Select Page

Pink Ribbons? The SG Komen Fdn – Planned Parenthood – Abortion – Breast Cancer Connection

Powerful Life-Affirming Film Features Story of Abortion Survivor

PNCI Report on Latest International Pressures for Abortion

Video Details Sebelius’ Role in Shredding Planned Parenthood Evidence

Corporate Funding Project — Corporations that Fund Planned Parenthood

Seven Former Abortion Industry Employees Urge Congress to Investigate PP

Do You Know if Your Food or Vaccines Contain Aborted Cells?

Netherlands Pro-Life March for Life Doubles in Size

Ireland’s Pro-Life Laws Benefit Women’s Health: Report

Commentary: How One Conversation Made Me Pro-Life

How Can We Stop More Down Syndrome Babies from Being Aborted?

NOTE: Major Breakthrough in ALS Research Gives Patients Hope for the Future

November was National Adoption Awareness Month — Poem

Video Depicting Conception to Birth — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKyljukBE70&feature=relmfu

When Does a Human Begin?

‘Taxis Against Abortion’ Program Reaches Thousands with Pro-Life Message

Planned Parenthood Exposed

The Truth about Planned Parenthood Continues to be Revealed — Two Situations…

PINK RIBBON  —  SUSAN G KOMEN FDN — very worthy idea gone wrong…

5 Things to keep in mind: Komen, PP, abortion, breast cancer, & human embryonic stem cell research

SGK gives $ to PP >>  PP is the largest abortion provider in USA & in the world >> there is a growing list of peer-reviewed medical & scientific journals showing the statistically significant connection between ABORTION & BREAST CANCER   

(** also, over 100 studies show a statistically significant connection between ABORTION & PREMATURE DELIVERY/BIRTH of subsequent babies)

Grants of $550,000-$750,000 in last two reported fiscal years were given by SGK to PP.

SG Komen Fdn gave about $550,000 in grants to Planned Parenthood last fiscal year – to PP which promoted & provided well over 330,000 U.S. abortions last year — and that abortion has a statistically significant connection to breast cancer in almost all the honest, worldwide research studies (as opposed to the politically-correct studies which are trying to cover up this fact, just as the tobacco industry covered up the connection between tobacco & lung cancer for decades).

In a study done last year, it was estimated that since abortion was legalized in 1973 in this country, about 300,000 women have died from breast cancer that resulted following abortion. This does not count those women who suffered untold hardship & pain through surgery, chemo, &/or radiation, and who are alive.

So much for making abortion "safe & legal".

Especially dangerous is abortion of the first pregnancy, because of the rapid development of the breast tissue for first-time milk production; the pregnancy is suddenly stopped, but the hormones are not…

Of course, not every woman who suffers from breast cancer has had an abortion! It is one possible connection >>> which needs to be publicized so that women can make an INFORMED DECISION about whether or not to have an abortion.

For more info on this, continue to visit our website (www.physiciansforlife.org ), as well as www.LifeNews.com, www.LifeSiteNews.com, and Breast Cancer Prevention at www.bcpinstitute.org

Again, not every woman who suffers from breast cancer has had an abortion. It is a potential consequence of which women need to be aware.

 

STEM CELL RESEARCH
SG Komen Fdn also gives MILLIONS OF $$$ in grants to EMBRYO-DESTROYING STEM CELL RESEARCH, which has not been successful in any human trials…

QUICK DESCRIPTION OF STEM CELL RESEARCH

Two types of Stem Cells:  embryonic & adult / umbilical cord

Embryonic stem cells are mainly obtained by manufacturing human embryos in the lab, letting them grow to about 8 cells, and then destroying them for the stem cells. NOT ONE successful use of human embryonic stem cells has yet been recorded, primarily because these stem cells tend to produce TUMORS or are REJECTED by the patient.

As a matter of fact, this year (2011) Geron, the largest embryonic stem cell research group suddenly stopped a major human trial after only a few weeks and announced they would no longer be doing embryonic stem cell research.

Unfortunately, our federal government and some state governments — and the SG Komen Fdn — are pumping untold millions of our tax dollars and our donations into useless Human Embryo-destroying research.

Adult stem cells are located in our bodies — in the connective tissue, tooth pulp, fat (!!), heart, and many other organs, including of course, bone marrow.  We have been doing bone marrow transplants for decades and now we know that it is the ADULT STEM CELLS in the bone marrow that help to heal us!
Umbilica

l Cord blood and Cord matrix is also filled with stem cells.

This is ethical research – no human embryos are treated disrespectfully or destroyed.

ADULT STEM CELL & UMBILICAL CORD STEM CELL RESEARCH IS SUCCESSFULLY TREATING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN AT LEAST 70 DISEASES/CONDITIONS WORLDWIDE (lupus, leukemias, auto-immune diseases, sickle cell anemia, healing burns… — the potential for REGENERATIVE MEDICINE IN THE NEXT DECADE is very high!!)                           

UPDATES —  www.stemcellresearch.org & www.stemcellresearchfacts.org

It is HIGHLY UNFORTUNATE that the KOMEN FDN has gotten mixed up
with ABORTION & EMBRYO-DESTROYING STEM CELL RESEARCH!
Please, do not support Komen until it STOPS these deadly financial connections!


Here are some GROUPS that ACTUALLY SUPPORT LIFE-AFFIRMING RESEARCH TO 'DO NO HARM':

The National Breast Cancer Foundation, www.nbcf.org
Breast Cancer Fund, www.breastcancerfund.org

International Foundation for Genetic Research/Michael Fund
4371 Northern Pike, Pittsburgh, PA 15146 Phone 412-374-0111
www.michaelfund.org

There is also an organization that is discussing the real facts regarding ALL the breast cancer risks:

Breast Cancer Prevention Institute  http://www.bcpinstitute.org/home.htm  

PINK RIBBONS SHOULD PROMOTE LIFE, NOT DEATH…

 

 

 

Powerful Pro-Life Film Features Story of Abortion Survivor
 A powerful new pro-life film is capturing the attention of Americans because it features the story of Melissa Ohden, a woman who survived a failed saline abortion attempt on her life and who is now a nationally-recognized speaker.

Over 1.2 million children lose their lives to abortion every year in the United States alone. Over 53 million children have lost their lives to abortion in the United States since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. Many know the sad reality of these statistics, but most don’t know the amazing reality that sometimes children survive failed abortions and exist in our world today. Melissa Ohden, a 34-year-old international pro-life speaker and advocate, wife and mother, is one such survivor.

Melissa’s powerful story of surviving a failed saline infusion abortion in 1977, of overcoming the concerns regarding her ability to survive past infancy and go on to lead a “normal” life, of being adopted into a loving family that supported her in her search for her biological family and in her struggle to face the reality of her life as an abortion survivor to ultimately become a voice for the unborn, is featured in the newly released pro-life documentary, A Voice for Life.
Find the video at — http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/09/powerful-pro-life-film-features-story-of-abortion-survivor/

 

PNCI Report on Latest International Pressures for Abortion

The Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI) based in Washington, D.C. and headed by Marie Smith, wife of US Congressman Chris Smith, periodically issues reports on international developments related to abortion. The reports are especially intended to update pro-life legislators in various nations on critical abortion-related developments. The following three items from the November 30 PNCI report are republished with permission from PNCI.

Abortion Advocates Target Africa

Pro-abortion NGO’s are partnering with African governments and leaders to develop strategies and policies on abortion policy. A stakeholder meeting in Sierra Leone this month brought together the nation’s Health Ministry with UNFPA, Ipas and Marie Stopes Sierra Leone to address access to abortion and population control. Abortion advocates seek to expand access to abortion through public policies and emphasize the need to remove the “stigma” of abortion.

Increasingly, pro-abortion NGO’s are becoming key partners in regional and national discussions on reproductive health. Currently, Ipas is participating in the Sixth African Population Conference in Burkino Faso, where it will discuss “unsafe abortion” in Africa. Ipas will participate and/or lead several panels on strategies to integrate abortion into family planning services. Additionally this month, Global Doctors for Choice (GDC) held a three day training program for physicians in Ghana on reproductive health advocacy. A world wide network of physicians, GDC seeks to connect pro-abortion doctors with NGO’s, government officials and communities to affect policies.

UN Committee’s Recommendation Pushes Peru to Ease Abortion Laws

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has instructed Peru to compensate a girl who was denied an abortion and amend its abortion law to permit an exception for rape. The CEDAW recommendation was reported by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), which brought the case of a teenage rape victim to the committee. However, CRR has been misleading in its reporting claiming: “This is the first UN decision in history requiring a country to protect women’s health and human rights by changing its abortion laws.” The Center is well aware, as is everyone that advocates at the United Nations, that recommendations from CEDAW and other treaty body recommendations are merely the “opinion” or “view” of the members and are not binding on a country.

Warning: MPs Should Expect Increased Pro-Abortion Activity

Leading pro-abortion organizations that operate under the guise of human rights, women’s rights and women’s health are latching onto the recent UN report on health and its recommendation that governments overturn laws against abortion.

Over 30 organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Catholics for Choice, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ipas, IPPF, Marie Stopes International and Planned Parenthood Federation of America have stated their support for report (A/66/254) by the UN Special Rapporteur on health, Anand Grover, to the General Assembly. The report is highly critical of laws which protect the lives of children in the womb from the violence of abortion and even condemns laws against drug use by pregnant women aimed at protecting the health of the unborn child. Pro-life laws are described as “misguided legal restrictions that governments frequently impose in violation of sexual and reproductive rights”.

These leading pro-abortion organizations are committed to activity on national levels “to immediately decriminalize ab

ortion” and implement the recommendations of the report which portrays access to abortion as a “human rights obligation”. Parliamentarians are advised to be ready to refute pro-abortion arguments that distort sovereign laws protecting unborn children and their mothers from the violence of abortion and that portray life-affirming laws and policies as “harmful to women’s health, equality, bodily integrity and dignity.”
[The Editors, December 2, 2011, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pnci-report-on-latest-international-pressures-for-abortion?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=110c65c41f-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines12_02_2011&utm_medium=email]
 

 


Video Details Sebelius’ Role in Shredding Planned Parenthood Hard Evidence
A video by the American Life League (ALL) is highlighting the pivotal role of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as Kansas governor in shredding key evidence against Planned Parenthood, which was facing several felony charges that were dropped as a result of the shredding.

ALL’s Michael Hichborn details former Kansas attorney general Phill Kline’s efforts collecting key evidence against the abortion organization, only to be blocked from the documents after being voted out of office. The new attorney general, Steve Six, in conjunction with the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment, shredded the evidence.

Planned Parenthood had been facing 107 criminal charges, including 23 felonies for falsifying documents. Forty-nine of the charges alleged that the abortion organization had not reported child sexual abuse as required by law.

“The evidence was destroyed at a time the Sebelius administration knew the documents were key to a criminal investigation of Planned Parenthood’s failure to report child rape,” wrote Kline, as noted by Hichborn. “Planned Parenthood is an important and long-term political ally of Sebelius.”

ALL is calling on Sebelius to resign as head of Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services. (ALL’s petition — http://www.all.org/sebelius)

“It is absolutely clear that Sebelius must go back to Kansas and must face what is going on there rather than continue in her position of Secretary of Health and Human Services,” said ALL Vice President Jim Sedlak.

Video — http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/he-said-she-shred-new-video-details-sebelius-role-in-shredding-planned-pare
[Kathleen Gilbert, Dec 16, 2011, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/he-said-she-shred-new-video-details-sebelius-role-in-shredding-planned-pare]

Corporate Funding Project — Corporations that Fund Planned Parenthood

"Help fight Planned Parenthood by refusing to do business with corporations that fund its deadly agenda. Did you know that the following corporations are boycott targets?

"Whole Foods Market, JPMorgan Chase (including Chase Bank, & Bank One), Bank of America, Lost Arrow (Patagonia), Wells Fargo, Chevron (including Caltex, Texaco, Xpress Lube), eBay (including PayPal), Midas (auto care), Nike, Marriott (including Courtyard, Fairfield, Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton, etc.), Johnson & Johnson, Staples (office/school supplies), and Darden Restaurants (Bahama Breeze, The Capital Grille, LongHorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Seasons 52). And this is just a partial list!…

"Join the Boycott!  http://www.fightpp.org/ "

"The Pro-Life movement will succeed only as much as people are willing to be inconvenienced."
"We only really believe that which motivates us to action."

 

 


Do You Know if Your Food or Vaccines Contain Aborted Cells?
Little upsets pro-life people more than learning that things they consider innocent are actually tainted with the shedding of innocent blood. This long list of guilt-ridden products includes childhood vaccines, wrinkle creams and even your favorite soft drinks and chewing gum

The problem is, it’s hard to keep it all straight even if you are trying to avoid putting products in you that are obtained through the death of a baby. Fortunately, Children of God for Life has produced an easy reference guide—a one page list of fetal call products.

For remainder of article, visit — http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/13/do-you-know-if-your-food-or-vaccines-contain-aborted-cells/

Netherlands Pro-Life March for Life Doubles in Size
The annual March for Life was held in The Hague, the Netherlands. Participants from various denominations attended.

http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/13/netherlands-pro-life-march-for-life-doubles-in-size/

Ireland’s Gain: Life-Affirming Laws Benefit Women’s Health — Report
The report shows that Irish women have benefitted from our ban on abortion, linking our low abortion rate to low incidences of breast cancer and comparative good mental health among women.

The study, compiled by actuary Mr Patrick Carroll M.A., F.I.A. of the Pensions and Population Research Institute (PAPRI), compared statistical data on abortions carried out on women resident in Ireland and Northern Ireland from 1968-2010 with the corresponding data for Britain and discussed the implications for the health of women.

Mr Carroll said that “Restrictive laws on abortion have enabled the birth rate in the Republic and Northern Ireland to remain much higher than the European average. Today the Irish birth rates are near to replacement level and Ireland benefits from a more youthful demographic profile with less dependence on immigration than other European countries.”

He added that there were benefits for both women and children, explaining that: “it is because abortion rates are low among Irish women that Ireland shows a low incidence of maternal and infant conditions known to be abortion sequelae: still births, low weight births whether in singleton or multiple births, preterm or premature births, cerebral palsy and maternal deaths.”

“Ireland also benefits from low incidence of breast cancer and comparatively good mental health among women and a low incidence of certain diseases of the immune system, to which low abortion rates have contributed. Liberalisation of abortion laws in Ireland can be expected to result in higher abortion rates and a corresponding deterioration in respect of these conditions affecting the health of women,” he continued.

Youth Defence were invited to attend the launch of the report in Dublin, which had also been launched in Belfast yesterday at a reception attended by Precious Life and hosted by the All- All Party Pro-Life Group.

Spokeswoman Rebecca Roughneen agreed with Mr Carroll’s assertion that the discussion of premature birth rates, stillbirth rates, suicide rates, mental health, breast cancer rates, and immunological disorders all point to an urgent need to examine more fully the impact of liberalization of abortion laws and their adverse impact on women’s health.

“The report shows that more than 100,000 Irish children would have been lost to abortion if legislation had passed. We need to ensure that Ireland’s pro-life laws continue to protect mothers and babies,” she s

aid.

Find Carroll’s report "Ireland's Gain: The Demographic Impact and Consequences for the health of Women of the Abortion Laws in Ireland and Northern Ireland since 1968"  — http://www.youthdefence.ie/am_cms_media/irelands-gain.pdf

[15 Dec 11, Youth Defence, Dublin, Ireland, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/irelands-pro-life-laws-benefit-womens-health-report?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=df9860b951-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines12_14_2011&utm_medium=email]

Commentary: How One Conversation Made Me Pro-Life

In several previous articles for Live Action, I have alluded to the fact that I used to be pro-abortion, and fairly recently. The conversation that convinced me that abortion was wrong occurred in the fall of 2006. Before that day, I would have told anyone who asked that I was pro-choice. I was never involved in activism, unless you call giving the middle finger to pro-life protesters as I drove by abortion clinics “activism.” In fact, I never really gave abortion much thought. But in political debates — in which I frequently engaged — one of the accusations I liked to hurl at the opposition was that they were “anti-choice.”

I have a clear memory of looking for a website one day when I accidentally typed the URL incorrectly, and instead of the shopping site I was looking for, I ended up at a pro-life website with a large, graphic photo of an aborted fetus on the title page. I remember feeling disgusted… by the pro-lifers. This emotional reaction is mystifying to me now, although I felt it many times myself and have witnessed it in others. Confronted with a jarring photo of the violence of abortion, the pro-abort does not feel sadness or horror for the child, but anger at the pro-lifer for offending him. They simply do not see the baby. They see only their own opinion, assaulted.

There are exceptions to this, and I’ll get to them.

I knew girls my age — mid to late twenties — who’d had abortions. When they told me about them, I reacted with what I felt was the requisite nonchalance, but inside I always felt a little horrified. I did not have children — I still do not — and had never tried to, but I also knew that no matter how poor, lonely, or desperate I was, I could never abort my child. And I have been poor, lonely, and desperate. In my mind and heart, I understood babies to be sources of joy.

My mom was a 27-year-old mother of two working in the food service industry when she became pregnant. Her boyfriend, upon finding out she was pregnant, surprised her by taking off and never coming back. Then the sonogram surprised her by revealing two heartbeats. That’s right: twins.

She considered abortion briefly, in a moment of panic, but not seriously. She says she thought about it the way you sometimes think about doing something you know you’ll never do. It was a momentary fantasy born of desperation, but it was never an option. She credits prayer with getting her through the next few years until she met the man who would become my brothers’ father. My mom has a strong will, and she was determined to be positive. She put a magnet on the refrigerator so she would see it every day. It said, “A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.” I remember it being there for years.

When the twins were born, she could no longer work 60+ hours a week as the manager of a fast food restaurant. My grandparents helped some and I, at nearly nine, was a built-in babysitter and diaper changer and entertainer. Now my mom was 28 with a nine year old, a seven year old, two infants, no job, and a GED.

I never remember being surrounded by gloom. I didn’t feel poor. I knew things were hard, and I worried about my mom, and things weren’t perfect, but ours was not a miserable childhood.

More than anything, I remember the joy my baby brothers brought to our family. They were the light of everyone’s life. It’s almost like God said to my mom, “Well, since the circumstances for these babies are less than ideal, I’m gonna make the babies themselves ideal. How’s that?” They were perfect: blonde curls, giant blue eyes, creamy skin, with fun, happy personalities. They were smart and charming and wonderful, and they still are. They are 23 years old now, and one has a daughter of his own. She is the light of our life, too, and my mom is a proud grandmother.

It would have been so easy for my mother to choose abortion. It was 1988 in a major metropolitan area. Abortion was legal and fairly commonplace. But my mom did the courageous, difficult, wonderful thing, and chose life for her sons. In doing so, she gave our family — and the world — a wonderful gift in my two youngest brothers. I cannot imagine life without them. I don’t want to.

Considering the story of my brothers’ origins, and the fact that my mom was adopted at birth, you’d think I would have been a natural candidate for pro-life views. But by the time I knew what abortion was, I was old enough to start rebelling against my parents’ values. My rebellion was more ideological than practical. I wasn’t much for running around with boys or sneaking out constantly — my mom was pretty strict — but I read a lot, and I had wild ideas. I decided to do what young people have done from time immemorial, and reject the mores of the society I knew.

So I said “no thanks” to the Baptist church and traditional values in general at around age 14, and I stayed more or less anti-everything-I-grew-up-with until the age of 27, when I got in a van with a Catholic.

Here’s what happened:

I had a friend. I’ll call her Sadie. She was a fellow rebel with me in high school and up through our early 20s. In the past couple years, we had fallen out of touch. She had converted … and had two babies. She’d become a sort of Betty Crocker, a model suburban housewife, albeit one who retained a marked tendency to listen to The Cure and smoke cloves.

Anyway, Sadie and I reconnected somehow, and she asked if I wanted to come spend the night. Her husband was overseas with the Army, so we could put the kids to bed and stay up all night talking like we did back in high school. I said sure, and she said she’d come by to pick me up.

I knew Sadie had become a … Army wife, and I was prepared for the mini-van, the car seats, and the munchkins, but not for the pro-life bumper stickers.

Later that night, after the kids were in bed and I had imbibed some Jack Daniels and whooped her butt at Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit, I said to Sadie, “What’s with the pro-life bumper stickers? I mean, come on. I know you’re Catholic and all, but haven’t you gone a little bit overboard?”

Sadie replied with something I had not known. She told me she’d always been pro-life.

“I thought you were a feminist,” I said.

She answered, “I am.”

“Then how can you not support a woman’s right to choose?”

I don’t remember exactly how Sadie walked me through the pro-life argument. I know what she didn’t do, and that’s invoke religion or God in any way. At the time I would have described myself as an agnostic pantheist, so I would have immediately rejected such language.

After about an hour of back and forth, I knew I was had. I couldn’t argue with her anymore. Every talking point I had, she had shredded with logic and knowledge. But I was still wavering.

During the course of our conversation, she kept alluding to photos and what a large part they played in helping someone understand w

hat abortion is. Finally — and this is important — I asked to see them.

She showed them to me, and I had a completely different reaction than the one I’d had when confronted with the accidental website, or protesters bearing signs. My reaction before had not been horror at the dead baby, but anger at the pro-lifer for making me look at it. I thought it was “disrespectful of the dead,” and somehow glossed over how disrespectful it was to cause that death.

But this time, I had just had my mind and heart opened. I had slowly over the course of an hour been made to hear the truth, and now I was ready to see it.

I looked at the photos, and I had a visceral reaction. No words formed. But something inside me, something simple and human, said, “That is not okay.” I knew that what I was looking at was a dead human being. I knew it.

At that moment, I was pro-life.

I kept saying, “You just made me pro-life!” I kept repeating it the next morning as well, awed by the change in me and how it had happened. It was completely unexpected, and more than a little unwelcome.

I went home and got on the computer and went immediately to pro-choice websites hoping to be unconvinced. Reality was setting in, and with it the understanding that a pro-life viewpoint was not compatible with my lifestyle, my friends, my political and religious beliefs, or my irreverent sense of humor. I felt a mild sense of panic, because if abortion was what I unfortunately now believed it was, then it was not only wrong, it was reprehensible. It was not just something I was going to disagree with, it was something I was going to have to fight.

The pro-choice websites couldn’t unconvince me of the wrongness of abortion, and the scientific information I found only made things worse. More than anything, I wanted to find those photos discredited as fakes or misleading, but instead I found more photos, and plenty of authentication. I found a video in which a former abortionist turned pro-life activist, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, handled an aborted fetus and described it to the viewer. I watched and wept.

I started to feel duped, and a little angry. I felt lied to by the pro-choice side. I felt the terminology they used, like “clump of cells,” was misleading. I knew the information my friends had gotten in abortion clinics, and I knew now that it was patently false.

At the time I was blogging on MySpace — remember MySpace? — and had a lot of readers. I posted about my newfound viewpoint with trepidation, and people went a little wild. Over the course of the next year, I would lose a few dear friends over this issue and similar ones. Other people have remained friends with me, but it’s never quite been the same. The issue is so divisive that it really can make or break friendships, I’ve learned, especially when you do what I did and become an overnight activist.

You see, I was committed to a belief in human rights before I became pro-life, and I understood more and more as time went on that abortion is the ultimate human rights violation. It violates the most basic right — the right to life — for the most innocent and helpless among us — the unborn baby. It is the ultimate in the kind of “might makes right” thinking people condemn when it comes to wars, but embrace when it comes to a mother’s tyranny over her pre-born child.

The night I learned that abortion was wrong, I would have told you I was not only not a Christian, but that I disliked and distrusted Christianity… This is not to say the pro-life philosophy leads one to religion necessarily. In fact, I know pro-lifers of every political and religious persuasion and sexual orientation.

But for me personally, I believe God used this issue to open my heart and start me down a path that I never expected to walk.In many ways, Sadie is a completely different person than on the night we had that conversation, and so am I. But we are still good friends, and we are both still pro-life.

I owe her a huge debt of gratitude for having the courage to stand up for life in the face of someone who was pretty direct and challenging (that would be me), and the knowledge and wisdom to approach the issue from a secular, scientific point of view.
I am living proof of several things:

First, that it is essential for the pro-life apologist to be ready to tailor the argument to the person.

Second, that graphic images can absolutely change hearts when used correctly.

And third… Well…

You know that friend you have that you don’t even bother mentioning abortion to? The one who is so prickly and such a smarty-pants that you feel like you’d be shot down if you even tried explaining the pro-life viewpoint? I was that friend. And look at me now.

There is no heart that cannot be changed by truth.

[15 Dec 11, Kristen Walker, Reprinted with permission from LiveAction.org, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/how-one-conversation-made-me-pro-life?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=df9860b951-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines12_14_2011&utm_medium=email]

How Can We Stop More Down Syndrome Babies from Being Aborted?

As word spread of a new non-invasive, highly accurate prenatal test for Down syndrome, MaterniT21, the headlines could hardly have been more sensationalistic: The End of Down Syndrome! Will We Cull Those with Down Syndrome? Are Kids with Down Syndrome on the Road to Extinction?

This mainstream response seems to suggest a terrible acknowledgment of what happens to babies diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome. We have been “ending Down syndrome” for years, targeting atypical unborn children as we journey down a road that ensures a decreasing Down syndrome birth rate.

Just last week, a Time magazine article reported statistics pulled from a 2009 edition of the Archives of Disease in Childhood. As a result of more sophisticated prenatal screening, and with nine out of ten babies aborted following the prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, the birth rate for these children has been dropping for decades, decreasing by 15% between 1989 and 2005. This is particularly shocking as the impact of increasing maternal age during the same period should have resulted in a 24% increase in the Down syndrome birth rate.

What makes MaterniT21 (and all the new non-invasive prenatal tests based upon maternal plasma DNA) different and foreseeably catastrophic is that it will draw in a larger percentage of pregnant women. Those who reject invasive testing because of associated risks are likely to consent to a non-invasive test.  Advocates for those with Down syndrome have braced for just that reality, predicting that the Down syndrome birth rate (roughly 1 in 700 now) will drop sharply once non-invasive tests such as MaterniT21 are more widely available.

Authentic and effective Down syndrome advocacy must begin by embracing and advocating specifically for the baby with Down syndrome in the womb.

With an abortion rate that has consistently been around 90%, shouldn’t we also be asking ourselves why our best efforts at advocacy for those prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome have failed? And the related, and more important question, how can we improve our advocacy efforts?

… The primary threat to the lives of persons with Down syndrome is no longer prenatal testing and diagnosis; nor is it ignorance, outdated information, lack of peer and professional support, nor even insensitive communication at th

e time of diagnosis. The primary threat to the lives of persons with Down syndrome is abortion.

… If it is our goal to discover the best way to create a society that embraces (genetic and other) differences, can we even begin such an endeavor when we accept the idea that the unborn baby is so other, so different from us that they are not worthy of protection? Authentic and effective Down syndrome advocacy must begin by embracing and advocating specifically for the baby with Down syndrome in the womb…

[December 16, 2011, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/how-can-we-stop-more-down-syndrome-babies-from-being-aborted ; Monica Rafie and Tracy Winsor are founding partners in the work of Be Not Afraid Ministry, an outreach to parents grappling with prenatal diagnosis. Monica and Tracy are Contributing Writers for HLI America, an educational initiative of Human Life International. Their recent articles may be found at HLI America’s Truth and Charity Forum. This article first appeared at HLIAmerica.org]

 

 

 

Major Breakthrough in ALS Research Gives Patients Hope for the Future

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative condition that paralyzes its victims, has so baffled researchers that there is currently no effective treatment or cure to stop its progression. Sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease or motor neuron disease, ALS affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain that control voluntary muscle movement.

Until now, scientists were unsure about the cause of this nerve degeneration or even if the various types of ALS shared a common disease process.

Recently, however, breakthrough research conducted by a large team of scientists at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has finally uncovered the common cause of all forms of ALS. Their findings are published in the scientific journal Nature. [Han-Xiang Deng, et al., “Mutations in UBQLN2 cause dominant X-linked juvenile & adult-onset ALS and ALS/dementia,” Nature, 9/8/11 (online ver-sion: 8/21/11)]

The cause of ALS is “a broken down protein recycling system in the neurons of the spinal cord and brain.” Normal neuron functioning is dependent on efficient protein recycling in cells.

In ALS patients, cells cannot repair or maintain themselves and become severely damaged. Researchers found “robust evidence” that this breakdown occurs in all three types of ALS: hereditary ALS, called familial; nonhereditary, called sporadic; and ALS which affects the brain, called ALS/dementia.

“This opens up a whole new field for finding an effective treatment for ALS,” explained Teepu Siddique, M.D., one of the study’s senior authors. “We can now test for drugs that would regulate this protein pathway or optimize it, so it functions as it should in a normal state.”

The study’s findings will likely impact the development of effective treatment protocols for other neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia as well as Parkinson’s disease. These conditions are also characterized by a break-down in the recycling of damaged or “misfolded” proteins in cells.

Siddique has been researching ALS for over 25 years. “It was one of the most difficult problems in neurology and the most devastating, a disease without any treatment or known cause,” he said—until now. [Northwestern University, Press Release, 8/21/11]

Editor’s note: It is not uncommon to see ALS patients being interviewed by the media in locations where euthanasia and assisted-suicide advocates have been working to change laws banning induced-death practices. These patients usually say they want to hasten their deaths because they fear the future and feel utterly hopeless since there is currently no effective treatment to stop ALS’s progression.

Unfortunately, right-to-die groups often use these vulnerable patients to advance their agenda and unnecessarily reinforce those patients’ worst fears. Tragically, some ALS patients become assisted-suicide statistics with the all-too-willing help of US groups like the Final Exit Network and Compassion & Choices or the Swiss assisted-suicide clinic, Dignitas.
[Nov-Dec 2011, vol. 25, no. 4, Patients Rights Council Update, http://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Update_2011_4.pdf]

 

 

 

November was National Adoption Awareness Month

The Gift of Life: Poem of Adoptive Parent to Child
I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.
For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true!
No, I didn't give you
The gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.
— Unknown
[Fall 2011, Cincinnati Right to Life News Brief, http://cincinnatirighttolife.org/assets/attachments/file/Oct-Nov%202011%20nslr.pdf]

 

 

 Video Depicting Conception to Birth —

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKyljukBE70&feature=relmfu

 

 

When Does a Human Begin?
 
When one considers the ethics of manipulation, the question of whether we ought to, or whether we may manipulate an organism or entity depends on the answer to the first and most fundamental question:

What is it?

Ascertaining the identity and status of the object of our intended manipulation is essential.

In the fields of obstetrical medicine and reproductive medicine the ethical debates have raged for four decades. Enlightened discourse between opposing parties must assume good motives by all involved, and then go about asking the essential questions, following where the truth of science and reason lead.

Many claim that life begins at some point distant from fertilization, always beyond the point at which they propose some manipulation (abortion, embryonic stem cell culturing, etc…). There are always a list of biological functions that are given to define when human life begins: Cognitive capacity, etc.

The simple biological truth of the matter is that the Cell Theory states that all cells arise from pre-existing cells. There is no blackout period between sperm and egg uniting, and then the emergence of ‘life’ at some point distant.

The Carnegie stages of human development indicate that human development begins in the zygotic stage. Then there is the assertion of developmental biologist and leading textbook author in the field, Scott Gilbert. In his text, Gilbert takes us through the life cycle of a dog. His text, Developmental Biology, is arguably the leading text in the field. According to Gilbert:

“Traditional ways of classifying catalog animals according to their adult structure. But, as J. T. Bonner (1965) pointed out, this is a very artificial method, because what we consider an indiv

idual is usually just a brief slice of its life cycle. When we consider a dog, for instance, we usually picture an adult. But the dog is a “dog” from the moment of fertilization of a dog egg by a dog sperm. It remains a dog even as a senescent dying hound. Therefore, the dog is actually the entire life cycle of the animal, from fertilization through death.”

First, note how he sets the word dog off in quotes at one point, to communicate the very essence of the organism:

But the dog is a “dog” from the moment of fertilization of a dog egg by a dog sperm…

The same may be said of all vertebrates, including cats, giraffes, chimpanzees, and humans. Substituting the word human for dog in Gilbert’s analysis gets to the heart of the matter. We are human for our entire life cycle. We are whole and complete in form and function at every stage of our development, for that given developmental stage. The prepubescent child is fully human, even though they lack the capacity to execute all human functions, such as abstract reasoning, or reproduction.

In the same way, the early embryo is alive and fully human, though it has not yet executed all human organismal functions.
 
[30 Nov 11, Medical Students for Life, Dr. Nadal]
 

‘Taxis Against Abortion’ Program Reaches Thousands with Pro-Life Message


Taxi patrons and drivers in Seville, Spain are receiving the pro-life message in an unusual way: on the doors and backs of local taxis.

According to the Spanish news service Ecclesia Digital, the Taxis Against Abortion program has been in operation since 2005, managed by the local Mairena Pro-Life Association.

Until recently the cabs displayed the message “Yes to Life, No to Abortion,” but have now begun to show the message “No to Abortion—for all you hold dear.”

The new advertisements show the face of a child in tears. A phone number for more information is also displayed along with a pro-life symbol.

A total of 30 area taxis currently sport the displays, and the drivers are reportedly pleased with the strongly positive responses they receive from patrons.

“The taxi drivers are very pleased with the previous campaigns,” the president of Mairena Pro-Life told La Gaceta in a recent interview. “They often receive congratulations and they tell us that people have agreeable things to say much more often than negative ones, both when they are stopped – because other drivers whistle or make signs of approval – as well as from taxi patrons while they are driving,”

“This infects the taxi drivers, who feel protected, and we have many more who want to display the advertisements than we can pay for,” he added.
[Nov 30, 2011, John Jalsevac, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/taxis-against-abortion-program-reaches-thousands-with-pro-life-message?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=72a2ef1d83-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines11_30_2011&utm_medium=email]
   

 

 

 


PLANNED PARENTHOOD EXPOSED
In July, Americans United for Life released a detailed report documenting the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's known and alleged systemic financial fraud and abuses, including:

• Misuse of federal healthcare & family planning funds by PP affiliates

• Failure to report suspected criminal child sexual abuse as required by law, while instead advising children and their abusers on how to circumvent such laws

• Failure to comply with parental consent/involvement laws

• Willingness to assist those involved in prostitution and/or sex trafficking to exploit young women, instead of protecting their health and safety

• Dangerous misuse of the abortion drug RU-486, and disseminating misleading information about so-called “emergency contraception” including the new abortion-inducing drug, Ella

• Giving women deceptive and false information on fetal development and abortion’s inherent health risks

• Putting the lives and safety of women and girls at risk by referring them to abortion providers with inferior facilities and shockingly substandard healthcare practices
[Fall 2011, Cincinnati Right to Life News Brief, http://cincinnatirighttolife.org/assets/attachments/file/Oct-Nov%202011%20nslr.pdf]

 

 

 

The Truth about Planned Parenthood Continues to be Revealed — Two Situations

Victory: Planned Parenthood Sex Ed Presentation for Early Childhood Teachers Cancelled

Standing vigil at Rockland Community College in New York in the freezing cold on Nov. 5, Eileen P. witnessed amidst her signs that read “Planned Parenthood will kill 1,000+ babies today,” and “Planned Parenthood is aiding & abetting underage sex trafficking with your tax $.” Eileen was manning the post because Planned Parenthood was scheduled to present at the Early Education Conference being held there.

As she handed out literature to daycare teachers, the security guards approached to inform her that Planned Parenthood’s presentation had been canceled. “I have good news; you don’t have to freeze any more,” one of the men said.

"Eileen’s witness made a huge difference. Making a personal sacrifice to get out of your warm home to stand in freezing weather, wherever Planned Parenthood appears, can make the difference between the abortion giant flourishing or withering up and dying. Congratulations to Eileen and her compadres for challenging Planned Parenthood at every turn…"
[30 Nov 11, Wednesday STOPP Report]

Exposing Serious Inaccuracies — PP Does NOT Provide Mammograms; PP Proponents Should Get The Facts …
Obama spoke at a pro-abortion dinner where he, commented on moves to stop Federal Government funding of Planned Parenthood (PP). He said: “Instead of working to boost our economy, they’re out there spending time trying to defund Planned Parenthood and prevent millions of women from getting basic health care that they desperately need — pap smears and breast exams.”

His words are similar to those made earlier in the year by Cecile Richards, who noted that defunding Planned Parenthood would deny women access to mammograms.

However, Lila Rose of Live Action rang many Planned Parenthood centres asking for a mammogram, only to find they don’t do them. The only breast examination most of their centres do is the examination any woman can do herself. Abby Johnson, a former PP employee has testified to the truth of Lila’s findings.

Planned Parenthood with its affiliates is the largest abortion supplier in USA, doing over 300,000 abortions each year. It receives about $300 million dollars of government money per year.

Lila Rose had also exposed PP’s cover up of statutory rape and sex trafficking at PP clinics.