abortion corporation to balance their budget, help get them out of the hole and help make income for the company. They really wanted to increase the number of abortions so that they could increase their income." WND

Cord Blood Reverses Cerebral Palsy in Colorado Girl

Soon after Chloe’s first birthday, the Levines, who live in Denver, learned their daughter had suffered a stroke in utero and had become afflicted with cerebral palsy. Her parents remembered they had banked stem cells from Chloe’s umbilical cord at her birth, and wondered if they could be used to help treat her. At the age of 2, Chloe received a 15-minute re-infusion of her stem cells. Within four days, her parents saw a noticeable difference. "Her life is completely normal, she doesn’t drag her right foot, she can use her right hand," Jenny Levine said. "She rides a bike, a scooter…we’re taking her skiing this year. She’s fabulous." At this time, Kurtzberg said she does not know how long the effects of cord blood will last on kids like Chloe, but if there is a good chance it will be "durable and last indefinitely." This is essential, since most babies have enough cells for only one infusion. Fox News

California Awards Grants for Research Projects in Nonembryonic Stem Cells

In a tacit acknowledgment that the promise of human embryonic stem cells is still far in the future, California’s stem cell research program on Wednesday awarded grants intended to develop therapies using mainly other, less controversial cells. The $230 million in grants were awarded, but only 4 of the 14 projects involve embryonic stem cells. NY Times

What's wrong? It takes research to figure it out

A mouse that can speak? A monkey with Down's Syndrome? Dogs with human hands or feet? British scientists want to know if such experiments are acceptable, or if they go too far in the name of medical research. To find out, Britain's Academy of Medical Sciences launched a study Tuesday to look at the use of animals containing human material in scientific research. The work is expected to take at least a year, but its leaders hope it will help establish guidelines for scientists in Britain and around the world on how far the public is prepared to see them go in mixing human genes into animals to discover ways to fight human diseases. Martin Bobrow, a professor of medical genetics at Cambridge University and chair of a 14-member group looking into the issue, says, "It is important that we consider these questions now so that appropriate boundaries are recognized and research is able to fulfill its potential." Reuters

Wellness Should be at the Core of Health Care Reform

Richard Land believes there is a need for a "universal threshold of health care for Americans," but it doesn't look like what the House just voted on. Among other things, he says wellness, including rewarding individuals for avoiding risky and unhealthy behavior, should be at the core of any reform measure. ERLC

Editor: Sounds a lot like what Mark Blocher advocates in the latest Biblical Bioethics Advisor.

Pro-Life Amendment Seen as Historic Victory Overshadowed by Dangers of Health Bill Passage

At approximately 10:20 p.m. EST Saturday night, the U.S. House voted 240-194 to approve an amendment to H.R. 3962 that maintains long-standing federal policy on abortion by banning government-appropriated funds from covering elective abortions. Then, just before 11 p.m., House lawmakers voted 220-215 to pass the massive health care overhaul. One Republican voted for the bill.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins called the passage of the pro-life amendment "a huge pro-life victory" and congratulated the bipartisan effort against the bill's abortion coverage. "We applaud this House vote which prohibits the abortion industry from further profiting from taxpayers by using government funds to pay for the gruesome act of abortion," he said. "Unfortunately, H.R. 3962 is a seriously flawed piece of legislation," said Perkins, who pointed out the bill's massive governmental power grab and open door to health care rationing, among other issues.

Pro-abort leaders across America flew into a rage as the pro-life Stupak amendment, unexpectedly approved for consideration Friday night, went on to gain an easy victory Saturday. Some Democrat lawmakers have already vowed to pursue a reversal. "I feel certain [the Stupak amendment] will come out of the bill before it comes back from committee," pro-abortion California Democrat Lynn Woolsey told The Hill. "I will insist that it come out."

Ultimately pro-life leaders appeared to agree that the amendment, though important in its own right, put hardly a dent in an otherwise massively dangerous bill. Noted FRC's Perkins: "The Speaker's bill still allows rationing of health care for seniors, raises health costs for families, mandates that families purchase under threat of fines and penalties, encourages counseling for assisted suicide in some states, does not offer broad conscience protections for health care workers and seeks to insert the federal government into all aspects of citizen's lives." LifeSiteNews

Mike Huckabee interview with Abby Johnson

Abby Johnson describes what she saw on the ultrasound that changed her mind about abortion. YouTube

Spraying on Skin Cells to Heal Burns

A relatively new technology has the potential to heal burns in a way that's much less invasive than skin grafts. With just a small skin biopsy and a ready-made kit, surgeons can create a suspension of the skin's basal cells--the stem cells of the epidermis--and spray the solution directly onto the burn with results comparable to those from skin grafts. Technology Review

More stem cell news:

• Scientists reveal how induced pluripotent stem cells differ from embryonic stem cells
• Lung tissue generated from human embryonic stem cells

Abortion Practitioner Admits "Yes I Am" Killing Unborn Children

Curtis Boyd is one of the few abortion practitioners to admit what he is doing, but he has no qualms with his job. Boyd opened the first abortion center in Dallas in 1973. In an interview with WFAA yesterday after news surfaced that he re-opened his late-term abortion center, Southwestern Women's Surgery Center, in the huge metro area last week after more than a year following the closure of the Aaron's abortion facility, he makes a startling admission. "Am I killing?" Boyd said. "Yes, I am. I know that."

He is a former Baptist ordained minister who is now a part of the pro-abortion Unitarian Universalist church; he says he prays often about the abortions he does. "I'll ask that the spirit of this pregnancy be returned to God with love and understanding." LifeNews

Born Alive video

One True Media

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Murderer with 'aggression genes' gets sentence cut

A judge's decision to reduce a killer's sentence because he has genetic mutations linked to violence raises a thorny question – can your genes ever absolve you of responsibility for a particular act? New Scientist

Australia's "Dr. Death" visits San Francisco

Philip Nitschke will bring his suicide seminar to the Buddhist Center in San Francisco, where he will teach attendees how to kill themselves. Shouldn't there be limits to assisted-suicide permissiveness? Not according to Nitschke, who bluntly takes assisted-suicide advocacy to its logical conclusion. If we each own our bodies, he says, and if self-termination is an acceptable answer to human suffering, then assisted suicide shouldn't be restricted to limited "subgroups," such as the dying. Indeed, in 2001 interview with National Review Online, Nitschke asserted that "all people qualify ... including the depressed, the elderly bereaved, the troubled teen." SF Chronicle

Editor: "If we each own our bodies." That's a big if.

Biblical faith is not a 'leap'

The opposite of knowledge is not faith, but ignorance. And the opposite of faith is not knowledge, but unbelief. It’s certainly possible to have knowledgeable faith and ignorant unbelief. More importantly, the knowledge vs. faith equation is not what the Bible teaches. In fact, Scripture affirms just the opposite. Stand to Reason

Video: A True Story of Embryo Donation & Adoption

Listen to this compelling story of two families brought together by their common desire to become parents. The Spohrs and the Oviatts clearly communicate the difficulties facing both donor and adopting families and how their families became connected through the gift of embryo donation. Embryo Adoption & Awareness

Editor: While this is a positive story, it should not be used to encourage IVF. See What About Fertility Assistance? for ethical considerations of fertility treatments.

Wayne State Study Shows Adult Stem Cell Grafts Help Paralyzed

A new study by a Wayne State University School of Medicine researcher details the outcome of adult stem cell grafts in spinal cord injuries and how the procedure led to increased mobility and quality of life for patients. The process involves the use of adult stem-like progenitor cells in the patient’s own nasal tissue. The use of a person’s own stem cells lessens the problems of rejection, tumor formation, and disease transmission. WWJ

Another study reveals benefit of adult stem cells for acute lung injury

THE POSITIVE INFLUENCE OF PARENT’S RELIGIOUS PRACTICE ON CHILDREN

While specific doctrine or religious practice may not determine whether a young person chooses to go out and smoke marijuana or steal a car, positive role modeling by parents via religious activity is yet another protective factor that parents can give to their children. What religion represents is a pathway for young people to consider in their developmental journey from youth to adulthood. . . . [A] strong belief in Allah, Jehovah, Jesus, Vishnu, the Virgin Mary, or some other ―higher power correlates to an avoidance of risky behaviors later in life for young people whose parents attend faith services. The Youth Connection, page 5

Christian citizenship

For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind either in locality or in speech or in customs. . . . But while they dwell in cities of Greeks and barbarians as the lot of each is cast, and follow the native customs in dress and food and the other arrangements of life, yet the constitution of their own citizenship, which they set forth, is marvellous, and confessedly contradicts expectation. They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every fatherland is foreign. They marry like all other men and they beget children; but they do not cast away their offspring. They have their meals in common, but not their wives. They find themselves in the flesh, and yet they live not after the flesh. Their existence is on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, and they surpass the laws in their own lives. They love all men, and they are persecuted by all. The Epistle to Diognetus, 130-200 C.E.

Conservatives Maintain Edge as Top Ideological Group

Independents have become more conservative on a number of specific policy issues, including government and union power, the role of government relative to promoting values, gun laws, immigration, global warming, and abortion. The percentage of Americans who consider themselves "pro-life" on abortion rose from 44% in May 2008 to 51% in May 2009, and remained at a slightly elevated 47% in July 2009. Gallup

Did Feminism Benefit Men more than Women?

In an Op Ed in the New York Times, Maureen Dowd has expressed her surprise that recent research continues to find that women, who may have been economically "emancipated" by the feminist revolution, are more unhappy now, forty years later, than men. Calling it a "paradox" that women may have thrown off the aprons, Dowd wrote, "But the more women have achieved, the more they seem aggrieved. Did the feminist revolution end up benefiting men more than women?" LifeSiteNews

No men OR women needed

Human eggs and sperm have been grown in the laboratory in research which could change the face of parenthood. It paves the way for a cure for infertility and could help those left sterile by cancer treatment to have children who are biologically their own. But it raises a number of moral and ethical concerns. These include the possibility of children being born through entirely artificial means, and men and women being sidelined from the process of making babies. Daily Mail

Anthony Ozimic of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children commented: "This research is unethical, because human embryos - innocent, equal members of the human family - were killed to extract the embryonic stem cells used in the research. Even if the research hadn't involved embryo-killing, the creation of artificial gametes would enable even more human embryos to be created outside the human body, to be killed and abused. As with IVF, artificial insemination and the use of donor gametes, the use of artificial gametes in reproduction would distort and damage relations between family members."

Three babies aborted every day due to Down syndrome

A study shows the number of terminations has more than trebled in the last 20 years. An increasing number of pregnant women are being told their babies have the condition because of a growing number of women putting off having children until their 30s and 40s and improvements in screening, doctors say. And around nine in ten women who are told they are going to have a baby with the problem opt for a termination.

The figures showed that diagnoses of Down syndrome increased from 1,075 in 1989/90 to 1,843 in 2007/8. Yet the numbers of babies born with the condition fell by one per cent from 752 to 743. If women were not screened for the condition the number of babies born with Down syndrome would have increased by half and would now have reached 1,422 in a year in England and Wales.

Frank Buckley, chief executive of Down Syndrome Education International said: "People with Down syndrome are living longer and achieving more than ever before and it is reassuring to know that they will be continuing to make valued contributions to our communities for years to come. "These figures should be a wake-up call to policy-makers to focus more effort on improving education, healthcare and adult support for the rapidly growing population of citizens who have Down syndrome."

Peter Elliott, Chairman of The Down Syndrome Research Foundation, who has a 24-year-old son David with Down Syndrome, said: "Why are the abortions at such a high rate unless they have been given the impression the situation was terrible and it warranted an abortion? I don't think the choice is presented to the parents in the light of the true situation where the children have a good life and are in fact viewed as a blessing to the parents, not a curse, and I don't think these parents getting the abortions know much about Down syndrome at all." Telegraph

Why what we wear impacts who we are

"Modesty" is such an archaic and quaint notion, right? Actually, clothing DOES make the woman. Interesting audio commentary from Jewish Wisdom.

Fatherless Childhood May Injure Brain Development

Recent animal research backs previous sociological research by indicating that children raised by single mothers may experience reduced brain development, leading to an increase in aggressive behavior. The findings come from research on degus, which are small rodents related to guinea pigs. Degu parents usually raise their pups together. When deprived of their father, however, degu pups exhibited developmental changes in the amygdala, the part of the brain related to emotional responses and to fear, and in the orbitofrontal cortex, or OFC, the brain's decision-making center. According to one of the researchers, the balance between these two parts of the brain is critical to normal emotional and cognitive functioning: if the OFC isn't active, the amygdala "goes crazy, like a horse without a rider." Wall Street Journal, LifeSiteNews

New video: Those People

Abortion Recovery International has produced a 2-minute video called "Those People" focusing attention on how abortion affects women and the people around them.

Highly recommended post-abortion Bible study: Living in His Forgiveness. You can read excerpts on the site before you order.

Religion Practice in America: What the Research Says

"Religious Practice in America: What the Research Says" is an annual conference series dedicated to sharing high-quality social science data and analysis addressing these questions and to exploring next steps for research that will inform American public discussion, hosted by The Heritage Foundation, with research partners the Baylor Institute for the Studies of Religion, and Child Trends. Heritage Foundation

Identifying Safe Stem Cells To Repair Spinal Cords

Adult stem cells tested for defects before being implanted in the injured spinal cords of mice helped the animals recover with no cancerous side effects, according to new research. In recent years, scientists found that some experimental stem cell therapies can cause cancerous tumors. Pre-screened cells could result in potentially life- saving treatments without such side effects. Science Daily

Other stem cell news: Reprogramming a patient's eye cells may herald new treatments against degenerative disease

UVic Debate a Powerful Example of Pro-Life Apologetics and Academic Freedom

The video of Wednesday's debate on abortion at the University of Victoria is now available on Youtube, showcasing a brilliant example of pro-life apologetics and civil, academic debate. The debate, hosted by UVic's pro-life club, Youth Protecting Youth, featured Stephanie Gray of the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform and Dr. Eike-Henner Kluge, UVic philosophy professor and bioethicist. LifeSiteNews, YouTube

Proposal 2 Not Creating Jobs or Advancing Research

The University of Michigan today released details of the $6.8 million in federal stimulus-fund grants given to scientists for stem cell research. While economically-depressed Michigan needs the boost, Right to Life of Michigan president Barb Listing has questions about the direction of the funding. "Ten out of the 11 grants awarded to the U of M scientists do not involve human embryonic stem cells as material for the research. That is the good news, however, one grant does require human embryo stem cells to be used." LifeNews

Liberals unhappy with Obama

Increasingly, noisy factions on the [Democratic] party's most liberal flank - among them gay rights proponents, pro-choice activists and immigration reformers who Obama courted last year - are incensed that their causes have taken a backseat to the White House's all-out push on health care reform. Case in point? Pro-choice activists, who right now are livid that the leading health care bills winding through Congress don't include federal funding for poor women to get abortions. NY Daily News

British scientists develop test that trebles chance of baby and removes Down's risk

British scientists have made a dramatic IVF breakthrough which could bring hope to thousands of women. They have developed an embryo screening technique which makes it far more likely a woman will give birth. The new screening tecnique, called comparative genomic hybridisation, allows doctors to remove cells from an embryo when it is a few days old. The cells are analysed to see if they are genetically normal and the best embryos are selected for implantation into the mother's womb. The technique offers particular hope to older women because they have a naturally higher chance of producing eggs with genetic defects that can block implantation or cause miscarriages. But for mothers of any age, the screening also virtually eliminates the risk of genetic conditions like Down's. Daily Mail

Editor: Mind you, they're not curing anything; they're just eliminating the "worst" embryos.

IVF websites often mum on embryo gene test risks

Fertility clinic websites aren't doing a great job of explaining the risks of testing an embryo for genetic disorders before it's implanted in the womb. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), can be used to test for 5,000 different genetic disorders and, more controversially, choose the sex of an infant. But it's not 100-percent reliable, and could, in rare cases, cause harm to the embryo or even destroy it. Researchers looked at the websites of 83 clinics offering PGD to investigate how fully they explained these risks. Just 35 percent of the websites Klitzman and his team surveyed mentioned the possibility that the test could miss the target diagnosis, while only 18 percent mentioned the risk that the procedure could destroy the embryo. Fourteen percent described PGD as "new" or "controversial." Reuters

Stem cell news

• Harvard team grows heart muscle from stem cells - embryonic mouse cells
• A major step in making better stem cells from adult tissue
• Wayne State Study Shows Adult Stem Cell Grafts Help Paralyzed

New Report Suggests Over 1 Billion Abortions Committed

A new report by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, entitled "Abortion Worldwide: A Decade of Uneven Progress," points to the fact that over a billion abortions have been committed, say pro-life activists. The report found that the annual number of abortions have declined over the period from 1995 to 2003. Nevertheless, the Guttmacher Institute said that in 2003 approximately 41.6 million abortions were committed worldwide. On average, this works out to more than one death by abortion for each second of the year. Since abortion has been available since before 1970 and very widely available since 1980, pro-life activists are saying that, even by a conservative estimate, the total number of preborn children to have been killed by abortion is likely in excess of one billion. If 40 million children per year were aborted since 1980 that would already make for 1.12 billion preborn babies killed. LifeSiteNews

Ever Wonder Who Took Those Aborted Baby Pictures?

"Maybe 50 percent of the graphic images of abortion victims that you'll find online are probably my photography." So says Monica Migliorino Miller, associate professor of theology at Madonna University in Orchard Lake, Mich., in a recent front-page interview with The New York Times. The interview has made waves in the pro-life world, due in large part to the fact that, along with the interview, the Times ran a selection of Miller's graphic abortion photos in the online version of the story, becoming one of the only mainstream newspapers in the world to do so. The story, written by Times journalist Damien Cave, came about after Cave encountered Miller while covering the murder of pro-life activist James Pouillon, who used to protest abortion by holding signs depicting photos of aborted babies. "Like many others," wrote Cave in the article, "I often wondered about the source of these images. Who took the pictures? Where did the fetuses come from?" LifeSiteNews

A Child is Born: Photographs of the fetus developing in the womb

The stunning images by Lennart Nilsson, first published in 1965, have now been remastered with the help of the latest photographic technology; A Child is Born has been republished in a fifth and final edition. Telegraph, LifeSiteNews, more images on Nilsson's web site, interview

Lawsuit Filed to Stop Federal Funding of Embryo-Destructive Research

A suit filed in federal court by a broad coalition of plaintiffs, including scientists, pro-life advocates, and parents who wish to adopt embryos, seeks to protect human embryos from destruction for research. The complaint seeks to reverse the recently-adopted NIH guidelines that outline steps to take when destroying embryos to qualify for federal research funds. In essence, the guidelines create an incentive in the form of taxpayer dollars to cannibalize so-called ‘leftover embryos’ from fertility clinics. FRC Blog

Missing “Manly” Fish and Population Control

A report from the U.S. Geological Survey is giving birth to concerns about the decline in the fish population because of the feminizing of fish. Experts say this is a widespread problem in which certain species of male fish are growing egg cells. What’s behind this feminization of male fish? Birth control pills. Women’s birth control pills and other hormone treatments have made their way into the nation’s rivers through the sewer systems. Ironically, the population control message is most often promoted by the global warming crowd and others who view people as negatively impacting the environment and consuming limited resources. In reality, it’s their efforts to reduce the population (people) that are actually destroying the environment (fish). FRC Blog

Latest Biblical Bioethics Advisor: The Pro-Life Stake in Healthcare Reform

This latest edition of BFL's Biblical Bioethics Advisor addresses some of the major moral issues related to healthcare in America and urges the pro-life community to correct its understanding of the sanctity of human life in a manner that is vital to that ongoing cause in the 21st Century. A misreading and misapplication of that ethic has contributed to an overuse of expensive medical care. Author Mark B. Blocher calls on churches to assume a more prominent role in promoting the health and wellbeing of their members.

Editor: Access past issues of the Advisor from the BFL web site.

The dark side of being green

Being good stewards of the environment is a noble idea. However, not everyone is on the same page as to how that can effectively be done, including the reality of global warming. But we should all agree the intentional killing of innocent unborn babies cannot ever be an acceptable strategy for a better world. If abortion is part of the environmental equation, we won’t be “green,” we’ll be stained red from the blood of our children. Life Issues Connector

Protecting Black Life goes to the United Kingdom

Arnold M. Culbreath, Urban Outreach Director for Life Issues Institute, spells out three dangers of the Obama presidency: "One—too many church-going African Americans seem to be more Afro-Centric than Christo-Centric. Having a black president appears to be serving as an opiate in that regard. Two—a temptation for pro-lifers to give in to despair or allow themselves to become overwhelmed by roadblocks that this unique presidency has placed in our paths relative to reaching the Black community with the pro-life message. Three—there is the danger of many pro-lifers slipping into hatred toward our President because of his pro-abortion position. When one slips down this slope of disdain toward President Obama, it has the strong potential of keeping you from regularly praying for him." Life Issues Connector

A second-trimester abortionist's "testimony"

In "Second Trimester Abortion Provision: Breaking the Silence and Changing the Discourse," LH writes:

How do doctors come to provide second trimester surgical abortion services (or how do they decide not to). . . . We do not know as no study has specifically explored these questions. . . . [O]nly 20% of abortion providers offer services at 20 weeks of pregnancy, and only 8% of providers offer services at 24 weeks. Why do most clinicians not provide services to the extent permitted?

When I was a little over 18 weeks pregnant with my now pre-school child, I did a second trimester abortion for a patient who was also a little over 18 weeks pregnant. As I reviewed her chart I realised that I was more interested than usual in seeing the fetal parts when I was done, since they would so closely resemble those of my own fetus. . . . I used electrical suction to remove the amniotic fluid, picked up my forceps and began to remove the fetus in parts, as I always did. I felt lucky that this one was already in the breech position – it would make grasping small parts (legs and arms) a little easier. With my first pass of the forceps, I grasped an extremity and began to pull it down. I could see a small foot hanging from the teeth of my forceps. With a quick tug, I separated the leg. Precisely at that moment, I felt a kick – a fluttery “thump, thump” in my own uterus. It was one of the first times I felt fetal movement. There was a leg and foot in my forceps, and a “thump, thump” in my abdomen. Instantly, tears were streaming from my eyes – without me – meaning my conscious brain - even being aware of what was going on. I felt as if my response had come entirely from my body, bypassing my usual cognitive processing completely. A message seemed to travel from my hand and my uterus to my tear ducts. It was an overwhelming feeling – a brutally visceral response – heartfelt and unmediated by my training or my feminist pro-choice politics.

Providers of second trimester abortions see things that most people don't. What kind of dissociative process inside us allows us to do this routinely? What normal person does this kind of work? . . . [T]here is always violence involved in a second trimester abortion, which becomes acutely apparent at certain moments. . . . I must add, however, that I consider declining a woman's request for abortion also to be an act of unspeakable violence.

Currently, the violence and, frankly, the gruesomeness of abortion is owned only by those who would like to see abortion (at any time in pregnancy) disappear, by those who stand outside clinics and in front of sports arenas holding placards with pictures of fetal parts and partially dismembered fetal bodies. The pro-choice movement has not owned or owned up to the reality of the fetus, or the reality of fetal parts. . . . [F]rank talk like this is threatening to abortion rights. Science Direct (original article), Abortioneers blog

Get to Know: In Our Midst

Although the evangelical Church has worked diligently over the past three decades to save the lives of the unborn, we have yet to establish ourselves as a safe place for those that have been hurt by abortion to find hope and healing in Jesus Christ. Generally speaking, we have yet to compassionately embrace the men and women - the mothers, fathers, family members, friends, and medical personnel - whose lives have been devastated by abortion.

Sadly, most pastors and ministry leaders are unaware of how abortion affects the lives of those that have survived it and how many of them are filling our pews on Sunday morning, suffering in silence under a shroud of guilt and shame. They see the high divorce rate, the troubled marriages, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, pornography addiction and other self-destructive behaviors plaguing their congregants, but few have recognized the deeper issue that often lies at the root of these problems: the life-altering wound left in the wake of an unresolved abortion experience.

In Our Midst Ministries is dedicated to bringing this awareness to the Church and equipping her to minister to the needs of those in our midst that carry the wounds created by abortion.

Resources: Newsletter; Secret Sin: When God's People Choose Abortion

Get to Know: Overpopulation is a Myth

Founded in 1989, the Population Research Institute is a non-profit research and educational organization dedicated to objectively presenting the truth about population-related issues, and to reversing the trends brought about by the myth of overpopulation. Our growing, global network of pro-life groups spans over 30 countries. Overpopulation is a Myth is a project of PRI, offers videos, FAQs, and presentations for download.

Slavery and abortion video

Personal observations about a slave owning ancestor, and the "legal" institutions of slavery and abortion. You Tube

Reflection on Ephesians 6:12-13

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand." The battle over the issue of life is perceived more often in churches today as political rather than spiritual. Ironically, the enemy has used this twisted perception to silence many in the body of Christ. We must see the battle for what it is and if we are to be prepared to face the spiritual enemy on the issue of abortion, we must daily "put on" the armor God has given us. 40 Days for Life

Science and God? Friend or foes?

Are science and faith at war? Does science undermine or corroborate belief in God? Does faith suppress or inspire scientific research? Explore these questions and more at a two-day conference to be held October 23-24, 2009 at the Riley Conference Center on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Sessions will explore a Biblical theology of nature; the role of Christianity in the founding of modern science; the impact of Darwinian Evolution on ethics, society, Biblical studies and theology; and the scientific evidence for intelligent design and its implications for theism. This conference will be of special interest to seminary students, college students, and pastors and other church leaders. The cost to attend is only $75 for full conference admission; $40 for half conference admission; and FREE to university students with valid student ID. Space is limited, so register soon at www.ScienceandGod.org or by calling the Riley Center at 817-923-1921 ext. 2440. The deadline to register is Monday, October 19th at 5:00 p.m. CST.

NY Times article on pro-life activists

Street activists make up an assertive minority of a few thousand people within the larger anti-abortion movement. Neither the best financed nor largest element in the mix, they are nonetheless the only face of anti-abortion that many Americans see. Indeed, persistent provocation is their defining attribute: day after day on street corners from California to Massachusetts, they stand like town criers, calling to women walking into abortion clinics, or waving graphic signs as disturbing as they are impossible to ignore. NY Times

The Making of Pro-life Activists: How Social Movement Mobilization Works

How do people become activists for causes they care deeply about? Many people with similar backgrounds, for instance, fervently believe that abortion should be illegal, but only some of them join the pro-life movement. By delving into the lives and beliefs of activists and nonactivists alike, Ziad W. Munson is able to lucidly examine the differences between them. Through extensive interviews and detailed studies of pro-life organizations across the nation, Munson makes the startling discovery that many activists join up before they develop strong beliefs about abortion—in fact, some are even pro-choice prior to their mobilization. Therefore, Munson concludes, commitment to an issue is often a consequence rather than a cause of activism. University of Chicago Press

South Korean Women Fight Stigma Against Single Mothers

A small group of South Korean women is working to establish the country's first association to defend the rights of unmarried pregnant women to give birth and raise their own children. Social pressures against single motherhood in South Korea lead thousands of unmarried pregnant women to either seek an abortion or place their children for adoption each year. Although abortion is illegal in South Korea, nearly 96% of unwed pregnant women obtain abortions. Of those who give birth, 70% place the infants for adoption. The country's health ministry estimates that nearly 90% of the 1,250 South Korean children adopted abroad in 2008 were born to single women. Unmarried women who choose to keep their children are often socially ostracized, facing poverty, eviction, job discrimination and condemnation from their partner's family. Medical News Today, NY Times

The latest in adult stem cell research

• Jaw bone created from stem cells
• Researchers Take Another Stem Cell Step
• Liver Cells Grown From Patients' Skin Cells

Do Faith Communities Somehow Breed Teen Pregnancy?

A new study that was posted in Christianity Today and elsewhere suggested a correlation between teen pregnancy and conservative religious beliefs. Here are a couple of the ultimate questions that this study raises: Is a good approach to prevention of unplanned pregnancy the teaching of condom use? Is abstinence education a failed approach just because many who teach abstinence education are from faith-based organizations? Inspire Life

For more information on the effectiveness of abstinence education in our nation, read the latest information from the Institute for Research and Evaluation.

Belief in God = dementia?

He drives a Harley-Davidson, wears a black leather jacket on his back and his religion on his sleeve, and plays a custom guitar with big-name rock stars. All that would seem to have nothing to do with Dr. Francis S. Collins’s day job as the new director of the National Institutes of Health. Except that at the institutes, such things do matter. Dr. Collins, 59, is settling in after nearly two months on the job but still contends with controversies that follow him like the exhaust from his hog. First, there is the God issue. Dr. Collins believes in him. Passionately. And he preaches about his belief in churches and a best-selling book. For some presidential appointees, that might not be a problem, but many scientists view such outspoken religious commitment as a sign of mild dementia. NY Times

Physician's Ordeal Leads to a Realization

For years I've heard friends describe experiences of being caught in a web of excessive and unnecessary medical testing. Their doctors ordered test Z to investigate a seemingly incidental finding on test Y, which had come about because of a borderline abnormality on test X. I often wondered why test X was done in the first place. As a primary care physician, I would have treated them for the likely diagnosis and done diagnostic tests -- especially a series of diagnostic tests -- only if they didn't respond as expected. Washington Post

Life and death: Hospital ethics panels help families decide

An infant is born with no functioning brain. A teen is ravaged in a car wreck. A 90-year-old with dementia and pneumonia lies unconscious in intensive care. Medical and moral decisions must be made. But there's no written directive for guidance. Family and physicians disagree. What now? Every day, in a hospital somewhere in the USA, a group of strangers — the hospital ethics committee — is called in to help people make the choices of a lifetime. USA Today

Tufts' stem cell breakthrough

Tufts researcher Jonathan Garlick and his team of scientists generated multi-dimensional tissue with human embryonic stem cells. School of Dental Medicine Professor Jonathan Garlick succeeded earlier this year in growing three-dimensional tissues from human embryonic stem cells, making him and his team of scientists the first to achieve the pioneering research for the field. Tufts Daily

Reflection on Galatians 6:1-2

Restoring those who are broken from sexual sin and who desire to live life differently -- a life focused on Christ -- is a burden the church must share. What an awesome opportunity for a spiritually mature woman to come alongside a single mom as a mentor and friend: a regular time together praying and studying God's Word will help her mature in her walk with the Lord; allowing her opportunity to observe life as you live it; introducing her to a small group or class in the church where she and her baby are welcomed . . . these are just a few examples of things the body of Christ can do. 40 Days for Life

What parents need to know about sex education

If you think sex education is still about the birds and the bees, you're wrong. And it's not about science either. If you're a parent with children in the public school system, you need to know what's really going on. In You're Teaching My Child What? Dr. Miriam Grossman rips back the curtain on sex education today, exposing a sordid truth. Instead of teaching our children the facts of life, sex educators are lying to them, ignoring medical fact in favor of politicized, and dangerous, propaganda that could ruin your child's life forever. eBookstore

Twice-Born Macie

Technology has no morals. Things are not evil in and of themselves (Col. 2:20–23). What people do with the things of this creation is the determining factor. This is certainly true with power (Matt. 10:25; 2 Cor. 1:24) and wealth (1 Tim. 3:3; 6:10; Heb. 13:5). Technological devices do not come with morality tags attached specifying how they should be used. Two men trained as physicians can use their skills to save a life or end a life. The American Vision

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Chinese Parents Allege Government Officials Coerced, Forced Adoptions

Some Chinese parents are coming forward with claims that their infant daughters were forcibly taken for foreign adoption. About 80,000 Chinese children have been adopted abroad since the early 1990s, with the majority going to U.S. families. The "conventional wisdom" is that the infants, mostly girls, were abandoned by their parents because of China's one-child policy and a cultural preference for boys. Although this is likely true for tens of thousands of the adoptions, some Chinese say that government officials took their children by coercion, fraud or kidnapping to collect money from orphanages. Some have said they were beaten, threatened or tricked into relinquishing their parental rights. Medical News Today

Order now for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

You'll be getting a sample of our 2010 Sanctity of Human Life Sunday bulletin insert soon (see picture at right) -- presuming we have your church's mailing address -- but you can download the order form from our web site now.

October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

It's a great time to raise awareness, acceptance, and understanding about people who live with this disability. Read about one family's "unexpected blessings" with their precious daughter Ava (longer version here).

Adopt a Liberal

Liberty Counsel invites you to participate in a vital new prayer program solidly built upon St. Paul's admonition to pray for our national leaders from 1 Timothy 2:1-3. Here's how it works: Pick one or more of the liberals from the list posted online, or choose your own liberal(s) to adopt. Pray earnestly and intensely for them! Pray that the Lord would move upon them and cause them to be the kind of leaders who will encourage others to lead "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." We encourage you to seek the Lord's guidance on how to pray for your liberal(s), always allowing Him to temper your prayer with His love and mercy.

Christians at the clinic

Melissa in Charlotte, North Carolina, found out that abortion can even tempt people of faith. At the 40 Days for Life vigil, she met a woman who was at the clinic to schedule an abortion. "She broke down crying and revealed that she was a Christian, who had fallen into sin," Melissa said. The child's father, a married leader in her church, was pressuring her to have an abortion. "She knew it was wrong, but she didn't know what to do." She had spoken to her pastor, but had not received any definitive counsel. Still, it was obvious the woman knew the truth; her car had a "let God have his way" sticker and the bible was sitting on the passenger seat. "We hugged her and listened to her as she poured her heart out and wept on our shoulder. After baring her soul," Melissa said, "she chose life!" 40 Days for Life

Editor: For additional perspective on the phenomenon of Christians at abortion clinics, read this edition of Life Matters from Baptists for Life.

Mislabeled and unaccounted for embryos prompt lawsuit against US fertility clinic

A US fertility clinic faces legal action following the results of an independent audit which showed that some embryos stored there had been mislabelled and others were destroyed or unaccounted for. Ochsner Hospital, New Orleans, has admitted mishandling frozen embryos and that some embryos were wrongly destroyed, although deliberate mishandling has been denied. Other embryos are simply 'missing' and the hospital said that its fertility department cannot determine their whereabouts. BioNews

Update on health care reform

On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee voted 10-13 to defeat the Hatch Amendment. It would have explicitly prohibited federal funding and coverage of abortions. The AUL legal team has documented for you the facts behind their myth that the Hyde Amendment would adequately prevent federal funding and coverage of abortion in health care reform. At this crucial stage, the Congressional leadership is going to be negotiating backroom deals with your legislators. Please tell your congressman and senator you will only accept health care reform that includes an explicit prohibition on federal funding and coverage of abortion, much like the pro-life Stupak-Pitts and Hatch amendments that were defeated in Committees. AUL

Get to Know: The National Embryo Donation Center

The National Embryo Donation Center is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect the lives and dignity of human embryos by promoting, facilitating and educating about embryo donation and adoption.

Churches Ask Senate for Abortion Funds

A coalition of mainline Protestant churches have authored a letter to members of Congress asking them to make certain the health care bills they are considering contain taxpayer funding for abortions. Under the umbrella of the Religious Institute, the church denominations and more than 1,100 pastors and church staff from the denominations endorsed the letter. The denominations endorsing the letter include the American Baptist Churches, Church of the Brethren, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church, the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, Unitarian Universalist Association, and United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism, and others. LifeNews