Right of conscience under attack

Right of conscience under attack (OneNewsNow.com): United Nations officials have asked the Human Rights Council in Geneva to address the issue of physicians worldwide who refuse to perform legal abortions. Brian Clowes, director of research with Human Life International, says the statement simply fits with abortion proponents in the U.S. who want a future in which obstetrician-gynecologists cannot refuse to perform abortions, suggesting their religious concerns are nothing more than pure emotion. He says that also fits the philosophy of the Obama administration.

Obama Says Teachings of Jesus Christ 'Spoke to Me,' then Defends Abortion

Obama Says Teachings of Jesus Christ 'Spoke to Me,' then Defends Abortion: When a teacher's assistant asked him why he was a Christian during a townhall Q&A in Albuquerque, the president answered, “I’m a Christian by choice....I think my public service is part of that effort to express my Christian faith." But the president then jumped to defend the legal killing of unborn children when the same woman asked about regulating the procedure.

"Now, with respect to the abortion issue, I actually think - I mean, there are laws both federal, state and constitutional that are in place," he said. "And I think that this is an area where I think Bill Clinton had the right formulation a couple of decades ago, which is abortion should be safe, legal, and rare."

Obama exhorted the audience to "recognize" killing unborn children as "a difficult, oftentimes tragic situation that families are wrestling with. I think the families and the women involved are the ones who should make the decisions, not the government. I do think actually that there are a whole host of laws on the books that after a certain period, the interests shift such that you can have some restrictions, for example, on late-term abortions, and appropriately so."

As an Illinois and U.S. senator, Obama never once voted in favor of an abortion restriction, supporting even the gruesome partial-birth abortion procedure and voting against a state law to protect infants born alive during an abortion. Since ascending to the White House, he has solidified his 100% pro-abortion record.

U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey

U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

Pew online quiz about religion - take it and see how well you do!

A researcher's testimony on stem cell research

University of Michigan News Service: Sean Morrison, director of the U of M Center for Stem Cell Biology, testified before a US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee: "[W]e wish to use tissue-specific stem cells (often described as 'adult' stem cells in the newspaper) for the therapy, but we will obtain them from embryonic stem cells. This illustrates why it is scientifically meaningless to frame this debate as a choice between adult and embryonic stem cells. We sometimes need embryonic stem cells to generate adult cells for therapy."

Emphasis added

Pro-Life Institute Training Videos Now Online

The Pro-Life Institute, the training program of the Center for Bio Ethical Reform, has unveiled several new training videos.

• Understanding the Past: A Brief History of Abortion - Watch this short video to familiarize yourself with the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, the role of "personhood" in the abortion debate, the discussion of whether or not abortion is genocide, and more.

• Lessons Learned from Historical Social Reform - What methods have proven successful in social reform movements of the past? What principles can we draw from them? How can we implement these ideas from history in today's pro-life movement?

IVF children found to do better in tests

BioNews - IVF children found to do better in tests: Children conceived through IVF fertility treatment perform at least as well as their peers, according to a new US study. Fertility treatments are now thought to account for one per cent of US, and two per cent of UK births. However, there have been concerns that the methods used may affect the long-term development of the children. A team from the University of Iowa found that children conceived through fertility treatment performed higher on standardised tests compared with their matched peers, suggesting that this had no effect on cognitive development.

Abortion awareness survey

The Elliot Institute, a pro-life research organization, works to raise awareness that most abortions are unwanted or coerced, that abortion harms both women and their unborn children, and that churches need to offer support for all involved. They need your help! In order to make this campaign effective, they are asking for input about how your church is addressing these issues and how you think this campaign can help. Please take a few minutes to complete their survey and give them your feedback. It's only 7 questions. Just CLICK HERE and you'll be taken to the survey.

Colorado's Amendment 62 Debate

Amendment 62 Debate - News Story - KRDO Colorado Springs: Amendment 62 seeks to extend legal and constitutional protections to fertilized eggs. “I think it's important to note with the term fertilized egg, that's the same thing as using the N word for an African American,” said Personhood USA's Keith Mason. “Because it's a dehumanizing term and it's not based in science. The term would be a zygote, or an embryo, speaking of a unique individual.” Mason is hoping the passage of the amendment will lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Federal funding for human cloning?

Quiescent legislation that would overturn Dickey-Wicker, known as the DeGette/Castle Bill (H.R. 4808 “The Stem Cell Research Advancement Act”), was shifted to the front burner as Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) announced he was introducing companion legislation (S. 3766) so the bill can be rushed into law before the current Congress expires. But DeGette/Castle/Specter would do more than restore Obama’s ESCR policy. It would also explicitly authorize federal funding of human-cloning research — which is not permitted under the current NIH plan.

If the bills become law, only the implantation of cloned embryos would be barred from being federally funded, rather than actual cloning. In other words, the bills use a phony definition to legalize the very funding that they dishonestly purport to prohibit. No wonder people don’t trust the government anymore. This raises an important question: What does human cloning have to do with the Obama ESCR policy? Not a thing. Which raises another question: Why surreptitiously push for the feds to fund cloning? National Review

First clinical trial involving human embryonic stem cells gets underway in Chicago

First clinical trial involving human embryonic stem cells gets underway in Chicago - latimes.com: Enrollment has begun for the first clinical trial to test a therapy developed from human embryonic stem cells. The trial’s primary aim is to assess the safety of Geron Corp.’s experimental oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, which have been in development for about a decade. They were derived from some of the earliest human embryonic stem cells ever created.

Oligodendrocytes are cells that insulate nerve fibers with myelin, allowing electrical signals to be transmitted to and from the brain. These cells are damaged in patients with spinal cord injuries, resulting in paralysis. Making replacement cells out of embryonic stem cells is a long-held goal for many scientists.

Stem Cells That Save Big Pharma a Bundle

Stem Cells That Save Big Pharma a Bundle - BusinessWeek: It's a frustrating and expensive pitfall for pharmaceutical companies: discovering late in the game that a promising new drug has side effects in humans that never surfaced in the laboratory or during earlier trials in animals. That kind of setback sends scientists back to the lab—or even prompts a company to shut down a multimillion-dollar drug development program. Researchers hope they can use human tissue created from stem cells to help identify potentially dangerous side-effects from drugs under development before human trials.

The stem cells being employed by drugmakers don't come from embryos, thereby avoiding an ethical and political controversy that's dogged the technology. Instead they were created using a method that allows scientists to transform ordinary skin cells into another type of stem cell (known as induced pluripotent stem, or IPS, cells) as versatile as embryonic cells.

Official survey: Only one person in 100 is a homosexual

Official survey: Only one person in 100 is a homosexual | News | The Christian Institute: Only one adult in 100 is a homosexual, according to new figures which cast doubt on the amount of UK public money currently being lavished on the homosexual agenda. Researchers have previously claimed that between six and ten per cent of the population have had homosexual experiences.

Meanwhile, HIV rates among gay men in France are ‘out of control’.

Calls for pregnancy clinics in schools

Calls for pregnancy clinics in schools | News | The Christian Institute: UK schools and colleges should hold antenatal classes for pregnant pupils, according to controversial new guidelines issued by the Government’s health body. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), wants the scheme to run in schools in areas with high levels of teenage pregnancy. [Nice acronym --Editor] However, the suggestion has outraged family campaigners, who warn that it would simply normalise teenage pregnancy.

World stem cell day

World stem cell day: adult stem cells yielding results | News | The Christian Institute: International Stem Cell Day (sorry, we missed it on Wednesday) marked 25 years of the science – a period which has seen the development of over 100 treatments using adult stem cells and no successful treatments from controversial embryonic stem cells.

'Savior sibling' raises a decade of life-and-death questions

Ten years ago a little girl from Colorado made medical history when her parents and her doctor at the University of Minnesota used genetic screening to create a baby that could save her life. Few questioned the Nashes' decision to use genetic testing so they could have a child without Fanconi anemia. The critics focused on their decision to use genetic screening to select a child for a trait that would benefit someone else. Star Tribune

Editor: They should be questioned for creating and then destroying embryos that are rejected. The article goes on to describe the state of the "art" since baby brother Adam was born:

One patient had four embryos implanted in her uterus because the testing for their genetic tissue typing failed. Her IVF doctors said they would test the fetuses and abort the ones that didn't match her sick child. None of the fetuses matched the sick child, and the parents decided to abort all four.

Marriage: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty

Marriage: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty | The Heritage Foundation: Child poverty is an ongoing national concern, but few are aware of its principal cause: the absence of married fathers in the home.

Poll: 77 Percent of Evangelicals Believe Abortion is Morally Wrong

Poll: 77 Percent of Evangelicals Believe Abortion is Morally Wrong: The National Association of Evangelicals has released a new poll showcasing Evangelicals’ overall commitment to traditional Christian morality and opposition to abortion. The Gallup poll, commissioned by the NAE, found that 76 percent of Evangelicals believe sex between an unmarried man and woman is morally wrong, 77 percent believe abortion is morally wrong, and 79 percent say that having a baby outside of wedlock is also morally wrong. A high 87 percent of Evangelicals also said that teen pregnancy is morally wrong.

But the NAE also noted that pastors may have a challenge on their hands when it comes to the pastoral care of unmarried women who become pregnant and then fear that having the baby will lead to rejection from the church community. “We need to encourage couples to courageously and responsibly honor the gifts of sex and life,” said Aaron Mercer, NAE Generation Forum Project Director. “The Bible’s standard for sex is very clear: abstinence outside of marriage and fidelity within it. But when unmarried individuals do have sex and end up conceiving, might they fear rejection from their church family whether or not they carry the baby to term? Whether or not this fear is warranted, we need to consider its possible consequences.”

Editor: I'm grateful the NAE made this distinction. Pregnancy is not a moral issue; what you do with it is. The circumstances of a conception may have been wrong; carrying a baby to term is never wrong and should not be stigmatized. Thus, we need to be careful about statements such as "having a baby outside wedlock is morally wrong." The consequences may be deadly.

Tea Party Activists Should Consider the Cost of Abortion

Tea Party Activists Worried About Economy Should Consider the Cost of Abortion: What impact has this massive destruction of human life had on our current economic situation? A very interesting study called The Cost of Abortion gives insight into to this question.

Related: Tea Partiers oppose abortion, not just deficits

The Most Heartbreaking Statistic in the Fight for Life

Care Net | President's Message: The Most Heartbreaking Statistic in the Fight for Life: 90% of post-abortive women claim they would have chosen life, if only they received support and positive options in time? It’s tragic because a little compassion could have saved their children.

Is there a war between social and economic conservatives?

FRC Event: Are social and economic conservatism at odds?According to political journalists Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith, ... 'the battles over morality-based cultural issues such as gay rights, abortion and illegal drugs that did so much to drive the conservative movement and dominated the political conversation for more than 30 years have abated, giving way not just to broad economic anxiety but to a new set of emotionally charged issues.'

Are they right? To answer that question, Family Research Council is hosting an important symposium on the relationship between economic and social conservatism featuring three of the nation's leading observers of the political scene.

The Predicament: Francis Collins, Human Embryos, Evolution, and the Sanctity of Human Life

The Predicament: Francis Collins, Human Embryos, Evolution, and the Sanctity of Human Life, Christian News Commentary, Page 0: Peter Boyer reports that Francis Collins 'was personally torn by the ethical questions posed by stem-cell research' before joining the Obama administration. Nevertheless, he is now pushing hard for the expansion of such research. As Boyer explains:

He has long opposed the creation of embryos for the purpose of research. He sees a human embryo as a potential life, though he thinks that it is not possible scientifically to settle precisely when life begins. But Collins also feels it is morally wasteful not to take advantage of the hundreds of thousands of embryos created for in-vitro fertilization that ultimately are disposed of anyway. These embryos are doomed, but they can help aid disease research.

This is a very troubling passage.

A nation turns away from abortion

MercatorNet: A nation turns away from abortion: One major country that is turning away from abortion is Italy. Abortion numbers and rates there have continued on a downward trend for over two decades.

40 Days for Life Launches in Record 238 Locations around the World

40 Days for Life Launches in Record 238 Locations around the World: A record 238 locations in the US, Canada, Australia, England, Northern Ireland and Denmark are participating 40 Days for Life campaigns of prayer and fasting from today, September 22, through to October 31. 40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life effort that consists of 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, 40 days of peaceful vigil in front of abortion clinics, and 40 days of community outreach.

Editor: See BFL & 40 Days for Life

Cruel and Usual Punishment

Cruel and Usual Punishment: Since abortion has been legalized there have been many techniques promoted to end the life of a developing unborn child. The following are methods used to perform abortions and possible complications from the procedures. Great resources available from Michigan Right to Life, along with:

Adoption: The Oft Overlooked Opportunity

Life is Precious in Every Circumstance

Vaccines, Abortion & Fetal Tissue

Michigan Abortion Statistics (graph)

Republican challenges Eleanor Holmes Norton on "baby killing" platform

Republican Missy Smith challenges Eleanor Holmes Norton on "baby killing" platform - Amanda Hess | TBD.com: Missy Reilly Smith is used to preaching her politics from the street. Smith, 67, is a longtime fixture outside District abortion clinics, where she spends mornings as a 'sidewalk counselor,' urging patients not to abort. Today, Smith prepares to launch her anti-abortion battle on a grander scale: She's running unopposed in the Republican race to challenge Eleanor Holmes Norton's Congressional seat come November.

The church and the single mom

The single mom is one of the fastest-growing sects of our population, so why have we, the church, ignored them for so long? At the Center magazine

Abortion at Government Facilities?

Abortion at Government Facilities? - Denise Burke - National Review Online: The Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision simply stopped federal and state governments from prohibiting abortion. It does not give American women — whether in the military or not — the right to have the federal government pay for, provide the facilities for, or otherwise facilitate the provision of abortions.

No-Fault Divorce a Greater threat to Marriage than Gay 'Marriage'

No-Fault Divorce a Greater threat to Marriage than Gay 'Marriage': Expert: According to Dr. Stephen Baskerville, author of “Taken Into Custody: The War Against Fathers, Marriage, and the Family,” the government 'is engaged in a direct assault on the family' that is causing family breakdown - which in turn allows government to reach into yet more areas of civil society under the pretext of solving the problems that the breakdown of the family creates. 'I would go so far as to say that family breakdown is the major engine driving domestic government expansion and spending: crime, substance abuse, educational failure, law enforcement. All these costs are attributable to single-parent homes more than any other single factor.'

Women 'missing out on pregnancy care'

BBC News - Women 'missing out on pregnancy care': Hundreds of thousands of women and their babies are being put at risk because they are not getting access to good antenatal care in England and Wales.

Editor: So much for nationalized health care.

Study highlights dangers of IVF treatment overseas

Study highlights dangers of IVF treatment overseas - Health News, Health & Families - The Independent: A global survey of fertility treatment covering more than 100 countries has revealed wide variations in international laws governing IVF which are fuelling the growth of 'fertility tourism.'

Christianity Versus Transhumanism

Christianity Versus Transhumanism | Beyond The Beyond: AN OPEN LETTER TO CHRISTIAN LEADERS ON BIOTECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE OF MAN: Time is running out to influence debate on transhumanism. If Christians are to help shape contemporary culture—particularly in a setting in which I fear the posthuman message will prove attractive, if not seductive—then they must offer an alternative and compelling vision; a counter theological discourse so to speak.

Political thriller: To Die For

Matt Harper, Assistant Pastor of Truth Baptist Church in South Windsor, CT, writes: "The teen drama club from our church has produced a play entitled 'To Die For,' a political thriller highlighting the evils of abortion and the value of life. As the suspenseful plot unfolds, it touches your heart, informs your mind, and motivates your will to stand for life and fight for the unborn.

"We will be presenting the drama December 3 & 4 at 7:00 pm at Truth Baptist Church in South Windsor. Our prayer is that God will use the message of the play to show Himself strong in this generation by changing people’s hearts with this message of the truth." Call (860) 906-6784 for more info.

Senate Defeats Motion OKing Vote on Bill Allowing Abortions at Military Hospitals

Senate Defeats Motion OKing Vote on Bill Allowing Abortions at Military Hospitals: The Senate has defeated a motion to stop a Republican-led filibuster against the bill that funds the Defense Department. The filibuster came in response to several issues including concerns about language that would essentially turn military base hospitals into abortion clinics.

LIFE DIGEST: Summary of recent pro-life events

Baptist Press - LIFE DIGEST: Planned Parenthood's abortion total rises; La. revokes abortion clinic license - News with a Christian Perspective

Congressman Ryan Latest to Call For Truce on Social Issues

Congressman Paul Ryan Latest to Call For Truce on Pro-Life, Social Issues: Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin became the latest potential presidential candidate and Republican with a national profile to call for a 'truce' on social issues. He joins Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Mississippi Gov. Hailey Barbour, who called for Republicans to back down on pro-life issues.

Ryan, the top Republican on the Budget Committee who has a strongly pro-life record and is viewed as a conservative who is very knowledgeable on health care issues, talked about the place social issues have in the election. 'We will agree to disagree on those issues,' Ryan said last Monday on CNBC. 'But let's rally around the tallest pole in our tent: fiscal conservatism, economic liberty.'

Poll: Religion Key in Shaping Abortion Opinions

A new Pew poll released on Friday shows Americans continue to say their religious beliefs have been highly influential in shaping their views about social issues, including abortion. The way in which religious beliefs play a role in shaping abortion views is more strong than for other political issues. On the issue of abortion, 26% overall say religion is the most important influence on their opinion, including 45% among abortion opponents. LifeNews

Get to Know: The Medical Institute

The MEDICAL INSTITUTE provides science-based information that changes 

behavior and influences lives. One way that MI is delivering this important information is through their new DVD Tell Me NOW! This video was developed to help 3rd to 5th graders and their parents start a life-long conversation about sexual health. 

Letter Opposes Repeal of Military Policies on Homosexuals and Abortion

Letter Urges Senate to Oppose Repeal of Military Policies on Homosexuals and Abortion: The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, strongly opposed to using our military to advance radical social policies, sent a letter Sept. 16 to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging him and his colleagues to oppose any vote to advance the Defense Authorization bill unless provisions to repeal the policies on homosexuals and abortion are removed.

Michigan County Panel Votes to Nix Employee Abortion Coverage

Michigan County Panel Votes to Nix Employee Abortion Coverage: Members of a county panel in Michigan have voted unanimously to remove abortion coverage from county employees' health insurance, according to local news reports.
The Grand Rapids Press reported that Kent County's Legislative and Human Resources Committee agreed in a 9-0 vote to seek an end to the benefit in future employee contracts, and to request voluntary surrender of the benefit by the 13 labor unions in the county.

Social conservatives warn Republicans not to abandon social issues

Social conservatives warn Republicans not to abandon social issues - Abby Phillip - POLITICO.com: Leaders of the religious right are warning Republicans not to abandon social issues in a document that is expected to be an outline of the party’s governing agenda if it regains control of Congress. Some have compared the document, being drafted by the GOP’s congressional leadership, to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s groundbreaking 1994 “Contract With America.” But religious conservatives are worried that their bread-and-butter social issues — opposition to abortion and gay marriage, and support for religious liberty — will be left behind on the Republicans’ path to power, an effort to draw support from social moderates.

Democrats, Republicans Spar Over Ethics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research

FOXNews.com - Democrats, Republicans Spar Over Ethics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Senate Democrats argued a moral imperative to allow federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, in a hearing Thursday that comes a week after an appeals court temporarily lifted a judge's ban on federal funding of it. But Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker said the research using fetal tissue for stem cell research raises "profound moral and ethical challenges."

Best novel about cloning now a movie

BioEdge: Best novel about cloning now a movie: The beautiful novel Never Let Me Go has become a reasonably good film, according to critics. Booker Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro (author of Remains of the Day) wrote his novel about children raised in a classic English boarding school in 2005 to much acclaim. The reader gradually learns that they are clones destined to serve as organ donors.

MO lawmakers answer the question of when life begins

Mo. lawmakers answer the question of when life begins | NewsOK.com: Pythagorean Greeks, early Christian church fathers, Talmudic rabbis, Sunni and Shia scholars, Hindu Brahmin and modern bioethicists have grappled with the fundamental, ultimately unknowable, mystery: At what point in our biological development are we infused with a soul? At what point do we become human?

Missouri lawmakers have declared their answer. By withholding both his signature and his veto, Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon signaled that he agreed and recently allowed the legislative answer to become state law. ''The life of each human being begins at conception," according to Senate Bill 793, which adds new regulations to the state's 24-hour informed consent law for abortions. "Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being."

The Tragedy of American Compassion

Amazon.com: The Tragedy of American Compassion (9781433501104): Marvin Olasky, Amy L. Sherman: Books: This is a richly documented, controversial history of the welfare state as seen from a conservative political perspective. The system is generous with money but stingy on human involvement, argues Olasky: compassion means tough love in which those who give must demand self-help from those who receive. But Olasky adds a proviso that the giver too must be personally involved. He holds up the example of 19th-century charity workers, whose religious beliefs made them compassionate and willing to deal intimately with the poor, rather than dispensing money to them through government agencies.

Editor: A must read. Thanks for the reminder!

The Biblical Principles of Change

Change is the mode of life God intends for believers. If growth is our goal, how do we attain it? Access these helpful class notes, audio, and video files by Wayne Johnston from Valley Bible Church in Lancaster, CA.

Hearing ear and seeing eye: God's marvelous creation

Anatomist Dr. David Menton takes you on a journey into the marvelous intricacies of the human ear, which has the clear stamp of the Creator and leaves skeptics speechless. Download this video free for one week from Answers in Genesis.

Undifferentiated Ethics: Why Stem Cells from Adult Skin Are as Morally Fraught as Embryonic Stem Cells

Undifferentiated Ethics: Why Stem Cells from Adult Skin Are as Morally Fraught as Embryonic Stem Cells: Scientific American: When researchers first demonstrated in 2007 that human skin cells could be reprogrammed to behave like stem cells that can fully differentiate into other cells, scientists and politicians alike rejoiced. All the potential of embryonic stem cells might be harnessed with the new techniques—without the political and moral controversy associated with destroying a fertilized egg.

That optimism, however, may be misplaced; these transformed cells, known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), actually present equally troubling ethical quandaries, according to bioethicists who met at the International Society for Stem Cell Research annual meeting in June. Many of the ethical challenges posed by embryonic stem cells remain.

Scientists have already reported progress in growing precursor cells for eggs and sperm from both iPS and embryonic stem cell lines. To make sure the gametes work normally, for instance, researchers will need to grow embryos and then destroy them, a morally contentious practice with prohibitions and policies differing around the world. Sperm and egg from skin cells eventually might be used for reproductive purposes, enabling parenthood at any age using tissue from either the living or dead. In fertility clinics, iPS cells could enable prospective parents to choose embryos for desired traits more easily than they can with conventional assisted-reproduction technologies. The possibilities raise a radical question about the moral status of human cells.

Preparing Your Daughter for Every Woman's Battle

Amazon.com: Preparing Your Daughter for Every Woman's Battle: Creative Conversations about Sexual and Emotional Integrity eBook: Shannon Ethridge: Kindle Store: Recognizing how awkward it can be to confront the topic of sex, author Shannon Ethridge guides you and your daughter through enjoyable yet memorable discussions about sexuality, purity, and dating – leading to a deeper understanding of and appreciation for God’s standards. Preparing Your Daughter for Every Woman’s Battle provides creative tools that will give you the courage and confidence to talk openly and honestly with your daughter–and instill values that will lead her to a lifetime of sexual and emotional integrity.

NIH Expedites Grants for Human Embryo Destroying Research

NIH Expedites Grants for Human Embryo Destroying Research: "The National Institute of Health is expediting the grant process for outside researchers in human embryonic stem-cell research, after the D.C. Court of Appeals gave them an emergency stay until September 20 on a judge’s order halting their work. Sally Rockey, the NIH's Deputy Director for Extramural Research, circulated an email recommending that NIH institute councils should fast-track grants for hESC research.

Do parents make the best parents?

Contraception made possible the separation between sex and reproduction. Why not separate reproduction from parenthood? Why should artificial reproduction be privileged over natural reproduction, the authors of an article in Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology ask. It is inconsistent to demand that the welfare of the child be a criterion for assisted reproduction, but not for natural reproduction.

"What we should not promote and respect are accidental parenting unaccompanied by critical reflection of its exercise, the ostentatious display of reproductive capacities, unquestioned bad parenting, or blind conformity to the pro-reproductive culture," they claim. This reasoning leads them to float some radical possibilities for the future of parenting; Compulsory contraception, regardless of personal convictions; Confiscating children after they are born from incompetent parents; Compulsory parenting education.

Struggle over 'ownership' of baby split gay parents

Another instalment in the Amazing Adventures of Reproductive Technology. Baby E was born in Melbourne in 2008. His mother and her partner were lesbians. To conceive the boy, they held a "baby summit" with a friendly gay couple who agreed to donate sperm on alternate months until a baby was conceived. After the birth, the friendly relationship broke down. The men wanted to share the child's life but the women banned them. The men sued and the case ended up before the Australian Family Court. The judge decided all four had parental rights. Sunday Morning Herald

Psalm 139, as rendered by James Vasquez

Psalm 139: My inmost being while in the womb,
You knit together and each day,
Ordained for me within your book,
You wrote in full display.

Hymn: Song of Life

Song of Life: With skillful and with hidden hand

Thou workest in the womb,
And there, in dark and tiny space,
Makest unseen life to bloom.
Fashioned fearfully and wonderf’ly,
Thy knowledge to display,
Thine image bearer grows in night
Which is to Thee as day.

Koran book burning not Christian

Comment: Koran book burning is not Christian | News | The Christian Institute: If copies of the Koran are burned by those who claim to be ‘Christian’, will this encourage Muslims to read and consider the Bible? Hardly. . . . The Bible tells Christians: live at peace with all men, as far as it depends upon you. In a democracy we can debate, we can protest, and we can seek to persuade. But we must not deliberately provoke anger or violence.

Editor: And yes, this is a pro-life issue.

Protecting Purity in a Technological Corinth

Page six of Eternal Perspectives online, by Randy Alcorn.

Abstinence program in China a milestone for U.S. evangelicals

Abstinence program in China a milestone for U.S. evangelicals: In Yunnan schools this year, teachers are being trained with a sex education curriculum created by Focus on the Family. The agreement with the Yunnan ministry of education is a milestone for Focus on the Family, which has struggled for four years to make inroads on abstinence in China.

It is also the result of a narrow confluence of interests: Evangelical Christian groups want an entree into China. And Chinese authorities, despite the country's official atheism, want help with controlling population growth and managing the society's rapidly shifting values.

Hailey Barber Says Pro-Lifers Should Scrap Social Issues

Hailey Barber Faces Backlash, Said Pro-Lifers Should Scrap Social Issues: Mississippi Governor Hailey Barber is facing a backlash from pro-life advocates after saying at a breakfast on Wednesday that pro-life advocates should ditch social issues this election cycle in favor of focusing on the economy. He said a candidate's stance on abortion “ain’t going to change anybody’s vote this year." US News

Appeals court lifts ban on stem cell funding

The Checkup - Appeals court lifts ban on stem cell funding: A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted a request from the Justice Department to stay an injunction issued Aug. 23 blocking the funding. In a major victory for supporters of the research, the court said the Obama administration could resume funding the research pending a full appeal of the case.

Legal Analysis: Parsing the Stem Cell Case - ScienceInsider

Legal Analysis: Parsing the Stem Cell Case - ScienceInsider: Does human embryonic stem cell esearch violate the law? And does it make sense to halt federal funding of the work while the courts weigh this question?

Although moral opposition to hESC research is certainly helping drive Sherley v. Sebelius, the case also includes some tricky legal questions. Legal scholars say there are three separate parts to the case, and dissecting each one makes it easier to understand where the judge is coming from—and where the ambiguities lie.

Koran burning examined by Dr. Richard Land

Koran burning on anniversary of 9/11 examined by Dr. Richard Land: Dr. Land has said, 'I think it is appalling, disgusting and brainless ... I think that those of us who find what they are doing abhorrent should say so, and say so publicly and often.' Land added that the church's actions 'besmirch the reputation of our Savior, and that makes it blasphemy.'

Defend unborn babies

Watch and learn what SLED stands for.

Judge declines to lift stem cell funding ban

Judge declines to lift stem cell funding ban: Royce C. Lamberth, chief U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia, rejected a request by the Obama administration to lift the temporary injunction he had issued pending an appeal of the decision. But Lamberth indicated that his injunction was less restrictive than had been interpreted by the Obama administration.

Fertility treatments: Would you get selective reduction?

Fertility treatments: Would you get selective reduction? - CNN.com A woman writes about her decision to reduce her twin pregnancy. Breath-takingly sad.

Do Genesis 1 and 2 Contradict Each Other? - Answers in Genesis

Feedback: Do Genesis 1 and 2 Contradict Each Other? - Answers in Genesis: Critics and skeptics use this controversy to show the Bible cannot be trusted. Some Christians who believe in billions of years use it in trying to show that these chapters should not be understood in their plain sense. The argument is, however, based on a misunderstanding of Genesis 2.

First tests for stem cell therapy are near

First tests for stem cell therapy are near: Scientists are poised to inject cells created from embryonic stem cells into some patients with a progressive form of blindness and others with devastating spinal cord injuries. That's a welcome step for researchers eager to move from the laboratory to the clinic and for patients hoping for cures. But beyond being loathsome to those with moral objections to any research using cells from human embryos, the tests are worrying many proponents: Some argue that the experiments are premature, others question whether they are ethical, and many fear that the trials risk disaster for the field if anything goes awry.

Peter Singer in SE Michigan

Two Wayne State pro-life organizations, the Christian Medical Association and Metanoia Graduate Christian Union, have invited in Drs. Peter Singer, atheist philosopher from Princeton, and John Patrick, Christian medical ethicist from Ottawa and very well known pro-life advocate (he's helped lead the Hippocratic Registry for doctors), to discuss The Value and Worth of Human Life in three interactions on Thursday, September 16th at Wayne State. Details below.

Would you consider joining one or more of these interactions, and pass along this invitation as well? Singer represents the extreme, perhaps logical, end of materialistic atheism's understanding of humanity. Without hesitation he is advocating for the next step in abortion's logic: infanticide outside the womb. Patrick is a thoughtful, informed responder to these assumptions and proposals.


Discussion 1: The Origin of Human Worth: Do we need God to value humans?
Place: Hilberry A &B in Student Center (2nd Floor) @ 9 AM

Discussion 2: The Future of Human Worth: Life and Death Decisions in Medicine
Place: In Jaffar Lecture Auditorium in Scott Hall at School of Medicine at 12 Noon

Discussion 3: The Main Event-Human Worth at the Beginning: Embryos, Babies, and the Dignity of Human Life.
Place: In the Community Arts Auditorium at 5:30 PM

We urge you to try your best to get to these vital discussions. Direct questions to John Bayon at jbayonjr@yahoo.com

Misquoting Jesus: Answering Bart Ehrman

Without the original renderings, there is no inspired text. Without inspired Scripture, there is no orthodox Christianity, only a jumble of spiritual ideas about Jesus expressed in a diverse body of conflicting texts that have tumbled down to us through the corridors of time. Is this skepticism justified? Simply put, no. STR

Articles on stem cell research by Dr. David Prentice

• "A Stem Cell Victory for Patients," Dr. David Prentice, AOLnews
• ""Smart" Adult Stem Cells Heal Hearts," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Stem Cells for Parkinson's Treatment," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "The Media Hearts Embryonic Stem Cells," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "More Potential Spinal Cord Injury Treatments," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Recruiting Adult Stem Cells for Faster Bone Healing," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council

Rethinking China's one-child policy

Rethinking China's one-child policy: The child in time | The Economist: Rumblings of discontent over the one-child policy have been growing louder, stirred by debate over whether it is needed now that the first children born under it face the prospect of caring for an ever-increasing number of pensioners. A report last month by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a leading government think-tank, said officials were seriously overestimating the fertility rate (the number of children an average woman can expect to have in her lifetime). Rather than suppress the rate, suggested the report, the government should try to lift it.

Mixed Messages from Glenn Beck

Mixed Messages from Glenn Beck: While Beck should not be concerned about what the liberal media think of him or his rally, the fact is that his AWOL status in the cultural war has not gone over well with conservatives who were in this battle for morality when Beck was still a Top 40 DJ and years away from national prominence.

World Youth Conference Ends In Controversy And Chaos

World Youth Conference Ends In Controversy And Chaos � Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute: Though still with troubling language, the final version of the Declaration of Guanajuato was markedly improved from the previous drafts. Pro-lifer lobbyists and delegations, however, expressed deep concern about a document that was released by the official coalition of youth. Drafted by an elite group of youth delegates, many of whom were handpicked and funded by the pro-abortion UN Population Fund, the recommendations included demands for: a redefinition of gender to include the 'spectrum of gender identities,' 'comprehensive sexuality education,' and 'safe abortion.'

Discovery Gunman far from First Eco-Terrorist

Expert: Discovery Gunman far from First Eco-Terrorist: James Lee, the gunman who entered the Discovery Channel building and took three hostages yesterday because he thought the TV station should be doing more to combat overpopulation, might be the first hostage-taking environmentalist gunman. But according to John Berlau, author of Eco-Freaks: Environmentalism Is Hazardous to Your Health, radical environmentalists have long advocated violence to further their goals.

Related: Pro-Life Group Recalls Run-In with Discovery Channel Gunman

Obama Justice Dept Steps in to Defend Embryonic Stem Cell Funding

Obama Justice Dept Seeks Stay of Order Nixing NIH Embryonic Stem Cell Funding: The U.S. Justice Department is requesting a federal judge stay his order stopping the National Institute of Health’s embryo-destroying stem-cell research pending an appeal, saying that cutting off the money to scientists would harm their research efforts.

Editor: Sending in the DOJ seems heavy-handed, doesn't it?

God did not create the universe, says Hawking

God did not create the universe, says Hawking | Reuters: In The Grand Design, co-authored with U.S. physicist Leonard Mlodinow, Stephen Hawking says a new series of theories made a creator of the universe redundant, according to the Times newspaper which published extracts on Thursday.

'Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist,' Hawking writes.

The Mysterious Islands

Mysterious Islands, The�Review by The Dove Foundation: At the far end of the world, there exists a chain of strange islands, steeped in controversy. The Mysterious Islands is the story of one boy and a team of researchers who take an amazing adventure to the heart of the mystery in search of clues that will expose the truth in a centuries-old dispute.

The beautiful documentary was shot at 'ground zero' of Darwinism. It takes viewers deep beneath the ocean waves, among hundreds of white-tip sharks, to the home of slat-sneezing iguanas, on top of volcanic craters and beside giant tortoises that can live to be more that 150 years of age.

Seen through the eyes of 16-year-old Joshua Phillips who join his father and noted researches like Dr. John Morris, this film brings a fresh perspective on the Theory of Evolution. It answers the question: Is the Galapagos a laboratory for evolution or a testimony to the Biblical account of creation?

Is Believing In God Evolutionarily Advantageous?

Is Believing In God Evolutionarily Advantageous? : NPR: Why is it that even determined skeptics can't stop themselves from perceiving the supernatural?

Top Gov't Scientist Asks Stem Cell Judge To Lift Funding Ban

Top Gov't Scientist Asks Stem Cell Judge To Lift Funding Ban : The Two-Way : NPR: It will be a cruel blow to those suffering diseases and conditions that could otherwise be cured if a federal judge doesn't lift his ban on the federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, according to Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes and Health. Collins made the assertion in a filing with U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth who rocked the bioscience and medical worlds with his recent decision.

Editor: This will comfort scientists who questioned Collins' appointment, but disturb the rest of us who agree with the judge.

The Other Dark Exchange: Homosexuality, Part 2

The root of all our problems in this world is that the human race has exchanged the glory of God for other things and that God has handed us over to bear the fruit of this exchange in ten thousand troubles - all of which should call us to repentance and worship rather than rebellion and atheism. Even our physical diseases and our natural calamities are owing to God's judgment on creation for our exchange of his glory for other things. This is crucial for dealing with the origins of homosexuality. I don't think anyone knows for sure what the physical components of homosexuality are. But what if genetic origins were found? What would this imply about the morality and fitness of the behavior? Very little, if nature itself is disordered and in need of redemption. John Piper

Related: 

• Part 1
• Worshiping Images of Ourselves
• What Are We Apart from Christ?