Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Heaven Speaks About Divorce (Part Five)




Written by "Anne," a Lay Apostle

"Anne" has received permission from her local ordinary, Bishop Leo O'Reilly, Bishop of Kilmore, Ireland, for the spreading of her messages, and has also submitted all her writings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

St. Anne
Many souls behave badly when they are in pain. Dear children, this is not necessary. Bring your pain to Jesus and you will not strike out at each other. You cannot force your husband or wife to continue a marriage. What you can do is this: Bring that soul to Jesus each day. Pray that heaven will intercede for your family and soften the heart of your loved one. Acknowledge any mistakes you have made and be as gentle as possible, allowing your loved one the time necessary for Jesus to heal any wounds. Be assured that you are only one part of the union. Jesus does not hold you accountable for the actions of someone else. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you will be judged by the mere fact that your marriage ended. You will be judged only by your actions, always. And if you have made mistakes, however grave, seek the Sacrament of Penance and allow Jesus to liberate you from these acts. The most important thing I want to tell you is that Jesus will bring good from each situation, however bad the situation appears. If you are walking with Jesus, as a beloved apostle, He will send all necessary healing for you and your loved ones. Jesus does not make promises and then fail to keep them. Jesus will bring the best possible outcome for you all. Heaven will heal and protect your children if you ask. Walk through every day, every pain, every situation with heaven and you will be given peace.
[To be continued . . .]

For further information regarding the Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King, or to purchase Heaven Speaks booklets, please contact Direction for Our Times on the Web at http://www.directionforourtimes.com/, or mail inquiries to the following address: 9000 West 81st St., Justice, IL 60458, U.S.A.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Heaven Speaks About Divorce (Part Four)




Written by "Anne," a Lay Apostle

"Anne" has received permission from her local ordinary, Bishop Leo O'Reilly, Bishop of Kilmore, Ireland, for the spreading of her messages, and has also submitted all her writings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

St. Anne
When a marriage ends, both the husband and the wife suffer. Both will carry a cross from this situation. It is good to remember when you are helping someone who suffers in this way that there are two wounded souls. One party may want the separation more than the other, it is true, but that does not mean that this person is not also in pain. It is very disappointing to heaven when people close to the couple join in and spread bitterness. This is a sad situation, yes, but that does not mean that a heavenly approach is not available. Do not judge. Children of heaven, I would like to repeat that sentence but I do not want to bore you. I will simply ask that you be careful to allow heaven to understand the situation. Content yourself that you do not. It is not necessary for you to judge. It is necessary only for you to love this couple and support their family. This is the heavenly way. When a husband loses a wife and a wife loses a husband, the grief should not be compounded by either soul losing their Christian family, who are called upon to support them in a profound way during this time. The wrong thing to do, which disappoints heaven, is for souls to consider themselves better than their struggling friends and puff up with pride. If your own marriage is intact, thank God and allow your marriage to be an example for others, but in quietness, never in pride. Jesus wants all of the Christian family to be alert to the needs of these families that have suffered with a divorce. Extra love, extra joy is necessary. And Jesus is asking you to bring it to them.
[To be continued . . .]

For further information regarding the Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King, or to purchase Heaven Speaks booklets, please contact Direction for Our Times on the Web at http://www.directionforourtimes.com/, or mail inquiries to the following address: 9000 West 81st St., Justice, IL 60458, U.S.A.

Monday, February 26, 2007

RISK


An 11-year old girl who is a supporter of Priests for Life sent me the following email very recently: "My mother and I are taking a bus and will be coming to the March for Life. My teacher said that I will receive zeroes on any work that I miss and it can't be made up. I told her missing a day at school in order to stand up for life is more important and I'm willing to suffer the consequences."

That's what the pro-life movement needs most – people who say, "I'm willing to suffer the consequences."

The children living and growing in the womb right now endure a great risk without having chosen it. They live in a place that has become more dangerous than any battlefield or terrorist target, and their lives hang in the balance at every moment. They did not choose this risk; someone else chose it for them.

We who defend these children have to choose to accept a share in that risk. That is solidarity. We bear willingly the risk that they bear unwillingly. Many ask what they need to do to stop abortion. But most know the answer already. They see the next step they can take, but are just trying to muster up the courage to do it. Risk is involved, and there's no way around it. We're afraid to speak and to act. Perhaps it's because our pastor is not supportive, or we might get in trouble at our job; perhaps it's because family and friends may not like our pro-life stance, or because it may lose business or votes; perhaps we fear it will impact our health. We make a continuous calculus in our minds and hearts, and often end up in paralyzed inaction.

We are always told of reasons why we can't speak up against abortion. If we speak in Church, we're told it's too political; if we speak in the political arena, we're told it's too religious. If we speak in the media we're told it's too disturbing; in the educational realm, it's too disruptive. On the public streets, it's too distressing for children; in the business world it's too controversial, in the family it's too divisive, and in social settings it's just impolite. So if abortion is wrong, where do we go to say so?

The answer is that we have to stop looking for a risk-free place to fight abortion, and speak up in all those arenas! There is a calculus in the heavens that says, "Greater love than this nobody has, than to lay down his life for his friends." If we want to protect the unborn, then let's be willing to give our lives for them. Let's stop counting the cost for ourselves if we speak up and start counting the cost for them if we are silent. The pro-life movement does not need a lot of people; it needs people who are willing to take a lot of risk.

Fr. Frank Pavone

--
"In Cordibus Jesu et Mariae"

Though One Study Doubted, Adult Stem Cell Research Still as Effective

Minneapolis, MN
(LifeNews.com) -- Media outlets over the weekend trumpeted a new analysis of an old study about adult stem cells that says they show similar promise as embryonic stem cells. Though the analysis places possible doubts on one study, many others show that adult stem cells and germ cells can be just as effective as embryonic stem cells without the moral problems of destroying human beings for research purposes. A panel of experts commissioned by the University of Minnesota examined 2002 research by Catherine Verfaillie saying that adult stem cells taken from bone marrow can grow into an assortment of tissues that can be used in treatments. According to an AP report, the panel said that the study was "significantly flawed, and that the interpretations based on these data, expressed in the manuscript, are potentially incorrect." It did not say whether the conclusions were wrong, only that they may possibly be invalid. Verfaillie, who has acknowledged that parts of the study use some incorrect data but says the conclusions the study drew are still valid. But other studies have shown similar results to Verfaillie's. Researchers at Tufts University in February 2005 said they used specialized cell-sorting machines to obtain different types of adult stem cells from the bone marrow of three donors. They turned out to be MAPCs. Tests on the cells showed that they appear to be capable of changing into the many varied types of cells that make up the human body -- a potential that has some scientists saying embryonic stem cells should be used despite the destruction of human life. Once inserted, some of the cells became new heart muscle and tissue, as adult stem cells have done before in numerous successful experiments. However, the cells also turned into new blood vessels to support the ailing hearts. Read the complete story.

Though One Study Doubted, Adult Stem Cell Research Still as Effective

 
 

Minneapolis, MN (LifeNews.Com) -- Media outlets over the weekend trumpeted a new analysis of an old study about adult stem cells that says they show similar promise as embryonic stem cells. Though the analysis places possible doubts on one study, many others show that adult stem cells and germ cells can be just as effective as embryonic stem cells without the moral problems of destroying human beings for research purposes. A panel of experts commissioned by the University of Minnesota examined 2002 research by Catherine Verfaillie saying that adult stem cells taken from bone marrow can grow into an assortment of tissues that can be used in treatments. According to an AP report, the panel said that the study was "significantly flawed, and that the interpretations based on these data, expressed in the manuscript, are potentially incorrect." It did not say whether the conclusions were wrong, only that they may possibly be invalid. Verfaillie, who has acknowledged that parts of the study use some incorrect data but says the conclusions the study drew are still valid. But other studies have shown similar results to Verfaillie's. Researchers at Tufts University in February 2005 said they used specialized cell-sorting machines to obtain different types of adult stem cells from the bone marrow of three donors. They turned out to be MAPCs. Tests on the cells showed that they appear to be capable of changing into the many varied types of cells that make up the human body -- a potential that has some scientists saying embryonic stem cells should be used despite the destruction of human life. Once inserted, some of the cells became new heart muscle and tissue, as adult stem cells have done before in numerous successful experiments. However, the cells also turned into new blood vessels to support the ailing hearts. Read the complete story.

 

"There is a God in heaven. He will prevail." (St. Gerard Majella)
 
Deacon John
 

Heaven Speaks About Divorce (Part Three)




Written by "Anne," a Lay Apostle

"Anne" has received permission from her local ordinary, Bishop Leo O'Reilly, Bishop of Kilmore, Ireland, for the spreading of her messages, and has also submitted all her writings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

St. Anne
Children must have explanations in these cases. Do not think that the end of a marriage is the business of only the two adults involved. Where there are children, these little ones have a right to explanations, however simple and short. Many children feel that their parents are divorcing because of their flaws. Children often think of their acts of disobedience, normal in every child's life, and become convinced that these acts disrupted the peace in the home and caused a parent to leave. You, God's child, should understand that this causes the greatest distress in a child, even if that distress is hidden. You must believe me that this feeling is present in many children and you must give the child the information he or she is entitled to. A child should be told that heaven loves both the father and the mother and heaven loves all children, everywhere, regardless of their mistakes. Explain that the family should pray to heaven that all members find peace and happiness, together or separated. The children should know that others suffer in this way also, and that heaven steps in very strongly to comfort and heal every person in this family that is struggling. In the end, through prayer, there will be peace and this family will be joyful together in heaven, with all bitterness healed. Souls are often doing the best they can in these difficult circumstances and there should be no blaming. I plead with you all today to spare your children any experience of hatred for their father or mother. This is unmanageable to a child. Children simply cannot cope with such things and their little souls become injured. Come to heaven in these cases and we will step in powerfully.

For further information regarding the Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King, or to purchase Heaven Speaks booklets, please contact Direction for Our Times on the Web at http://www.directionforourtimes.com/, or mail inquiries to the following address: 9000 West 81st St., Justice, IL 60458, U.S.A.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

LEGAL RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN (CONTINUED)



IV. Evidence presented to the Supreme Court proved that the fetus is human.

D. Life commences in the womb at fertilization, not at some magical moment later on.

(1) "This review of the current medical status of the unborn serves as several purposes. Firstly, it shows conclusively the humanity of the fetus by showing that human life is a continuum which commences in the womb. There is no magic birth. The child is as much a child in those several days before birth as he is in those after. Secondly, we have shown that quickening is a relative concept which depends upon the sensitivity of the mother . . . We know that life precedes quickening . . . In spite of these advances some courts and legislatures have continued to use quickening as the point when life is magically infused. No concept could be further from the truth. Thirdly, we have seen that viability is also a flexible standard. Fourthly, we have seen that an unborn child is as much a patient as is the mother. In literature opting for permissive abortion this simple truth is ignored . . . There is no medical mystery on that point." Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, Supreme Court of the United States, October, 1971. pp. 28-29

(2) A large number of sophisticated tools have been developed that allow the physician to observe and measure the child's reactions from as early as ten weeks. (New equipment is rapidly being developed to reduce this to six weeks and lower. Life not being measurable beyond that is not a sign that life does not exist, but that equipment is not available for the measuring process.)

With the new optical equipment a physician can now look at the amniotic fluid through the cervical canal and predict life-threatening problems.

In the future the physician will undoubtedly be able to look directly at the growing child . . . and thereby diagnose and prescribe specific treatment to heal or prevent illness or deformity. S. Blumenthal et al. "Congenital Arterial Flutter: A Report of a Case Documented by Intrauterine Electrocardiogram," Pediatrics 41, March 1968, p. 659-661. Also Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, Supreme Court of the United States, October, 1971. p. 27
[to be continued]


Heaven Speaks About Divorce (Part Two)



Written by "Anne," a Lay Apostle

"Anne" has received permission from her local ordinary, Bishop Leo O'Reilly, Bishop of Kilmore, Ireland, for the spreading of her messages, and has also submitted all her writings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

St. Anne

This mission, ordained by heaven, is a mission of mercy and healing. For this reason, I would like to encourage all who read these words to ask right now for God's mercy. Healing graces flow into the world in an amount that is unparalleled. So ask Jesus for these graces and He will send them. Dear brothers and sisters, there are many consequences of the disobedience that is prevalent in this age. One of the consequences of the darkness is the dissolution of so many marriages. When a marriage ends, there is great despair because most souls enter a marriage with the intention of doing good for each other and for any children sent. The bitterness that results from betrayal is profound. This bitterness is taking many souls down a path of self destruction.
The first thing you must understand is this: Jesus loves you whether you are in your marriage or out of your marriage. The love of your God does not change. Jesus does not reject a soul because the soul is divorced. On the contrary, Jesus sees that your hopes for your marriage have been disappointed and He rushes in to console you. You must come to Him all day long when you are suffering this terrible pain. Do not try to walk through this alone as you may then be drawn into behavior that will pull you further from Him and further from your heavenly dignity. Let the love of heaven wrap itself around you in your pain and you will recover. Seek the wisdom of a holy priest. Pray for the protection of your former husband or wife and be very alert to the needs of children who are part of the family that has splintered. These are not ideal situations, as you all know. We cannot pretend differently because that would be false. But it is especially in these situations that heaven flows in with abundant graces for all concerned. Remember that you can be sad and downhearted but still have peace. You are part of the heavenly family. You are a child of God. Peace is yours, My beloved soul. You need only ask for it in prayer.
[To be continued . . .]
For further information regarding the Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King, or to purchase Heaven Speaks booklets, please contact Direction for Our Times on the Web at http://www.directionforourtimes.com/, or mail inquiries to the following address: 9000 West 81st St., Justice, IL 60458, U.S.A.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Pope calls for 'no compromise' against 'attacks on right to life'




Pope Benedict XVI Saturday called on Catholics to fight "uncompromisingly" against "the many attacks on the right to life" such as abortion, eugenics and euthanasia.
Meeting participants at a congress of scientists and theologians, he said that Catholics should show "courageous conscientious objection" to all practices which put at risk "the value of human life."
In a hard-hitting speech, the Roman Catholic Church leader warned that "attacks on the right to life across the world have expanded and multiplied, taking on new forms."
"The right to life" for all human beings, from its start to its natural end, "is the fundamental right that surpasses all other rights," he said.
He referred to "the ever-increasing pressure for the legalisation of abortion in Latin America and developing countries" as well as abortion pills, "the development of population control" and "a new wave of eugenics in the name of individual welfare."
The pontiff said it was vitally necessary for Christians to obey their consciences "without contradictions, betrayal or compromise."
The pope encouraged doctors, lawyers, politicians and scientists to think about other options "each time the value of human life is at stake."
He also decried legislation being proposed in some countries, including Italy, allowing for the legal union of gay couples.
"All that continues, while at the same time pressures are multiplying for legislation for alternative marriage unions that are closed to natural procreation," he said.
The pontiff spoke of Catholics in secular societies who allow themselves to be convinced by "questionable forms of tolerance" and who are not vigilant enough when it comes to the "seriousness of the problems at stake."

Heaven Speaks About Divorce (Part One)



Written by "Anne," a Lay Apostle

"Anne" has received permission from her local ordinary, Bishop Leo O'Reilly, Bishop of Kilmore, Ireland, for the spreading of her messages, and has also submitted all her writings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.


August 5, 2005
Jesus

I speak today with such love in My heart. My love overflows. It is for this reason that I come to you to talk about the sad situation of holy marriages ending in divorce. I tell you why this grieves Me. There are many situations in which the marriage did not have to end. I am Jesus. I am God. I can heal many wounds if I am allowed to minister to the husband and wife in their difficulties. Every marriage will experience times when either one or the other is angry and would like to separate. This is to be expected and should not startle or frighten those involved. During these times, if the couple comes to Me and asks for My grace, I will send the grace necessary to preserve the family.

Dear children of God, there are many reasons why I wish to keep families together. I am speaking to you today in general terms, understanding that there are times when a union cannot be preserved. I do not sanction violence of any kind by one party against another. This is not from heaven and heaven does not prompt either a husband or a wife to abuse. This comes from the enemy of the marriage. In cases such as this, or in cases where one party has committed every effort to retain the union but to no avail, My Church enters, with all of her wisdom, and makes a decision. This is the way I have organized the resolution of these matters. My Church is given great wisdom and discernment, and you should understand that by My Church I am referring to the priests who work for Me in the Church and who are obedient to their Pontiff. Bring your difficulties to Me, dear brothers and sisters, and I will help you.
[To be continued . . .]

For further information regarding the Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King, or to purchase Heaven Speaks booklets, please contact Direction for Our Times on the Web at www.directionforourtimes.com, or mail inquiries to the following address: 9000 West 81st St., Justice, IL 60458, U.S.A.

SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE COMMITTEE SAYS YES TO ABORTION-ULTRASOUND BILL

Columbia, SC (LifeNews.com)

A South Carolina state House committee has approved legislation allowing women considering an abortion the opportunity to view an ultrasound of their unborn child beforehand. When women contemplating an abortion are shown one they frequently decide to carry the pregnancy to term. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a co-sponsor of the bill, says that modern technology such as 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds have made it so it's hard to deny the humanity of the unborn child.

Carla Harvey, a volunteer at Lowcountry Crisis Pregnancy Center in Charleston, spoke in favor of the bill during committee. She discussed her experiences showing ultrasounds to pregnant women and seeing their impact.

"In ultrasounds, a baby at eight weeks will jump on the screen and suck their thumbs," the registered nurse said, according to the Associated Press. "A lot of times, a maternal bond is made when they can see that baby. I didn't have that luxury," she said taking about an abortion she had at 18 that she regrets.

Pro-abortion groups oppose the bill but no one testified against it during the committee hearing.
Read the complete story.

LEGAL RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN



C. The obstetrician has two patients. Mother and child.


(1) The obstetrician has two patients: mother and child. It is deplorable to think that discussions of mortality can so easily exclude the child. The court should recognize that the mortality to the child is nearly 100%. Only an occasional child has the strength to survive. Let us not forget that abortion kills children of varying ages and stages of development. Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, Supreme Court of the United States, October, 1971. p. 46

(2) "Our own repeated observation of a large group of fetal infants (an individual born and living at any time prior to forty weeks of gestation) left us with no doubt that psychologically they were individuals. Just as no two looked alike, so no two behaved precisely alike. One was impassive when another was alert. Even among the youngest there were discernable differences in vividness, reactivity and responsiveness. Those were genuine individual differences, already prophetic of the diversity which distinguishes the human family." Arnold Gessel, The Embryology of Behavior, Harper and Bros., (New York. 1945) p. 172

(3) From conception the child is a complete, dynamic, rapidly growing organism. By a natural and continuous process the single fertilized ovum will, over approximately nine months, develop the trillions of cells of the newborn . . .

At fertilization a new and unique being is created which, although receiving one-half of its chromosomes from each parent, is really unlike either. Robert Rugh and Landrum Shettles with Richard Einhorn: From Conception to Birth: The Drama of Life's Beginnings (Harper and Row, New York, 1971.) p. 18

Friday, February 23, 2007

Vermont May Be the Next State to Legalize Assisted Suicide

Gov. Jim Douglas opposed to the change

By Gudrun Schultz
BURLINGTON, Vermont, February 23, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.Com) - The Vermont legislature is set to begin a week of debate on assisted suicide, following the introduction of a House bill that would see Vermont follow Oregon in authorizing doctors to prescribe lethal medication.
A bill mimicking Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide law was presented in the House early in the 2007-2008 legislative session. Entitled “Patient Choice and Control at End of Life,” House Bill 44 was signed by five sponsors including two Democrats, a Republican, a Progressive and an independent. Debate on the volatile issue will open Friday with presentations from leaders on both sides of the argument before a House committee, the Associated Press reported earlier today, as well as a public hearing to gain a sense of public opinion on the issue.While observers say there is more support for assisted-suicide legislation in the legislature this year, opposition is significant and many Representatives have said they are undecided or opposed.
Advocates for the disabled have been among the strongest objectors, led by the Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights.
“This bill is an insurance bill to protect doctors and insurance companies from any responsibilities if a ‘request’ for physician assisted suicide goes wrong,” the Coalition’s legislative branch said in a statement.Language issues remain a key factor in the suicide debate, with assisted suicide activists steering clear of using the term “suicide” in an effort to increase public support for the practice. While “assisted death” or “death with dignity” have been favorite substitute terms among euthanasia proponents, activists in the Vermont debate have retreated even farther from the term “suicide”, substituting the phrase, “Patient choice and control at end of life.”
Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas said while he supported the concept of death with dignity, he was opposed to doctor-assisted suicide.
“We need to make it dignified, we need to make it pain-free,” Douglas said. “But to empower physicians--who take an oath to alleviate pain and do no harm--to hasten death is a step in the wrong direction.”
The Vermont Right to Life Committee has said one week of debate is not sufficient to address the issues before the bill goes to vote by the committee. “This is not a simple little bill,” Mary Hahn Beer worth, with Right to Life, told the AP. “This is a sea change in public policy.”
Read full text of House Bill 44:
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2008/bills/intro/H-044.HTM

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Oregon Switch to “Softer” Assisted Suicide Language Fueled by Efforts to Increase Public Support
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06110807.html

‘Right’ to be Dehydrated Key Right to Die Strategy
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06092103.html

“Religious Right” most feared by Euthanasia Movement
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06092004.html

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
html"http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/oct/05102603.html

Atheists' Attacks on Bush Administration’s Faith-Based Initiatives Hurting the Poor

Anti-religious groups claim program is evidence of the establishment of a “theocracy”
By Hilary White

WASHINGTON, February 23, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.Com) – The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a lobby group working since 1978 to abolish government-supported expression of religious belief, is preparing to make oral arguments in the Supreme Court for its high-profile lawsuit against the Bush administration’s faith-based social initiatives. The Foundation will argue, beginning February 28, that the Administration violated the Establishment Clause by organizing national and regional conferences at which the faith-based organizations were allowed to discuss how they can meet the social needs of their communities. The tone at some of these conferences, the Foundation complains, resembled a “revival” meeting at which typically participants pray and openly acknowledge the existence of God. Since their start in 2001, the government’s Faith-Based Community Initiatives have been under steady attack by anti-religious groups who claim that the program is evidence of the establishment of a “theocracy.” The government’s claim, however, is that smaller organizations run by churches and other local religious groups are better placed to help and understand the needs of individuals than are large, top-heavy government bureaucracies. Research by the Pew Forum on Religion in Public Life has found that “a solid majority of Americans (66%) favour allowing churches and other houses of worship to apply, along with other organizations, for government funding to provide social services.”
The FFRF, a “national association of nontheists,” says its goals are to “promote freethought (sic) and to keep state and church separate.” The group supports a totally secularized public environment as well as euthanasia, under the rubric of “death with dignity,” and unlimited publicly funded abortion.
The Foundation’s litigation successes in the past have included the abolition of a state Good Friday holiday, the ending of bible instruction in public schools and the removal of Ten Commandments monuments and crosses from public land.
The results of some of their public interest lawsuits, however, have been decried as a campaign against freedom of religious expression that has backlashed on the poor. The Associated Press quotes Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a group filing briefs in support of the government’s initiatives, who said of the group, “They are successful in the sense that they have disrupted government funding for faith-based initiatives. But real people with real problems are no longer getting help because of some of their lawsuits.”
The suit’s plaintiffs are the group co-founders Anne Nicol Gaylor and her daughter Annie Laurie Gaylor and the latter’s husband and co-president Dan Barker, a former evangelical preacher who abandoned Christianity in 1984.
The Foundation maintains a sign in the Wisconsin State Capitol during the Christmas season, which reads: “
At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

Euthanasia Advocates Deny Meaning in Suffering Says COLF Director

Their claim to be interested in relieving suffering, called “pretense” and “aberration”

By Hilary WhiteOTTAWA, February 23, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The director of Canada’s Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF), warns that those campaigning for the “right to die” could be leading the country towards an established obligation for elderly and vulnerable people to commit suicide.
In an interview with Zenit Catholic news agency, Michèle Boulva said that the doctrine of total personal autonomy “threatens the common good of society because it has consequences not only for the person who chooses to die, but for the whole society.”
“Our perception of the value and dignity of every human life would change. As a consumer product, human life would lose its value as its ‘expiration date’ approaches.”
She warned that in Canada, an aging population and “improved health care is a perfect recipe for the promotion of euthanasia and assisted suicide.” Signs are growing in those countries whose medical systems are publicly funded that euthanasia is increasingly being promoted as a method of cost reduction. Instead of capitulating to the demands of euthanasia advocates, Boulva said, governments should provide structures to support friends and relatives of sick and vulnerable people to help them “assume their responsibilities toward their sick loved ones, grown old and dying.”
COLF has produced a pamphlet, “Living, Suffering and Dying...what for?” that aims to help families find meaning and value in life in the midst of suffering. Boulva said that although the publication is addressed to Catholics, it is of interest to all those “seeking happiness and the meaning of existence and suffering. We conceived it in the context of a de-Christianized society which needs to rediscover its roots.”
“Some voices today are using individual freedom to call for the “right to die” when illness seems to make life too heavy a burden. This brings up the question of the purpose of existence and the purpose of suffering. Christians find the answer to these questions in the Gospel. It is there that they understand they are not the masters, but the stewards of their lives,” the pamphlet reads.
Boulva, who has been with COLF since 2004, said to Zenit that while euthanasia promoters claim to be interested in relieving suffering, this is a “pretense” and “aberration.” The sick, she said, “who ask for death do not always do so because of their suffering. For many it is a cry for help against loneliness, before the sentiment of feeling that they are a burden for others.” She said, “The response to their cry is an attentive presence full of human warmth and love. They need care, to be heard, the affection of their loved ones, and of the caring staff to endure their suffering with dignity.”
Read the COLF pamphlet, Living, Suffering and Dying...what for?
http://www.colf.ca/

LifeSiteNewsBytes

UK's fertility regulator Permits Payment for Egg Donation

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6379827.stm

King niece denounces abortion rights
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/16757007.htm

Bill That Would Ban Most Abortions Passed The Mississippi House Thursday
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070222/NEWS/70222047

Ohio Gov. Strickland To Remove Name From Effort To Back Law That Would Limit Use of Abortion Pill
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/NEWS01/702210313/1002&template=printart

12 DEATHS EXPOSE DECEPTION OF NAF STANDARDS

February 23, 2007
Los Angeles, CA - The deaths of 12 women at a chain of abortion mills owned by California's Edward Allred raise questions about the so-called "standards" of clinics affiliated with the National Abortion Federation (NAF).
Family Planning Associates, (FPA), the largest for-profit chain of abortion clinics in the world with branches in Southern California and Chicago, has been responsible for the abortion-related deaths of
Deanna Bell, Chanelle Bryant, Patricia Chacon, Laniece Dorsey , Josefina Garcia, Denise Holmes, Susan Levy, Christine Mora, Kimberly Neil , Joyce Ortenzio, Mary Pena, and Tami Suematsu.

"Any other business that had 12 fatalities in a few short years would be out of business and the owners in jail," said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger, who spent two decades sidewalk counseling outside FPA abortion mills. "The NAF wants women to think that their clinics meet some kind of safety standard, when the reality of the situation is that the NAF standards are a sick joke that have cost lives and continue to endanger women."

The FPA chain is not the only NAF affiliate with a checkered history.
In Florida, a group of NAF abortion mills run by
James Pendergraft has been in the news for shoddy conditions and at least two botched abortions resulting in live births. The State of Florida closed five Pendergraft mills last year citing "a flagrant disregard for the laws of the state of Florida and a willingness to endanger the lives and health of pregnant patients." Two remain closed.

In Wichita, KS, Operation Rescue bought and closed NAF affiliate Central Women's Services then documented the filthy and unsafe conditions discovered there. (Click here to view a video documenting conditions there.)
Also in Wichita, Women's Health Care Services, the late-term abortion mill owned and operated by George R. Tiller has been under fire for multiple botched abortions resulting in
emergency hospitalization and the abortion death of Christin Gilbert. The abortionists at this NAF affiliate have also been accused of committing illegal late-term abortions.

"Women need to beware of any clinic bearing the NAF stamp of approval. These are predatory operations whose substandard and dangerous conditions prove that they are more concerned about making a buck than about the lives and health of the women they see," said Sullenger.

"These clinics only offer a dead baby and the risk of a dead or butchered mother in the process. We encourage any woman considering an abortion to instead seek help and support from abortion alternatives organizations listed in their local phone books," Sullenger said. "If you walk into a NAF clinic, there is no guarantee you will ever walk out. That's not a scare tactic. That's reality."
________________________________

About Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
________________________________

Web site: www.operationrescue.org
E-mail: info@operationrescue.org
Click here to support Operation Rescue

LEGAL RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN


Continued . . .

IV. Evidence presented to the Supreme Court proved that the fetus is human.

B. Legal separability should begin where biological separability begins.
"We ought to be safe in this respect in saying that legal separability should begin where there is biological separability. We know something more of the actual process of conception and fetal development now than when some of the common law cases were decided; and what we know makes it possible to demonstrate clearly that separability begins at conception." Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, 282 Appellate Division. 542, 125 N.Y.S. 2nd 696.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

He Could Have Been A Wilberforce

 
 
 
 

"Right To Life" chief sides with Planned Parenthood to condemn innocent babies to needless death

PIERRE, SD - Feb. 22, 2007 - As the eyes of the world are set to view tomorrow's opening of a new movie detailing the riveting and heroic account of William Wilberforce and his fight to end the bloody slave trade, a South Dakota lawmaker fails to capture the lesson Wilberforce taught us.

The Senate State Affairs Committee voted to kill HB1293, a bill that would have saved almost all abortion-bound children in South Dakota. Ironically the vote to kill the measure was led by a so-called pro-lifer.

Sen. Brock Greenfield, (R), chairman of South Dakota Right to Life, testified as an opponent to the newly crafted ban on abortion along side Planned Parenthood, which also opposed the bill.

Organizations with seemly conflicting agendas, National Right to Life and Planned Parenthood, teamed up to defeat the pro-life measure in South Dakota even though South Dakotans support this version of the bill by a margin of 3 to 1.

The movie "Amazing Grace," set to open Friday in theaters across America, chronicles how real men of conviction lead society toward moral change. Wilberforce was a model Christian fighting for the rights of the oppressed who eventually succeeded in banning the slave trade in Great Britain. American legislatures would do well to imitate Wilberforce's commitment and strategy.

"He's no Wilberforce," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman of Sen. Greenfield. "Women and babies have been betrayed by the very person and organization that vowed to protect them."

"God help us when those who have sworn to protect innocent babies' give instead their support to those who have vowed to kill them. This is betrayal of the worst kind. I believe that Greenfield and South Dakota Right to Life have forfeited the right to be called pro-life." Newman continued.

Operation Rescue asks the questions: If South Dakota Right to Life is working with Planned Parenthood to defeat a pro-life bill should they return every dollar back to their donors? Is South Dakota Right to Life guilty of fraud and misrepresentation by aligning with a pro-abortion Planned Parenthood?

Newman said, "Somebody give Brock Greenfield a ticket to see Amazing Grace. After the movie maybe he will be able to scrape the bottom of his soul for the moral courage to change his position."

To express your opinion please contact:

Sen. Brock Greenfield
Home: 605-532-4088
Capitol: 605-773-3821
Click here to E-Mail

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Denver Archbishop’s Lenten Message: "Restore us as a culture of Life"

 
 


 



DENVER, February 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.Com) – Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, Colorado commenced the Lenten season today, Ash Wednesday, by issuing a message to his diocese reminding the faithful "As we offer our prayers to God this Lent, let's ask Him to restore us as a culture of life — a culture committed to the sanctity of every life, from the unborn child to the mentally disabled, the infirm and the elderly, and yes, even the condemned criminal."

Chaput's message, published in the Denver Catholic Register, began by explaining the purpose of the Catholic tradition of Lent. "We all have a natural longing for happiness, but we can't be happy alone. We were made for wholeness, for friendship with one another, and for communion with our Creator." He went on, "Again and again, despite our best intentions, we make wrong choices, do bad things and hurt those we love."

"Lent is not a time to revile ourselves. But the fasting, prayer and mortifications of the season do have a very important purpose: They help us to clear our soul of debris. They cut away the selfishness that obstructs our view of God and blocks His light from us."

Chaput emphasized the need for our society to respect life saying, "Lent is a time to reflect on our sinfulness, to learn humility and gratitude, and to turn toward the greatness of God's love. God's Son gave up his own life so that we might have eternal life. Shouldn't we show our gratitude for this gift of life in the ways we honor and respect all life, as Christ did?"

Chaput ended his Lenten message with a request for the faithful to use the penitential season as an opportunity to restore the culture of life in today's society particularly by praying for an end to the death penalty in Colorado – currently a topic being discussed at the 2007 Colorado General Assembly. "As we offer our prayers to God this Lent, let's ask Him to restore us as a culture of life — a culture committed to the sanctity of every life, from the unborn child to the mentally disabled, the infirm and the elderly, and yes, even the condemned criminal."

Read Chaput's entire Lenten message:
http://www.archden.org/dcr/news.php?e=407&s=2&a=8557

HIS PRESENCE


His Presence
The place was lonely, Bare and cold Despondent I felt, As I sat alone. Come, Lord Jesus, Sit here with me Come and keep me company. Suddenly, a wave of joy And happiness did flow. Jesus came And He wanted me to know.
Sr. Rose M. Scirghi

SOME PRO-LIFE NEWS

 
This first story is a very sad commentary on the way people are thinking these tragic days!
May God have mercy on all those involved in this cruel murder of an innocent child and the horrors it caused in the 13-year-old!

TURIN, February 21 (CNA) - A 13-year-old girl is in the psychiatric unit of an Italian hospital after a forced abortion.  The girl threatened suicide after her parents and an Italian court submitted her to an abortion, against her will.

According to "La Stampa" young Valentina suffered a mental breakdown after Judge Giuseppe Cocilovo of the Court of Minors ruled that she must undergo the procedure to kill her child.

Valentina had become pregnant by her 15-year-old boyfriend and her parents demanded she have an abortion on the grounds that she was "ruining her life" by becoming a mother. Valentina's mother said she did not have the money to support the child.

Under Italian law, the parents or guardians of a minor may force a child to undergo an abortion.

Since the abortion, Valentina has been confined to the psychiatric unit of Regina Margherita children's hospital in Turin for wanting to commit suicide.

"You have made me kill, and now I kill myself," Valentina reportedly cried.  "I am not crazy; I am only evil like a dog" for what her parents and the court have obliged her to do, she said.

**************************************************************************************

BUENOS AIRES, February 21 (CNA) - Archbishop Domingo Castagna of Corrientes attacked abortion and the death penalty this week, noting that there are certain rights that must always be protected, such as "human life, the supreme gift, which when it exists, can never be taken by invoking another right."

"When conflicts occur - sometimes artificially initiated - the solution cannot be the suppression of that fundamental right (to life).  Unfortunately, more and more politicians and judges do not understand this," the archbishop stated during his weekly radio broadcast.

He pointed out that for God "the value each person is of such importance that, even if a person commits a crime, he still retains his fundamental rights, because the guarantor of those rights will always be the one who granted them."

"Every person, no matter how serious a criminal he is, is made in the image of God and should tend towards the perfection of the One whose image they reflect - even though it appears unattainable.

Archbishop Castagna ended his comments by saying, "Man is worthy of love not because he personally deserves it but because of the dignity that has been conferred on him freely by his Creator."

 
 
"There is a God in heaven. He will prevail." (St. Gerard Majella)
 
Deacon John
 

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

LIFESITENEWS.COM NEWSBYTES


Pro-life leader denounces Socialist party deceptions in Portugal
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8672

New Hampshire Committee Votes to Silence Parents on daughters 'abortions
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07B12

UK Woman gave birth to a healthy baby - after an abortion.
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=mum-gives-birth---after-abortion--&method=full&objectid=18638158&siteid=62484-name_page.html

Mental health expert highlights abortion's impact on men
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/02/mental_health_expert_highlight.php

India's government launches “cradle scheme” to encourage parents not to abort female babies but to give them to state instead
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=8527&size=A

Republican presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo wants to abolish Roe vs. Wade
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/02/tancredo_wants_to_abolish_roe.php

Malta's Foreign Ministry Insists Nation Remains Firmly Opposed to Abortion
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=46288

Cardinal Says Legislation to Prevent Discrimination Based on Genetic Tests Should Be Tightened http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/bioethic/GINAletter.pdf

Monday, February 19, 2007

LEGAL RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN



IV. Evidence presented to the Supreme Court proved that the fetus is human.
It is our task in the next subsequent subsections to show how clearly and conclusively modern science--embryology--fetology--genetics--perinatology--and all of biology--establishes the humanity of the unborn child.

We submit that the data not only shows the constitutionality of the legislatures efforts to save the unborn from indiscriminate extermination, but in fact suggests a duty to do so. We submit also that no physician who understands this will argue that the law is too vague, uncertain or overboard for he will understand that the law calls upon him to exercise his art for the benefit of his two patients: mother and child. Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, Supreme Court of the United States, October, 1971. p.7

A. The child is significantly different from its mother.

(1) "Even before implantation in the wall of the uterus the unborn child is responsible for the maintenance of the pregnant state in maternal metabolism, (1) The child whose tissue is antigenically different from the mother sets up protective mechanisms to prevent maternal immunologic responses from causing fetal distress. (2) The newly formed child has a remarkable degree of metabolic autonomy. (3) The fetal endocrine system functions autonomously. Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, Supreme Court of the United States, October, 1971. p.7

(2) Modern obstetrics has discarded as unscientific the concept that the child in the womb is but tissue of the mother. Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, Supreme Court of the United States, October, 1971. p.7

[To be continued]

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Congressional Bill Stopping Secret Abortions on Teen Girls Reintroduced

 
 

Congressional Bill Stopping Secret Abortions on Teen Girls Reintroduced
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) --
A Congressional bill upholding the ability of parents to protect their teenage daughters form being taken out of state for a secret abortion has been reintroduced. However, whether abortion advocates who control Congress will allow a vote on the measure is another question.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, re-introduced the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) yesterday. The measure, H.R. 1063, has 105 co-sponsors and it makes it a crime to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion to evade parental consent law or parental notification law in the teen's home state. "Over 30 states currently have laws in effect that require the consent or notification of at least one parent, or court authorization before a minor can obtain an abortion," Ros-Lehtinen said in a letter to her colleagues that LifeNews.com obtained. "This bill will not create a mandate, but will simply enforce state laws that are designed to protect our daughters from potential harm," she added. The bill will "help ensure the safety of our nation's young girls and protect the inherent rights of parents." Pro-life groups support the bill and are encouraging their members to both contact their Representatives to support it and to ask Democratic leaders to allow it a vote in committee and on the House floor. ACTION: Contact your Representative and urge strong support for the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, HR 1063. Also contact Democratic leaders and urge a debate and vote on the bill. You can find contact information for any member at http://www.house.gov. Read the complete story.

 

LEGAL RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN



Continued

III. The state has the responsibility to protect the unborn.
A three judge federal panel ruled concerning the civil right to life:

A. "Once human life has commenced, the constitutional protection found in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments imposes upon the state the duty of safeguarding it." Steinberg v. Rhodes, 321 F. Supp. 741 (N.D. Ohio, 1970)

Rosen v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, 318 F. Supplement 1717 (E.D. La. New Orleans Div., 1970)
(Three person court ruling.)

B. We do not find an equation of the generalized right of the woman to determine whether she shall bear children with the asserted right to abort an embryo or fetus is compelled by fact or logic.

C. . . . the same consideration apply to the argument that a woman has a right to destroy any fetus that she, in the most literal sense, finds "unbearable." This contention to a right to an abortion vested in a woman has, of course, no Constitutional precedent. Nevertheless this contention may be the emotional heart of the almost hysterical attacks being made upon the abortion statutes. No such right is referred to in any of the Amendments to the Constitution; therefore it is necessary to determine whether any such right is implied in any provision of the Bill of rights or can be found within the penumbra of any of the same.

(No such right exists because . . . 16 Am. Jur. 2nd, Constitutional Law, Sec. 60, pp. 687-688.)
. . . And no one who is prevented from injuring another cannot justly assert that he has himself been deprived of any right. Dennis Horan, et. al. "The Legal Case for the Unborn Child," Abortion and Social Justice. (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1972) p. 108-109.

[To be continued]

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Brownback and 35 Other Senators Urge President to Champion Life Issues





WASHINGTON, February 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.Com) -
U.S. Senator Sam Brownback joined 34 senators yesterday urging President Bush to uphold and champion pro-life policy.
"President Bush has shown that he is committed to protecting the dignity of every life, from the unborn to the elderly," said Brownback. "Now that we have a Democrat-controlled Congress, I respectfully urge President Bush to remind my colleagues of his commitment to pro-life policies."
Brownback sent a letter to the White House Thursday asking President Bush to issue a letter to the Congress reaffirming the White House's pro-life stance. The letter was signed by 35 senators, including Brownback.
Brownback continued, "A letter sent to Congress from President Bush would be a powerful reminder that the United States is a country that is committed to protecting the dignity of human life. I look forward to working with my colleagues on important life-related legislation."
Following is the full text of the letter sent to President Bush:
"We respectfully request that you issue a letter to the Senate and House Leadership, reaffirming your strong pro-life policy convictions and serving notice that you will veto any legislation that weakens present pro-life policy.
"President George H.W. Bush issued such a letter on June 4, 1991 to great effect when he was confronted with a Democrat-controlled Congress. An examination of the record will show that attacks of pro-life policy in the Democrat-controlled Congress were much more vociferous prior to the June 4 letter than they were after the letter. It seems that committee chairs were more successful in holding pro-abortion provisions at bay when there was a formal declaration that their legislation had no chance of enactment if it contained pro-abortion and other anti-life measures that weakened present law or regulations.
"Issuance of such a letter now would be timely and of tremendous value in our effort to ensure that no life-related policy is weakened during the 110th Congress. We thank you for your continued leadership and appreciate your consideration of this request."
The following senators joined Brownback in signing the letter: Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John McCain (R-AZ), Trent Lott (R-MS), Larry Craig (R-ID), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Jon Kyle (R-AZ), Craig Thomas (R-WY), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Wayne Allard (R-CO), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Mike Crapo (R-ID), George Voinovich (R-OH), John Ensign (R-NV), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), John Cornyn (R-TX), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Richard Burr (R-NC), Jim DeMint (R-SC), Tom Coburn (R-OK), John Thune (R-SD), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), David Vitter (R-LA), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Bob Corker (R-TN).

"There is a God in heaven. He will prevail." (St. Gerard Majella)

Deacon John
http://www.deaconjohn.org/
http://deaconjohn1987.blogspot.com/

Friday, February 16, 2007

SPIRIT & LIFE NEWSLETTER



Lessons from Portugal
As many of our readers know, the Portuguese referendum to legalize abortion failed to do so last Sunday due to small voter turnout. Had suppression of voter turnout been a strategy of the pro-life movement (like it was in Italy for the stem cell vote last year) it would have been a logical way to handle the situation. However, that was not the case here. People didn't turn out to vote pro-life in sufficient numbers either because they were apathetic or because they just didn't understand what was at stake.
Either way, that lack of turnout could be a fatal mistake for one reason alone: namely, when the abortion demon knocks, you have to shut the door in his face and get him off your property or he just declares victory, pushes his way in the door and sets up shop. Then an unsuspecting public is left to deal with the consequences of their apathy.
This is exactly what happened in Portugal. The ink was hardly dry on the ballots when radical pro-abortion Prime Minister Jose Socrates declared that the people had spoken and wanted abortion. Hello? No, there were not enough votes to actually legalize it, but that did not matter to Socrates or his fanatical socialist party: Socrates will give the babies of Portugal his cup of hemlock anyway. Parliament will vote sometime in the near future to legalize abortion through legislation because the people have shown that there is no real political liability to being a pro-abortion politician. This is what happens when a nation refuses to reject abortion outright.
Then, the day after the referendum, plans were announced by a coalition of abortionists for the building of a huge $3.5 million abortion facility right in the center of Lisbon. Abortion is not legal yet but the world's baby-killers don't waste any time do they? This is also what happens when a life-loving culture will not insist on the right to life.
The first lesson from Portugal, then, is that apathy kills. If the people are not willing to stand up and reject abortion lock stock and barrel, then that is a vote for the other side. Whoever said that he was neutral on abortion was lying. Anything but a firm "No!" to abortion plays right into the abortionists' hands.
The second lesson is that abortion is rarely if ever asked for by the people of a country; it is almost always imposed by an arrogant elite who are servants of a fanatical ideology if the people don't resist their advances. Nations that haven't legalized abortion yet would do well to look carefully at these dynamics and prepare for battle.
Finally, while the Portuguese pro-life movement responded heroically to this challenge, there is simply no substitute for people of conscience standing up to face the problem of abortion as a people. We often complain that the leadership is lacking in our Church on this issue, but in Portugal this was not the case. Church leaders spoke out valiantly and the pro-life activists on the front lines were well-organized and dynamic. What was lacking? A passion for life. Contrast this situation to the almost visceral response of the Nicaraguan people to removing abortion from their criminal code last October, and you see the passion.
The moral of the story: a nation has to want to exorcise the abortion demon from their midst. Otherwise, even the best seeds of life planted by its leaders will fall on the footpath and be scooped up by the devil's servants.
Portugal's battle is not over. In some senses it has just begun. Let us accompany the people of Portugal with our prayers still longer.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer

Thursday, February 15, 2007

LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes


South Dakota House passes abortion ban
.com/articles/2007/02/15/news/top/news01.txt


Anything Goes - The International Society for Stem Cell Research issues it's "ethical guidelines" by Wesley J. Smith http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/261tfrnd.asp

Death Certificates on Abortions Proposed
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/14/D8N9LFT00.html

Doctors deny older people treatments they would offer younger patients
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6357627.stm

Bishop of Fargo challenges Catholic politicians reminding them they have responsibility to ensure their actions reflect their Catholic faith
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8657

In Praise of Virginity
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12348/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm

Liberals refused to find $30 million to detect and treat HIV/AIDS in newborn babies.
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07B10

* Note: The linked items above or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews.com. They are presented only for your information.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

LIFESITENEWSBYTES

Days after it stops, NYC teen's heart begins to beat again
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-bc-ny--miracleheart0212feb12,0,5361536.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

Abortionists envision huge new clinic in Portugal
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49227

London's Harley Street may end abortions
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/13/nabort13.xml

Characteristics of women undergoing repeat induced abortion
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/172/5/637

Pro-lifers encourage New Hampshire legislature to keep parental notification laws
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8622

Embryonic stem cell pioneer says cures likely decades away
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=24950

Governments starting to realize that promoting condoms has left things worse, not better.
http://ncregister.com/site/article/1902

Happy Darwin Day! Celebrating mankind's discovery of eugenics.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/257fhwqb.asp

Talking Points: CWA urges lawmakers to resist mandating HPV vaccine
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12333/CWA/misc/index.htm

Ten Commandments 'cover-up' revealed at Supreme Court
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54221

U.S. Men and women 65 and older who chose to live together without getting married had nearly doubled since 1989
http://www.record-eagle.com/2007/feb/11older.htm

Sen. Coburn Says Global AIDS Fund Unaccountable
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003878.cfm

Ontario Health Minister reveals plans to 'marry' his long-time, same-sex partner and adopt
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/180711

Congressmen vow to investigate 'Tiller the Killer
'http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54179

Hilarious Video: Quadruplets respond to father's funny faces
http://www.familiaesociedade.org/saudereprodutiva/maternidade/aborto/videos/babies.htm

The story of armless musician Tony Mendalez - brief, moving video in Spanish
http://www.familiaesociedade.org/saudereprodutiva/maternidade/aborto/videos/superacao.htmVaccine

Project Receives Papal Applause
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=102697

* Note: The linked items above or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSitNews.com. They are presented only for your information.

Donate to LifeSiteNews.com at http://www.lifesitenews.com/contribute/

"There is a God in heaven. He will prevail." (St. Gerard Majella)
Deacon John
http://www.deaconjohn.org/
http://deaconjohn1987.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Hip Hop Singer Regrets Abortion - Calls It "Homicide" and "Murder"

 
 
LifeSiteNews.Com
Monday February 12, 2007

Flipsyde group's music video: "Happy Birthday...so make a wish"

By Meg Jalsevac

Piper in clip from "Happy Birthday" SAN JOSE, CA, February 12, 2007, (LifeSiteNews.Com) – A hip hop group entitled Flipsyde, led by the singer known as Piper, released a song in Dec. 2005 entitled "Happy Birthday...so make a wish" which voices the remorse and love that a father feels towards his unborn child who was killed by abortion.  The music video of the song from Flipsyde's album, "We the People", was just brought to the attention of LifeSiteNews. It is an undeniable testament to the guilt and sadness that many fathers experience after losing their child to an abortion.

The video portrays a young, black man staring through a chain link fence at an empty swing set and intermittently flashes to typical scenes in a young child's life – playing ball with friends, going to school and hand-made Father's Day cards.  

The song lyrics begin with the father asking his unborn child to "Please accept my apologies" and then continues to ask what the child would have been like had he been given the chance to live.  Piper says in the song that every year he wonders these things and then moves to the touching opening lines of the chorus, "Happy Birthday.  I love you whoever you would've been."

Piper recognizes the devastating truth of abortion calling it both "murder" and "homicide".  The song continues with Piper telling his dead child, "I paid for the murder before they determined the sex, choosing our life over your life meant your death."  And, "I got a million excuses, as to why you died. And other people got their own reasons for homicide. Who's to say it would've worked and who's to say it wouldn't have - I was young and struggling, but old enough to be a dad."

Piper goes on to ask if the smiles of the younger brother who was allowed to live is actually "you proudly knowing that your father's doing the right thing now."

The lyrics of the song express belief in life as a gift from God and the heavenly after-life, despite the fact that the unborn child was not given the opportunity to experience life outside the womb saying, "And from the Heavens to the womb to the Heavens again. From the ending to the ending, never got to begin. Maybe one day we can meet face to face, in a place without time and space. Happy birthday."

The song concludes acknowledging the brutal reality of abortion: "Happy Birthday / What I thought was a dream / Make a wish / Was as real as it seemed / I made a mistake."

The Flipsyde song portrays a similar message to Nick Cannon's song entitled, "Can I Live." as reported previously by LifeSiteNews.Com. Cannon's 2005 hit was heralded by pro-life groups everywhere as touching tribute to mothers who choose life for their unborn children.  The music video to Cannon's song follows what the viewer is to perceive as Cannon's own mother as she tries to procure an abortion and then changes her mind and chooses life for her unborn child who is Cannon himself. 

Similarly, country singer Kenny Rogers sang "Water and Bridges" which also tells of the guilt that fathers endure after their child is aborted.

Flipsyde is a relatively new hip hop group that appears to be better known in Europe than in America.  While several of their songs seem to have a Christian influence in the content of the lyrics, they are not a "Christian hip-hop" group.  In fact, their debut album which includes the song "Happy Birthday" has a parental advisory notice for offensive language in other songs. 

Watch the Flipsyde "Happy Birthday...so make a wish" video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3858369431186397914

See the complete lyrics to Happy Birthday…so make a wish" at
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=353082210785857157...

Watch Nick Cannon's "I Can Live" Video:
http://www.videocodezone.com/videos/n/nick_cannon/can_i_live...

Read previous LifeSiteNews.Com Coverage:
Movie/Television/Rap Star Nick Cannon Shoots Pro-Life Music Video
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jun/05061002.html

Kenny Rogers Sings About a Father's Abortion Regret
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/apr/06040707.html


 

"And I have the right to feel so about you all, because I have you in my heart, all of you . . . For God is my witness how I long for you all in the heart of Christ Jesus." (Phil 1: 7-8)

Deacon John

www.deaconjohn.org

http://deaconjohn1987.blogspot.com