Archive for the 'Pro-Life' Category

Halfway There?

Published by
Roxeanne de Luca
at April 29, 2008 in Abortion and Pro-Life. 0 Comments

Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, criticised the practise of aborting female babies in utero.  Families who hope for a boy child will often do this once ultrasounds reveal the sex of the child.  The Lancet estimated that, over the past twenty years, Indians have aborted ten million girl babies for reasons of sex alone (here).  The good news:

“No nation, no society, no community can hold its head high and claim to be part of the civilized world if it condones the practice of discriminating against one half of humanity represented by women,” Mr. Singh said, giving an inaugural speech at a national conference dedicating to “saving the girl child,” which brought together politicians, doctors and advocates.

Describing the abortion of female fetuses as “inhuman, uncivilized and reprehensible,” he said the government should crack down on the large numbers of doctors who illegally disclosed the sex of the fetus to the parents, and then arranged abortions of unwanted girls.

The bad news: India permits abortion until twelve weeks if the practioner believes that there is a grave risk to the mother’s physical or mental health, or if the foetus is physically or mentally disabled.  Furthermore, women whose birth control failed are presumed to be so mentally harmed by a pregnancy so as to justify abortion.  (Here.) India’s abortion laws expressly permit discrimination against the physically and mentally disabled - discrimination that would be a human rights violation of the highest order if it occurred outside the womb.  The “mental health” exception is quite broad: we’ve seen in the United States that it permits abortion on  demand.  Is it any surprise, then, that a woman who would be scarred and dishonoured by bringing a female baby into the world would seek - and receive - an abortion under India’s laws?

India’s PM has stated that it is a human rights violation to murder unborn children because of sex.  Would we get to the point where it would be equally reprehnensible to murder boy children, disabled children, or those so unfortunate as to be conceived to women who do not want them, as it is becoming to murder children on account of being female.  The right to life is universal: it does not evaporate when the reasons for abortion are socially acceptable and politically correct.

Sarah Palin’s “Angel Child”

Published by
tieki rae
at April 23, 2008 in Abortion, NRLC and Pro-Life. 2 Comments

From the Anchorage Daily News, Palins’ child diagnosed with Down Syndrome

She and her husband, Todd, showed their new baby, Trig Paxson Van Palin, to a few reporters and photographers and answered questions about his condition and the sooner-than-expected delivery.

Trig has Down syndrome, a genetic abnormality that affects a child’s intellectual and physical development, the governor confirmed.

“When we first heard, it was kind of confusing,” Palin, 44, said. She called the revelation “very, very challenging” and said she initially felt sad.

But the family has worked through that. Palin said she and Todd feel blessed and chosen by God. With a big family including four older kids, grandparents, aunts and uncles, Palin said, they will have lots of support for what’s ahead. In their eyes, she said, “he’s absolutely perfect.”

This is a very well-written article about Palin’s baby and children with Down Syndrome in general.  Instead of focusing exclusively on the challenges that come with DS, the author also emphasizes the blessings that can come from having such a special child.

It’s odd, I haven’t seen this mentioned on any of the news or blogs I follow on my reader, but rather I received it via email from Dave Andrusko, editor of the National Right to Life News, who puts out NRLC’s “Today’s News & Views” daily on their website and on an email list.  I would highly recommend subscribing to N&V.  Dave’s topics range from human interest stories to political happenings to pop culture - all relating to the pro-life movement.

What I found most interesting about this story was this:

Because of prenatal testing, most families now know beforehand, said Judy Waldron, president of the Alaska chapter of the National Down Syndrome Congress, a support and education group that delivered a parent packet to the Palins in the hospital.

“They anticipate it and they kind of relish the challenge of having a child with special needs,” said Waldron, an Anchorage teacher whose 19-year-old daughter, Lyn, has Down syndrome.

While it’s “no walk in the park,” the joys are great, she said. “Just the fact that they require such great effort to complete some simple tasks and that’s real rewarding.”

Todd Palin said the family has gotten a flood of supportive e-mail from families around the country with special-needs children. He said he’s playing it by ear as far as his North Slope job.

Some people call them “angel children,” straight from God, Waldron said. They are usually sweet-natured but can be ornery, like anyone.

Left unsaid is that because of ignorance and sometimes blatantly false or biased medical information, some 80% of families choose to abort their Down Syndrome baby because they don’t think they are up for the challenge of one of these “angel children”.  Let this serve as a reminder of the importance of S. 1810, the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act.

The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act

Published by
tieki rae
at March 24, 2008 in Abortion and Pro-Life. 5 Comments

Well, that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?

Wesley J. Smith, noted bioethicist, author, and blogger (Secondhand Smoke), has a new column up at the Weekly Standard titled Politically Correct Eugenics.

It is a bitter irony that even as we are enlarging our commitment to human equality in many areas, we are turning our backs on it in others. In particular, we may be about to eliminate from our society people with Down syndrome (DS) and other genetically caused disabilities.

The entire column is well-worth the read, but I would like to draw your attention specifically to the mention of the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act.

To prevent parents from being subtly or expressly pushed in making decisions about their genetically disabled child, a strange pair of bedfellows–Senators Edward Kennedy and Sam Brownback–have coauthored the “Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act” (S 1810), which just passed its first committee hurdle.

Kennedy’s adamant support for abortion rights infuriates pro-lifers, while Brownback is ardently pro-life, accused by paranoid liberals of harboring theocratic tendencies. Their disagreement about abortion notwithstanding, their bill would require parents faced with pre- and postnatal diagnoses of disability to receive “timely, scientific, and nondirective counseling about the conditions” as well as “up-to-date, comprehensive information about life expectancy, development potential, and quality of life” for a child born with Down syndrome or any other genetic disability, as well as “referrals to providers of key support services.” Their hope, clearly, is that when parents receive a more complete picture, more of them will welcome their disabled babies into the world.

Strange bedfellows seems to be putting it a bit mildly, doesn’t it?  I never dreamed I would type these words, but this bill actually increases my respect for Senator Kennedy.  By increases, I mean causes the existence of.  Perhaps he is being pressured by some Massachusetts disability rights advocacy group?  Perhaps he has not been completely possessed by demonic forces? ;)  Whatever the case, I wholeheartedly embrace his support on such an important issue.

I encourage all of you to look into the act (S. 1810) and the House version (H.R. 3112) and in turn, contact your congressional delegation to encourage them to support this legislation!  Though I tend to believe that everyone ought to be able to agree that killing any unborn child is wrong, the issue of specifically aborting children merely because they are different or might have a disability should turn the stomach of any human being — pro-life or otherwise.  We reject discrimination in all forms, why should the womb be any different?

The point is, if aborting babies simply because they might have Down Syndrome is acceptable, why not abort babies simply because they are black?  Or female?  Or any other superficial reason?

This bill would increase parental awareness about genetically caused diseases and disorders.  Perhaps more parents will learn that having a DS child can be a blessing, not a curse.

Something to think about.

Roe v. Wade: 35 Years

Published by
tieki rae
at January 22, 2008 in Abortion and Pro-Life. 0 Comments
Pro-Life Advocates: Roe v. Wade Support Weak as Abortion Case Reaches 35

 

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 21, 2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — As the United States marks 35 years of legalized abortions on Tuesday, leading pro-life advocates say support for the infamous Supreme Court case is weak. They say they see the day coming that the high court reverses the decision and allows states to, once again, provide legal protection for unborn children.

Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America, says those Americans who say they support Roe normally do so because of a lack of knowledge about the details of the abortion decision and its companion case Doe v. Bolton.

“The assumption that most people support Roe is not only flawed but flat out wrong. When people learn the details of Roe, their support declines,” she told LifeNews.com on Monday.

Her group, along with Focus on the Family, The Alliance Defense Fund and the Family Research Council, has created a new web site called Roe IQ that helps people learn more about the decision and correct their wrong assumptions about it.

Nationally syndicated columnist Cal Thomas notes that the tide in favor of abortion has turned and that pro-life groups now have the upper hand.

“In recent years there have been signs that things may be — if not turning around — then moderating,” he says.

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, abortion numbers have declined steadily since 1990, from a high of 1.2 million annually to fewer than 900,000,” Thomas explains.

“This is due, I believe, to the unrelenting commitment of the pro-life movement through pregnancy help centers, information by Internet, marches and what appears to be a growing pro-life consensus among many women,” Thomas adds.

Patrick Mahoney, the head of the Christian Defense Coalition, agrees and says “the pro-life movement is alive and well.”

“Support for abortion, and abortions themselves, are at their lowest levels in over 30 years,” he told LifeNews.com. “On Tuesday, over 100,000 will join the annual ‘March for Life,’ in Washington. On the pro-choice side, we see virtually no major events happening on the national stage.”

According to the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, there are approximately 46 million abortions world wide every year. 1.37 million of those are Americans.

Over 45 million American children have been senselessly murdered since Roe v. Wade.

And some people call abortion a simple operation.

Duncan Hunter, “Today We End This Campaign”

Published by
tieki rae
at January 20, 2008 in 2008, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Pro-Life, Republican and duncan hunter. 2 Comments

It’s like being broken up with via e-mail:

 We started this campaign a year ago right here, in San Diego Harbor, against the backdrop of American Naval power.   We launched a campaign emphasizing a strong national defense, enforceable borders and restoring  the industrial base of America. 

Today we end this campaign.  The Nevada caucuses reflecting only 2% of the vote for me.   I ran the campaign exactly the way I wanted to, and at this point not being able to gain traction in conservative states of Nevada and South Carolina, it’s time to allow our volunteers and supporters to focus on the campaigns that remain viable.

It’s time for me to gear up for 2008’s defense bill that will be put together over the coming weeks.  There is work to be done in the areas of troop protection and new capabilities to be deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. And over the horizon, the emergence of Communist China as a military super power will require a new emphasis on U.S. capabilities in undersea warfare, space, and long range air-power. 

The best way to maintain a new era of peace is for the U.S. to remain strong.  Over the coming year I will endeavor to help craft a defense bill that meets the new security challenges.

Since our campaign began over 200,000 additional manufacturing jobs have been lost.  1.8 million jobs have left the U.S. for China.  This fracturing of the U.S. industrial base is a long term threat to America.  I hope that the remaining candidates will recognize it and address it.   As the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, I will seek to address it.

Only hours ago a border patrolman was killed in the California Desert.  This tragedy emphasizes more than ever the compelling case for the completion of the border fence.   Since I wrote the bill that mandates 854 miles of double border fence only a few miles have been constructed.  Over the next year in Congress I will do everything in my power to get that fence built.  

Finally, for Lynn and me, the campaign over the last year has shown us this: America is a wonderful country.   Our people have great character and goodness, and the meeting of new friends has enriched our lives. 

The failure of our campaign to gain traction is mine and mine alone.  But we have driven the issues of national security, the border fence, the emergence of China and the need to reverse bad trade policy.   Because of that, this campaign has been very worthwhile, and for the Hunter family, a lot of fun. 

To our friends and supporters and volunteers: many thanks.  And now it’s time for me to focus on developing a 2008 defense bill that serves our troops and our nation.  

Thanks, and God Bless America.

Duncan Hunter

I do believe the time has come for the Hunter campaign to end, but it is still painful to see him leave.  I’m holding out hope that the GOP nominee will choose him as VP and that he will accept.

So, who is it now?  Obviously Fred, if he can pull it out.  I’ve been extraordinarily disappointed in his campaigning — or lack thereof.  I think Fred could have easily won Wyoming with a little more effort as well as some of the other early states.  It was as if he was so popular before he declared, he felt it unnecessary to work hard to maintain that popularity.  Well, look where that’s gotten us:  Romney, Huckabee, and McCain are now the leaders.

If Fred doesn’t make it, I’ll settle for Romney.  If not Romney, then Huckabee.  If not Huckabee, McCain.  And if not McCain, no one.  Seriously, I will not vote for Ron Paul or Rudy Guiliani.   Ugh, pray that it doesn’t come to that. :(

My Pro-Life Generation

Published by
tieki rae
at November 29, 2007 in 2008, Abortion and Pro-Life. 7 Comments

Found this over at Christianity Today:

70%   Evangelicals 18-29 who favor “making it more difficult for a woman to get an abortion.”

55%   Evangelicals 30 and older who favor this.

(Source: Pew Research Center)

Even with the less than favorable wording of the poll question, young Christians are overwhelmingly pro-life.