How support for abortion became Kennedy dogma

At a meeting at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Mass., on a hot summer day in 1964, the Kennedy family and its advisers and allies were coached by leading theologians and Catholic college professors on how to accept and promote abortion with a "clear conscience.". . . It was the consensus at the Hyannisport conclave that Catholic politicians "might tolerate legislation that would permit abortion under certain circumstances if political efforts to repress this moral error led to greater perils to social peace and order.". . . Though the theologians disagreed on many a point, they all concurred on certain basics . . . and that was that a Catholic politician could in good conscience vote in favor of abortion. . . . Until the clerics begin to counter the pro-choice claims made by high-profile Catholics such as Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and, now, Caroline Kennedy, faithful Catholics will continue to be bewildered by their pastoral silence. Wall Street Journal

Additional reading:

• Kennedy's Letter to Pope: "I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health care field"
• Ted Kennedy on Abortion
• Drowning in Amorality

DA's motion for lifetime ban on pro-life activist declined

Judge Stuart Hing denied the Alameda County district attorney's motion for an injunction against Rev. Walter Hoye. The injunction sought by the District Attorney would have forever banned Rev. Hoye from exercising free speech rights within 100 yards of the Family Planning Specialists abortion clinic in Oakland, CA. Examiner

This week: 250th anniversary of Wilberforce's birth

SPUC director John Smeaton has a good remembrance of this pro-life hero on his blog: http://spuc-director.blogspot.com/2009/08/william-wilberforce-would-have.html.

Family breakdown has left kids moral-free

The [UK] Shadow Home Secretary has blamed the devaluing of marriage for producing a generation of children who do not know right from wrong. Chris Grayling said in a speech at Westminster, “Family breakdown has reached a scale where many young people grow up with no vestige of stability in their lives, and no concept of a family-focused upbringing. So it’s hardly surprising that all too often they grow up as the antithesis of model citizens.” Mr Grayling’s comments came as part of a week of Conservative attacks on what they term ‘broken Britain.’ Christian Institute

Reflection: Turn off the heat, tone down the rhetoric

On Facebook the other day, a heated exchange broke out over Obama’s health care plan, during which one woman concluded that another respondent needed to “get saved!” She may have intended it in a humble and gentle spirit, but it didn’t come off that way. Not helpful.

Later, it occured to me how ironic it was that “Christians” were attempting to uphold the sanctity of human life while calling opponents “stupid.” No, it's more than ironic. It's a betrayal of the principle, as expressed in James 3:9-10:

"With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God. . . My brethren, these things ought not to be this way."

Please, can we turn off the heat and tone down the rhetoric?

A Gruesome Harvest: Aborted Fetuses and Their Organs

For years, scientists and celebrities supporting embryo-destructive stem cell research have used two arguments. First-blind to the destruction of the embryo itself-they argue embryonic stem cell research will save lives. Second, they maintain that embryos leftover from fertility treatments will otherwise be wasted. Now, one stem-cell expert is using these same arguments to promote harvesting organs from aborted fetuses. Christian Post, Daily Mail, Huffington Post

What Does God Think About America’s Health Care Debate?

Based on biblical analysis, the present health care legislation being considered by our federal government violates God’s mandates for civil government. Therefore, it is right and reasonable for Christians to graciously oppose it by remembering these biblical insights. Churches for Life

Genetic testing of children prior to adoption

Recently, a new angle to the many and varied debates over predictive genetic testing has emerged. A number of clinical geneticists in the UK have been requested to undertake genetic tests on children who are up for adoption. When advised that these tests were not in the interests of the children. BioNews

Intolerance Threatens Every Scientist--Amateur Or Not

For more than 20 years I dreamed of some day becoming the writer of "The Amateur Scientist," the popular column in Scientific American that inspired me to become a science writer. After my dream came true, Scientific American revoked my assignment to write the column because of my views on evolution and abortion. Forrest M. Mims III

Teaching Bioethics to Teenagers

John Paul the Great High School is in its second year of operation after 13 years of planning. Bishop Paul Loverde said it was his conviction that Catholics need to be educated in the fullness of their faith that led him to put such a strong emphasis on bioethics into the new school's curriculum. "There are many people who do not understand the Church’s teachings on life. Young people must be formed in the beauty of this teaching," the bishop explained. With the only curriculum of its kind at the high school level, students are given a strong dose of the philosophical principles that underpin the Church's teaching on the culture of life in a four-year comprehensive program. The school's principal, Sister Mary Jordan Hoover, said that: "We are trying to frame the entire education around Jesus Christ and moral truth, as is reflected in the architecture with the chapel as the center of the campus." Zenit

What about 40 Days for Life?

One of the things we need to do to end abortion is pray, and 40 Days for Life has been a leader in turning the focus of pro-life people in that direction. The upcoming 40-day fall campaign will be September 23-November 1.

Baptists for Life is joining the effort by calling on constituents to personal and corportate prayer, as well as challenging them to gather with fellow church members outside local abortion clinics during the campaign. Read a letter that BFL Executive Director Tom Lothamer wrote to pastors concerning 40 Days for Life.

You can learn more by visiting the 40 Days for Life web site or downloading a brochure that we prepared especially for constituents in West Michigan. You can also download a printable bookmark with helpful suggestions for prayer.

It's never too early

Our children grew up enjoying apologetics books that we used to intentionally prepare them to handle the attacks on Christianity and the Bible that they would experience as they grew older. Although reading such books is not a guarantee of salvation, we do praise the Lord for our children who today still love the Lord and are saved in the Ark of salvation—the Lord Jesus Christ. Answers in Genesis

Britons look to US to pick baby's sex

British couples who want to choose their babies' sex are being targeted by a new clinic in Manhattan. Would-be parents are flying to the United States for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, which can reveal the sex of an embryo. The technique is banned in the UK, unless it is used to screen for genetic diseases.The US relaxed its regulations on sex selection in 2001, and medical centres have reported increased interest from British patients, who pay up to £20,000 a time. Many of them advertise their "family balancing" services through online advertisements. Scotsman

Britons look to US to pick baby's sex

British couples who want to choose their babies' sex are being targeted by a new clinic in Manhattan. Would-be parents are flying to the United States for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, which can reveal the sex of an embryo. The technique is banned in the UK, unless it is used to screen for genetic diseases.The US relaxed its regulations on sex selection in 2001, and medical centres have reported increased interest from British patients, who pay up to £20,000 a time. Many of them advertise their "family balancing" services through online advertisements. Scotsman

We need more primary care doctors

Rather than trying to remake the entire health care system, we need to induce more physicians to go into primary care, allow physician’s assistants and certified nurse practitioners to do more primary care–under the aegis of a physician, etc. Reform is needed. But not the current omnibus approaches that try to remake the world and obscure issues, like the physician shortage. In other words, stop trying to do it all and focus! Secondhand Smoke

We need more primary care doctors

Rather than trying to remake the entire health care system, we need to induce more physicians to go into primary care, allow physician’s assistants and certified nurse practitioners to do more primary care–under the aegis of a physician, etc. Reform is needed. But not the current omnibus approaches that try to remake the world and obscure issues, like the physician shortage. In other words, stop trying to do it all and focus! Secondhand Smoke

Obama: 'We are God's Partners in Matters of Life and Death'

A sudden shift towards religiously-charged rhetoric in President Obama's stumping for health care reform continued yesterday in a telephone conference, in which the president said that "we are God's partners in matters of life and death." Obama told the virtual gathering of Jewish rabbis - as many as 1000, according to the Washington Jewish Week news service - that he was "going to need your help in accomplishing necessary reform." Washington, D.C. Rabbi Jack Moline posted some of the president's statements in a series of live tweets, which went viral on the Internet before Moline deleted almost all the posts hours later. LifeSiteNews

Speaker Calls for “Monogamy Men” to Take Back the Culture

Patrick Fagan, family scholar at the Family Research Council, told the World Congress of Families last week in Amsterdam that there are two competing cultures of sexual morality and that both have a profound effect on culture and public policy. Fagan called one culture “monogamous” and the other “polymorphous” and he warned that one is “snatching” children from the other.

Fagan said the “constitutional state was the product of monogamous culture [while] the expanding social welfare state is increasingly the product of polyamorous culture. The constitutional state is built upon a sense of the sacred and gives religion a public place even as it protects the freedom of religion [or no religion] for all… The social welfare state today is more comfortable with atheism or at least the removal of religion from the public discourse and the total privatization of religion and the sacred.”

On the life issues, Fagan said that in monogamous culture “all human life is sacred and protected, be it the pre-born, the handicapped or the elderly” while in polyamorous culture about one-third of the pre-born are killed by their mothers and the handicapped and the elderly are unwelcome and increasingly vulnerable to early elimination.” C-Fam, entire paper in PDF

Why are young evangelicals "more pro-life but anti-religious right?"

How can an emerging generation be more committed to the pro-life cause but less committed to, if not outright hostile toward, the movement which pushed it to the forefront of evangelical engagement with politics and culture? . . . It may be a natural consequence of the refinement of a movement as it passes from one generation to the next. . . . The oldline religious right had a tendency to reduce the faith to catchy slogans which could fit on a placard or a bumper sticker. . . . A new generation seeks substance, not mere symbolism. If there is one cause that cries out for substance, it is the sanctity of human life. . . . The oldliners . . . immersed themselves in the stagnant waters of pluralistic politics, where the language of faith had to be dumbed down to such inoffensive and innocuous phrases as "family values." Examiner

Editor: Thought provoking. One thing he misses, though, is that the "oldliners" were responsible for the pregnancy care centers and the maternity homes, etc. The Republican Party found it beneficial to co-0pt them (us), and now they're tired of us so they call us names.

Surviving secular college, university

Most Christian teenagers do not understand how the Bible connects to the “real world.” They have been taught “Bible stories,” but they have not been shown how the Bible’s history explains the evidence around us—from biology and geology to astronomy. Students are inclined to think that the secular version of history they learned in public school is real, whereas the Bible is just a collection of interesting stories. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Answers in Genesis

Buddhism strengthens ties to church

Buddhism is not only accepted as a mainstream American religion, it is a path increasingly trod by faithful Christians and Jews who infuse Eastern spiritual insights and practices such as meditation into their own religions. The Pew Forum's Religious Landscape Survey in 2007 found that seven in 10 Americans who have a religion believe there is more than one path to salvation. A growing number of people are contemplating more than one each. And they are contemplating contemplation itself. Denver Post

New Study Measures Benefits of More Involved Fathers

Family service agencies are missing huge opportunities to help children by focusing only on mothers and ignoring fathers, according to a groundbreaking study by some top U.S. family and child development researchers. The scientific study, which is being published today in the Journal of Marriage and the Family, found that when mothers and fathers enrolled together in 16-week sessions to work on their relationships as parents and partners, their children were much less likely to show signs of depression, anxiety and hyperactivity. LifeSiteNews

The Case for Early Marriage

After years of studying the sexual behavior and family decision-making of young Americans, I've come to the conclusion that Christians have made much ado about sex but are becoming slow and lax about marriage—that more significant, enduring witness to Christ's sacrificial love for his bride. . . . While our sexual ideals have remained biblical and thus rooted in marriage, our ideas about marriage have changed significantly. For all the heated talk and contested referendums about defending marriage against attempts to legally redefine it, the church has already ceded plenty of intellectual ground in its marriage-mindedness. Christian practical ethics about marriage—not the ones expounded on in books, but the ones we actually exhibit—have become a nebulous hodgepodge of pragmatic norms and romantic imperatives, few of which resemble anything biblical. . . . Most young Americans no longer think of marriage as a formative institution, but rather as the institution they enter once they think they are fully formed. Christianity Today, Washington Post

Health care is on the brink

. . . of something monumental. Or maybe monstrous. Call or email your congressperson and Senators. Now. After August recess, it is too late. You need to do it now (and probably in September also, depending on how the debate goes). Key point: any healthcare legislation "MUST EXPLICITLY EXCLUDE ABORTION COVERAGE." If this is not explicitly stated, abortion is automatically included. That is the way legislation works. How to contact your elected US officials:

Contact my Senator http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm
Contact my Representative http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Or, try http://www.frc.org/contact-elected-officials

Baby with no face? Ultrasounds were wrong!

Abby's mom was offered a termination of her pregnancy as several ultrasounds showed she may be missing a face and her right heart ventrical. Her mom believed God would help her with the challenges of caring for a disabled child, and chose life for her. Abby definitely has a face (and hands, and good health)! What a beautiful baby! Sylvia Rhodea Life Art

White blood cells created in lab

Six different types of white blood cell that have been created in laboratory conditions by scientists could soon be used for the safety screening of new drugs in a bid to develop new treatments.Produced from embryonic stem cells, the white blood cells could be valuable tools for finding the genetic causes of blood cancers and other diseases. Pharmacy Europe

Late-term Abortionist: Man is "Malignant Eco-Tumor"

Dr. Warren Hern, one of the last abortionists willing to perform very late-term abortions in the United States, has written published works describing man as a "malignant eco-tumor" destroying the earth. Esquire magazine reports in a story entitled "the Last Abortion Doctor," that Hern, the director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic since 1975, argued in a work called Urban Malignancy: Similarity in the Fractal Dimensions of Urban Morphology and Malignant Neoplasms that growing human populations act like a "malignant ecotumor." Pressed by to explain why he would compare human beings with cancer tumors, Hern replied, "I do think that helping people control their fertility is highly consistent with helping people be responsible citizens of the planet." LifeSiteNews

Abstinence brochures available from CBH

CBH Ministries (Children's Bible Hour) offer abstinence brochures for young teens that are biblically based, as well as other helpful gospel tracts.

Many Americans don't believe in hell, but what about pastors?

Only 59% of Americans believe in hell, compared with 74% who believe in heaven, according to the recent surveys from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. At the recent annual Beeson Pastors School, Kurt Selles led two workshops to discuss "Whatever happened to hell?" He asked how many of the pastors had ever preached a sermon on hell. Nobody had, he said. The soft sell on hell reflects an increasingly market-conscious approach. "When you're trying to market Jesus, sometimes there's a tendency to mute traditional Christian symbols," Selles said. USA Today

A grief conserved

Perinatal hospice offers an alternative to the trauma of aborting a disabled child. World

Angels or savages - who would have children?

A new book is causing a storm of controversy by labelling children as annoying and pointless - a charge made all the more inflammatory by the fact that its author is a mother. Entitled No Kid: 40 Reasons Not To Have Children, Corinne Maier's book has sparked fury in France, where it was published. Here, Corinne argues her "no kid" case while another mum, Ursula Hirschkorn, stands firm for parenthood. Daily Mail

Disturbing Statistics on World's Youth

OneHope, a children-oriented Christian ministry, found through research that 91 percent of youths in Costa Rica say they do not believe they will go to heaven despite claiming to have accepted Jesus Christ. In Spain, 74 percent of the youth say they do not want to be a virgin when they marry. And in Russia, 42 percent of the youth report having tried to commit suicide. In Sub-Saharan Africa the Christian population is above 50 percent but many nationals continue to engage in idolatry while attending church. Included in the research findings are insights on the daily lives of youths and their cultural beliefs regarding their relationships with families; behaviors and morals influencing their relationships with the opposite sex; social influences and future goals; and worldviews, beliefs and religious affiliations. Christian Post

Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it

Next Sunday when you go to church look around — two-thirds of the young people there are already disengaged from the message. And it’s not just happening on the nominal fringe; it’s happening in the most solid “Bible-believing” churches. Why? Answers in Genesis

The New Testament and the Sanctity of Life

I want to suggest that the New Testament affirms the immeasurable value of human life in four primary ways: (1) its depiction of Jesus’ kingdom ministry, (2) the theological implications of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, (3) the impact of Jesus Christ on the human condition, especially in the lives of those who are his followers, and (4) its depiction of the expansive reach and inclusive ethos of early Christian communities. CBHD

The Old Testament and the Sanctity of Life

I keep my working definition of the sanctity of human life in front of me as a plumb line: "The sanctity of life is the conviction that all human beings, at any and every stage of life, in any and every state of consciousness or self-awareness, of any and every race, color, ethnicity, level of intelligence, religion, language, nationality, gender, character, behavior, physical ability/disability, potential, class, social status, etc., of any and every particular quality of relationship to the viewing subject, are to be perceived as sacred, as persons of equal and immeasurable worth and of inviolable dignity. Therefore they must be treated with the reverence and respect commensurate with this elevated moral status, beginning with a commitment to the preservation, protection, and flourishing of their lives." CBHD

The One Who Smiles A Lot

Twenty five years or so ago, as a family physician in a Christian mission practice in London, I used to help out at a monthly afternoon clinic with the now dated and politically incorrect name: “Handicapped Fellowship.” Patients with various physical and mental disabilities would be transported in by church members to receive health care, and would then enjoy a British afternoon tea, some entertainment, and a spiritual message. It was there that I met two sisters. CBHD

The Rights and Responsibilities of Pregnant Women

Is it ethically permissible for a woman to forego potentially life-saving treatment for her unborn child? CBHD

Medicine's Public Enemy Number One: Prevailing Attitudes towards Those with Down Syndrome

Utilization of ultrasound for dating and following a child’s progress during pregnancy was in its own “infancy” when I was a student. At that time, my experience also reflected the nascence of amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling. Recent forays into standards of care for obstetric practitioners forced me to confront a less than brave new world of contemporary practice--one that targets vulnerable humanity with technology. The covering of the womb, itself made by a Divine Weaver, no longer protects those with Down syndrome as it had prescriptively in Psalm 139. CBHD

An Overview to Reproductive Technologies

The inability to have a child is a true burden. Would-be parents often ask both God and themselves why their innate desire to have children continues to be unfulfilled. This kind of self examination reflects how deeply emotional and traumatic infertility can be. Sometimes a couple may even keep the situation secretive to avoid embarrassing themselves in front of family and/or friends. An Overview to Reproductive Technologies

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An Overview to Reproductive Technologies

An Overview to Reproductive Technologies

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Grandparents are funding their children’s IVF

Grandparents have been subsidising school fees and providing a free baby-sitting service for years. Now research shows that they are also footing the bill for the conception of their grandchildren. Times Online

Abortion and the echo of eugenics

What do Richard Nixon and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have in common? Not much linked the former president, who died in 1994, and the associate justice now in her 17th year on the Supreme Court. But each was in the news recently with a cringe-inducing comment about abortion. Those comments - one spoken privately long ago, one uttered publicly this month - are a reminder of the ease with which educated elites can decide that some people’s lives have no value.
Abortion and the echo of eugenics - The Boston Globe

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Those Aren’t Fighting Words, Dear

Never, in your wildest nightmares did you think you would hear these words from your husband one fine summer day: “I don’t love you anymore. I’m not sure I ever did. I’m moving out. The kids will understand. They’ll want me to be happy.” But wait. This isn’t the divorce story you think it is. Neither is it a begging-him-to-stay story. It’s a story about hearing your husband say “I don’t love you anymore” and deciding not to believe him. And what can happen as a result. NY Times

'It was all a bit scruffy, but it didn't seem to matter'

Then we went off to the famous flat in Zurich, which was an ordinary modern block. Some chap who worked for Dignitas introduced himself. They're continually asking the whole time if you want to go through with it, saying it's fine if you want to pull out, even right to the end, when they're mixing up the poison. But no, she was absolutely determined to do it. It wasn't soft lights and soft music, it was all a bit scruffy in a way, but it didn't seem to matter. I can't remember quite what we said to each other in those last minutes, something like, 'Good luck, have a good trip,' or, 'Thank you for the happy times we've had.' Guardian

Is the Soul Mate Mentality a Sham?

If you are looking for someone else to complete you, to fill your life, to be the source of your contentedness, then you will be searching in vain your whole life. And you are placing an unreasonable expectation upon everyone with whom you develop a serious, romantic attachment. Crosswalk

Ethics are ill-conceived

The main character of My Sister's Keeper was conceived by IVF and selected specifically as a genetic match for her dying sister. The ethical controversy arises from the reasons she was conceived, but the core of the story revolves around who has the right to choose whether or not the resulting person must donate - her or her parents. The savior child solicits a lawyer to try to achieve medical emancipation when her parents move past requiring tissue donation from her and decide a kidney should be taken. The mish-mash of emotional knots the family finds itself in are the complex consequences of conceiving a so-called savior baby. Courier Mail

Dying for a baby: the lethal risks of donating eggs

When Sarah Matthews heard Britain’s infertility industry watchdog suggesting last week that women be paid up to £3,000 a time to donate eggs, she could barely contain her anger. “I was left paralysed and lost four years from my life as a result of this treatment. I will never be the same again. I have been to hell and back because I wanted a child. I can’t believe they are suggesting young women take that sort of risk just for money.”
Matthews is one of many women who have been damaged — some fatally — by the drugs used to stimulate women’s ovaries to produce unnatural numbers of eggs.
Dying for a baby: the lethal risks of donating eggs - Times Online

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