At this date, 06-12-24 this folder consists of 21 items.
******* item 1) 4 DIMENSIONAL ULTRASOUND
******* item 2) BUSH DIRECTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO PROTECT HUMAN EMBRYOS
******* item 3) BUSH ADMINISTRATION WILL PROMOTE EMBRYO ADOPTION
******* item 4) ARIZONA PARENTAL CONSENT LAW GETS APPEALS COURT O.K.
******* item 5 PRO-FAMILY VICTORY AT UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S SESSION
******* item 6) GROUPS SEEK BIBLICAL CONTENT IN B.C. PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
******* item 7 ABORTION HURTS BLACK AMERICANS THE HARDEST
******* item 8 IDAHO PRO-LIFE GROUP WANTS UNBORN CHILDREN IN CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN COVERAGE
******* item 9 BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO COVER UNBORN CHILDREN IN HEALTH PROGRAM
******* item 10) PRE-NATAL SURGERY SAVES BABY'S LIFE
******* item 11) PREGNANT WOMEN CAN PROTECT THEIR UNBORN BABIES
******* item 12) CALIFORNIA SAFE HAVEN LAW TO STOP BABY ABANDONMENTS OFTEN IGNORED
******* item 13) TEXT OF PRESIDENT BUSH'S REMARKS ON BORN ALIVE INFANTS PROTECTION ACT
******* item 14) LEGAL AGE OF SEXUAL CONSENT
******* item 15) PRO LIFERS IN SPAIN STAGE MARCH FOR LIFE RALLY
******* item 16 TULANE UNIVERSITY WINS NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH ADUTL STEM CELL RESEARCH GRANT
******* item 17) RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER WARNS OF THE DANGERS OF ABORTION
******* item 18) WILL NEW TECHNOLOGIES MEAN THE END OF ABORTION?
******* item 19 NEW VACCINES DON'T USE CELLS FROM ABORTED BABIES
******* item 20) SCIENCE SUPPORTS THE FULL HUMANITY OF THE UNBORN CHILD
******* item 21) BREAST CANCER DROP TIED TO HORMONES
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******* item 1) NEW MULTIDIMENSIONAL ULTRASOUND TECHNOLOGY IS BRINGING THE ABORTION DEBATE INTO FOCUS
******* May 31, 2002
******* New Technology Boosts Pro-life Efforts
******* By Steve Jordahl, correspondent
******* A new television ad airing during such popular shows as NBC's "Friends" hails the advent of a new General Electric product that provides an even clearer view into the womb.
******* "When you see your baby for the first time on the new GE 4D Ultrasound system, it really is a miracle," the ad says. It shows a married, expectant couple gazing at a screen revealing a detailed, moving image of the child in utero.
******* The GE Web site describes the technology this way: "4D Ultrasound takes three-dimensional ultrasound images and adds the element of time to the process. The result: Live action images of your unborn child."
******* But GE's product isn't the only one getting parents closer to their preborn children. Novint Technologies, Inc., based in Albuquerque, N.M., has developed a product called e-Touch that interacts with the GE product to create the sensation of touch. According to a May 7 press release, this allows expectant parents "to feel a vast array of textures including the feel of the baby's face and skin."
******* Tom Anderson, CEO of Novint, witnessed the miracle of his new technology first-hand with his own son.
******* "As a parent, that was just such an amazing experience," Anderson said. "He is still not born, he's due in July, but I've touched his nose and I've touched his cheeks and I know what he looks like." ******* Ironically, Anderson described himself as "pro-choice."
******* But parents aren't the only ones who are excited about the new technology. Laura Echevarria, with the National Right to Life Committee, said this is a boost for the pro-life movement.
******* "We are seeing that as technology rapidly advances, that it will become undeniable that the unborn child is human and deserves protection just like everyone else," Echevarria said.
******* She cited recent polls that show the American public split 50-50 on the abortion issue, with the pro-life viewpoint gaining acceptance. She added that she'll take all the free advertising she can get. ******* "Certainly, having a four-dimensional sonogram commercial air during "Friends" ... there's no way we could have been able to pay for that kind of ad," Echevarria said.
******* And that, she said, is a miracle as well. ******* Copyright 2002 Focus on the Family All rights reserved. International copyright secured. (800) A-FAMILY (232-6459) Privacy Policy/Terms of Use ********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 2) BUSH DIRECTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO PROTECT HUMAN EMBRYOS
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: Associated Press, Washington Post; October 30, 2002 ******* Washington, DC -- The Bush administration has revised the charter of a federal advisory committee concerned with the safety of research volunteers to specify that unborn children in experiments are ``human subjects'' whose welfare deserves special attention. ******* The change does not yet give human embryos used in research any particular protections or have any direct impact on federal policy. But it is another indication that the president believes unborn children deserve special protections under law from destruction in scientific research. ******* The committee, whose members have yet to be appointed, will offer recommendations to the Health and Human Services Department. The agency would have to propose regulations or encourage legislation if it wanted to put new pro-life protections in place. ******* The change was made to recognize that certain populations are particularly vulnerable in today's research, said Arthur J. Lawrence, deputy assistant secretary for health operations, who oversaw the rewriting of the charter. He noted that more women are being included in research studies, and some of them are likely to be pregnant. ******* The charter now directs the committee to provide advice concerning ``research involving human subjects'' including ``pregnant women, embryos and fetuses.'' ******* "It's very important to focus in on the risks to women who are pregnant and their embryos and fetuses," Lawrence said Wednesday. ``It was the intent of the revision of the charter to insert specifically within the charter the populations that needed to get special consideration.'' ******* Other groups mentioned in the charter include newborns, children, prisoners and the ``decisionally impaired,'' meaning those unable to give informed consent. ******* The reference to unborn children could apply to research using human embryos left over from in vitro fertilization treatments or to those cloned specifically for research. Pro-life advocates oppose both because unborn children would be destroyed in the process. ******* Government guidelines only apply to research that is federally funded, noted Rebecca Dresser, an expert on human subject protections who teaches law and medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. ******* Despite the restrictions, scientists increasingly are turning to human embryos as a source of embryonic stem cells which researchers hope to turn into therapies for a variety of degenerative diseases. Other scientists are finding more success with adult stem cells obtained from more ethical sources such as umbilical cord blood or bone marrow. ******* Abortion advocates decried the move as a harbringer for making abortion illegal. ``It lays another stone on the pathway to overturning legal bortion,'' said Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. ******* Pro-life advocates cheered the move towards protecting unborn children from harmful experiments. ******* "It's very welcome that HHS is recognizing the need for sound norms on human experimentation across the entire spectrum of life," said Richard M. Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. ******* Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, stated, "We applaud the administration for explicitly recognizing in the charter that the term 'human subjects' includes all living members of the species Homo sapiens at every stage of their development, and that all deserve protection from unethical experimentation." *********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 3) BUSH ADMINISTRATION WILL PROMOTE EMBRYO ADOPTION
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Source: Associated Press, Pro-Life Infonet; August 21, 2002 ******* Washington, DC -- Pushed by Congress, the Bush administration is set to promote ``embryo adoption,'' in which one infertile couple donates leftover human embryos to another. It's the latest move in the heated debate over the moral and legal status of an unborn child in the earliest part of life. ******* The administration plans to distribute nearly $1 million for public awareness campaigns promoting donation of embryos, one of several options available to couples who create more than they need for in vitro fertilization. ******* Pro-life groups have lauded embryo adoptions as a way to protect the lives of those unborn children who otherwise would have been destroyed. ******* The Department of Health and Human Services says it has no political agenda and is simply following orders from Congress. The grant program was inserted into an HHS spending bill by pro-abortion Sen. Arlen Specter, who supports both abortion and the destructive embryonic stem cell research. ******* Specter said the human embryos should be available for research, but only if they are going to be thrown away otherwise. ******* ``If any of those embryos could produce life, I think they ought to produce life,'' he said in a statement. ******* The public awareness campaign, Spectter said, is ``sort of a test program'' for embryo adoption. ``Let us try to find people who will adopt embryos and take the necessary steps on implanting them in a woman to produce life,'' he said. ******* Perhaps the real credit for the grant program goes to pro-life Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN). During the debate surrounding President Bush's decision to prohibit federal funding of any new embryonic stem cell research, Congressman Souder held hearings on the issue. Several children who had been adopted as frozen embryos attended the hearing along with their families. According to John Cusey of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, the grant program is a result of the successful hearing. ******* However, the program is making some people who support destroying human embryos in research nervous. ******* Officials at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine are considering applying for a grant but fear it will suggest that donating embryos to another couple is preferable to donating them for research or destroying them altogether. ******* ``Our biggest concern is to protect all of the options for the patients, not to make any one thing the designated best option,'' said Eleanor Nicoll, spokeswoman for the fertility clinic trade group. ``Some patients are extremely uncomfortable about the idea of other people bearing and raising their genetic offspring.'' ******* Abortion advocates worry that the program lays the legal groundwork for considering embryos human beings with full legal rights. Using the term ``adoption'' rather than ``donation'' makes it appear that the program views embryos as children, said Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. ******* If an embryo were a person with equal rights, abortion could be more easily declared illegal, she said. ``It can be used to support their effort to roll back Roe vs. Wade.'' ******* Fertility clinics that offer clients the option of giving embryos to other couples use the term ``embryo donation.'' The phrase ``embryo adoption'' comes from an adoption agency, which uses the same procedures to place embryos as it uses to place babies. ******* That agency, Nightlight Christian Adoptions, plans to apply for one of the grants. Its embryo program, called Snowflakes, has produced 18 babies, with five women pregnant now. ******* Officials there are thrilled by the opportunity to help these children. ******* ``I believe every embryo is a child that deserves a chance to be born,'' said JoAnn Eiman, a spokeswoman for Snowflakes. ``This is more than mere tissue. They need an option they haven't had in the past.'' ******* She hopes the education campaign will inform more people about the adoption option. ******* The embryos are a byproduct of in vitro fertilization, in which an egg is fertilized in the lab and then implanted into a woman's uterus a few days later. Typically, couples fertilize about a dozen eggs, in hopes that they will have enough healthy embryos to produce the children they want. Those that are not implanted are frozen for future use or destroyed. ******* But after a couple has all the children it wants, there are often embryos left over. And tens of thousands of embryos are now frozen in fertility clinics, often because couples don't know what to do with them. ******* Their options are limited. They can throw them away. They can leave them in the freezer. They can donate them for research - though research using newly destroyed embryos is not eligible for federal funding under a decision made by President Bush last year. They can also give them to another woman hoping to get pregnant. ******* The grants being offered by HHS are intended to boost interest in the latter. A total of about $900,000 will be distributed, and federal officials anticipate awarding three to four grants of $200,000 to $250,000 each. ******* HHS officials said they don't know what programs will be proposed. Snowflakes plans to suggest a video promoting adoption, particularly at IVF clinics that don't offer it already, a Web site, a public relations campaign and mailings to obstetricians. ******* Applicants must have experience with embryo adoption and be prepared to evaluate their programs. Applications are due next week. ******* -- Please consider making a donation to help the work of the Pro-Life Infonet. ******* You can send a donation to: Women and Children First, P.O. Box 523143, Springfield, VA 22152. We appreciate your support. **********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 4) ARIZONA PARENTAL CONSENT LAW GETS APPEALS COURT O.K.
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: Arizona Republic; October 9, 2002 ******* San Francisco, CA -- A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld Arizona's pro-life law requiring minors to get parental consent to have an abortion. ******* Ruling 2-1, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not address the constitutionality of requiring girls under 18 to get parental or guardian consent to have an abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the validity of that, prompting 32 states to adopt some type of parental involvement law -- either notification or consent. ******* "Finally parents and their teenage daughters in Arizona will be protected from the heavy-handed tactics of the abortion industry," explained Arizona Right to Life executive director Shane Wikfors. "Year after year we have passed parental consent legislation only to have it attacked by Planned Parenthood and the courts. This ruling will finally restore the bond between parent and child that has been broken by Planned Parenthood. We also know this ruling will result in a marked decrease in the number of abortions in Arizona. We are extremely pleased by the decision." ******* The dispute centered on how Arizona's 1999 law dealt with cases in which a girl wants to have an abortion but does not get permission from a parent or guardian. ******* In upholding parental consent laws, the Supreme Court has ruled that states must allow children to seek a juvenile court judge's approval for an abortion if they don't have parents or guardians, or do not want their parents or guardians to know about the pregnancy. ******* In those instances, judges generally are obliged to grant the abortion. ******* Planned Parenthood sued to block the law, arguing that Arizona's law did not guarantee the privacy of girls who sought a judge's approval, and therefore violated the rights of girls to retain their medical privacy. ******* The appeals court did not agree, and said Arizona's statute "satisfies two constitutionally recognized rights of privacy, the right to make fundamental life decisions and the right to avoid disclosure of personal information," Judge Richard C. Tallman ruled. ******* Planned Parenthood said that Arizona's law wrongly allows any court employee or government official connected with the courts to review a girl's file. ******* Judge Warren J. Ferguson generally agreed with Planned Parenthood and said a lack of privacy may unconstitutionally dissuade girls from having an abortion. ******* Arizona Assistant Attorney General Paula Bickett said a girl's juvenile court abortion file would remain confidential, and that Arizona government officials can view it on a need-to-know basis only. The general public, she said, does not have access. ******* "The majority opinion is consistent with our arguments," Bickett said. ******* Pattie Caldwell, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona, said the decision may drive girls to have "illegal abortions or harm themselves through self-induced abortion." ******* An Arizona federal judge upheld the pro-life measure last year, but blocked the law from being enforced pending the outcome of appeals. Despite Wednesday's decision, the law is not immediately enforceable because the court's decisions do not become final for about a month to allow time for fresh appeals. ******* The case is Planned Parenthood v. LaWall, 01-16799. ******* -- Pregnancy Centers Online http://www.pregnancycenters.org ***********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 5 PRO-FAMILY VICTORY AT UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S SESSION
******* Fanatical pro-abortion Canadian Delegation Walked out Because of US Pro-Life Stand ******* UNITED NATIONS, May 13, 2002 (LSN.ca) - A LifeSite correspondent at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children reports that the final outcome document of the session does not contain references to "reproductive health services" - language which a former Canadian delegation to the UN revealed includes abortion. The Special Session which ended Friday after heated round-the-clock negotiations saw Canada and the European Union, along with a few Latin American countries, battling for language to promote abortion, homosexuality and graphic sex education for children. ******* See the UN release on the end of the session and related coverage: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/ga10022.doc.htm ******* http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/11/international/11CHIL.html (registration required) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3878-2002May10.html ******** http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-dissect12.html ******* http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/12/1021002414182.html ************************************************************************************************************************
******* item 6) GROUPS SEEK BIBLICAL CONTENT IN B.C. PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
******* From Logos BC - a group of parents and teachers desiring the choice for Christian education within the B.C. public school system. ******* "Many of us have prayed and worked for years to help make B.C.'s education system more parent-friendly and more Christian values-friendly." ******* See details at : www.logos-society.edmonton.ab.ca ******* http://www.logos-society.edmonton.ab.ca/ **********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 7 ABORTION HURTS BLACK AMERICANS THE HARDEST
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: Birmingham News; October 15, 2002 ******* Birmingham, AL -- A group of black activists who oppose abortion rallied at Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, Alabama on Monday, concluding the "Say So" weekend march they organized to draw attention to the issue. ******* Tiffany "Esther" Fomby, a member of Doers of the Word Church in Birmingham, led a chant: "If you love the children, say so!" ******* About 60 people marched from Kelly Ingram Park to Birmingham City Hall and back, singing "We Shall Overcome" and carrying signs saying, "Stop Black Genocide." ******* The Rev. Johnny Hunter, national director of the Fayetteville, N.C.-based Life Education and Resource Network that organized the effort, said it's hard to draw support from the black community to oppose abortion. ******* "The issue is not popular," Hunter said. Organizers had hoped for 1,452 marchers to descend on Birmingham, which was chosen as the site for its civil rights history, Hunter said. They paraded on the same Birmingham street where blacks marching for equal rights were doused by fire hoses in the early '60s. ******* "We're bringing awareness and exposing the 1,452 African-American babies that are killed in America every day," Fomby said. ******* Hunter said he hopes the march will mark the beginning of increased concern about high rates of abortion among blacks. ******* Centers for Disease Control statistics show that while blacks make up about 12 percent of the population, they account for 34 percent of U.S. abortions. "I think it's even much higher than that," Hunter explained. ******* Hunter said the abortion industry has "targeted" blacks by locating a disproportionate number of abortion businesses in majority black areas. ******* "It's been viewed as a white Republican issue, but there is a disproportionate number of African-Americans getting abortions," said the Rev. Arthur Johnson, pastor of Doers of the Word Church. ******* Star Parker, president of the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education, said she had four abortions before joining the cause. ******* "I realized there has to be something wrong with killing your own offspring," she told the crowd. ******* "When black people stand up for the end of abortion, abortion will end," said Damon Owens, a spokesman for LEARN. ******* A new Alabama law requiring women seeking abortions to wait 24 hours went into effect Monday that should help reduce the number of abortions. In similar states, such as Kentucky, the number of abortions was reduced significantly. ******* The law, dubbed the "Women's Right To Know Act" by pro-life advocates, requires abortion practitioners to provide women with information about abortion's risks and alternatives as well as information on fetal development prior to performing the abortion. *********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 8 IDAHO PRO-LIFE GROUP WANTS UNBORN CHILDREN IN CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN COVERAGE
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: Associated Press; December 18, 2002 ******* Boise, ID -- Idaho Chooses Life, a statewide pro-life group, wants lawmakers to adopt the Bush administration's declaration that unborn children are persons under the government-financed Children's Health Insurance Program . ******* Pro-life advocates applauded the Bush administration for the proposal saying that additional medical coverage during a pregnancy could help remove one of the factors, lack of financial support, women cite as a reason for obtaining an abortion. ******* Abortion advocates called it an attempt to give a fetus legal status as a person, advancing the campaign to ban abortion. ******* David Ripley, director of Idaho Chooses, argued that lawmakers who qualify unborn children for CHIP will see it as "one of the smartest ways to save taxpayer dollars" because more pregnant women will receive preventive care that keeps them out of expensive emergency rooms. ******* It also would give women another alternative to abortion, he said. ******* Health and Welfare Department spokesman Ross Mason estimated the cost of covering unborn children during pregnancy at $1 million, including $200,000 to the state. CHIP costs about $20 million a year in combined state and federal money. ******* Because CHIP is for children, it does not typically cover parents or pregnant women, although states can get federal permission to include adults. Under the Bush administration's new rules, it will be a routine matter for states to add unborn children to their programs. ******* Rebecca Poedy, president of Planned Parenthood of Idaho, argued that the Ripley has "a clear anti-choice agenda which establishes personhood, putting the fetus before the mother." ******* Ripley and his allies have had significant success in the Legislature in just the past three sessions. They secured a ban on taxpayer-funded abortions through the state Medicaid program. They won a requirement for parental or court approval before minors can get abortions, and the Legislature voted to protect pregnant women who are victims of violent assaults which lead to the death or injury of her unborn child. ******* -- Anne, from Rochester Right-to-Life saw an ad for The Christian Singles Info-exchange here on the Pro-life Infonet, and decided to dig a little deeper. The result of her findings is a new web-page: http://www.righttoliferoch.org/wcsi.htm. This page is fun to read, even if you are not single!
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******* item 9 BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO COVER UNBORN CHILDREN IN HEALTH PROGRAM
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet
******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt
******* Source: Associated Press, Pro-Life Infonet; September 27, 2002
******* Washington, DC -- In a major victory for pro-life advocates, the Bush administration said Friday it will consider unborn children as persons eligible for health insurance coverage under the State Children's Health Insurance Program. ******* The administration said it is making the change to enable more low-income pregnant women to obtain prenatal care. Under the new rule, states could extend health insurance to unborn children from the moment of conception by enrolling them in the CHIP program. ******* The debate will now shift to states, which must decide whether to add unborn children to their programs. Both sides of the debate predicted battles ahead. ******* Because CHIP, as the program is known, is aimed at children, it does not typically cover parents or pregnant women, although states can get permission to include adults if they request it. Under these new rules, it will be a routine matter for states to add unborn children to their CHIP programs. ******* ``It represents a speedy new option for states that want to do more to ensure that women get critical prenatal care that will increase the chances that their children are born healthy,'' Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a statement Friday. He called the change a``commonsense, compassionate measure.'' ******* Pro-life groups applauded the Bush administration's move. ******* "[The rule] should be welcomed by all who care about the health of pregnant women and their children," explained Monsignor William Fay of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "The proposed rule serves an important goal, that of expanding access to quality prenatal care for children at their earliest and most vulnerable stages of development and to their mothers. It serves this goal by acknowledging that the child's need for good nutrition and health care begins when the child first comes into existence, at conception." ******* Other pro-life advocates said the ruling, if implemented in states nationwide, would address some of the financial and medical concerns that sometimes prompt young women to consider abortion and thereby reduce the number of abortions. ******* The final regulation, first proposed in January, will be published next Wednesday in the Federal Register. It will take effect 30 days later. ******* HHS received a whopping 7,783 comments on the proposal, including some from abortion advocates who argued the Bush administration was trying to lay legal groundwork establishing independent rights of the unborn child as a step toward abolishing abortion. ******* HHS argued, ``prenatal care benefits both mother and child and therefore does not create tension between them.'' ******* ``This rule, rather than limiting an uninsured woman's choices in fact expands them by offering important health care that may not otherwise be available to her,'' said the 111-page regulation. ******* Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, praised the Bush administration action but feared it will be stymied at the state level. ******* ``The next question is, will pro-abortion politicians in some states cave in to pressure from pro-abortion groups who insist there is no such thing as an unborn child, and so deny this aid to mothers and their babies?'' he asked. ******* In fact, pro-abortion groups said they will urge states to reject this option. They prefer for states to include pregnant women in CHIP -- something two states, New Jersey and Rhode Island, have already done -- and exclude any mention of children before birth. ******* Or, they said, if the administration really wants to get prenatal care to more women, it could simply support legislation pending in the Senate to add pregnant women to CHIP. Thompson has said he supports the Senate bill. ******* Clarifying one aspect of the policy, the regulation explained that all unborn children are eligible for coverage even if their mothers are immigrants who are not. CHIP bars all illegal immigrants and only covers legal immigrants who have been in the country for five years. But babies born in the United States are citizens and therefore eligible for assistance. In other words, unborn children are considered citizens of the United States under the policy. ******* HHS said this was not the first time a baby before birth has been eligible for government benefits. In the past, unborn children were eligible for both welfare benefits and for Medicaid, which allowed for prenatal care. ******* HHS spokesman Bill Pierce said HHS would count unborn children in its statistics about number of children covered by CHIP. He said it wasn't clear if the department would break out the number of born vs. unborn children. ******* The plan does not include any new money for the coverage. Rather, states that want to participate would simply add participants to their existing programs, which are funded with a combination of state and federal dollars. ******* -- The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and information. ******* To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to: [email protected]. ******* Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First (http://www.womenandchildrenfirst.org). For more pro-life info visit http://www.prolifeinfo.org and for questions or additional information email [email protected] ****************************************************************************************************************
******* item 10 PRE-NATAL SURGERY SAVES BABY'S LIFE
From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: Hartford Courant; November 17, 2002 ******* Boston, MA -- Loren Davis just had a birthday, his first. If he had been born a decade earlier, the Manchester, Conn., boy most likely would be dead. ******* On Nov. 16, 2001, a team of surgeons in Boston pulled Loren's head from his mother's womb during a cesarean section and, while he still was tethered to his mother's umbilical cord, attached a heart-lung machine to his neck. Once the doctors were assured Loren was getting sufficient oxygen, they completed the cesarean and took him to an operating room to remove a tumor the size of a fist that had grown where a lobe of his lung was supposed to be. ******* "He is our miracle baby," said Loren's mother, Susan Davis, who at 42 became a mother for the first time. ******* For centuries, babies such as Loren with serious birth defects entered the world stillborn or died soon after birth. Improvements in ultrasound technology during the last two decades have helped doctors find these physical handicaps well before birth. But it has been only in the last few years that doctors have been able to offer parents an option other than abortion for some of these defects. ******* In fact, Susan Davis said that a doctor advised her to have an abortion after her 18-week ultrasound test revealed her baby had congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation, or CCAM, a growth that blocked the development of the heart and lungs. ******* Having a deeply-held religious faith, Susan and her husband, Ray Davis, searched the Internet for alternatives. Their search led them to Boston Children's Hospital, which three years ago opened the Advanced Fetal Care Center. ******* In Boston, the couple met nurse practitioner Luanne Nemes, who said there might be surgical options to treat their baby's condition. MRI and advanced ultrasound imaging tests would determine whether those new techniques could be used to save their baby. ******* Such imaging technology has been a blessing for many prospective parents, even if they reveal that medical options are limited, Nemes said. ******* "Even if they do not get good news, we are able to counsel and prepare families," Nemes said. "Historically, these people did not get appropriate prenatal counseling about what to expect, what the long-term outcomes might be." ******* Boston Children's is one of a handful of hospitals across the country that offer surgery to treat physical problems such as CCAM and congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a fetal condition in which organs in the abdomen push through the diaphragm into the chest cavity, preventing normal heart and lung development. ******* Doctors also are trying surgical techniques on babies before they are born to correct neural tube defects that can cause conditions such as spina bifida. Even heart valve repairs can be done while the baby is in the womb. ******* But surgery cannot save every baby, said Dr. Renee Bobrowski, who sees several cases a year as a perinatologist at Hartford Hospital. ******* The Davises knew serious risks were involved. "The doctors told me I might lose both," Ray Davis said of his wife and baby. ******* "They said it was 50-50" that her baby would survive the surgery, said Susan Davis, who received two blood transfusions during surgery. ******* Loren decided to come early, precipitating a wild scramble at Children's Hospital while Ray drove Susan to Boston. ******* During delivery, four weeks before full term, Loren was connected to an ECMO--extracorporeal membranous oxygenation--machine, which helped circulate oxygenated blood throughout his body. The umbilical cord then was cut and the tumor removed. Loren remained on the machine for five days. ******* The procedure cost $200,000, of which Ray's insurance "paid only a little," the father said. ******* Doctors have told Loren's parents that his prognosis is excellent. ******* -- See our web site http://www.lifecyclebooks.com for hundreds of exclusive pro life and abstinence education materials. ****************************************************************************************************************
******* item 11 PREGNANT WOMEN CAN PROTECT THEIR UNBORN BABIES
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet
******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt
******* Source: New York Times; October 15, 2002
******* Lansing, MI -- A pregnant woman may use deadly force to protect her unborn baby even when she does not fear for her own life, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled. Legal experts say the decision has opened another front in the legal wars surrounding abortion. ******* The court emphasized that its decision was a narrow one, concerning only assaults against pregnant women, but it acknowledged that it was entering charged legal terrain. ******* "We are obviously aware of the raging debate occurring in this country regarding the point at which a fetus becomes a person entitled to all the protections of the state and federal constitutions," Judge Patrick Meter wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel. ******* The case arose from a lovers' quarrel involving Jaclyn Kurr and her boyfriend, Antonia Pena, the man who had impregnated her. She later testified that after Pena had punched her in the stomach, she responded by stabbing him in the chest with a kitchen knife, killing him. At the time she was 16 to 17 weeks pregnant. ******* She was charged with manslaughter, and the jury rejected her assertion that she had been acting in self-defense. She was sentenced to five to 20 years in prison. ******* This month, the appeals court reversed her conviction and ordered a new trial. It said the trial judge should have let her argue that she was defending not only herself but also "her unborn children." ******* The court noted that the age of Kurr's babies -- she was apparently carrying quadruplets -- meant that they could not have survived outside the womb and that she could abort them under the Supreme Court's decision in Roe vs. Wade. She miscarried a few weeks later. ******* "One is left with a most peculiar legal situation," said John Mayoue, an Atlanta lawyer who is an expert in the various ways the law treats unborn children. "Although she may use deadly force to protect the viable or non-viable fetus, thereby ending someone's life, she also has the constitutional right to terminate the pregnancy herself without consequence." ******* Linda Rosenthal, a lawyer with the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, said the decision was consistent with the Supreme Court's abortion jurisprudence. ******* "When a woman is carrying a wanted pregnancy and she has made that decision, which is constitutionally protected, she has the right to protect the embryo or fetus," she said. ******* About half the states have laws making assaults on pregnant women that cause miscarriages or stillbirths criminal. A proposed bill in Congress, the Unborn Victims of Violence act, would target violent against pregnant women on the federal level. ******* Michigan law allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves when they believe their lives are in danger or when they feel threatened by serious bodily harm. Kurr failed to convince the jury that the punches amounted to either. ******* The law there allows the use of deadly force in defense of others. The trial judge ruled that the unborn children Kurr was carrying were not "others" for these purposes. ******* "I believe in order to be able to assert a defense of others there has to be a living human being existing independent of your client," Judge Richard Lyon Lamb of the Kalamazoo County Circuit Court, said to Kurr's lawyer. "Under 22 weeks, there are no others." ******* In reversing the conviction, the appeals court held that the concept of defending others "should also extend to the protection of a fetus, viable or non-viable, from an assault against the mother." ******* The court stressed that it recognized the defense only in the context of an assault, thus excluding the destruction of human embryos existing outside the body and medical abortions. ******* Gail Rodwan, Kurr's lawyer, said the opinion was limited in its holding but not in its implications. ******* "The opinion certainly does recognize the sense that the fetus was another separate from the mother," she said. "That may be something people could seize on." ******* Through her lawyer, Kurr, who remains in prison, declined to comment. ******* Heather Bergmann, a prosecutor, said the state will ask the Michigan Supreme Court to hear the case. Its principal argument, she said, will be that the right to self-defense is adequate to protect both pregnant women and their babies. ******* -- Please consider a donation to help the Pro-Life Infonet. You can send it to: Women and Children First, PO Box 523143, Springfield, VA 22152. *********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 12 CALIFORNIA SAFE HAVEN LAW TO STOP BABY ABANDONMENTS OFTEN IGNORED
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet
******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt
******* Source: San Jose Mercury News; May 21, 2002
******* Sacramento, CA -- In the spring of 1996, Joanne De la Cruz was living in a dorm room at UC-Santa Cruz when she smothered her newborn with napkins, put her son in a plastic bag and tossed him in a dumpster.
******* Nobody knew De la Cruz was even pregnant -- and she wanted to keep it that way, especially from her parents, whom she feared would disown her. Her secret was safe until four years later when the guilt-stricken young woman broke down and confessed the crime to a therapist. ******* De la Cruz, who understood that her therapist was compelled by the law to tell authorities, was arrested. She's expected to enter a guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter May 31 in Santa Cruz County Superior Court, but prosecutors are entertaining an unusual plea agreement to resolve the tragic case. ******* Assistant District Attorney Christine McGuire said it's still possible that De la Cruz will receive some time in jail, but what the district attorney's office really wants is for De la Cruz to do 1,000 hours of community service by helping publicize a 1 1/2-year-old law that allows desperate moms to drop off their babies at hospital emergency rooms -- no questions asked. ******* De la Cruz, now 25 and living with her parents in Alameda County, has declined media requests. But her attorney, John Burris of Oakland, said Friday that he's hoping his client's remorse and sincere effort to help other desperate mothers will result in no jail time. ******* ``It's my understanding that she wants to do something to honor her child,'' said Debi Faris of Yucaipa, who founded a group called Garden of the Angels six years ago after hearing about a newborn in a duffel bag tossed out on a Los Angeles freeway. The baby died. ******* Since August 1996, Faris' organization has buried more than 50 Southern California abandoned infants in a ``cemetery within a cemetery'' in Calimesa, about 15 miles east of Riverside. ******* State and local officials say that despite widespread publicity when it cleared the Legislature and was signed by Gov. Gray Davis in September 2000, most Californians are unaware of the law. ******* ``There's been no public awareness campaign and newborn babies have been abandoned and left to die throughout the state,'' McGuire said. ******* In 2001, she said, eight babies were surrendered to hospitals under the provisions of the law, but six others were abandoned and found alive and another 10 were tossed in trash bins and empty fields and died. Others also may have been abandoned. ******* In New Jersey, which has an aggressive media campaign to publicize a similar law, not one abandoned newborn has died in the three years the law has been in effect, said Blanca Castro, spokesman for the California Department of Social Services. ******* In California, however, the deaths of abandoned newborns are still commonplace. ******* Recently, a Stockton high school student was arrested after she allegedly concealed the birth of her infant son. The baby was found dead in a garbage can at a Lake Tahoe casino. Authorities said they are awaiting results from an autopsy aimed at finding out if the baby was born alive or stillborn before deciding whether to file charges. ******* State Sen. Jim Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga, pushed through the Safe Haven Law two years ago after being approached by Faris. Similar to laws now in effect in about three dozen other states, it allows a parent to leave a baby less than 72 hours old with an employee of any hospital emergency room. The surrender can be done anonymously and without fear of prosecution. ******* In an interview Friday, Brulte, the Senate's minority leader, said the original bill required social service officials to organize an outreach program. ******* But it never happened, so last year he penned another bill providing $3 million in outreach funding, which was trimmed to $1 million by the Senate appropriations committee. ******* Davis, in the midst of a state budget crisis, vetoed the second Brulte bill, saying it would ``result in the expenditure of general-fund dollars that were not included in the Budget Act of 2001.'' But Davis directed the Department of Social Services to work with other state agencies to develop an outreach plan. ******* Russ Lopez, a spokesman for the governor, said one reason for the delay was that Brulte's original bill didn't allocate funds for outreach. ******* ``There was really no legal vehicle to do it,'' Lopez said. ******* In February, Davis, pointing to the Safe Haven Law, issued a statement saying ``there is no excuse in California for a new mother to abandon her child.'' ******* Castro said Friday that the Department of Social Services planned to use New Jersey's successful ``No Blame, No Shame, No Names'' media campaign rather than reinvent the wheel. She hopes the campaign will start at the end of the summer. ******* The state, Castro said, has found $500,000 in child-abuse prevention funds it can use to launch the campaign. In addition, she's hoping that TV stations will run free commercials and that the California Children and Families Commission will soon bolster the outreach program with money from the state's voter-approved tobacco tax. ******* The Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office hopes De la Cruz will speak to high school students, counsel pregnant moms in distress and, in general, open her heart. ******* Faris said she was recently speaking in a high school in Los Angeles and a young girl came up to her when class was over. ****** ``She said, `I'm one of those mothers. Two years ago I was 15 and I became pregnant and could not tell my parents, so I threw my baby away. I will have to live with that the rest of my life.' ******* ``I held her and we cried.'' ******* When using items from the Pro-Life Infonet in your newsletter, please include our web site (www.prolifeinfo.org) or email address ([email protected]). Thanks! ***********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 13 TEXT OF PRESIDENT BUSH'S REMARKS ON BORN ALIVE INFANTS PROTECTION ACT
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Source: Office of the White House; August 6, 2002 ******* [Pro-Life Infonet Note: The following is the transcript of President George W. Bush's remarks as he signed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.] ******* THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you all very much for this bill signing ceremony. I'm pleased to sign it in the great city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The history of our country is the story of a promise, a promise of life and liberty made at our founding and fulfilled over the centuries in our laws. It is a story of expanding inclusion and protection for the ignored and the weak and the powerless. And now we extend the promise and protection to the most vulnerable members of our society. ******* Today I sign the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. This important legislation ensures that every infant born alive -- including an infant who survives an abortion procedure -- is considered a person under federal law. (Applause.) This reform was passed with the overwhelming support of both political parties, and it is about to become the law of the land. ******* I appreciate so very much Senator Rick Santorum and Congressman Steve Chabot from Ohio for sponsoring this important piece of legislation. I also appreciate Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Congresswoman Melissa Hart for coming, as well. I want to thank the Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Bishop Wuerl, for being here. It's good to see you again, Bishop. I appreciate Hadley Arkes, the Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions at Amherst University. I want to thank Jill Stanek, registered nurse, Labor and Delivery Unit, Christ Hospital and Medical Center, for being here, as well. I appreciate Gianna Jessen, who is an abortion survivor and a pro-life advocate. I want to thank Dr. Watson Bowes, who is a Professor Emeritus of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the University of North Carolina. ******* I want to thank you all for coming. It's important that you're here, to send a signal that you're dedicated to the protection of human life. The issue of abortion divides Americans, no question about it. Yet today we stand on common ground. The Born Alive Infants Protection Act establishes a principle in America law and American conscience: there is no right to destroy a child who has been born alive. (Applause.) A child who is born has intrinsic worth and must have the full protection of our laws. Today, through sonograms and other technology, we can clearly -- see clearly that unborn children are members of the human family, as well. (Applause.) They reflect our image, and they are created in God's own image. ******* The Born Alive Infants Protection Act is a step toward the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law. (Applause.) It is a step toward the day when the promises of the Declaration of Independence will apply to everyone, not just those with the voice and power to defend their rights. This law is a step toward the day when America fully becomes, in the words of Pope John Paul II, "a hospitable, a welcoming culture." ******* Our society has enough compassion, wealth and love to care for mothers and their children, and to see the promise and potential of every life. In protecting the vulnerable and the weak, the imperfect and the unwanted, you are affirming a culture of life. ******* I'm grateful for your perseverance on behalf of this noble cause. I want to thank you for your hard work. I appreciate your care for every member of the human family. Thank you for coming today. It's now my honor and pleasure to sign into law the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. (Applause.) ******* (The act is signed.) (Applause.) ******* Please refer a friend to the Pro-Life Infonet. Anyone can sign up at http://www.roevwade.org/roeform.html **********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 14) LEGAL AGE OF SEXUAL CONSENT
******* 02-04-23 - from Hansard (record of parliamentary speeches) ******* Mr. Brian Fitzpatrick (Prince Albert, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, I want to make some comments about age and then turn to a question. For young offenders the age is 18 years. In most provinces one has to be 16 to drive a vehicle. To gain employment and not violate labour laws, one has to be 16. Parents are required under the criminal code to provide the necessaries to children under the age of 16. The right to vote is given at 18. In a marital breakdown, the non-custodial parent is required to provide support to the child and it extends well beyond the age of 14. ******* I am curious. I would like to address this question to the hon. member. What would motivate a federal government to reduce the age of sexual consent to 14 and deprive parents of the ability to protect their children from sexual exploitation in view of all these other requirements that the government has seen fit, in its wisdom, to impose, such as minimum ages and so on? They are much higher than this one. Why would a government see the necessity to lower the age for sexual consent to what I think is the extraordinarily low age of 14? **********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 15) PRO LIFERS IN SPAIN STAGE MARCH FOR LIFE RALLY
******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Source: Vida Humana Internacional; July 10, 2002 ******* Madrid, Spain -- With the motto "Protect Every Life for Life", the Pro-Life Day Platform held a March for Life on Saturday, July 6, in Madrid, the capital of Spain. The occasion is the XVII anniversary of the unfortunate decriminalization of abortion in th European country. ******* The March began at the "La Plaza de la Villa" and ended "La Puerta del Sol." ******* The March seeks not only to raise the conscience of the nation about the crime of abortion, but also about other attacks against human life, such as euthanasia, human embryo manipulation and domestic violence. ******* It also promotes adequate solutions to these problems: crisis pregnancy centers, treatment for post-abortion syndrome, research on adult stem cells (instead of embryo stem cells), legislation to help mothers stay home if they so desire, authentic palliative care for terminal patients as an alternative to euthanasia, better adoption laws and, of course, the outlawing of all abortions. ******* The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and information. ******* To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to: [email protected]. ******* Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First http://www.womenandchildrenfirst.org). ******* For more pro-life info visit http://www.prolifeinfo.org and for questions or additional information email [email protected] **********************************************************************************************************************
******* item 16 TULANE UNIVERSITY WINS NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH ADUTL STEM CELL RESEARCH GRANT
******* New Orleans, LA (LifeNews.com) -- Tulane University has received a five-year grant totaling $4.3 million to establish a center for the preparation, quality testing and distribution to researchers of adult stem cells. The funding agency is the National Center for Research Resources, a part of the National Institutes of Health. The new center at Tulane will prepare and distribute to researchers a continuous supply of marrow stromal cells derived from human adult bone marrow and rat bone marrow.
http://www.lifenews.com/bio4.html
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******* item 17) RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER WARNS OF THE DANGERS OF ABORTION
******* From: [email protected]
******* Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 06:32:47 EDT
******* If only the press in the United States, would publish the horrors of an
abortion as the main newspaper in Russia, (Pravda) many lives would be saved.
******* Who would have thought that the news would be censored in our country
but not in Russia. Especially lifesaving news.
******* Frank Joseph MD
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******* How Many Children Should Women Deliver?
******* 07/08/2003 17:04
******* http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/379/10435_baby.html
******* Pregnancy and childbirth make woman's body stronger
******* Scientists determined that delivery of 3-4 children has favorable
effect upon woman's health, and not only health. Correspondent of Zhenskoye Zdorovye (Woman's Health) discussed the issue with director of the Moscow medical center for marriage and family problems, Mikhail Berkenheim
******* - Many families now have only one child, or maximum two. Some women won't give birth to babies at all. Are woman's health and her genital functions interrelated?
******* If we speak about the medical aspect, it is harmful for woman's health to have no children. Indeed, if a woman doesn't give birth to babies for a rather long period it means that she either takes contraceptives or has abortions. Usually hormonal contraceptives that women use reduce the ovary functions, disturb blood coagulation, liver functions, cause diseases of blood vessels (especially in legs) and other problems.
******* Sometimes even condoms may become the source of many of woman's problems. Export of expired condoms to Russia has recently increased. They often burst, and women risk to
catch sexually transmitted diseases that, as is known,
entail problems in the reproductive functions and other
problems.
******* Abortion is rough interference into the natural process; it does have serious consequences. The most widely spread of them is inflammation causing disorders in uterus pipes, perforation of uterus and bowels sides, uterus
contamination, endometriosis that is awfully painful and may entail infertility.
******* Abortion is particularly dangerous for women who never delivered babies. This operation is not only dangerous as such; it activates viruses and infections concealed in a woman's body. Bad nutrition and poor ecological conditions reduce the immunity of majority of women. The body of any woman contains conditionally pathogenic infections (clamidiosis, mycoplasma) that are inert in regular conditions; but these bacteria speedily multiply after an abortion, they strongly attack a woman's weakened body.
******* - It is said that pregnancy and childbirth make woman's
body stronger. What is the essence of the process?
******* Pregnancy and childbirth are the strongest activators of a woman's immunity and tonus. Both processes mobilize all concealed reserves of a woman's organism which in their turn strengthen her health and make her life longer. Women blossom after childbirth; they feel bursts of energy and look more attractive. The body of a woman is meant for delivery of 3-4 children. Women experience serious disbalance in health if the natural order is broken. This is the reason why women suffer from various diseases.
******* Andrey Pchelkin
******* Read the original in Russian: http://health.pravda.ru/health/2003/23/102/411/11968_.html
******* (Translated by: Maria Gousseva)
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******* item 18) WILL NEW TECHNOLOGIES MEAN THE END OF ABORTION?
******* by Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
******* The August 18 issue of The New Republic features an article by Sacha Zimmerman that warns its readers of "The Real Threat to Roe v. Wade." That threat? Ectogenesis. Just in case this term is not yet a part of your conversation over breakfast, be informed that ectogenesis "is the process by which a fetus gestates in an environment external to the mother. The article details rapid advances in the development of artificial wombs and artificial amniotic fluids that could mean that an embryo could develop all the way to maturity in this artificial environment. Once this happens, viability begins with conception--and, as Zimmerman notes: "If and when that happens, the legal and philosophical premises underpinning Roe could be completely dismantled."
http://www.lifenews.com/oped9.html
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******* item 19 NEW VACCINES DON'T USE CELLS FROM ABORTED BABIES
******* Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 01:02:21 EDT
******* Subject: LifeNews.com Report 9/15/03 #3068
******* From: "Steven Ertelt"
The following warning is a prophetic message given to me, Frank Wagner, in November of 1974.
******* LISTEN TO THE CRY OF THE ABORTED CHILDREN. THEIR CRY IS NO. THEIR CRY IS A CRY OF TERROR. HEED THEIR CRY.
******* This prophecy is now being fulfilled.
******* For details about the source, meaning and fulfillment of this prophetic message go to
******* http://ca.geocities.com/fwagner4/index.html
******* email me at *** [email protected] ***
Links to other sites on the Web
(A3e3e2) (American) Catholic Medical Association statement on homosexuality
(A3e3e2) (American) National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention
(A3e3e3) stem cell information from the American National Institute of Health
(A3e3e4) adult stem cells
(A3e3e5) fetal stem cells
(A3e3e6) (A) home page