Posted By cmbuuck on September 10, 2011
For more information on registration and start times or how to become a sponsor, please click on the following link: http://www.ahcfriends.org
Posted By cmbuuck on September 10, 2011
Excerpt from Mike Fichter’s Column—“So If I’m Willing, How Can I Stand By?—“Indiana Right to Life: Lifeline Report, August 2010—Although you might expect to hear a statement like this from a faithful pro-life supporter, you might be troubled to learn its real source; it’s from an abortionist who is radically committed to expanding access to abortion by mainstreaming it into the medical community via the offices of your local doctor. The abortionist quoted is forty year-old Rachael Phelps, just one of the abortion backers featured in a July 18, 2010, New York Times Magazine article titled “The New Abortion Providers.”
Phelps’ comments provide deeper insight into the mind of someone who makes a living of killing with apparently no remorse. In fact, Phelps has convinced herself she is serving the higher good, commenting in the same article that she views the act of abortion as an act of compassion, saying, “If I have the capability to help them (women seeking abortions), then I should do it.” No wonder the phrase “now I’ve seen it all” is slowly vanishing from modern day vocabulary. (more…)
Posted By cmbuuck on August 15, 2011
On July 15-16, the Fort Wayne Chapter of Lutherans for Life co-sponsored the seventh annual Fort Wayne Friends for Life Boot Camp to equip high school and college students with tools to effectively articulate their views in a world of moral relativism that tries to suppress and intimidate against the pro life message. This year’s camp, held at The University of St. Francis, was the largest ever, having grown from 25 students in the first camp to 120 students this year. The increase in attendance included a growth in the number of students outside the Fort Wayne Area, coming from all over Indiana and Ohio. According to Mike Spencer, moderator of Friday’s kickoff, “There has been a resurgence in interest in apologetics, especially pro life apologetics. This is an exciting age of idealism mixed with activism. The abortion industry doesn’t have anything like this camp, especially for teens. Students are hungry for the tools. The body of Christ is bringing up a generation of young lions.”
An audience of about 250 attended the Friday evening kick-off event which was open to the public. In the introductory remarks, Spencer asked, “…if I had been in Germany during the Holocaust, or if I had been here in the United States during the Civil Rights movement, what would I have done then? …. How we respond now in support of the preborn may give an indication of how we would have responded then…”
The opening speaker was Lila Rose, a recent UCLA graduate and founder/president of Live Action, who began by describing what led her to film undercover videos in Planned Parenthood clinics, and form the organization Live Action. As one of eight kids raised to love life as a Christian, she first became aware of the abortion issue at age nine when she came upon the Handbook of Abortion and was shaken by the pictures in it. She then discovered there was an abortion clinic only ten miles from her home, performing 30 abortions per week. At age 15, she convinced her church group to let her make a presentation about abortion. When she became a student at UCLA, she noticed there were no pregnant girls on campus. She decided to investigate by doing an undercover project, going to the UCLA health clinic. Posing as a pregnant student she was shocked to hear the nurse say the school would not support pregnant girls and her only option was to get an abortion. Recognizing the hopelessness of this for the girls on campus, she then published what the nurse said and distributed it all over the campus. A few months later she recorded her first undercover video, going to a Planned Parenthood clinic, posing as an abuse victim.
She then discussed some of Live Action’s findings from subsequent undercover video projects at Planned Parenthood and presented a video from which clips have been shown and discussed extensively by the media and in many legislatures in recent months. She pointed out several distortions of the truth in Planned Parenthood’s comments over the last several months since the Live Action videos have been released and legislative actions have been taken to defund Planned Parenthood. For example, Planned Parenthood claims that mammograms are included in the other services they provide. But investigation indicates none of the Planned Parenthood clinics has the equipment to do mammograms. She said one reason the Live Action videos have had such an impact it the use of social media which bypass the networks. Media such as facebook can’t be censored. She indicated the Live Action site is the one most hit by young people.
Rose also said Indiana is one of the states leading the legislation to defund Planned Parenthood. She urged the attendees to sign a petition defending Indiana’s right to defund Planned Parenthood.
Urging the audience to lovingly provide people the truth, she said the people that need the most help are the ones that get the most angry – they need our prayers. Rose closed with a quote from mother Teresa – “Abortion is the greatest destroyer of peace in the world.” (more…)
Posted By cmbuuck on August 15, 2011
This is a follow up to the article “Stem-cell Presentations Draw Clear Contrast”, published in the May, 2011 issue, which reported on the April 15-16 presentations by Dr. David Prentice. The purpose is to elaborate on some of the ethical issues of embryonic stem cell research vs. adult stem cell research.
There has been much emotional public debate beginning over a decade ago, with many people advocating embryonic stem cell research. A significant amount of the precious and limited funding for stem cell research is currently being diverted from adult stem cell research to embryonic stem cell research. Advocates of the embryonic research are working hard to convince legislatures to adopt measures for the right to clone and to destroy embryos for the purpose of harvesting their stem cells. Public figures and many in the media have often been effective in using misleading statements to reduce the constraints and increase the funding. However, to date, embryonic stem cell research has not produced any results in curing or correcting physical conditions, but it has produced tumors in laboratory mice. Scientists say it may be decades before cures will result from embryonic stem cell research, if ever.
Embryonic stem cells come from blastocysts, the name given to embryonic live humans 5-7 days after conception. When embryonic stem cells are harvested from blastocysts, the dead embryos are discarded. Blastocysts can be produced directly from fertilization or from somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning).
Scientists desire massive numbers of embryos in order to get large quantities of embryonic stem cells, many more than are available through in vitro fertilization, so they want to produce large numbers of blastocysts via cloning. These quantities of clones require massive numbers of donated eggs from women. In addition to the massive number of embryos killed in this process, some women have died due to the drugs used for the donations. There’s a documentary about this egg donation titled “Eggsploitation”.
In contrast, adult stem cells, which are extracted from many non-controversial sources such as bone marrow, body fat, peripheral blood, hair follicles, gastrointestinal organs, placenta, umbilical cord blood, and skeletal muscle, have been saving lives and benefitting patients for decades. In many cases, the adult stem cells have been provided by the patient (autologous adult stem cell donation). Although not routine and often an expensive last resort in severe circumstances, adult stem cells have been successfully used for decades. This currently includes successful treatment of 73 diseases and conditions.
What can we do? Pray. Study relevant scriptures. Study the available information to reach our own conclusions about the ethics. Discuss these ethical issues with our friends, family, and pastors. Contact our lawmakers. Consider becoming an adult stem cell donor.
Following are some web resources for more information on this topic.
http://www.frc.org/life–bioethics#stem_cells – Family Research Council web site provides a list of links
http://www.eggsploitation.com/ – this is the web site for the Eggsploitation documentary
http://www.stemcellresearchfacts.org/ – benefits of stem cells, focusing on adult stem cells
http://www.marrow.org/ – National Bone Marrow Registry for adult stem cell donation
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=stem+cell+transplant&cond=MDS&show_flds=Y – lists clinical trials for stem cell research
http://www.lutheransforlifefortwayne.org/ – Fort Wayne Lutherans for Life web site
Posted By cmbuuck on August 15, 2011
Father’s Love Letter—I knew you even before you were conceived—The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart.” Jer.1:4-5 (NIV)
When Jeremiah was called to be a prophet to Israel, God declared that even before he was conceived, he was known by God and set apart for His divine purposes. The road that Jeremiah would walk in his ministry life would not be an easy one, for he suffered much abuse at the hands of his fellow Israelites. I wonder if he ever reflected on these words when he was going through his darkest times? When he was alone in that cold, damp prison cell, did he ever go back to the beginning of his ministry and meditate on God’s words to Him? I believe the revelation that he was known by God, and set apart for His purposes, gave Jeremiah the strength to continue to walk out his destiny, even in the darkest of times. (more…)
Posted By cmbuuck on May 12, 2011
News from Hawaii—StarAdvertiser.com, 2/8/11—On February 7th, the Hawaiian Senate Health Committee voted unanimously, 4-0, to shelve a bill to allow physician assisted suicide in the state. This marks the third time an assisted suicide measure, based on a model of Oregon’s law, stalled in a legislative committee. The “Death with Dignity” measure (SB 803) would have allowed a terminally ill, competent adult to receive lethal drugs to end life.
Newborns and Music—LifeSiteNews.com, 3/8/11—French scientists have discovered one-month-old babies are able to remember music played to them in the third trimester of their mothers’ pregnancies. In the study, the researchers played a descending piano melody twice a day to expectant mothers in their 35th, 36th or 37th weeks of gestation. They tested the babies one month after they were born, playing both the descending melody and an ascending nine-note piano melody during the babies’ sleep. On the average, the heart rates of the babies decreased by 12 beats a minute with the familiar descending music, compared to 5-6 beats per minute with the unfamiliar melody.
It Depends On How You Say It—Rev. Robert Fleischmann, the National Director of Christian Life Resources—When the United States legalized abortion on January 22, 1973, the language changed. No longer was a little one growing and kicking in the womb referred to as a “baby.” Rather, the child was reduced to a Latin and medical terminology to describe a stage in his or her biological development.
Today people talk about the unborn child as a fertilized egg, zygote, a blastocyst, an embryo and a fetus. All of these terms simply describe the developmental stages of life – something that pro-life advocates know is a baby growing in the womb! Yet, the careful use of the right terms can insulate us from harsh realities.
No one likes to talk about aborting a baby – not even abortion activists. They talk about the procedure of abortion without explaining the horrific details. When pressed they describe the expulsion of the fetus, the hindrance of the embryo from attaching to the endometrial lining or the removal of fetal matter-anything to avoid saying that in abortion they terminate the life of a baby.
It is not surprising the world has gotten to this point. A number of years ago in my research on changing societal attitudes, I discovered that some scientists in their efforts to legalize the practice killing of newly-born children (infanticide) described these babies as “radically defective neonates.” I can understand the reasoning – no one wants to talk about killing an unwanted, disabled newborn baby. It is so much easier to kill a radically defective neonate. It sounds like the end of a failed experiment.
The same can be said about the changing rhetoric involving the end of life. The world used to be content with terms like “coma,” “brain damaged” or even “in a fog.” Instead, we have grown comfortable with the phrase “persistent vegetative state.” Why that phrase? “Persistent” gives the impression that the condition will go on and on with no end in sight. “Vegetative” sounds like the person is both living and edible. This dehumanized term likely helps us feel more comfortable when we must do something dehumanizing, such as terminating the life.
It is hard to believe all of this verbage refers to people, created and redeemed by God. Though it sounds simplistic, I miss the days when a baby was a baby, a mother was a mother and an ailing grandfather was still your grandfather. All other terms may help track a stage of development or a condition, but in the end it certainly cheapens life. So, be careful about what you say! (Full article in Clearly Caring, 2011, Volume 31 / Number 1)