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Volume 7, Number 21 Monday, May 24, 2010
The Pill Kills – Become a Co-Sponsor!
Elaine Tyler May planned the release of her new book (America and the Pill) in celebration of the 50th anniversary of FDA approval of the birth control pill to coincide with Mother’s Day 2010 and her recent articles connect the pill with better mothering. The truth is, the pill kills families, the pill kills women, the pill kills babies and the pill kills the environment.
Since the pill was approved as a contraceptive in 1960 by the FDA, the institution of marriage has become endangered. The number of unmarried cohabitating couples has increased tenfold. Divorce rates have soared. Births to unmarried women have tripled. Some 1.3 million children are born out of wedlock each year. The “contraceptive mentality” has resulted in the decriminalization of abortion as a backup for failed contraception; 1.2 million children are aborted every year.
Won’t you help American Life League protest the pill? Sign up to be a co-sponsor (contact Marie Hahnenberg, Pill Kills project manager at mhahnenberg@all.org).
Plan an event outside of Planned Parenthood, other abortion facilities or local pharmacies and ALL will help advertise that activity by issuing media releases in your community. Contact us with the information at protests@all.org. Begin advertising your local event now by downloading and printing the flyer at http://www.thepillkills.com/assets/PPD10Flyer.pdf.
Need further ideas or information? See the Pill Kills web site at www.thepillkills.com.
STOPP Campaign to bring Jesus through Mary to Planned Parenthood
The latest ALL Report explains the nature and purpose of this campaign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY2eeb_4dtc.
And this moving video records the launch of the campaign in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, May 15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vORSA94_FzE.
From Associates
Defenders of the Unborn
Those interested in tickets for the Abby Johnson event on June 5 (announced last week) at the Columns in St. Charles can find information and registration forms online at Defenders' new web site: www.stl-defenders.com.
Houston Coalition for Life
The all-day prayer vigil on May 11 at Planned Parenthood’s new abortion facility in Houston was indeed a very sorrowful day. As was expected, opening day included abortions. However, throughout the course of the day, almost 100 people came out to pray. Christian radio station KCBI out of Dallas conducted live broadcasts for three hours with local pro-lifers at the Planned Parenthood. Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) also aired a story on Planned Parenthood’s expansion in Houston that they filmed in March. Part of the story is an interview with Abby Johnson that took place in HCL’s office (read the article and see the video at
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2010/May/Abortion-Supercenter-Set-to-Open-in-Houston-/).
Because there is no place to build or lease property next to the new Planned Parenthood abortuary, Houston Coalition for Life is moving forward with a mobile crisis pregnancy center that will be parked on the street next to Planned Parenthood! In order to raise money for the mobile center, HCL is sponsoring their first Walk for Life. For more information and to register, see www.houstoncoalition.com.
St. Mary’s Life Cell
Chris LaRose, director of St. Mary’s Life Cell in Potsdam, New York, also heads up the Potsdam Life Chain. The organization held its second Life Chain event on Mother’s Day weekend, which was the topic of an article in the local Daily Courier-Observer. Read the article at http://www.mpcourier.com/article/20100508/DCO01/305089929/-1/dco.
Tip of the Month: The Church and Abortion
Excerpts from Choices in Matters of Life & Death by Judie Brown with Paul Brown
All faiths must have respect for human life, right? Yet almost all churches and the Jewish and Islamic faiths seem silent or visibly weak in defense of life. What is the problem with the churches? Why aren’t they involved?
One of the problems is that religious people in leadership positions have somehow forgotten that their main purpose as leaders of their flocks, so to speak, is to set absolute moral guidelines for people to follow. It is up to the leadership of the churches to declare what is right and wrong, without ever discussing any other possibility.
But today in the churches we hear so much about the gray areas with regard to so many of these issues that affect all of us as human beings. The leaders are afraid to condemn sin. The churches have grown weak because they are afraid to confront evil; they would rather dialogue than continue to preach what is right and wrong.
Many church leaders are desirous of protecting such trivial things as tuition tax credits and are fearful of IRS audits; because they are afraid of losing their tax-exempt status, they sometimes sit back and say nothing.
It’s tragic in two ways: first, because their silence can be bought. The devil has found out their price for keeping quiet about abortion and other evils. Second, it’s tragic because there is plenty the churches can do without jeopardizing their tax exemption.
Many church leaders have swallowed the twisted interpretation of separation of church and state that’s making the rounds these days.
The United States was founded by people who were looking for religious freedom. There was a consensus among the founders that freedom of religion ought to be protected, to the point that they forbade the government to establish a state religion. The whole intent of this was to ensure that everyone could freely practice various faiths; tax exemption for churches was part of this – the government was prohibited from taxing churches because it could, if it chose, literally tax them to death! The whole idea was to prevent government interference in religion.
Nowadays, however, many people are talking as though the government should be hostile to any religion, rather than protecting them all equally, and they are saying that allowing the churches a voice on moral matters and not just doctrine is involving the churches in the government. They choose to overlook the fact that preaching morality is an integral part of faith. The job of religion in America has always been not just to teach doctrine, but to preach morality, what is right and wrong.
Further, contrary to pro-abortion rhetoric, the American government has always had as its role the enforcement of morality. For almost two hundred years we had agreement among the American people that certain things – killing, stealing and lying under oath – were morally wrong and should be prohibited by law.
What it boils down to is that certain people no longer believe that killing is wrong, and they are using a distorted version of separation of church and state to eliminate the laws against killing, at least certain classes of people: the preborn, the elderly, the sick and the handicapped.
News
Study links abortion, substance abuse
A study from the University of Manitoba has found that women who have had an abortion are nearly four times as likely to have problems with drugs and alcohol as those who have not. Researchers also identified an association between mental disorders and abortion and suggested that doctors should screen for a history of abortion in women who present symptoms of anxiety, mood disorders and substance abuse.
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=32947
Toyota 52 Deaths, Gardasil 49. Toyota Recalled.
Cervical cancer accounts for less than 1 percent of all cancer deaths, so it was somewhat surprising when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fast-tracked approval of Gardasil, a Merck vaccine targeting the human papilloma virus that causes the disease, in 2006. As of January 31, 2010, 49 unexplained deaths following Gardasil injections have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (http://vaers.hhs.gov/index). By contrast, 52 deaths are attributed to unintended acceleration in Toyotas, which triggered a $2 billion recall. No recall for Gardasil, which is required for sixth-grade girls in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and many other states. Parents can opt out, but few know the true risks.
http://vactruth.com/2010/03/31/toyota-52-deaths-gardasil-49-toyota-recalled/
Good News on Multiple Sclerosis with Adult Stem Cells
A groundbreaking new study published in the last week provides more good news for treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) with adult stem cells. Researchers at the University of Bristol used patients’ own adult stem cells to treat their MS. In a Phase I clinical trial, six patients with MS were treated with their own bone marrow adult stem cells and their progress followed for one year. The treatment appeared to stabilized the patients’ condition and showed some benefits. As one measure of the success of the procedure, damaged nerve pathways were able to carry electrical pulses more effectively after the treatment.
http://www.frcblog.com/2010/05/good-news-on-multiple-sclerosis-with-adult-stem-cells/
Closing Thought
"As faith grows strong, error is conquered and melts away."
—St. Paulinus of Nola, Magnificat, July ’09, p. 292
For 15 May 2010
CONTACT: Katie Walker
540.659.4942| kwalker@all.org
Consecration in Washington, D.C. Marks 25th Anniversary of STOPP Planned Parenthood
BISHOP APPROVES PRAYERS FOR ‘BRINGING JESUS TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD THROUGH MARY’ CAMPAIGN
Washington, DC (for 15 May 2010) –
WHAT:
American Life League will unveil new prayers approved by Bishop Emeritus John W. Yanta to combat Planned Parenthood – the nation’s largest abortion chain – during a Rosary and prayer procession in front of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington.
To observe the 25th anniversary of ALL’s STOP Planned Parenthood project, the event will kick-start a new nationwide campaign to “Bring Jesus to Planned Parenthood through Mary.”
WHEN:
May 15, 2010, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
WHERE:
A Rosary procession from The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, 1725 Rhode Island Ave., NW, following 8:00 a.m. Mass to Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, 1108 16th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
WHO:
The purpose of American Life League’s STOPP project is really quite simple: To cause such discontent with Planned Parenthood programs that it will have no choice but to close its doors and get out of town
WHY:
To mark the 25th anniversary of STOPP’s efforts to eradicate Planned Parenthood, the group will consecrate the fight against Planned Parenthood to Our Blessed Mother, followed by prayers asking Our Lady to stop Planned Parenthood that have been specifically written for this campaign and approved by Bishop Emeritus John W.Yanta.
American Life League will also be unveiling three new signs available for grassroots pro-lifers to combat Planned Parenthood.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: Bringing Jesus to Planned Parenthood Through Mary
http://www.stopp.org/prayercard.php
American Life League: STOPP Planned Parenthood
http://www.stopp.org/
ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY, ‘PILL KILLS DAY’ EXPOSES HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF BIRTH CONTROL
For National Women’s Health Week, Women Deserve the Truth, says Group
Washington, DC (14 May 2010) – For the 50th anniversary of the FDA–approved birth control pill, American Life League is highlighting the health and environmental dangers of artificial contraception with nationwide protests to mark “The Pill Kills Day” on June 5.
"It is truly hard to believe that those concerned with the environment in which we live are not equally concerned about the environment of a woman's body, polluted as it is with artificial chemicals that are really nothing more than recreational drugs," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League.
Marie Hahnenberg, project director of the Pill Kills Day, agreed.
“Women need to talk to their doctors about healthier and safer alternatives than the birth control pill,” Hahnenberg said. “The pharmaceutical industries are doing everything they can to ignore the estimated 25,000 lawsuits in the U.S. alone. During this National Women’s Health Week especially – women deserve to be better informed on what they’re putting in their bodies.”
While it is estimated that over 12 million American women take the birth control pill, the Mayo Clinic warns that birth control use is one of the major contributing factors for pulmonary embolism and blood clots. Hormonal birth control is considered a class one carcinogen – alongside cigarettes - in cancer-causing potential.
Scientists also warn that birth control in the nation’s waterways is wreaking havoc on fish populations – a fact that could have a significant domino impact up the food chain.
A 2006 study conducted in the waters of the Potomac River and its tributaries found that 80 percent of the male small mouth bass were strange intersex fish – these male fish were growing female reproductive parts. Scientists have also found that exposure to estrogen reduces the production of immune related proteins in fish, making them more susceptible to disease. This could explain why intersex fish, massive fish kills and fish with lesions coexist in the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.
According to Conrad Volz, co-director of exposure assessment at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Center for Environmental Oncology, “We need to pay attention to chemicals that are estrogenic in nature, because they find their way back into the water we all use.”
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill Kills
http://thepillkills.org/
Scientific American: Bringing Cancer to the Dinner Table (17 April 2007)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bringing-cancer-to-dinner-table-breast-cancer-cells-grow-under-influence-fish-flesh
Mayo Clinic: Pulmonary embolism
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pulmonary-embolism/ds00429/dsection=risk-factors
Volume 7, Number 17 Monday, April 26, 2010
Save the Date: Saturday June 5, 2010 is Protest the Pill Day
Interested in “going green”? Then protest the birth control pill and help save our environment! Scientists around the world have discovered that high amounts of synthethic estrogen, resulting from use of hormonal contraceptives, are now entering our water and are feminizing male fish! If fish are being affected by the high estrogen levels now found in streams, and scientists are also concerned about estrogen levels in our cities’ water supply, then HOW SAFE IS YOUR DRINKING WATER? For more information, go to www.thepillkills.com.
From Associates
Pharmacists for Life International
A pro-life law firm located in New Jersey is seeking a local pharmacist willing to challenge New Jersey’s statute restricting the rights of pharmacists. Please contact Bo Kuhar directly at PFLI headquarters (pfli@pfli.org) if you would like to be considered, or if you know of an interested pharmacist. And, please, feel free to share with others!
Tip of the Month: The Vocabulary of Death
Excerpts from Choices in Matters of Life & Death by Judie Brown with Paul Brown
For any particular cause to succeed, one must somehow frame the issue, change the language and attempt to have an impact on public opinion. The pro-abortion movement has been very successful in changing the language. A very popular word we see all over the place today is “choice.”
Before the pro-death movement took over, we knew the word “choice” meant deciding which car we were going to buy, or what we would choose in the grocery store if there were several different brands. But today the word “choice” is on a par with the word “me.” “Choice” often connotes selfishly deciding what’s best for me – not selecting a bargain; not selecting what would be best for our family, but rather, selecting something by “choice” that is best for me as an individual. Me, the selfish person; “Choice,” the exclamation of the selfish me. And, in accord with this definition of “choice,” the preborn baby certainly has no choice.
We have to answer the persuasive pro-death vocabulary with the facts. When NOW and similar groups say a woman has a right to choose, what they don’t say is that the woman has a right to choose to kill another human being. They never finish the sentence – and that gives quite a definition to the word “choice.”
What about the phrase “every child a wanted child”? To call a child – a human being – a commodity is exactly what that phrase does. It equates children with things. You might want a new car; you might want a loaf of bread different from the one you bought. But you certainly can’t place a human being on the same level with a possession.
But that is what has happened. Our children have become property, things we can want or not want, and therefore it becomes easy for us as a society to look on preborn children and decide for ourselves what this child will or will not be able to achieve and whether or not we even want the child. Thus, decisions are made to abort human beings.
This is where PERSONHOOD comes in. The human personhood movement seeks to restore the original intent of the Constitution by defining every human being as a "person" from his or her biological beginning.
The need to amend the Constitution by clarifying the definition of personhood can be explained by visiting a landmark Supreme Court decision. In 1965, the United States Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut, suddenly found the "right to privacy" in sexual matters in the "emanations” from “penumbras" (shadows) allegedly found in the Constitution. Griswold v. Connecticut made human beings property again.
Human beings can be owned in test tubes and wombs. They can be killed, used involuntarily as test objects, destroyed for their stem cells, genetically modified, cloned, dissected and stripped of their dignity. In turn, this so-called "right to privacy" was invoked by the Supreme Court in 1973, in Roe v. Wade, to decriminalize abortion in the United States.
Legal precedent and the Constitution’s original intent support the argument for personhood. The authors of the Constitution clearly intended to protect each human being from his or her biological beginning. Since 1973, this protection has been denied to a whole class of human beings.
Modern medical science supports personhood. Any opposition to personhood initiatives will not be based upon legitimate scientific evidence. Personhood removes the politically charged rhetoric of the debate and replaces it with the commonsense principle that life begins at each human being's biological beginning.
The time has come to restore the vocabulary of life and to restore protection to all human beings.
News
Expert debunks claim that anti-contraceptive conservatism advances abortion
A recent attempt by pro-abortion law professor Andrew Koppelman to blame abortion rates on the conservative movement itself fails in all three of its arguments, according to Michael New, a University of Alabama political science professor.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/apr/10041408.html
Economist: Contraceptive culture shifts economic power away from women
The contraception revolution has, contrary to its image, shifted wealth and power away from women and is in effect "deeply sexist," according to one economist's analysis. In the essay, entitled "Bitter Pill" and appearing in the latest edition of First Things magazine, economist Timothy Reichert argues that the case against contraception can be effectively articulated "using the language of social science, which is the language of the mainstream." Rather than framing the debate as "a case of faith and reason talking past each other," those who oppose contraception can frame the debate in terms of the objective societal damage contraception causes.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/apr/10041510.html
The birth-control riddle
Despite all of the birth control options available today, the rates of unplanned pregnancies remain high: Almost half of all pregnancies in the U.S.—some 3.1 million a year—are unintended, according to the most recent government survey, from 2001. Almost half (48%) of unintended pregnancies involve contraceptive failures.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703757504575194191495081682.html
Birth control pill concerns bring lawsuits but few solid answers
When the oral contraceptives Yasmin and Yaz came on the market in 2001 and 2006, respectively, they were thought to be safer than other birth control pills because they contained a different kind of synthetic progestin. But in a flurry of lawsuits against the pills' maker, Bayer HealthCare, attorneys claim that the progestin contained in the pills, drospirenone, is the cause of health problems, including deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the deep veins), strokes, heart attacks and gallbladder disease.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-yaz-20100419,0,2851244.story
Abortion, suicide often hand-in-hand
Mental health risks are becoming increasingly associated with women who have had an abortion. According to Dr. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, a number of studies indicate an elevated risk of suicide following an abortion. "About [one]-fourth of women who report having negative reactions to abortion will also report that they attempted suicide at least once, and suicidal thoughts are even more common," Reardon reports.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=973252
“Three Parent” kids
UK scientists have created "designer embryos" containing DNA from a man and TWO women. The breakthrough gives hope of healthy children to couples with genetic disorders in their families. It also offers the prospect of eradicating fatal genetic diseases. But the procedure - dubbed three-person IVF – has sparked controversy.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/2932888/UK-scientists-create-designer-embryos-with-three-peoples-DNA.html#ixzz0lC4qQOi3
Closing Thought
"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
—John 12:34-35
MEDIA RELEASE
22 April 2010
EARTH DAY:
SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT FROM PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Washington, DC (22 April 2010) – Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion chain and birth control provider, is the main culprit behind America’s increasingly polluted waters.
Over the past few years, scientists have discovered that male fish in the nation’s streams, lakes and rivers have been growing female reproductive parts. Scientists point to synthetic estrogen from birth control that has made its way into the nation’s water supply from sewage systems.
“This Earth Day, let’s fight back and save our environment by eliminating Planned Parenthood’s support. One way you can celebrate Earth Day is to join the fight against Planned Parenthood,” said Marie Hahnenberg, director of American Life League’s “The Pill Kills” project.
Planned Parenthood receives millions of tax dollars each year to distribute birth control pills that are toxic to our environment and pose a myriad of health risks to women and their preborn children, including blood clots and cancer.
But on Earth Day 2010, American Life League pointed to the birth control pill’s startling and often overlooked impact on wildlife.
"What we demonstrated is that estrogen can wipe out entire populations of small fish—a key food source for larger fish whose survival could in turn be threatened over the longer term," Dr. Karen Kidd, of the University of New Brunswick told LifeSiteNews after an in-depth study of birth control’s impact on lakes and watersheds. "We've known for some time that estrogen can adversely affect the reproductive health of fish, but ours was the first study to show the long-term impact on the sustainability of wild fish populations," Kidd continued.
Conrad Volz, co-director of exposure assessment at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute’s Center for Environmental Oncology, pointed to the danger posed to human populations: “We need to pay attention to chemicals that are estrogenic in nature, because they find their way back into the water we all use.”
American Life League’s The Pill Kills Day on Saturday, June 5 will raise further awareness of the birth control pill’s deadly impact on the environment. For more information, see www.thepillkills.org.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Pill Kills 2010
http://thepillkills.org/
Physicians for Life
http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/1567/2/
California Catholic Daily: Estrogen Overload (29 April 2007)
http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=25291453-1c9e-46d2-8aab-05ab487fb751
MEDIA RELEASE
April, 19, 2010
A.L.L. CONGRATULATES BISHOPS ON REBUKE OF CATHOLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION
Washington, DC (19 April 2010) – American Life League President Judie Brown issued the following statement along with letters of appreciation to Bishop Lawrence E Brandt of Greensburg, Pa. and Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, R.I. after both bishops rebuked the Catholic Health Association for the group’s endorsement and support of the Obama health care plan.
“In the wake of the Catholic Health Association’s betrayal of the Catholic faith and the lives entrusted to the group, Bishops Tobin and Brandt have set the record straight: You cannot claim to be Catholic and support initiatives that attack the personhood of human beings.
“CHA has turned its back on the Christ-centered health care that has been a hallmark of Catholic ministry in this country since the very first missionaries set foot in the New World centuries ago.
“Thousands of priests, religious and laity have spent their lives in imitation of Christ and His call to care for the sick.It stands to reason, then, that opposing the injustice of abortion and other attacks on human beings’ lives would be central to CHA’s mission.
“CHA’s support for the pro-abortion Obama health bill is a sickening abandonment of the sacred mission entrusted to them. Catholics around the country are left confused, misled and betrayed. Is it any wonder that so many are ignorant of the Catholic Church’s teaching on human personhood when the Catholic Health Association blatantly defies it?
“Bishops Tobin and Brandt have shown themselves to be true shepherds of their flocks by their swift rebuke of CHA. We hope their brothers bishops unite with them in upholding sound and uncompromising moral principles.
“For this, we express our gratitude and assure the bishops of our prayers for their work.”
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
The Catholic Sun: Bishops take actions against nuns, CHA over stand on health reform (16 April 2010)
http://www.catholicsun.org/2010/april/16/cnstobin-brandt.html
National Catholic Register: A 'Catholic' Social Justice Lobby? (19 April 2010)
http://www.ncregister.com/register_exclusives/a_catholic_social_justice_lobby/
Volume 7, Number 16
Monday, April 19, 2010
National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week starts next week: April 27 - May 3!
Have you seen the latest Rock for Life videocast starring Erik Whittington and Jeff McLain? Watch and learn how easy it is to promote and participate in National Pro-life T-shirt Week as well as the NPLTW photo scavenger hunt! For more information, see the NPLTW web site.
New Associate Group
Please join me in welcoming the newest addition to our Associate Program, Queen of Angels Pro-life Group in Riverside, California. Queen of Angels Pro-life Group is the pro-life ministry at Queen of Angels Catholic Church. It was formed in 2007 when members of the parish saw a need to educate not only the parish but the largely Hispanic community about contraception and the consequences of abortion. The group provides education on these issues as well as natural family planning and also holds regular prayer vigils outside the Family Planning Association Medical Group, an abortuary in Riverside. The current group coordinator is Isabel Tovar-Guido. We’re very pleased to have Queen of Angels Pro-life Group as part of our network and we look forward to working with them!
From Associates
Houston Coalition for Life
Planned Parenthood’s late-term abortion facility on Gulf Freeway in Houston appears to be opening soon. This new abortion facility will provide abortions through 25 weeks of pregnancy. On April 30, Planned Parenthood is having their grand opening gala and 75th anniversary celebration at the Corinthian Hotel.
Two extremely important action items:
Contact the Corinthian Hotel and tell them in a respectful way that you are extremely disappointed to learn that the hotel is hosting Planned Parenthood’s celebration. The Corinthian is operated by Jackson and Company:
Jackson Hicks
Jackson and Company
P.O. Box 130260
River Oaks Station
Houston, Texas 77219-0260
Phone: 713.523.5780
E-mail: info@jacksonandcompany.net or thecorinthian@jacksonandcompany.com
Be part of a huge prayer vigil (physically or in prayer if you are unable to attend) outside of the Corinthian Hotel on April 30. There will be a prayerful procession from Annunciation Catholic Church on Texas Street at 5:45 p.m. to the Corinthian Hotel on Fannin (approximately one-half mile).
Pro-Life Wisconsin
There have been a number of items from Wisconsin in the past week:
The Associated Press revealed last Tuesday that the Wisconsin Department of Justice again denied an open records request for a threat assessment prepared on pro-life activity in Wisconsin – despite the fact that the Department of Homeland Security had already determined that the report was an improper investigation of freedom of speech activities. See Pro-Life Wisconsin’s media release .
Three weeks ago, Pro-Life Wisconsin broke the news that Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth sent a letter to the five public school districts in Juneau County warning that the new sexual education law recently passed by the Wisconsin Legislature and signed by Governor Doyle could expose district school teachers to criminal liability and school districts to civil liability for promoting “the sexualization – and sexual assault – of our children.” Since then, Southworth’s move to protect Wisconsin’s youth has been featured in numerous media outlets including the AP, One News Now, the O’Reilly Factor and Anderson Cooper 360.
Associates are encouraged to read Southworth’s letter on PLW’s web site and share it with your own county district attorney. As parents and concerned citizens, we need to fight this assault on our youth.
Lastly, Live Action released a new undercover video which reveals medically inaccurate abortion counseling at another tax-funded Milwaukee Planned Parenthood clinic. The video records Planned Parenthood staff distorting basic facts of fetal development and pressuring a woman to have an abortion. In the video, a staffer tells a woman who is reportedly six to eight weeks pregnant that, at this stage, her baby has "no arms, no legs, no heart, no head, no brain." See press release from ALL Associate group Pro-Life Wisconsin here.
Tip of the month – Parent Power – Summary of Actions you Can Take to Defeat Offensive Education Programs – While the Fight is Raging
From Parent Power!! by Jim Sedlak
35. Be careful of committees. There is an apparent strategy amongst pro-family life education people to get bothersome parents tied up in useless committees while Planned Parenthood goes about the real agenda. Do not refuse to sit on committees, but size up the committee action quickly and be prepared to continue your other activities even while the committee sessions are continuing.
36. Do not be surprised if the FLE supporters lie to keep their program. But, be sure you do not resort to the same tactics. Be sure all your statements are true. That way, the school board will quickly learn they can rely on your information and must question what the FLE supporters are saying.
37. If you are presented with an opportunity to have an effect on school policy (such as with an access policy), take it! Try to get the best policy statements you can. You never know when they will be beneficial to your goals.
38. If you have followed all the steps so far and nothing has worked, run a supportive person for your local school board. School boards normally elect some members every year. Let the board members know you are serious by running a candidate. And make sure that all the churches and organizations in your area who support your position get out the vote for your candidate.
39. You are in this fight for the children. Certainly you are not in it for financial gain or because you have nothing better to do with your time. And, you are not in it to gain the perceived power of elective office. Therefore, if you decide to run for the school board, do it on the issues. Remember, if you run on the issues and get the message out, even if you lose – you win!
ALWAYS …
40. Rely on God to direct your efforts.
These are the actions you can take to rid your schools of Planned Parenthood. We cannot tell you how long the fight will take. It may be a month or it may take several years. Regardless, you will be fighting for God and spreading His word. Remember this in times when you get discouraged.
News
Bank worker died of blood clot linked to pill
Jenna Morris died after a deep vein thrombosis developed in her legs and spread to her lungs. A post mortem revealed she died of a blood clot, possibly caused by the contraceptive pills which she had been taking since she was a teenager.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7571573/Bank-worker-died-of-blood-clot-linked-to-Pill.html
New safety label for birth control pills
Bayer HealthCare said Friday it has added new information about the risks of blood clots to its contraceptive pills Yaz and Yasmin. In cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration, the company said it added new labeling stating that the risks of blood clots with Yaz and Yasmin are similar to those with other oral contraceptives.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36322007/ns/health-womens_health/
A second Wisconsin Planned Parenthood caught on tape giving misleading medical information
A new undercover video reveals medically inaccurate abortion counseling at a tax-funded Milwaukee Planned Parenthood clinic. The video records Planned Parenthood staff distorting basic facts of fetal development and pressuring a woman to have an abortion. In the video, a staffer tells a woman who is reportedly 6 to 8 weeks pregnant that at this stage her baby has "no arms, no legs, no heart, no head, no brain." The staffer emphasizes the difficulties of adoption, urges the woman to obtain an abortion as soon as possible, says that images of abortion are fabricated, and states that the unborn child at 6 to 8 weeks has no "identifiable parts" and is just "fetal matter."
http://liveaction.org/
U.S. birthrate drops 2 percent in 2008
After rising to its highest point in two decades, the rate at which women in the United States gave birth declined in 2008 as the economy deteriorated, according to government statistics released Tuesday. The nation's overall birthrate fell 2 percent from 2007 to 2008, when about 4.2 million babies were born. The dip pushed the fertility rate below 2.1 per woman, meaning Americans were no longer giving birth to enough children to keep the population from declining.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040600758.html
Closing Thought
Christ on the Cross is the salvation of the human race, the remedy for all our ills. He went voluntarily to Calvary, so that whosoever believes may have eternal life, so that he might draw all men to himself…. So we pray, “Stay with us, Lord, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” (Luke 24:29) Stay with us, Lord, because when you are not with us, night falls around us. Everything is darkness when you are not there.
In Conversation with God, 2:216
Volume 7, Number 13
March 29, 2010
Prayer Requests
Please continue to pray for Per Thomsen and his family. www.caringbridge.org/visit/perthomsen.
Please continue to pray also for all of those who are participating in the 40 Days for Life Campaign. And, during this last week of the campaign, remember to pray and to fast for the various intentions that will build respect for human life in all stages and conditions.
National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week, April 27 – May 3
See www.npltw.com for more information on this year’s event, photo contest rules and contest prizes!
From Associates
Idaho Chooses Life
The Idaho House passed the ‘Freedom of Conscience’ bill for health care professionals on March 17. The bill will allow any licensed health care professional, including nurses and pharmacists, to refuse to give any treatment or medication that goes against their conscience having to do with end-of-life care, abortions, stem cells or emergency contraception. Idaho Chooses Life worked long and hard to help get this bill passed!
See local news coverage at http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=7008 and read the statement by ICL at http://idahochooseslife.org/commentaries/2010/03/conscience-protection-bill-passes.html.
Pro-Life Waco
After receiving little attention over the last few years, the Pro-Life Waco web site has now been upgraded! Please visit www.Pro-LifeWaco.com and check it out. There are pages and pictures about all of the outreach initiatives in Waco.
Tip of the Month: “How Abortion Became Legal”
From Choices in Matters of Life & Death by Judie Brown with Paul Brown
If we study the Supreme Court’s decisions and try to see when the Court began arbitrarily granting the right to kill, we have to go back to 1965 when the last of the so-called Comstock Laws or the old birth control laws in America was overturned.
In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Court created the “right to privacy.” There never has been in the U.S. Constitution a right to privacy, but in 1965, to legalize all forms of birth control for married couples, the Court ruled that couples have a “right to privacy” and therefore the state has no compelling interest, even in alerting them to the medical side effects of birth control. This contrived “right to privacy” laid the groundwork for further anti-life actions by the Court.
Justice Stewart agreed that the “right to privacy” was contrived and could not be found in the Constitution. In his dissenting opinion in Griswold, he wrote: “In the course of its opinion the Court refers to no less than six amendments to the Constitution: The First, the Third, the Fourth, the Fifth, the Ninth and the 14th. But the Court does not say which of these amendments, if any, it thinks is infringed by this Connecticut law.
“What provision of the Constitution, then, does makes this law invalid? The Courts says it is the right of privacy ‘created by several fundamental constitutional guarantees.’ With all deference, I can find no such general right of privacy in the Bill of Rights, in any other part of the Constitution, or in any case ever before decided by this Court.
“At the oral argument in this case we were told that the Connecticut law does not ‘conform to current community standards.’ But it is not the function of this Court to decide cases on the basis of community standards. We are here to decide cases ‘agreeable to the Constitution and laws of the United States.’”
In 1972, in Eisenstadt v. Baird, the Supreme Court again referred to the “right to privacy,” ruling that contraceptives may be given to unmarried individuals, concluding that the “equal protection under the law” guaranteed by the Constitution confers the rights of married persons on the unmarried as well.
What the Court did in 1973 was simply to carry forward that right to privacy created in 1965 and legalize the killing of innocent preborn children.
News
Morning-after abortion pill does not cut teen pregnancy
Providing the morning-after pill in advance does nothing to cut teenage pregnancy rates, researchers claim. The use of emergency contraception doubled in just six years, but the latest data shows it has failed to slash rates of conception or sexually transmitted infections.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1258461/Morning-pill-does-cut-teen-pregnancy.html?ITO=1490
President signs health care bill into law, 12 states immediately sue
President Obama signed into law the hard-won Senate health care bill at a ceremony in the East Room last Tuesday morning. Moments later, as promised, 12 state attorneys general filed federal lawsuits challenging the bill's constitutionality.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10032304.html
Stem cell hope for hip replacements
Hip replacement patients could have their own bone stem cells used in surgery instead of bone from donors if a new treatment proves successful. A team from the universities of Southampton and Nottingham believe that introducing a patient's own skeletal stem cells into the hip joint during bone grafting would encourage more successful re-growth and repair.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gfwE-9bctgxjxqyfx9CJldUpV5Zw
Clinic to participate in stem-cell trial
In the first federal-government-approved clinical trial of its kind in the U.S., patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) will be treated with their own stem cells. The aim is to hopefully slow the progress of the fatal, neurodegenerative disease. TCA Cellular Therapy of Covington, a privately held stem-cell research and development company, has signed up the first of six participants for Phase I of the trial recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/features/88884002.html
Experimental stem cell transplant into stroke-damaged brains causes tumors
The transplant of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) into the stroke-damaged brains of mice results not in regeneration but tumor growth, according to recent research. There are high hopes that iPS cells can be used to regenerate internal organs, but the study by the research group led by Okayama University professor Koji Abe shows that transplanting the cells into patients with pre-existing illnesses could backfire.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100323p2a00m0na008000c.html
Closing Thought
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'"
Matthew 25:31-40
Number 15
Monday, April 12, 2010
Prayer Requests
Please pray for the Thomsen family as they grieve the loss of Per who died Easter Sunday evening.
National Pro-life T-shirt Week, April 27 – May 3
National Pro-life T-shirt Week is a week to spread the pro-life message wherever you go simply by wearing a pro-life T-shirt. By participating in this effort, you will be joining tens of thousands of other pro-lifers from around the country. Lots of hearts and minds will be changed and lives will be spared during this week!
Part of NPLTW is a photo scavenger hunt. As of April 1st, various tasks have been made public. You can earn points by uploading photos of you completing the tasks onto the NPLTW web site. You have a chance to win lots of great prizes including an iPod Touch, Nano, Shuffle and iTunes gift cards. Again, the contest runs through May 3rd, the last day of NPLTW.
In addition to participating in NPLTW and the photo scavenger hunt, we’re asking you to please help promote NPLTW via social networking sites, web site banners, social networking profile images, word of mouth and by downloading, printing and handing out flyers and posters. Spread the word! Join the contest! Change hearts! Save lives!
The two T-shirts, red/orange "Abortion Kills A Person" and blue "It's OK to be Pro-Life," were made specifically for this event and are only $6.50 plus shipping. The last day to order T-shirts to ensure you receive them before NPLTW is April 13. Order now and make plans to participate! Visit www.npltw.com for all of the details.
From Associates
Pro-Life Waco
In addition to launching a revamped web site, John Pisciotta has recruited the digital help of a colleague and started blogging! Check out his latest entry at www.prolifefootsoldier.blogspot.com. The topic is the Girl Scout 2010 entanglement with Planned Parenthood and the blog has a good deal of information from PLW’s very successful 2004 boycott of Girl Scout cookie sales. John believes it may be time to fast again (if you haven’t been already!) from Girl Scout cookie consumption.
Pro-Life Wisconsin
Pro-Life Wisconsin’s Spring Awards Dinner will be held Saturday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m. at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe Visitor Center in La Crosse. The Shrine was recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal (see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703701004575113632447750128.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_RIGHTTopCarousel) and PLW is quite honored to have the privilege of hosting a dinner there! Sister Christa Marie, FSGM, executive director of the shrine, will give a keynote presentation on the Memorial to the Unborn located at the shrine. For additional information and to register, visit the PLW web site at http://www.prolifewisconsin.org/files/2010AwardsDinner.pdf
Tip of the Month – Be a Special Friend/Advocate for a Single Parent
From 52 Simple Things You Can Do to Be Pro-Life by Anne Pierson and Carol Rissor
Single parenting can occur for many reasons. Sometimes a young woman who is not married has one or more children. Sometimes she has been divorced by her husband, is widowed or her husband may be in prison. A single father can be a widower, or may have been deserted by his wife. The circumstances are not the issue. What matters to God is how we choose to help this special family unit.
The Bible is very clear that we are to care for the fatherless and help provide for their needs. You probably already know a single parent through your church, work place or neighborhood. Chances are he or she will have children of varying ages.
Make a point to check on the single parent family you know regularly and determine whether you can help take care of any special needs they may have. They may need help with small projects around the house. Perhaps you can invite them to share a meal, a picnic or a special holiday with your family. Consider including the child of a single parent in your plans when you take your own kids to a ball game or theme park.
Did you ever wonder how a single parent gets a present from his or her child? Who remembers the single parent on Father’s Day or Mother’s Day? Do single parents get a Christmas present from their children? In two-parent families, Dad usually takes the kids to get Mom a special present, or Mom accompanies the son or daughter to find a gift for Dad. With a little bit of time and money, you can be a tremendous blessing by performing this task for a single parent, bringing smiles as well as encouragement!
News
Planned Parenthood deepens link to breast-cancer group
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation had noble beginnings, but for years pro-lifers have opposed contributing to SGK because it not only denies that induced abortions may cause breast cancer, it also bestows financial grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates. SGK now has a webpage dedicated to defending its involvement with Planned Parenthood, including message points and a letter from a "pro-life Catholic."
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=134729
'Telemed abortions' endanger women and drive up insurance costs
Operation Rescue announced the release of a special report detailing a disturbing new trend in the abortion industry that could be endangering the lives and health of thousands of women, and is bilking insurance companies out of grossly inflated fees. Audio recordings collected during Operation Rescue's undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland's "telemed abortion" scheme reveal how the Iowa-based abortion group has taken the concept of telemedicine to a dangerous new level.
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/3378013476.html
A sex-ed curriculum that respects human dignity: Pontifical adviser explains "Alive to the World"
A unique curriculum utilizing psychological science as well as Catholic social and moral teachings, while not being explicitly Catholic or Christian, is sweeping Latin America and making its way into British classrooms. Christine Vollmer, a founding member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life and a close collaborator with the Pontifical Council for the Family, told LifeSiteNews.com about the “Alive to the World” curriculum that she hopes will be used more widely in the English-speaking world.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10033001.html
Closing Thought
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
—John 20:19-20
<Previous Page
Volume 7, Number 21 Monday, May 24, 2010
The Pill Kills – Become a Co-Sponsor!
Elaine Tyler May planned the release of her new book (America and the Pill) in celebration of the 50th anniversary of FDA approval of the birth control pill to coincide with Mother’s Day 2010 and her recent articles connect the pill with better mothering. The truth is, the pill kills families, the pill kills women, the pill kills babies and the pill kills the environment.
Since the pill was approved as a contraceptive in 1960 by the FDA, the institution of marriage has become endangered. The number of unmarried cohabitating couples has increased tenfold. Divorce rates have soared. Births to unmarried women have tripled. Some 1.3 million children are born out of wedlock each year. The “contraceptive mentality” has resulted in the decriminalization of abortion as a backup for failed contraception; 1.2 million children are aborted every year.
Won’t you help American Life League protest the pill? Sign up to be a co-sponsor (contact Marie Hahnenberg, Pill Kills project manager at mhahnenberg@all.org).
Plan an event outside of Planned Parenthood, other abortion facilities or local pharmacies and ALL will help advertise that activity by issuing media releases in your community. Contact us with the information at protests@all.org. Begin advertising your local event now by downloading and printing the flyer at http://www.thepillkills.com/assets/PPD10Flyer.pdf.
Need further ideas or information? See the Pill Kills web site at www.thepillkills.com.
STOPP Campaign to bring Jesus through Mary to Planned Parenthood
The latest ALL Report explains the nature and purpose of this campaign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY2eeb_4dtc.
And this moving video records the launch of the campaign in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, May 15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vORSA94_FzE.
From Associates
Defenders of the Unborn
Those interested in tickets for the Abby Johnson event on June 5 (announced last week) at the Columns in St. Charles can find information and registration forms online at Defenders' new web site: www.stl-defenders.com.
Houston Coalition for Life
The all-day prayer vigil on May 11 at Planned Parenthood’s new abortion facility in Houston was indeed a very sorrowful day. As was expected, opening day included abortions. However, throughout the course of the day, almost 100 people came out to pray. Christian radio station KCBI out of Dallas conducted live broadcasts for three hours with local pro-lifers at the Planned Parenthood. Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) also aired a story on Planned Parenthood’s expansion in Houston that they filmed in March. Part of the story is an interview with Abby Johnson that took place in HCL’s office (read the article and see the video at
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2010/May/Abortion-Supercenter-Set-to-Open-in-Houston-/).
Because there is no place to build or lease property next to the new Planned Parenthood abortuary, Houston Coalition for Life is moving forward with a mobile crisis pregnancy center that will be parked on the street next to Planned Parenthood! In order to raise money for the mobile center, HCL is sponsoring their first Walk for Life. For more information and to register, see www.houstoncoalition.com.
St. Mary’s Life Cell
Chris LaRose, director of St. Mary’s Life Cell in Potsdam, New York, also heads up the Potsdam Life Chain. The organization held its second Life Chain event on Mother’s Day weekend, which was the topic of an article in the local Daily Courier-Observer. Read the article at http://www.mpcourier.com/article/20100508/DCO01/305089929/-1/dco.
Tip of the Month: The Church and Abortion
Excerpts from Choices in Matters of Life & Death by Judie Brown with Paul Brown
All faiths must have respect for human life, right? Yet almost all churches and the Jewish and Islamic faiths seem silent or visibly weak in defense of life. What is the problem with the churches? Why aren’t they involved?
One of the problems is that religious people in leadership positions have somehow forgotten that their main purpose as leaders of their flocks, so to speak, is to set absolute moral guidelines for people to follow. It is up to the leadership of the churches to declare what is right and wrong, without ever discussing any other possibility.
But today in the churches we hear so much about the gray areas with regard to so many of these issues that affect all of us as human beings. The leaders are afraid to condemn sin. The churches have grown weak because they are afraid to confront evil; they would rather dialogue than continue to preach what is right and wrong.
Many church leaders are desirous of protecting such trivial things as tuition tax credits and are fearful of IRS audits; because they are afraid of losing their tax-exempt status, they sometimes sit back and say nothing.
It’s tragic in two ways: first, because their silence can be bought. The devil has found out their price for keeping quiet about abortion and other evils. Second, it’s tragic because there is plenty the churches can do without jeopardizing their tax exemption.
Many church leaders have swallowed the twisted interpretation of separation of church and state that’s making the rounds these days.
The United States was founded by people who were looking for religious freedom. There was a consensus among the founders that freedom of religion ought to be protected, to the point that they forbade the government to establish a state religion. The whole intent of this was to ensure that everyone could freely practice various faiths; tax exemption for churches was part of this – the government was prohibited from taxing churches because it could, if it chose, literally tax them to death! The whole idea was to prevent government interference in religion.
Nowadays, however, many people are talking as though the government should be hostile to any religion, rather than protecting them all equally, and they are saying that allowing the churches a voice on moral matters and not just doctrine is involving the churches in the government. They choose to overlook the fact that preaching morality is an integral part of faith. The job of religion in America has always been not just to teach doctrine, but to preach morality, what is right and wrong.
Further, contrary to pro-abortion rhetoric, the American government has always had as its role the enforcement of morality. For almost two hundred years we had agreement among the American people that certain things – killing, stealing and lying under oath – were morally wrong and should be prohibited by law.
What it boils down to is that certain people no longer believe that killing is wrong, and they are using a distorted version of separation of church and state to eliminate the laws against killing, at least certain classes of people: the preborn, the elderly, the sick and the handicapped.
News
Study links abortion, substance abuse
A study from the University of Manitoba has found that women who have had an abortion are nearly four times as likely to have problems with drugs and alcohol as those who have not. Researchers also identified an association between mental disorders and abortion and suggested that doctors should screen for a history of abortion in women who present symptoms of anxiety, mood disorders and substance abuse.
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=32947
Toyota 52 Deaths, Gardasil 49. Toyota Recalled.
Cervical cancer accounts for less than 1 percent of all cancer deaths, so it was somewhat surprising when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fast-tracked approval of Gardasil, a Merck vaccine targeting the human papilloma virus that causes the disease, in 2006. As of January 31, 2010, 49 unexplained deaths following Gardasil injections have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (http://vaers.hhs.gov/index). By contrast, 52 deaths are attributed to unintended acceleration in Toyotas, which triggered a $2 billion recall. No recall for Gardasil, which is required for sixth-grade girls in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and many other states. Parents can opt out, but few know the true risks.
http://vactruth.com/2010/03/31/toyota-52-deaths-gardasil-49-toyota-recalled/
Good News on Multiple Sclerosis with Adult Stem Cells
A groundbreaking new study published in the last week provides more good news for treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) with adult stem cells. Researchers at the University of Bristol used patients’ own adult stem cells to treat their MS. In a Phase I clinical trial, six patients with MS were treated with their own bone marrow adult stem cells and their progress followed for one year. The treatment appeared to stabilized the patients’ condition and showed some benefits. As one measure of the success of the procedure, damaged nerve pathways were able to carry electrical pulses more effectively after the treatment.
http://www.frcblog.com/2010/05/good-news-on-multiple-sclerosis-with-adult-stem-cells/
Closing Thought
"As faith grows strong, error is conquered and melts away."
—St. Paulinus of Nola, Magnificat, July ’09, p. 292
For 15 May 2010
CONTACT: Katie Walker
540.659.4942| kwalker@all.org
Consecration in Washington, D.C. Marks 25th Anniversary of STOPP Planned Parenthood
BISHOP APPROVES PRAYERS FOR ‘BRINGING JESUS TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD THROUGH MARY’ CAMPAIGN
Washington, DC (for 15 May 2010) –
WHAT:
American Life League will unveil new prayers approved by Bishop Emeritus John W. Yanta to combat Planned Parenthood – the nation’s largest abortion chain – during a Rosary and prayer procession in front of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington.
To observe the 25th anniversary of ALL’s STOP Planned Parenthood project, the event will kick-start a new nationwide campaign to “Bring Jesus to Planned Parenthood through Mary.”
WHEN:
May 15, 2010, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
WHERE:
A Rosary procession from The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, 1725 Rhode Island Ave., NW, following 8:00 a.m. Mass to Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, 1108 16th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
WHO:
The purpose of American Life League’s STOPP project is really quite simple: To cause such discontent with Planned Parenthood programs that it will have no choice but to close its doors and get out of town
WHY:
To mark the 25th anniversary of STOPP’s efforts to eradicate Planned Parenthood, the group will consecrate the fight against Planned Parenthood to Our Blessed Mother, followed by prayers asking Our Lady to stop Planned Parenthood that have been specifically written for this campaign and approved by Bishop Emeritus John W.Yanta.
American Life League will also be unveiling three new signs available for grassroots pro-lifers to combat Planned Parenthood.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: Bringing Jesus to Planned Parenthood Through Mary
http://www.stopp.org/prayercard.php
American Life League: STOPP Planned Parenthood
http://www.stopp.org/
ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY, ‘PILL KILLS DAY’ EXPOSES HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF BIRTH CONTROL
For National Women’s Health Week, Women Deserve the Truth, says Group
Washington, DC (14 May 2010) – For the 50th anniversary of the FDA–approved birth control pill, American Life League is highlighting the health and environmental dangers of artificial contraception with nationwide protests to mark “The Pill Kills Day” on June 5.
"It is truly hard to believe that those concerned with the environment in which we live are not equally concerned about the environment of a woman's body, polluted as it is with artificial chemicals that are really nothing more than recreational drugs," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League.
Marie Hahnenberg, project director of the Pill Kills Day, agreed.
“Women need to talk to their doctors about healthier and safer alternatives than the birth control pill,” Hahnenberg said. “The pharmaceutical industries are doing everything they can to ignore the estimated 25,000 lawsuits in the U.S. alone. During this National Women’s Health Week especially – women deserve to be better informed on what they’re putting in their bodies.”
While it is estimated that over 12 million American women take the birth control pill, the Mayo Clinic warns that birth control use is one of the major contributing factors for pulmonary embolism and blood clots. Hormonal birth control is considered a class one carcinogen – alongside cigarettes - in cancer-causing potential.
Scientists also warn that birth control in the nation’s waterways is wreaking havoc on fish populations – a fact that could have a significant domino impact up the food chain.
A 2006 study conducted in the waters of the Potomac River and its tributaries found that 80 percent of the male small mouth bass were strange intersex fish – these male fish were growing female reproductive parts. Scientists have also found that exposure to estrogen reduces the production of immune related proteins in fish, making them more susceptible to disease. This could explain why intersex fish, massive fish kills and fish with lesions coexist in the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.
According to Conrad Volz, co-director of exposure assessment at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Center for Environmental Oncology, “We need to pay attention to chemicals that are estrogenic in nature, because they find their way back into the water we all use.”
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill Kills
http://thepillkills.org/
Scientific American: Bringing Cancer to the Dinner Table (17 April 2007)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bringing-cancer-to-dinner-table-breast-cancer-cells-grow-under-influence-fish-flesh
Mayo Clinic: Pulmonary embolism
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pulmonary-embolism/ds00429/dsection=risk-factors
Volume 7, Number 17 Monday, April 26, 2010
Save the Date: Saturday June 5, 2010 is Protest the Pill Day
Interested in “going green”? Then protest the birth control pill and help save our environment! Scientists around the world have discovered that high amounts of synthethic estrogen, resulting from use of hormonal contraceptives, are now entering our water and are feminizing male fish! If fish are being affected by the high estrogen levels now found in streams, and scientists are also concerned about estrogen levels in our cities’ water supply, then HOW SAFE IS YOUR DRINKING WATER? For more information, go to www.thepillkills.com.
From Associates
Pharmacists for Life International
A pro-life law firm located in New Jersey is seeking a local pharmacist willing to challenge New Jersey’s statute restricting the rights of pharmacists. Please contact Bo Kuhar directly at PFLI headquarters (pfli@pfli.org) if you would like to be considered, or if you know of an interested pharmacist. And, please, feel free to share with others!
Tip of the Month: The Vocabulary of Death
Excerpts from Choices in Matters of Life & Death by Judie Brown with Paul Brown
For any particular cause to succeed, one must somehow frame the issue, change the language and attempt to have an impact on public opinion. The pro-abortion movement has been very successful in changing the language. A very popular word we see all over the place today is “choice.”
Before the pro-death movement took over, we knew the word “choice” meant deciding which car we were going to buy, or what we would choose in the grocery store if there were several different brands. But today the word “choice” is on a par with the word “me.” “Choice” often connotes selfishly deciding what’s best for me – not selecting a bargain; not selecting what would be best for our family, but rather, selecting something by “choice” that is best for me as an individual. Me, the selfish person; “Choice,” the exclamation of the selfish me. And, in accord with this definition of “choice,” the preborn baby certainly has no choice.
We have to answer the persuasive pro-death vocabulary with the facts. When NOW and similar groups say a woman has a right to choose, what they don’t say is that the woman has a right to choose to kill another human being. They never finish the sentence – and that gives quite a definition to the word “choice.”
What about the phrase “every child a wanted child”? To call a child – a human being – a commodity is exactly what that phrase does. It equates children with things. You might want a new car; you might want a loaf of bread different from the one you bought. But you certainly can’t place a human being on the same level with a possession.
But that is what has happened. Our children have become property, things we can want or not want, and therefore it becomes easy for us as a society to look on preborn children and decide for ourselves what this child will or will not be able to achieve and whether or not we even want the child. Thus, decisions are made to abort human beings.
This is where PERSONHOOD comes in. The human personhood movement seeks to restore the original intent of the Constitution by defining every human being as a "person" from his or her biological beginning.
The need to amend the Constitution by clarifying the definition of personhood can be explained by visiting a landmark Supreme Court decision. In 1965, the United States Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut, suddenly found the "right to privacy" in sexual matters in the "emanations” from “penumbras" (shadows) allegedly found in the Constitution. Griswold v. Connecticut made human beings property again.
Human beings can be owned in test tubes and wombs. They can be killed, used involuntarily as test objects, destroyed for their stem cells, genetically modified, cloned, dissected and stripped of their dignity. In turn, this so-called "right to privacy" was invoked by the Supreme Court in 1973, in Roe v. Wade, to decriminalize abortion in the United States.
Legal precedent and the Constitution’s original intent support the argument for personhood. The authors of the Constitution clearly intended to protect each human being from his or her biological beginning. Since 1973, this protection has been denied to a whole class of human beings.
Modern medical science supports personhood. Any opposition to personhood initiatives will not be based upon legitimate scientific evidence. Personhood removes the politically charged rhetoric of the debate and replaces it with the commonsense principle that life begins at each human being's biological beginning.
The time has come to restore the vocabulary of life and to restore protection to all human beings.
News
Expert debunks claim that anti-contraceptive conservatism advances abortion
A recent attempt by pro-abortion law professor Andrew Koppelman to blame abortion rates on the conservative movement itself fails in all three of its arguments, according to Michael New, a University of Alabama political science professor.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/apr/10041408.html
Economist: Contraceptive culture shifts economic power away from women
The contraception revolution has, contrary to its image, shifted wealth and power away from women and is in effect "deeply sexist," according to one economist's analysis. In the essay, entitled "Bitter Pill" and appearing in the latest edition of First Things magazine, economist Timothy Reichert argues that the case against contraception can be effectively articulated "using the language of social science, which is the language of the mainstream." Rather than framing the debate as "a case of faith and reason talking past each other," those who oppose contraception can frame the debate in terms of the objective societal damage contraception causes.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/apr/10041510.html
The birth-control riddle
Despite all of the birth control options available today, the rates of unplanned pregnancies remain high: Almost half of all pregnancies in the U.S.—some 3.1 million a year—are unintended, according to the most recent government survey, from 2001. Almost half (48%) of unintended pregnancies involve contraceptive failures.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703757504575194191495081682.html
Birth control pill concerns bring lawsuits but few solid answers
When the oral contraceptives Yasmin and Yaz came on the market in 2001 and 2006, respectively, they were thought to be safer than other birth control pills because they contained a different kind of synthetic progestin. But in a flurry of lawsuits against the pills' maker, Bayer HealthCare, attorneys claim that the progestin contained in the pills, drospirenone, is the cause of health problems, including deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the deep veins), strokes, heart attacks and gallbladder disease.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-yaz-20100419,0,2851244.story
Abortion, suicide often hand-in-hand
Mental health risks are becoming increasingly associated with women who have had an abortion. According to Dr. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, a number of studies indicate an elevated risk of suicide following an abortion. "About [one]-fourth of women who report having negative reactions to abortion will also report that they attempted suicide at least once, and suicidal thoughts are even more common," Reardon reports.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=973252
“Three Parent” kids
UK scientists have created "designer embryos" containing DNA from a man and TWO women. The breakthrough gives hope of healthy children to couples with genetic disorders in their families. It also offers the prospect of eradicating fatal genetic diseases. But the procedure - dubbed three-person IVF – has sparked controversy.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/2932888/UK-scientists-create-designer-embryos-with-three-peoples-DNA.html#ixzz0lC4qQOi3
Closing Thought
"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
—John 12:34-35
MEDIA RELEASE
22 April 2010
EARTH DAY:
SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT FROM PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Washington, DC (22 April 2010) – Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion chain and birth control provider, is the main culprit behind America’s increasingly polluted waters.
Over the past few years, scientists have discovered that male fish in the nation’s streams, lakes and rivers have been growing female reproductive parts. Scientists point to synthetic estrogen from birth control that has made its way into the nation’s water supply from sewage systems.
“This Earth Day, let’s fight back and save our environment by eliminating Planned Parenthood’s support. One way you can celebrate Earth Day is to join the fight against Planned Parenthood,” said Marie Hahnenberg, director of American Life League’s “The Pill Kills” project.
Planned Parenthood receives millions of tax dollars each year to distribute birth control pills that are toxic to our environment and pose a myriad of health risks to women and their preborn children, including blood clots and cancer.
But on Earth Day 2010, American Life League pointed to the birth control pill’s startling and often overlooked impact on wildlife.
"What we demonstrated is that estrogen can wipe out entire populations of small fish—a key food source for larger fish whose survival could in turn be threatened over the longer term," Dr. Karen Kidd, of the University of New Brunswick told LifeSiteNews after an in-depth study of birth control’s impact on lakes and watersheds. "We've known for some time that estrogen can adversely affect the reproductive health of fish, but ours was the first study to show the long-term impact on the sustainability of wild fish populations," Kidd continued.
Conrad Volz, co-director of exposure assessment at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute’s Center for Environmental Oncology, pointed to the danger posed to human populations: “We need to pay attention to chemicals that are estrogenic in nature, because they find their way back into the water we all use.”
American Life League’s The Pill Kills Day on Saturday, June 5 will raise further awareness of the birth control pill’s deadly impact on the environment. For more information, see www.thepillkills.org.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Pill Kills 2010
http://thepillkills.org/
Physicians for Life
http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/1567/2/
California Catholic Daily: Estrogen Overload (29 April 2007)
http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=25291453-1c9e-46d2-8aab-05ab487fb751
MEDIA RELEASE
April, 19, 2010
A.L.L. CONGRATULATES BISHOPS ON REBUKE OF CATHOLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION
Washington, DC (19 April 2010) – American Life League President Judie Brown issued the following statement along with letters of appreciation to Bishop Lawrence E Brandt of Greensburg, Pa. and Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, R.I. after both bishops rebuked the Catholic Health Association for the group’s endorsement and support of the Obama health care plan.
“In the wake of the Catholic Health Association’s betrayal of the Catholic faith and the lives entrusted to the group, Bishops Tobin and Brandt have set the record straight: You cannot claim to be Catholic and support initiatives that attack the personhood of human beings.
“CHA has turned its back on the Christ-centered health care that has been a hallmark of Catholic ministry in this country since the very first missionaries set foot in the New World centuries ago.
“Thousands of priests, religious and laity have spent their lives in imitation of Christ and His call to care for the sick.It stands to reason, then, that opposing the injustice of abortion and other attacks on human beings’ lives would be central to CHA’s mission.
“CHA’s support for the pro-abortion Obama health bill is a sickening abandonment of the sacred mission entrusted to them. Catholics around the country are left confused, misled and betrayed. Is it any wonder that so many are ignorant of the Catholic Church’s teaching on human personhood when the Catholic Health Association blatantly defies it?
“Bishops Tobin and Brandt have shown themselves to be true shepherds of their flocks by their swift rebuke of CHA. We hope their brothers bishops unite with them in upholding sound and uncompromising moral principles.
“For this, we express our gratitude and assure the bishops of our prayers for their work.”
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
The Catholic Sun: Bishops take actions against nuns, CHA over stand on health reform (16 April 2010)
http://www.catholicsun.org/2010/april/16/cnstobin-brandt.html
National Catholic Register: A 'Catholic' Social Justice Lobby? (19 April 2010)
http://www.ncregister.com/register_exclusives/a_catholic_social_justice_lobby/
Volume 7, Number 16
Monday, April 19, 2010
National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week starts next week: April 27 - May 3!
Have you seen the latest Rock for Life videocast starring Erik Whittington and Jeff McLain? Watch and learn how easy it is to promote and participate in National Pro-life T-shirt Week as well as the NPLTW photo scavenger hunt! For more information, see the NPLTW web site.
New Associate Group
Please join me in welcoming the newest addition to our Associate Program, Queen of Angels Pro-life Group in Riverside, California. Queen of Angels Pro-life Group is the pro-life ministry at Queen of Angels Catholic Church. It was formed in 2007 when members of the parish saw a need to educate not only the parish but the largely Hispanic community about contraception and the consequences of abortion. The group provides education on these issues as well as natural family planning and also holds regular prayer vigils outside the Family Planning Association Medical Group, an abortuary in Riverside. The current group coordinator is Isabel Tovar-Guido. We’re very pleased to have Queen of Angels Pro-life Group as part of our network and we look forward to working with them!
From Associates
Houston Coalition for Life
Planned Parenthood’s late-term abortion facility on Gulf Freeway in Houston appears to be opening soon. This new abortion facility will provide abortions through 25 weeks of pregnancy. On April 30, Planned Parenthood is having their grand opening gala and 75th anniversary celebration at the Corinthian Hotel.
Two extremely important action items:
Contact the Corinthian Hotel and tell them in a respectful way that you are extremely disappointed to learn that the hotel is hosting Planned Parenthood’s celebration. The Corinthian is operated by Jackson and Company:
Jackson Hicks
Jackson and Company
P.O. Box 130260
River Oaks Station
Houston, Texas 77219-0260
Phone: 713.523.5780
E-mail: info@jacksonandcompany.net or thecorinthian@jacksonandcompany.com
Be part of a huge prayer vigil (physically or in prayer if you are unable to attend) outside of the Corinthian Hotel on April 30. There will be a prayerful procession from Annunciation Catholic Church on Texas Street at 5:45 p.m. to the Corinthian Hotel on Fannin (approximately one-half mile).
Pro-Life Wisconsin
There have been a number of items from Wisconsin in the past week:
The Associated Press revealed last Tuesday that the Wisconsin Department of Justice again denied an open records request for a threat assessment prepared on pro-life activity in Wisconsin – despite the fact that the Department of Homeland Security had already determined that the report was an improper investigation of freedom of speech activities. See Pro-Life Wisconsin’s media release .
Three weeks ago, Pro-Life Wisconsin broke the news that Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth sent a letter to the five public school districts in Juneau County warning that the new sexual education law recently passed by the Wisconsin Legislature and signed by Governor Doyle could expose district school teachers to criminal liability and school districts to civil liability for promoting “the sexualization – and sexual assault – of our children.” Since then, Southworth’s move to protect Wisconsin’s youth has been featured in numerous media outlets including the AP, One News Now, the O’Reilly Factor and Anderson Cooper 360.
Associates are encouraged to read Southworth’s letter on PLW’s web site and share it with your own county district attorney. As parents and concerned citizens, we need to fight this assault on our youth.
Lastly, Live Action released a new undercover video which reveals medically inaccurate abortion counseling at another tax-funded Milwaukee Planned Parenthood clinic. The video records Planned Parenthood staff distorting basic facts of fetal development and pressuring a woman to have an abortion. In the video, a staffer tells a woman who is reportedly six to eight weeks pregnant that, at this stage, her baby has "no arms, no legs, no heart, no head, no brain." See press release from ALL Associate group Pro-Life Wisconsin here.
Tip of the month – Parent Power – Summary of Actions you Can Take to Defeat Offensive Education Programs – While the Fight is Raging
From Parent Power!! by Jim Sedlak
35. Be careful of committees. There is an apparent strategy amongst pro-family life education people to get bothersome parents tied up in useless committees while Planned Parenthood goes about the real agenda. Do not refuse to sit on committees, but size up the committee action quickly and be prepared to continue your other activities even while the committee sessions are continuing.
36. Do not be surprised if the FLE supporters lie to keep their program. But, be sure you do not resort to the same tactics. Be sure all your statements are true. That way, the school board will quickly learn they can rely on your information and must question what the FLE supporters are saying.
37. If you are presented with an opportunity to have an effect on school policy (such as with an access policy), take it! Try to get the best policy statements you can. You never know when they will be beneficial to your goals.
38. If you have followed all the steps so far and nothing has worked, run a supportive person for your local school board. School boards normally elect some members every year. Let the board members know you are serious by running a candidate. And make sure that all the churches and organizations in your area who support your position get out the vote for your candidate.
39. You are in this fight for the children. Certainly you are not in it for financial gain or because you have nothing better to do with your time. And, you are not in it to gain the perceived power of elective office. Therefore, if you decide to run for the school board, do it on the issues. Remember, if you run on the issues and get the message out, even if you lose – you win!
ALWAYS …
40. Rely on God to direct your efforts.
These are the actions you can take to rid your schools of Planned Parenthood. We cannot tell you how long the fight will take. It may be a month or it may take several years. Regardless, you will be fighting for God and spreading His word. Remember this in times when you get discouraged.
News
Bank worker died of blood clot linked to pill
Jenna Morris died after a deep vein thrombosis developed in her legs and spread to her lungs. A post mortem revealed she died of a blood clot, possibly caused by the contraceptive pills which she had been taking since she was a teenager.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7571573/Bank-worker-died-of-blood-clot-linked-to-Pill.html
New safety label for birth control pills
Bayer HealthCare said Friday it has added new information about the risks of blood clots to its contraceptive pills Yaz and Yasmin. In cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration, the company said it added new labeling stating that the risks of blood clots with Yaz and Yasmin are similar to those with other oral contraceptives.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36322007/ns/health-womens_health/
A second Wisconsin Planned Parenthood caught on tape giving misleading medical information
A new undercover video reveals medically inaccurate abortion counseling at a tax-funded Milwaukee Planned Parenthood clinic. The video records Planned Parenthood staff distorting basic facts of fetal development and pressuring a woman to have an abortion. In the video, a staffer tells a woman who is reportedly 6 to 8 weeks pregnant that at this stage her baby has "no arms, no legs, no heart, no head, no brain." The staffer emphasizes the difficulties of adoption, urges the woman to obtain an abortion as soon as possible, says that images of abortion are fabricated, and states that the unborn child at 6 to 8 weeks has no "identifiable parts" and is just "fetal matter."
http://liveaction.org/
U.S. birthrate drops 2 percent in 2008
After rising to its highest point in two decades, the rate at which women in the United States gave birth declined in 2008 as the economy deteriorated, according to government statistics released Tuesday. The nation's overall birthrate fell 2 percent from 2007 to 2008, when about 4.2 million babies were born. The dip pushed the fertility rate below 2.1 per woman, meaning Americans were no longer giving birth to enough children to keep the population from declining.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040600758.html
Closing Thought
Christ on the Cross is the salvation of the human race, the remedy for all our ills. He went voluntarily to Calvary, so that whosoever believes may have eternal life, so that he might draw all men to himself…. So we pray, “Stay with us, Lord, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” (Luke 24:29) Stay with us, Lord, because when you are not with us, night falls around us. Everything is darkness when you are not there.
In Conversation with God, 2:216
Volume 7, Number 13
March 29, 2010
Prayer Requests
Please continue to pray for Per Thomsen and his family. www.caringbridge.org/visit/perthomsen.
Please continue to pray also for all of those who are participating in the 40 Days for Life Campaign. And, during this last week of the campaign, remember to pray and to fast for the various intentions that will build respect for human life in all stages and conditions.
National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week, April 27 – May 3
See www.npltw.com for more information on this year’s event, photo contest rules and contest prizes!
From Associates
Idaho Chooses Life
The Idaho House passed the ‘Freedom of Conscience’ bill for health care professionals on March 17. The bill will allow any licensed health care professional, including nurses and pharmacists, to refuse to give any treatment or medication that goes against their conscience having to do with end-of-life care, abortions, stem cells or emergency contraception. Idaho Chooses Life worked long and hard to help get this bill passed!
See local news coverage at http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=7008 and read the statement by ICL at http://idahochooseslife.org/commentaries/2010/03/conscience-protection-bill-passes.html.
Pro-Life Waco
After receiving little attention over the last few years, the Pro-Life Waco web site has now been upgraded! Please visit www.Pro-LifeWaco.com and check it out. There are pages and pictures about all of the outreach initiatives in Waco.
Tip of the Month: “How Abortion Became Legal”
From Choices in Matters of Life & Death by Judie Brown with Paul Brown
If we study the Supreme Court’s decisions and try to see when the Court began arbitrarily granting the right to kill, we have to go back to 1965 when the last of the so-called Comstock Laws or the old birth control laws in America was overturned.
In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Court created the “right to privacy.” There never has been in the U.S. Constitution a right to privacy, but in 1965, to legalize all forms of birth control for married couples, the Court ruled that couples have a “right to privacy” and therefore the state has no compelling interest, even in alerting them to the medical side effects of birth control. This contrived “right to privacy” laid the groundwork for further anti-life actions by the Court.
Justice Stewart agreed that the “right to privacy” was contrived and could not be found in the Constitution. In his dissenting opinion in Griswold, he wrote: “In the course of its opinion the Court refers to no less than six amendments to the Constitution: The First, the Third, the Fourth, the Fifth, the Ninth and the 14th. But the Court does not say which of these amendments, if any, it thinks is infringed by this Connecticut law.
“What provision of the Constitution, then, does makes this law invalid? The Courts says it is the right of privacy ‘created by several fundamental constitutional guarantees.’ With all deference, I can find no such general right of privacy in the Bill of Rights, in any other part of the Constitution, or in any case ever before decided by this Court.
“At the oral argument in this case we were told that the Connecticut law does not ‘conform to current community standards.’ But it is not the function of this Court to decide cases on the basis of community standards. We are here to decide cases ‘agreeable to the Constitution and laws of the United States.’”
In 1972, in Eisenstadt v. Baird, the Supreme Court again referred to the “right to privacy,” ruling that contraceptives may be given to unmarried individuals, concluding that the “equal protection under the law” guaranteed by the Constitution confers the rights of married persons on the unmarried as well.
What the Court did in 1973 was simply to carry forward that right to privacy created in 1965 and legalize the killing of innocent preborn children.
News
Morning-after abortion pill does not cut teen pregnancy
Providing the morning-after pill in advance does nothing to cut teenage pregnancy rates, researchers claim. The use of emergency contraception doubled in just six years, but the latest data shows it has failed to slash rates of conception or sexually transmitted infections.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1258461/Morning-pill-does-cut-teen-pregnancy.html?ITO=1490
President signs health care bill into law, 12 states immediately sue
President Obama signed into law the hard-won Senate health care bill at a ceremony in the East Room last Tuesday morning. Moments later, as promised, 12 state attorneys general filed federal lawsuits challenging the bill's constitutionality.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10032304.html
Stem cell hope for hip replacements
Hip replacement patients could have their own bone stem cells used in surgery instead of bone from donors if a new treatment proves successful. A team from the universities of Southampton and Nottingham believe that introducing a patient's own skeletal stem cells into the hip joint during bone grafting would encourage more successful re-growth and repair.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gfwE-9bctgxjxqyfx9CJldUpV5Zw
Clinic to participate in stem-cell trial
In the first federal-government-approved clinical trial of its kind in the U.S., patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) will be treated with their own stem cells. The aim is to hopefully slow the progress of the fatal, neurodegenerative disease. TCA Cellular Therapy of Covington, a privately held stem-cell research and development company, has signed up the first of six participants for Phase I of the trial recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/features/88884002.html
Experimental stem cell transplant into stroke-damaged brains causes tumors
The transplant of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) into the stroke-damaged brains of mice results not in regeneration but tumor growth, according to recent research. There are high hopes that iPS cells can be used to regenerate internal organs, but the study by the research group led by Okayama University professor Koji Abe shows that transplanting the cells into patients with pre-existing illnesses could backfire.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100323p2a00m0na008000c.html
Closing Thought
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'"
Matthew 25:31-40
Number 15
Monday, April 12, 2010
Prayer Requests
Please pray for the Thomsen family as they grieve the loss of Per who died Easter Sunday evening.
National Pro-life T-shirt Week, April 27 – May 3
National Pro-life T-shirt Week is a week to spread the pro-life message wherever you go simply by wearing a pro-life T-shirt. By participating in this effort, you will be joining tens of thousands of other pro-lifers from around the country. Lots of hearts and minds will be changed and lives will be spared during this week!
Part of NPLTW is a photo scavenger hunt. As of April 1st, various tasks have been made public. You can earn points by uploading photos of you completing the tasks onto the NPLTW web site. You have a chance to win lots of great prizes including an iPod Touch, Nano, Shuffle and iTunes gift cards. Again, the contest runs through May 3rd, the last day of NPLTW.
In addition to participating in NPLTW and the photo scavenger hunt, we’re asking you to please help promote NPLTW via social networking sites, web site banners, social networking profile images, word of mouth and by downloading, printing and handing out flyers and posters. Spread the word! Join the contest! Change hearts! Save lives!
The two T-shirts, red/orange "Abortion Kills A Person" and blue "It's OK to be Pro-Life," were made specifically for this event and are only $6.50 plus shipping. The last day to order T-shirts to ensure you receive them before NPLTW is April 13. Order now and make plans to participate! Visit www.npltw.com for all of the details.
From Associates
Pro-Life Waco
In addition to launching a revamped web site, John Pisciotta has recruited the digital help of a colleague and started blogging! Check out his latest entry at www.prolifefootsoldier.blogspot.com. The topic is the Girl Scout 2010 entanglement with Planned Parenthood and the blog has a good deal of information from PLW’s very successful 2004 boycott of Girl Scout cookie sales. John believes it may be time to fast again (if you haven’t been already!) from Girl Scout cookie consumption.
Pro-Life Wisconsin
Pro-Life Wisconsin’s Spring Awards Dinner will be held Saturday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m. at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe Visitor Center in La Crosse. The Shrine was recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal (see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703701004575113632447750128.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_RIGHTTopCarousel) and PLW is quite honored to have the privilege of hosting a dinner there! Sister Christa Marie, FSGM, executive director of the shrine, will give a keynote presentation on the Memorial to the Unborn located at the shrine. For additional information and to register, visit the PLW web site at http://www.prolifewisconsin.org/files/2010AwardsDinner.pdf
Tip of the Month – Be a Special Friend/Advocate for a Single Parent
From 52 Simple Things You Can Do to Be Pro-Life by Anne Pierson and Carol Rissor
Single parenting can occur for many reasons. Sometimes a young woman who is not married has one or more children. Sometimes she has been divorced by her husband, is widowed or her husband may be in prison. A single father can be a widower, or may have been deserted by his wife. The circumstances are not the issue. What matters to God is how we choose to help this special family unit.
The Bible is very clear that we are to care for the fatherless and help provide for their needs. You probably already know a single parent through your church, work place or neighborhood. Chances are he or she will have children of varying ages.
Make a point to check on the single parent family you know regularly and determine whether you can help take care of any special needs they may have. They may need help with small projects around the house. Perhaps you can invite them to share a meal, a picnic or a special holiday with your family. Consider including the child of a single parent in your plans when you take your own kids to a ball game or theme park.
Did you ever wonder how a single parent gets a present from his or her child? Who remembers the single parent on Father’s Day or Mother’s Day? Do single parents get a Christmas present from their children? In two-parent families, Dad usually takes the kids to get Mom a special present, or Mom accompanies the son or daughter to find a gift for Dad. With a little bit of time and money, you can be a tremendous blessing by performing this task for a single parent, bringing smiles as well as encouragement!
News
Planned Parenthood deepens link to breast-cancer group
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation had noble beginnings, but for years pro-lifers have opposed contributing to SGK because it not only denies that induced abortions may cause breast cancer, it also bestows financial grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates. SGK now has a webpage dedicated to defending its involvement with Planned Parenthood, including message points and a letter from a "pro-life Catholic."
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=134729
'Telemed abortions' endanger women and drive up insurance costs
Operation Rescue announced the release of a special report detailing a disturbing new trend in the abortion industry that could be endangering the lives and health of thousands of women, and is bilking insurance companies out of grossly inflated fees. Audio recordings collected during Operation Rescue's undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland's "telemed abortion" scheme reveal how the Iowa-based abortion group has taken the concept of telemedicine to a dangerous new level.
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/3378013476.html
A sex-ed curriculum that respects human dignity: Pontifical adviser explains "Alive to the World"
A unique curriculum utilizing psychological science as well as Catholic social and moral teachings, while not being explicitly Catholic or Christian, is sweeping Latin America and making its way into British classrooms. Christine Vollmer, a founding member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life and a close collaborator with the Pontifical Council for the Family, told LifeSiteNews.com about the “Alive to the World” curriculum that she hopes will be used more widely in the English-speaking world.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10033001.html
Closing Thought
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
—John 20:19-20