Archive for the ‘Sanctity of Life’ Category
August 26th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
A survey of British physicians shows that non-religious doctors were more likely to recommend treatments hastening the death of patients nearing the end of life. Doctors who were “very” or “extremely” non-religious were almost twice as likely as strongly religious doctors to initiate treatment that would be expected to shorten life, the report found.
In further analyses, physicians who reported being very or extremely non-religious reported higher rates of using continuous deep sedation, making a decision involving some intention to hasten the end of life, and supporting the legalization of euthanasia compared with those who held strong religious beliefs.
Non-religious physicians also were more likely to report having discussions about treatments that were expected to shorten life.
“This is similar to the finding from a U.S. study, which found more religious doctors to be less likely to feel they should disclose information about procedures to which they objected on moral grounds (birth control for adolescents, abortion and ‘terminal sedation’ in dying),” Seale wrote.
Tags: abortion, end-of-life, euthanasia, Health Care, medicine, physicians
Posted in Sanctity of Life, Science & Bioethics | No Comments »
August 25th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued a legal opinion Monday that the state can hold abortion providers to hospital-type standards. Cuccinelli’s opinion would allow the state’s Board of Health to write new regulations requiring that doctors who perform abortions at the clinics hold hospital privileges, counselors have professional training and buildings undergo structural changes. The opinion does not force the board to act, and any new regulations are unlikely anytime soon. Eleven members of the 15-member board were appointed by previous Governor Tim Kaine (D), with four vacancies that current Governor Bob McDonnell (R) can fill.
Cuccinelli, a Catholic, has quickly earned a reputation for hitting tough issues head-on. In seven months in office, Cuccinelli has sued the federal government over the health care mandate, ruled that law enforcement can question immigration status, and investigated a former University of Virginia professor for allegedly manipulating data about climate change to obtain research grants.
Tags: abortion, abortion providers, climate change, Health Care, Health Care Reform, immigration, Ken Cuccinelli, pro-life, Virginia
Posted in Government & Law, Sanctity of Life | 2 Comments »
August 24th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
A federal judge on Monday temporarily halted Obama administration regulations designed to expand research on stem cells harvested from human embryos. The judge issued a preliminary injunction in a case brought by scientist studying adult stem cells.
In March 2009, President Obama released new regulations to ease restrictions placed by the Bush administration on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The new regulations allow funding to be used for research conducted from donated embryos with the donor’s permission. The administration attempted to sidestep legislative restrictions by only allowing funding to be used for the research after the embryos had been destroyed, and not for the actual destruction of the embryos. But Royce C. Lamberth, chief judge of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled that the distinction violates the law.
From the Boston Globe:
“Had Congress intended to limit the Dickey-Wicker to only those discrete acts that result in the destruction of an embryo, like the derivation of [embryonic stem cells], or to research on the embryo itself, Congress would have written the statute that way,’’ the judge concluded. “Congress, however, has not written the statute that way, and this court is bound to apply the law as it is written.’’
Tags: adult stem cells, Barack Obama, bioethics, embryonic stem cells, pro-life, Royce Lamberth, science, stem cell research
Posted in Obama & Biden, Sanctity of Life, Science & Bioethics | No Comments »
August 4th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
The full Senate is expected to vote Thursday on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Kagan is expected to be easily confirmed, as five Republican senators have signaled that they will support her confirmation. Kagan came through her June confirmation hearings relatively unscathed as opponents were unable to find a long paper trail to pin her down with.
Conservatives have raised concerns about Kagan’s stance on abortion, homosexuality, and the military, as well as her lack of judicial experience. Political activist Dick Morris has also said that Kagan would be open to incorporating Sharia law into American jurisprudence.
Democrats hope to have the Kagan vote as a prominent victory heading into the Senate’s six-week recess beginning next week.
Tags: abortion, Elena Kagan, homosexuality, John Paul Stevens, military, partial birth abortion, Senate, Sharia law, Supreme Court
Posted in Government & Law, Marriage & Family, Military & Veterans, Sanctity of Life | 1 Comment »
August 4th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
(Image: Wikimedia Commons/Ghanson)
For years, the pro-life movement has been accused of being against science for its opposition to embryonic stem cell research that supporters say could save lives. But supporters of embryonic stem cell research have largely ignored a more proven solution that does not require destroying embryos: adult stem cells.
Now, advances in medical care using adult stem cells are getting more attention. The Associated Press reports:
For all the emotional debate that began about a decade ago on allowing the use of embryonic stem cells, it’s adult stem cells that are in human testing today. An extensive review of stem cell projects and interviews with two dozen experts reveal a wide range of potential treatments.
Adult stem cells are being studied in people who suffer frommultiple sclerosis, heart attacks and diabetes. Some early results suggest stem cells can help some patients avoid leg amputation. Recently, researchers reported that they restored vision to patients whose eyes were damaged by chemicals.
Apart from these efforts, transplants of adult stem cells have become a standard lifesaving therapy for perhaps hundreds of thousands of people with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.
“That’s really one of the great success stories of stem cell biology that gives us all hope,” says Dr. David Scadden of Harvard, who notes stem cells are also used to grow skin grafts.
In 2001, former President George W. Bush restricted federal funds from being used for embryonic stem cell research. Shortly after coming into office, President Obama lifted those restrictions. But adult stem cells have potential that embryonic stem cells do not, such as the ability to stimulate tissue repair, or to suppress the immune system.
Tags: adult stem cells, Barack Obama, embryonic stem cells, George W. Bush, medicine, pro-life, science, stem cell research
Posted in Government & Law, Obama & Biden, Sanctity of Life, Science & Bioethics | No Comments »
July 27th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Pray that Congress will not pass a bill allowing abortions to be performed at military hospitals.
Buried inside the 854-page 2011 National Defense Authorization Act is the very short section 713, which strikes a subsection of the U.S. Code. Section 713 is titled “Restoration of Previous Policy Regarding Restrictions on Use of Department of Defense Medical Facilities,” making it eminently unclear what the section actually does.
The section of the U.S. Code that is stricken by Section 713 reads: “No medical treatment facility or other facility of the Department of Defense may be used to perform an abortion except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or in a case in which the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.”
Section 713, which was inserted into the bill in committee by Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL), effectively makes it legal to perform abortions on U.S. military bases. LifeNews.com reports that Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) has introduced an amendment to remove Section 713, but the amendment is not thought likely to pass. Pro-life groups are urging lawmakers to vote against the bill in its current state.
Tags: abortion, Department of Defense, Roger Wicker, Roland Burris
Posted in Government & Law, Military & Veterans, Sanctity of Life | 2 Comments »
July 27th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Pray for mothers on Capitol Hill testifying to the good that Crisis Pregnancy Centers have done for them. Give thanks for CPCs and volunteers saving lives and encouraging young women facing unplanned pregnancies.
Terrie was pregnant and confused in the Fall of 2008. She was unemployed, and her boyfriend had kicked her out of his apartment. Opening the yellow pages to look for an abortion clinic, she noticed an ad for a crisis pregnancy center that offered help for pregnant women.
Now Terrie and other moms who opted to keep their babies are going to the Capitol to tell Congress how grateful they are for the help they received from pregnancy centers. Heartbeat International sponsors the “Babies Go to Congress” event, happening this week from Tuesday through Thursday. Heartbeat says that abortion advocates like NARAL Pro-Choice America are slandering pregnancy centers and lobbying for Congress to regulate them. “Babies Go to Congress” is an effort to show Congress the good that pregnancy centers are doing.
Tags: abortion, Babies Go to Congress, crisis pregnancy centers, Heartbeat International, pro-life
Posted in Church & Religion, Government & Law, Marriage & Family, Sanctity of Life | No Comments »
July 21st, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Pray that no federal funds, through the new health care law or otherwise, would be used to cover abortions.
Pro-life groups are putting new energy into a push for a permanent law to require that no federally-funded health insurance programs will cover abortions.
The renewed effort comes after a controversy last week when the National Right to Life Committee accused the Obama administration of sneaking funding for elective abortions into new federally funded high-risk pool programs in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Maryland. The Department of Health and Human Services responded with a statement that it would enforce a policy restricting abortions to cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
Pro-life groups see the administration’s statement as a victory (AP), but remain concerned that abortion advocates will try to sneak federal funding for abortions by in other areas where it is not prohibited by the new health care law.
Both pro-life and pro-choice groups say that President Obama’s Executive Order barring federal funding for abortions through the health care law is effectively meaningless. But pro-life Democrats who voted for the legislation, like Bart Stupak (D-MI), say the controversy proves that the Executive Order actually works. In its statement, HHS invoked the executive order as a reason that elective abortions could not be covered.
Doug Johnson, legislative director of National Right to Life, says the Executive Order only worked in this instance because the plan to fund abortions was exposed. “If they now do what they say they are going to do, that would be good,” Johnson said of the Obama administration. “But in our view they are doing it because the spotlight has been put on them and we blew the whistle.”
Tags: abortion, Barack Obama, Bart Stupak, Department of Health and Human Services, Doug Johnson, Health Care, Health Care Reform, National Right to Life Committee
Posted in Government & Law, Sanctity of Life | No Comments »
July 21st, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Pray for families and churches to be effective in encouraging teens to save sexual activity for marriage.
LifeSiteNews.com reports that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a study last month showing that most teens are virgins, which pro-life groups like the American Life League (ALL) say contradicts Planned Parenthood’s sex-education curriculum.
The study, “Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Child Bearing, National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG),” says that in the 2006-2008 period, 58% of never-married teen girls and 57% of never-married teen boys between the ages of 15 and 19 reported that they had never had sexual intercourse. The numbers did not substantially change since a similar report was released in 2002. The reason most often cited for abstaining was that pre-marital sex is “against religion or morals.”
ALL says that this provides evidence to the contrary of Planned Parenthood’s repeated claims that most teens will not abstain from sex. Planned Parenthood Federation of America vice president of medical affairs, Vanessa Cullins, says in a YouTube video directed toward teens: “Admit that you are a sexually active individual like most of us, and that you are going to have sex and that you need to take precautions in order to stay healthy.” ALL says that the CDC report builds a solid case against Planned Parenthood’s promotion of sex education devoid of morality or religious influence.
While CDC statistics show that teen sexual activity has declined since the early 1990s, the rate is still alarmingly high. For more statistics, visit the CDC website.
Tags: abstinence, American Life League, CDC, Planned Parenthood, sex education, teen pregnancy, teen sexuality
Posted in Church & Religion, Marriage & Family, Sanctity of Life | No Comments »
July 20th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan (Photo: Getty Images)
Pray for wisdom for all Senators and members of the Supreme Court to rightly understand and administer justice.
The Senate Judiciary Committe on Tuesday approved the nomination of Elena Kagan (CNN) to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. The 13-6 vote that sends Kagan’s nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote was along party lines except for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who said that even though he had “100 reasons” to oppose Kagan’s nomination, he believed Senators should honor presidential choices.
Democrats said Kagan is a solid legal thinker who would be a fair judge, but Republicans argued that she lacks sufficient legal experience, and that she is an ideological activist. Republicans emphasized Kagan’s involvement in denying campus access to military recruiters when she was dean of Harvard Law School, based on her negative view of the military’s policy barring homosexuals from openly serving. Pro-life groups have also cited Kagan’s role as a member of the Clinton administration in keeping partial-birth abortion legal.
The full Senate is expected to vote on Kagan’s nomination before its August recess.
Tags: abortion, Elena Kagan, Harvard Law School, homosexuality, Lindsey Graham, military, partial birth abortion, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court
Posted in Government & Law, Marriage & Family, Military & Veterans, Obama & Biden, Sanctity of Life | No Comments »
