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Press Conference Friday at Detroit Area Abortion Center where Tamiah Russell Died

Very little media attention so far on the tragedy of this girl's death

DETROIT, April 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A press conference is scheduled for Friday, April 9, to discuss the negligence of a Womancare abortionist in the death of fifteen year-old Tamiah Russell, who died in January, two days after a second-trimester abortion. The abortion was performed on her at Womancare abortion center in the Detroit suburb of Lathrup Village. Dr. Alberto Hodari performed the abortion. Her unborn child was six-months gestation.

Very little media attention has been drawn to the tragedy of this girl's death. The abortion was performed without parental consent -- contrary to Michigan law. The father of the aborted baby is 24 years old. No charges have been filed against the father of the unborn child -- even though Tamiah Russell was a victim, not only of a botched abortion, but of statutory rape.

Timiah's family is outraged over the abortion and blames abortionist Hodari for Tamiah's death. This is the second woman to die from consequencs to an abortion at the Womancare abortion center. The family has contacted attorney Geoffrey Feiger to initiate a lawsuit against the abortion clinic.

An autopsy was performed on Tamiah January 9th by Dr. Leigh Hlavaty. Ann Norton, a Michigan pro-life activist, contacted Dr. Hlavaty to inquire about the autopsy results. The girl died from "uterine infraction with sepsis due to a second trimester abortion," he said. Hlavaty told Ann, Norton, who is also a nurse, that the "girl's death was normal." The doctor explained: "I rule it normal because these complications are expected with this type of abortion."

No less than 23 law suits have been filed against Womancare since the late 1980s. These cases were researched by pro-life activists in the late 1990s and turned over to Kathleen Wilbur at the Michigan Department of Health's Allegations and Complaints Department. Pro-lifers repeatedly pressed for an investigation, but no investigation ever occurred regarding the medical practices of Womancare.

"Maybe now something will be done," states Monica Migliorino Miller, Ph.D, director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society. "Woman are dying from the so-called 'safe and legal' abortion. Indeed, a woman died at the Albany abortion center in Chicago on March 27th."

The girl's mother and legal guardian will present statements to the media on Good Friday, April 9, at 11:00AM, on the sidewalk in front of Womancare Abortion Clinic, 28505 Southfield Rd. Lathrup Village, Michigan.

The lawsuits filed against the clinic will be made public at the press conference as well as statistics on physical complications to women in legal abortion. Members of Tamiah Russell's family will be present for questions.
For more information, contact

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Rome Prof Says Ideological Intention of Same-Sex Unions is to Destroy Marriage

Warns society running a risk by sympathizing with homosexual union cause.

ROME, April 7, 2004 (zenit.org/LifeSiteNews.com) - A bioethics expert, in an interview with ZENIT News, said that, what underlies the homosexual's push for same-sex unions, is a desire to "destroy the family." She described the intentions of homosexuals as "manifestly ideological: to weaken, split and finally eradicate the very meaning of marriage, by deforming it with simple simulations, and so destroy the family, the reality of which proclaims inexorably the radical truth about man."

Claudia Navarini, professor of the School of Bioethics of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum, warned participants at the World Congress of Families in Mexico last week, that society is running a risk by sympathizing with the homosexual union cause.

Navarini told ZENIT, "To recognize homosexual unions legally or to compare them to marriage would mean not only to approve deviant behavior, with the consequence of converting into a model in present-day society, but also to obfuscate the fundamental values that belong to the common heritage of humanity."

Such unions, Navarini said, are "contrary to nature and human dignity and to the institutions of society, such as the family and marriage."

Navarini described true marital unions as "a fact of nature that arises from the honest investigation of the human reality, valid for all human beings."

"In fact," she continues, "the exercise of sexuality has a biological basis, expressed in the physical and complementary differences between man and woman, who consent to the sexual act and, consequently, to procreation." Navarini said that the "complementary differences" include dimensions of "psychological, emotional, intellectual and spiritual structure."

Navarini, in her talk with ZENIT, refers to the American College of Pediatricians position paper, Homosexual Parenting: Is It Time For Change? The paper states: "The American College of Pediatricians believes it is inappropriate, potentially hazardous to children, and dangerously irresponsible to change the age-old prohibition on homosexual parenting, whether by adoption, foster care, or by reproductive manipulation. This position is rooted in the best available science."

Read the American College of Pediatricians report at:
http://www.acpeds.org/?CONTEXT=art&cat=22&art=50&BISKIT=2920801063

Read the full ZENIT interview at: http://www.zenit.org/english/

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Boston Archbishop O'Malley to Priests: Challenge the 'Culture of Death'

BOSTON, April 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a Holy Week sermon Tuesday, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley told his priests to challenge the American "culture of death," and a society dominated by "consumerism, hedonism, [and] individualism," the Boston Globe reported today.

Archbishop O'Malley, though not spelling out the issues, exhorted his priests to preach explicitly about "public issues" and "social causes. No one will follow an uncertain trumpet blast," he said. He said that the Church's position on family values were "essential for civilization in the long run." The Archbishop warned those gathered that "the word of God cannot be changed," reiterating the words of St. Paul.

The sermon was given during the Chrism mass held each year during Holy Week.

Archbishop O'Malley compared Catholics in America with the Jews exiled in Babylon. Catholics "find themselves in a hostile, alien environment where the overriding temptation is to assimilate, the cultural pull is to conform to a dominant cultural influence that is incongruous with our faith and our destiny," he said. The tenets of the faith are met "if not with hostility, at best with the yawn of indifference."

"Today, our challenge is simple: to resist the temptation to conform to the culture of death, to consumerism, hedonism, individualism," Archbishop O'Malley said.

He described baby boomers as "religious illiterates…'My karma ran over my dogma' could be their motto. The boomers," he continued, "…are heirs to Woodstock, the drug culture, the sexual revolution, feminism, the breakdown of authority, and divorce…And they are addicted to entertainment -- even the news must be entertaining," he added.

Read the Boston Globe coverage: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/04/07/omalley_confronts_culture_...

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Major Parliament Hill Rally Scheduled for April 17 to Protest Bill C-250

OTTAWA, April 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Many of the same persons who organized the successful National Marriage Day Rally on Parliament Hill last August are gearing up for another major rally in Ottawa on Saturday April 17. The National Liberty Day Rally is calling for the defeat of Bill C-250 which organizers say "seeks to criminalize the expression of opinions against homosexual behaviour".

Connie Wilkins, one of the National Liberty Day organizers, told LifeSiteNews.com the event is supported by much of the same ad hoc group of persons and organizations who successfully brought over 8,000 persons to Parliament Hill for the Marriage Day rally. Another key organizer is Catholic apologist John Pacheco.

The Rally's web page states, "National Liberty Day is a call for all Canadians of good will to resist the totalitarian impulse currently asserting itself in the legislative and judicial branches of our government. While we categorically reject all forms of hatred against any person, we strongly repudiate and reject Bill C-250, the proposed legislation which seeks to criminalize the expression of opinions against homosexual behaviour. We call on our government officials to uphold freedom of speech and religious liberty for all Canadians, and to reject legislation which attempts to intimidate and suppress dissenting opinion.

The Program for the event is as follows:
Gather at the Supreme Court: Buses arrive there by 2:00pm
March from the Supreme Court to Parliament Hill: 2:15pm-2:30pm
Music on Parliament Hill from 2:15pm-2:45pm
Speeches from 2:45pm-4:15pm
Closing Songs from 4:15pm-4:30pm

Organizers emphasize this rally is a non-partisan, grassroots movement of concerned Canadians and that they do not endorse any one particular Political party.

A full page ad promoting the rally is scheduled to be printed in Wednesday's National Post.

See the National Liberty Day Rally Web Site at
http://www.freedominion.ca/libertyday.htm

See the National Post ad
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004_docs/KillBillAgain.pdf

See also
Ottawa Marriage Day Rally A Rousing Call for Democracy and Religious Freedom http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/aug/03082501.html

See What is wrong with Bill C-250?
http://www.ccrl.ca/C250%20pamphlet.pdf

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Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Trials Continue to Shock and Dismay

NEW YORK, April 7, 2004 (LifeSIteNews.com) - The American Center for Law and Justice's Jay Sekulow, in a daily update on the ACLJ web-site, publishes highlights of the dialogue in the partial-birth abortion ban challenge being heard before Judge Richard Casey.

In today's testimony, Judge Casey questioned a pathologist who was called by the National Abortion Federation, to establish the advantage of having an intact fetus for the purposes of identifying fetal abnormalities. Judge Casey asked the doctor about diagnoses made in her pathology lab. Judge Casey asked, "The diagnosis of the abortion is incorrect sometimes?"

A: "Well, I am not certain as to what you mean."
Q: "Does it happen that on occasion a diagnosis of specific fetal abnormality is incorrect?"
A: "Yes, sometimes."
Q: "So that abortion was performed because of an anomaly that does not exist? They thought that the condition existed, and when you do your report you find that it did not?"
A: "Yes, that's right."
Q: "Can you have an anomaly that you could live with?"
A: "Yes that is possible."

More graphic testimony followed, having to do with the procedure itself.

The original Roe v. Wade decision was followed by the Doe v. Bolton decision, which delineated the circumstances under which abortions would be allowed, namely for the "health" of the mother . The Doe case defined the scope of the "health" exception as follows: "The medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors -- physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age -- relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health." In the only state where medical records reveal the reason for partial-birth abortion, Kansas, the mental health of the mother "is the main or only reason why these procedures are performed," Sekulow says.

Sekulow, in A Trial Notebook, then quotes several political leaders, for example: Senator Mike DeWine, said: "In fact, we have a real-life example of just how this power to define a mother's health would be used. Kansas is currently the only State...that requires partial-birth abortions to be reported...separate from other abortions. In 1999…Every single one of these partial-birth abortions, 182 out of 182, were reported by the abortionist as being performed on viable children for mental as opposed to physical health reasons."

Read the complete up-to-date notes from the New York trial at: http://www.aclj.org/resources/prolife/pba/040329_trial_notebook.asp

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Christian Awarded Compensation after Firing for Religious Objection to Homosexuality

Case may embolden other Christians who have suffered discrimination to come forward

DENVER, April 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Albert Buonanno of Denver, fired
from his job with AT& T for refusing to compromise his religiously-based belief that the homosexual lifestyle is wrong, has won his suit against the communications giant.

U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado has awarded $146,269 for lost salary, loss of 401(k) matching contributions and compensation for emotional distress. The company required Buonanno to sign a statement that he "respected and valued" different "sexual orientations" in the workplace and he was fired when he refused.

The judge found that although there was no direct religious discrimination against Mr. Buonanno, AT& T Broadband failed to show it could not have accommodated Mr. Buonanno's beliefs "without undue hardship" to the company. AT& T Broadband issued an employee handbook that said "each person at AT&T Broadband is charged with the responsibility to fully recognize, respect and value the differences among all of us," including sexual orientation.

The US Civil Rights act requires that an employer respect the religious rights of employees unless it can prove that to do so would cause "undue hardship." Buonanno agreed to sign a document pledging that he would not "harass" anyone regarding their homosexuality, but this was not good enough for the company.

Buonanno was represented by the Rutherford Institute, a civil rights organization that lists the causes it upholds including, "free speech, religious freedom, church rights, sanctity of life, parents' rights, death penalty and sexual harassment." Buonanno's attorney said of the case that it may embolden other Christians to come forward who have suffered from the same kind of discrimination. "I think Buonanno is just the tip
of the iceberg," Mr. Whitehead said

Washington Times coverage:
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040407-124312-3261r.htm

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Safe Sex" Education not Working in the US

18.9 million new cases of STDs in 2000 alone; 48% aged 15 to 24

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC April 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The American Social Health Association (ASHA) has published a large survey on American attitudes towards sexually transmitted diseases (STD). The survey was conducted to assess the sexual attitudes, behaviors and knowledge of STDs of Americans aged 18-35. It reveals that up to 82% of those surveyed who are sexually active do not think themselves at risk of a sexually transmitted disease.

The ASHA said that there are more than 170,000 hepatitis A and B infections each year in the US, but those surveyed said that they know the least about these diseases. A large number of those surveyed failed to recognize that hepatitis A and B are transmitted through sexual contact.

In February, the Allan Guttmacher Institute published a report that said that 27 million Americans under the age of 25 are sexually active. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there were 18.9 million new cases of STDs in 2000. Of these cases, 48 percent were among young people aged 15 to 24. That means one-third of all sexually active young adults and teens contracted an STD in 2000 alone.

The report's authors express dismay at the lack of knowledge and the fact that so many American young people will not use "protection" against sexually transmitted diseases. "The findings in our survey are quite disturbing. Despite the fact that STDs are extremely widespread and have severe consequences, it is troubling that there is such a large portion of people who still feel invincible," said James R. Allen, president and chief executive officer of ASHA.

In July, 2001, the US government issued a report that called into doubt the popular theory that spreading the word about condom use, and making condoms more widely available will solve the problem of the growth of STD's. Tom Coburn, when he was a Republican House member from Oklahoma said, "For decades, the federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to promote an unsubstantiated claim that promiscuity can be safe. We all now know for a fact that that is a lie."

Reuters coverage of the ASHA survey:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=ODSGOKUAOKLBSCRBAEKSFEY?type...

LifeSiteNews.com coverage on the 2001 report:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/jul/01072004.html

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Halton Catholic District School Board Defends Homosexual Sensitivity Training for Students

BURLINGTON, Ontario, April 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In response to the LifeSiteNews.com report last week that the Halton Catholic District School Board would be hosting gay-sensitivity training at two of its high schools, LifeSiteNews.com received the following rebuttal:

The director of education for the board stated in his reply, "The H.O.P.E. (Halton Organization for Pride in Education) Peer Education Pilot Project was launched…" as "a Human Rights education initiative, designed to raise awareness of the harmful effects of homophobia and to reduce the instances of violence that can occur in our school communities and beyond."

In a LifeSiteNews.com Special Report, "What Gay & Lesbian Activists Won't Tell You or Your Children: Homosexual Myths and Realities," Professor Hymie Rubenstein relates a list of "myths" and "realities" regarding homosexuality. Rubenstein wrote the article in reaction to a Winnipeg school board's decision to incorporate homosexual education in the curriculum.

One myth Rubenstein exposes is that "There is no hidden "homocentric" agenda. All gay/lesbian activists want is the same protection from verbal and physical abuse as heterosexuals." The reality, he argues, is: "The 'Gay Rights Platform' calls for 'encouragement and support for sex education courses, prepared and taught by Gay women and men, presenting homosexuality as a valid, healthy preference and lifestyle, as a viable alternative to heterosexuality.'"

The Director of Education for the HSDCB makes no mention of Catholic ideals, or a Catholic position on homosexuality, such as the fact that the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are a "gravely disordered."

Rubenstein also asserts that it is a myth that "The public schools have a duty, if not a right, to teach students about sexual identity." The reality, he argues, is that "Public schools are a creation and reflection of society. Why should they be forced to set up a special program to satisfy the moral-political agenda of a tiny special-interest group whose values most parents do not agree with? Public schools were established to teach literacy, numeracy, and to impart the wisdom of the ages. If so many of our schools are doing such a poor job teaching the tree R's, how can they be trusted to impart knowledge about such a complex, politically charged, and sensitive issue as human sexuality?"

A third myth Rubenstein exposes is that (Halton District) "homosexual students are subjected to pervasive and systemic harassment." The reality, he asks, is "Where is the evidence for this assertion? In fact, if there is any victimization of gays/lesbians, it is trivial compared to the daily harassment of students who are fat, short, belong to visible minorities, etc. Parents, teachers, and school board officials should continue to condemn all forms of hurtful and demeaning name-calling."

Rubenstein refutes the idea that "Refusing to allow children to openly discuss their homosexual preference in the classroom is immoral and unethical." In reality, he suggests, if (Catholic) "parents teach their children that homosexuality is sinful and unnatural, what gives gay/lesbian activists the right to call such instruction immoral and unethical?"

Devoting $14,000 to a program for the purpose of desensitizing Catholic students to a homosexual lifestyle as an acceptable expression of Catholicism is considered reprehensible by faithful Catholics. H.O.P.E. represents itself clearly on its web-site as a "Resource for Halton's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer and Questioning Community." Questions are being asked as to whether this is the kind of resource that faithful Catholic parents want their children exposed to?

Messages to Catholic board: http://www.haltonrc.edu.on.ca/comments.asp

To contact the Halton Catholic District School Board Trustees: http://www.haltonrc.edu.on.ca/comments.asp

Read Rubenstein's Special Report at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/apr/990426a.html

Read last week's LifeSIteNews.com report exposing the program: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/mar/04033110.html

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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

Kerry's Easter Plans Up in Air: Archbishop Sean O'Malley Might Refuse Him Communion
http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20040405-125311-9075r

Bishop Bruskewitz Will Deny Kerry Communion too http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/kralis/040406

Pro-Life Group Protests Pro-Abortion Kerry's Speech at Georgetown
http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200404\NAT20040407b....

Unique Status for Marriage is Not 'Homophobic', New Zealand Bishops Say
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5...

God is in constitutions of all fifty states
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/god-constitutions.htm

Viacom Puts 'Gay' TV on the Fast Track
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/5469/CFI/pornography/index.htm

Judge Favors Christian Fired for Refusing Company's Pro-Homosexual Policy
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/4/afa/72004a.asp

New Disney film trashes Davy Crockett
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37909

Gibson Movie Was Opening shot in What Will be Visual Display of Spiritual Was
http://www.spiritdaily.com/passionversusevil.htm

My son died in peace thanks to 'The Passion of the Christ'
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=920

Queen's Religion Professor Says Outrage over Jesus's Violent Death as Portrayed in The Passion Should be Blamed on a Violent Christian Tradition http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentID=63566&catname=Loca...

IWF Poll Reveals Professors "Overwhelmingly Present Students with Liberal Messages in the Classroom"
http://www.iwf.org/media/media_detail.asp?ArticleID=558

World Congress of Families III - Mexico City Declaration: Basic Principles
http://www.worldcongress.org/WCF3/wcf3_dec.htm

Noted War Historian Questions Legitimacy of Kerry's War Decorations
http://www.newsmaxstore.com/nms/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=47&CATID=1

WHO and International Pharmaceutical Cartel Seek International Law to Ban Vitamins
http://www.conservatives.com/vitamins/

Mother Decides against Her 18-Year-Old Daughter Carrying Her Unborn Child
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=387322004

"Gay Day of Silence" April 21: Students Remain Silent an Entire School Day in Solidarity with Gays and Lesbians
http://www.dayofsilence.org/

Is Your School Listed? Listing of Catholic Schools Supporting the Day of Silence:
http://www.afaofpa.org/PA%20Schools%20Participating%20in%202003%20Gay%20Day%20of...

Scottish Bishops Defend Church's Moral Teachings
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/remnant/scots.htm

Same-Sex "Marriage" and Schools: Critical Review of the GLSEN Same-Sex "Marriage" Curriculum
http://www.drthrockmorton.com/samesexcur.pdf

ACLU Sues NY State for Denying Gay "Marriages"
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny-brf--gaymarriage-l0406apr06,0,79...

Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee Hearing Wednesday on Legislation to Block Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Unions Performed Out-of-State
http://www.projo.com/ap/ne/1081279177.htm

Alabama Senate Committee Approves Constitutional Amendment to Ban Same-Sex Marriage
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040406/APN/404060915

Michigan Citizens Group Starts Petition to Define Marriage as Union of One Man and One Woman in Constitution
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-...

"God Wills Abortion" says Baptist Minister
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/1255469.html

Genetics & IVF Institute Advertises in NY Times: "Do You Want To Choose the Gender Of Your Next Baby?"
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16837

10 % of South African Youth Infected with HIV
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-04/07/content_1406685.htm

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