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