Politics
Goal: $45,000. Donations received: $15,391.
Friday February 16, 2007
E-mail
Print- Brownback and 35 Other Senators Urge President to Champion Life Issues
- Use of ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ Too “Homophobic”, Scottish Nurses Told
- New UK Push for Euthanasia--First “Comatose” Me, then Dehydrate Me
- Fargo Bishop Calls Catholic Politicians to Act in Keeping with Their Faith
- NBA Star's Comment "I hate gay people" Does Not Represent Views of Pro-Family Advocates
- LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes
Brownback and 35 Other Senators Urge President to Champion Life Issues
TODAY'S HEADLINES
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).
Back to TopUse of ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ Too “Homophobic”, Scottish Nurses Told
By Gudrun Schultz
EDINBURGH, Scotland, February 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Nurses and other health care professionals should avoid using the terms ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ to refer to family relationships since the terms could be offensive to homosexual couples with children, a new directive published by Scotland’s National Health Service recommends.
Issued in conjunction with the country’s leading homosexual activist organization Stonewall Scotland, the publication is entitled Fair For All - The Wider Challenge: Good LGBT Practice in the NHS. Americans for Truth reported Feb.11 on the publication’s release.
The booklet calls for a “zero-tolerance policy to discriminatory language” among Scotland’s health care system. Included in discriminatory language is the use of terms that assume a traditional family structure of mother, father and children, according to the NHS directive.
“LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered] people can and do have children, sexual orientation or gender identity has nothing to do with good parenting or good child care,” the booklet states.
“Individual circumstances lead to varied family structures and parenting arrangements. It is important to be aware of this. When talking to children, consider using ‘parents‘, ‘carers’ or ‘guardians’ rather than ‘mother’ or ‘father‘.
Along the same lines, the directive points out, use of the terms ‘husband’, ‘wife’ and ‘marriage’ is not acceptable since such terms exclude lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Instead, health care workers should use the terms ‘partners’ and ‘next of kin’. Since ‘next of kin’ is often understood to mean nearest blood relative, however, the booklet recommends that it may be preferable to use ‘partner, close friend or close relative’ to avoid confusion.
“This allows the patient to identify and choose who is important to them.”
Other recommendations include ensuring the health care environment is visually reassuring to LGBT people, with posters and magazines on LGBT issues on display.
“Posters with positive images of same-sex couples, alongside similar material depicting opposite-sex couples, should be displayed in all areas e.g. waiting areas, hospital wards.”
In order to better ensure the comfort and security of LGBT people in the health care environment, the NHS calls for sexual identity “monitoring forms” to be included in all registration procedures for both staff and patients. The booklet recommends five reply options to the question of sexual orientation, including ‘Lesbian‘, ‘Gay‘, ‘Bisexual‘, ‘Heterosexual‘, and ‘Other‘. Sections recording gender should be changed to have three reply options, ‘Male‘, ‘Female‘, or ‘Other, “where people can define their own gender.”
Among guidelines for implementing pro-LGBT policies in the health care system, the directive requires that management or team leader job descriptions include a mandatory commitment to combating any “discriminatory” language or attitudes among staff.
The booklet was funded by taxpayers through the NHS Education for Scotland, as part of the Equality and Diversity program.
(news tip http://americansfortruth.com/index.php )
View the full NHS publication here:
http://www.lgbthealthscotland.org.uk/documents/Good_LGBT_Practice_NHS.pdf
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Scotland to Indoctrinate School Children with Anti-Homophobia Education
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06061902.html
Scottish Schools to Instruct Children How to Engage in "Safe" Homosexual Sex
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06052306.html"http://www.lifesiten...
Homosexual Activists Target UK Faith Schools, Adoption Policies
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06060203.html"http://www.lifesiten...
New UK Push for Euthanasia--First “Comatose” Me, then Dehydrate Me
Woman with terminal disease demands doctors euthanize her
By Gudrun Schultz
LONDON, United Kingdom, February 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A 30-year old woman who tried to commit suicide last year but found it “too undignified” is now taking her doctors to court for refusing to agree to her demand for euthanasia.
Diagnosed with a terminal disease that doctors estimate leaves her with less than a year to live, Taylor is demanding that her doctors give her enough morphine to put her into a comatose state, and then withhold food and water from her until she dies from starvation and dehydration, The Scotsman reported Feb.13.
Her doctors have refused, saying the procedure would constitute euthanasia.
It is not illegal to administer sufficient medication to control pain, even if the necessary drug levels may inadvertently cause the death of the patient. As well, it is now legally permissible for an individual to sign a “living will” rejecting artificial food or water in the case of severe incapacitation, as Taylor has done. In Taylor’s case, however, the doctors have said that the two actions requested by the disabled woman constitute euthanasia, since the intention of the actions taken together would be to cause her death.
In July 2006 Taylor tried to commit suicide by starving herself to death but found it too painful. After 19 days she decided the process of death by starvation was less dignified than living with the pain and disability of her condition, according to The Scotsman report, and began to take food.
Taylor has launched a lawsuit claiming the doctors are violating her human rights by refusing to help her commit suicide. Her lawyers have applied for a court order that would force the physicians to accede to her demands or help her find another physician willing to carry out the lethal procedure.
Taylor’s lawyers will argue that the doctors’ refusal violates a section of the European Convention on Human Rights that bans “inhuman or degrading treatment.”
The disabled woman was born with the heart and lung condition Eisenmenger’s syndrome, as well as a spinal defect known as Klippel-Feil syndrome. She is allergic to many pain medications, making it difficult for her doctors to control her pain levels.
“I’m not depressed--I am a happy person,” Taylor said. “But my illness is now at the point where I don’t want to deal with it any more. My consultant has told me he does not expect me to live for another year. In that time I will deteriorate and that deterioration will become quite undignified. I want to avoid that.”
Doctors in the UK were warned in November that they could face prison sentences if they refused to follow patients’ demands for cessation of medical treatment, food and water, even if it would result in the patient’s death.
Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor of England, made the statement while unveiling new guidelines for doctors under the Mental Capacity Act that comes into effect this spring.
“If you are satisfied that an advance decision exists which is valid and applicable, then not to abide by it could lead to a legal claim for damages or a criminal prosecution for assault,” the guidelines state.
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of Canada’s Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, warned at the time that the Act was a preliminary step in the introduction of “euthanasia by omission.” Schadenberg told LifeSiteNews.com that the Act allowed for the intentional killing of patients who would not otherwise be dying by withholding food and fluids.
An initial hearing of Taylor’s case took place yesterday at London’s High Court.
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
UK Doctors Face Jail if They Refuse to Euthanize Patients
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06112102.html
UK Euthanasia Bill Defeated In House of Lords
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06051509.html
Fargo Bishop Calls Catholic Politicians to Act in Keeping with Their Faith
By Gudrun Schultz
FARGO, North Dakota, February 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic political leaders have a fundamental responsibility to ensure their public actions reflect the Church’s teachings on respect for life and the dignity of the human person, said Fargo Bishop Samuel Aquila in a homily during the Catholic Legislative Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck, Jan.18.
“Every act of violence that attacks an innocent human person from the moment of conception to natural death is against the will of God and rejects the inherent dignity of the human person,” Bishop Aquila wrote in an edited version of the homily printed in the Fargo diocesan newsletter New Earth, Feb. 15, 2007. “Every Catholic politician must recognize and act upon this truth to be a faithful Catholic.”
“As a Church we are called to be a people who speak consistently to the dignity of the human person from the moment of his or her conception until natural death and to recognize that this reality is the lens through which we must look and the one that must guide all of our decisions -- that human life has dignity bestowed on it, not by man or woman, but by God. It is precisely that dignity, that truth, which we must recognize as Catholics who are involved in politics, as Catholics who speak to society and to the world.”
Bishop Aquila called for careful deliberation before making legislative decisions to ensure that, “the truth of God and the truth of the dignity of the human person…guide us in every decision we make.”
“We cannot leave God at the door when we walk into the Legislature…With each law or bill we consider, we must be, first, a people who recognize that there is the inherent dignity of human life that is bestowed by God and that can never be violated.”
“We must ask ourselves what hardens the human heart so much that it refuses to recognize the dignity of the human person, whether it is the dignity of those in Africa, the dignity of illegal aliens, the dignity of the person on death row or the dignity of the unborn child. As Catholics and as Americans, we must discover once again what our forefathers knew in their hearts: The dignity of the human person is bestowed by God, and regardless of which side of the aisle we sit on in the Legislature, we must stand for that dignity and that truth! We must be a people who witness to it no matter what the cost.”
“To deny or remove God from political discourse only opens the door to the destruction of the human person and to violence such as war, genocide, murder, abortion, and euthanasia as so evidenced throughout the last century and at the beginning of this new century.”
“As faithful Catholics we acknowledge that the gravest attacks against the dignity of human life are those that destroy innocent human life as in abortion, euthanasia and genocide.”
“During the upcoming season of Lent, I encourage all Catholics, and especially Catholic politicians and those in public service, to search their hearts on their obedience to the will of the Father,” Bishop Aquila wrote in closing. “Let us pray that we may have the fortitude, not to follow the positions of some political party or some thought that wishes to deny God or remove God from all civil discourse in order to determine the dignity of the human person, but rather to be people who truly seek the common good in the light of the truths that our forefathers and foremothers held to be so evident and are reflected in both reason and faith. May every person come to recognize that the inherent dignity of human life is bestowed, not by man or woman, but by God alone. May we experience more fully the truth of God’s love for us, receive his love and extend it to others.”
Read full homily here:
http://www.fargodiocese.org/news/FromBishopsOffice.htm
NBA Star's Comment "I hate gay people" Does Not Represent Views of Pro-Family Advocates
WASHINGTON, February 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A former NBA star has made disturbing and harmful comments about his feelings toward people trapped in the homosexual lifestyle. Interviewing with a Florida sports radio show, former Miami Heat player Tim Hardaway said that he "hates gay people" and that he distances himself from them because he is "homophobic." Concerned Women for America (CWA) expressed disappointment that Hardaway who is respected by many sports fans would make such inflammatory remarks.
"Hardaway's comments are both unfortunate and inappropriate," said Matt Barber, CWA's Policy Director for Cultural Issues. "They provide political fodder for those who wish to paint all opposition to the homosexual lifestyle as being rooted in 'hate.' It's important to note that Hardaway's words represent the feelings of Hardaway. His words do not represent the feelings of the vast majority of people opposed to the homosexual agenda.
"It's perfectly natural for people to be repelled by disordered sexual behaviors that are both unnatural, and immoral," said Barber. "All too often those behaviors are accompanied by serious physical, emotional, and spiritual pitfalls. However, the appropriate reaction is to respond with words and acts of love, not words of hate. Jesus Christ offers forgiveness and freedom for all sinners, and that is the heart of the Gospel message.
"Thousands of former homosexuals have been freed from the homosexual lifestyle through acts of love. Hardaway's comments only serve to foment misperceptions of widespread homosexual 'victimhood' which the homosexual lobby has craftily manufactured."
LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes
Abortion foes target Obama because of his vote record on Illinois legislation
http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Campaign/021507.html
Lessons from Portugal - Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer
http://www.hli.org/sl_2007-02-16.html
Jeb Bush Steers Advisers Toward Mitt Romney
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/2/16/125235.shtml?s=ic
Portuguese bishops call meeting to analyze referendum vote on abortion
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8659
Drop UK age of consent to 14, says academic
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/16/nsex16.xml
Elder abuse sickening
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Columnists/Harris_Michael/2007/02/16/3637258.html
Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Moral Law
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003903.cfm
51 per cent of women can't be wrong
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21237493-17063,00.html
Catholics attack NYC's free condoms
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4558148.html
The Vagina Monologues to be performed at Saint Xavier University
http://www.sxu.edu/today/story.asp?id=3958&prevArc=archive&date=2/14/200...
No Vagina Monologues on Notre Dame campus this year
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49309
Homosexual Group to Protest Christian Colleges
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003917.cfm
Schwarzenegger Would Not Sign Gay Marriage Into Law
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003912.cfm
NBA bans Hardaway from weekend All Star game after anti-gay comment
http://www.wzzm13.com/sports/pro_basketball/basketballsports_article.aspx?storyi...
Puerto Rican archbishop rejects legalization of homosexual unions
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8660
Hunt for priests in Xiwanzi diocese
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=8501&size=A
Revved up Global Warming, collapse of auto industry equal 'The Hijacking of America'
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/cover021607.htm
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.