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Comments on August 14 News Reports

Dear Readers,
There is a lot of important news today. It has been a busy day for us.

The New England Journal article on Brain Death is hugely significant. It will likely disturb many who were not previously told how organ harvesting is really done. Worse still, the two writers of the journal article, while emphasizing that "brain death" and "cardiac death" patients may often not really be dead when their vital organs are removed, nevertheless still approve the practice. Reminds us of pro-abortionists in recent years finally admitting that abortion does kill a young human but still defending the practice because of the higher value given to a woman's right to choose to kill. Where are we going with this increasing public defense of pragmatic killing?

The Brazilian story is also a huge development. This is very serious, totalitarian stuff. If found to be true, as has been found in the recent past in other nations, we have something occurring worthy of an international war crimes type trial - hostile genocide of millions of yet unborn children via a secret sterilization weapon wielded by a people's own government.

Undoubtedly, there will be a good number of readers who disagree with our Batman the Dark Knight commentary, just as many have disagreed (some very intensely) with our Harry Potter, Global Warming, HPV vaccine and other very politically incorrect reports. Some of our junior staff even have disagreements with today's commentary. Still, our policy has always been to trust our well-proven trouble radar, tuned by many years experience, take the facts as we see them and report serious new developments regardless of possible negative reaction. LifeSiteNews is an alternative news service. This commentary emphasizing the dangers of the latest Batman movie is a well thought out alternative to the overwhelming positive hype of the movie in almost all other media. Read it and think about it.

We suggest it would be a fatal political mistake for John McCain to choose Tom Ridge for VP. It is a common temptation for weak right leaning politicians to think they can't win without compromising basic principles. Trouble is, it doesn't work because the voting public easily senses lack of integrity when such a strategy is used. And if the politician does manage to win he is more easily corrupted because of having turned his back on important principles during the election. Power at all costs becomes addictive and harms the nation.

We strongly urge our US readers to heed the call of Concerned Women for America to send comments to the Health and Human Services Secretary blog regarding Physician Conscience rights on abortion. This is a simple but crucial action that all readers can undertake.

Your still think the HPV vaccine is ok? Read today's story.

Canada's Supreme Court Chief Justice is increasingly in hot water as she should be over the Morgentaler Order of Canada award.

MacDonald's is becoming increasingly belligerent over its militant support of homosexuality. Money talks. If millions avoid MacDonald's, then, and only then, might the hamburger colossus dependent on sales to young families change its tune.

Steve Jalsevac

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New England Journal of Medicine: 'Brain Death' is not Death - Organ Donors are Alive

Will the Catholic Church now issue a form position against vital organ donation?

By John-Henry Westen

BOSTON, August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an article that is sure to rock the world of organ donation, the highly respected New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has published an article which backs up the objections of various pro-life groups, as well as some scientists and physicians, to certain types of organ donation which involve the removal of vital organs from patients believed to be dead. The problem, say the authors of the NEJM article, is that in many cases these patients may not be dead at all. 

Key experts in the medical field have, since its inception, considered the 1968 invention of 'brain death' and the more recent criteria of 'cardiac death' as unsupportable criteria for true death. If it is true, however, that brain death and cardiac death are invalid as criteria for true death, it would make morally illicit vital organ donation, since such donation would in some cases result directly in the killing of the donor for the purpose of harvesting his organs. 

The two authors of the article in the NEJM, both proponents of organ donation, argue that "as an ethical requirement for organ donation, the dead donor rule has required unnecessary and unsupportable revisions of the definition of death."

The article was co-authored by Dr. Robert D. Truog, a professor of medical ethics and anesthesia (pediatrics) in the Departments of Anesthesia and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston and Dr. Franklin G. Miller, a faculty member in the Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.

The many cases hitting the media of patients pronounced 'brain dead' and living to tell their stories have already led the public to question the notion of 'brain death'.  A recent case in France where a patient revived on the operating table as surgeons were about to remove his organs, is only the latest in a string of such events.  (see: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061308.html )

Troug and Miller, after admitting that the scientific literature does not support the criteria for 'brain death' and 'cardiac death' as being real death, suggest instead that ethicists should simply remove the requirement for dead donors. "The uncomfortable conclusion to be drawn from this literature is that although it may be perfectly ethical to remove vital organs for transplantation from patients who satisfy the diagnostic criteria of brain death, the reason it is ethical cannot be that we are convinced they are really dead," they write.

Similarly they note that with 'cardiac death', "although it may be ethical to remove vital organs from these patients, we believe that the reason it is ethical cannot convincingly be that the donors are dead." Troug and Miller suggest that, rather than insisting on dead donors, "ethical requirements of organ donation" should be looked at "in terms of valid informed consent under the limited conditions of devastating neurologic injury."

However, the dead donor criteria is precisely the thing that most moral ethicists agree makes it ethical to remove vital organs for transplant. Doing otherwise would constitute actively killing a person via removal of their vital organs. 

In his August 29, 2000 address to the 18th International Congress of the Transplantation Society, Pope John Paul II stressed: "vital organs which occur singly in the body can be removed only after death, that is from the body of someone who is certainly dead."  He added: "This requirement is self-evident, since to act otherwise would mean intentionally to cause the death of the donor in disposing of his organs." (see the full address here: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/2000/jul-sep/documents/h...).

Now that a prominent medical journal has come out and stated that brain death and cardiac death are invalid criteria for true death, some are hoping that the Catholic Church, which has not issued a formal position on vital organ donation, will officially come out in opposition to the practice - a practice which takes place in many Catholic hospitals throughout the world.

"The setting out of these facts should by all rights lead to a cessation of complete removal of any vital organ at Catholic hospitals", said Dr. John Shea, medical consultant to LifeSiteNews.com, who has written extensively on the subject of organ donation.

See the article from the NEJM online here:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/359/7/674?query=TOC

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Massive Brazilian Vaccination Raises Suspicions of Covert Sterilization Program

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The commencement of a massive, mandatory vaccination program in Brazil has raised suspicions among international pro-life activists, who note that the program is similar to others in recent years that have included a hidden sterilizing agent in the vaccines.

The campaign, which was begun last week by Brazil's pro-abortion Health Minister, Jose Gomes Temporao, claims that its goal is to annihilate rubella in the South American nation.

Temporao, who has expended considerable energy to legalize abortion, claims he is concerned about the fact that 17 Brazilian children each year suffer birth defects from the disease, in a nation of more than 180 million people.  Rubella is normally little more than a nuisance for those who contract it, with symptoms that pass in a matter of days or weeks.

Although the number of children affected by Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) is less per capita than that of both the United Kingdom and Australia in the 1990s, Temporao is heading a mandatory program to vaccinate 70 million Brazilians, which would make it the largest vaccination in history. 

Adolfo Castañeda of Human Life International notes that just two years ago, researchers found that the rubella vaccine used in a similar campaign in Argentina was laced with Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG), a pregnancy hormone that is necessary for a newly conceived zygote to implant in the uterine wall after conception.

When the body receives HCG in a vaccine, it perceives it as an intruder and creates antibodies that fight the presence of the hormone in the body.  The body's immunological response is turned against pregnancy, causing abortions when conception occurs.

"In 2006, there was a similar campaign to the current one in Brazil in Argentina," Castañeda writes in a recent HLI bulletin.  "The presence of HCG in various samples of the vaccine used against rubella were discovered.  The suspicion that brought about the investigation was caused by the fact that there were very few cases of the disease in Argentina, which didn't merit a large-scale campaign."

Castañeda also notes that the age group of women targeted by the campaign is the same or similar to other programs that were proven to include sterilizing agents in vaccines.

"The age of the people who will be vaccinated is 12 to 49 years for women (reproductive age), and between 12 and 39 for men," he writes.  "The ages for women are the same as those who received the vaccines in Nicaragua, where they included a hormone that sterilizes the woman who receives it, and similar to the age of those who received another sterilizing hormone in the Philippines."

In fact, as the Australian government notes in its journal, Communicable Diseases Intelligence, small children are the primary conduit for the disease, and highly-effective programs in the US and Australia have therefore focused on that group (http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/cda-pubs-cdi-1999-...).  Yet the Brazilian government is ignoring children and is focusing on women in their childbearing years.

Brazilian pro-life activist Julio Severo, who is in hiding from the Brazilian government for his refusal to participate in forced vaccination programs, notes that, strangely, even those who have already received the vaccine, or who have already had rubella (thus ensuring immunity) will be required by the government to receive the vaccine during the current drive.

"If the campaign goal is really to eliminate rubella, then why vaccinate those already vaccinated?" he asks on his blog, Last Days Watchman. "Why compel the vaccination of those that had the illness in the past? It is a fact more than proven that an individual who has had rubella in the past will never have it again."

Severo says that the campaign is seeking to find people wherever they congregate or travel, and there is no option but to receive the vaccine.  In fact, he notes, the government has already carried out a widely-publicized prosecution of one woman because her children did not receive some of the mandatory vaccines.  The woman's children were taken from her custody, and co-workers who were aware of the situation and failed to report it were prosecuted.  The story has appeared in the media as an example for those who might wish to resist the government's efforts to forcibly vaccinate them.

He also points out that the same international agencies that are backing the current vaccination in Brazil have been involved in research on sterilizing vaccines for decades, and warns that these same groups, which are dedicated to abortion and population control, cannot be trusted.

"In the mass vaccination campaigns in Argentina, Nigeria, Philippines and other countries, UNICEF showed that it knows how to unite the worse intentions to the most angelic appearances," writes Severo. "In Brazil, we have the assurance of Temporao that the mass vaccination campaign is only for protecting babies and helping families."

Related Links:

What is behind the campaign "Brazil Free of Rubella"?
http://lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-is-behind-campaign-brazil-free...

HLI Report on Sterilizing Vaccines
http://educate-yourself.org/vcd/vcdvaccineslacedwithbirthcontrol.shtml

Related LifeSiteNews Coverage:

UNICEF Nigerian Polio Vaccine Contaminated with Sterilizing Agents Scientist Finds
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/mar/04031101.html

NEW WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION CHIEF INVOLVED IN POPULATION CONTROL VACCINE SCANDAL
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/jan/03013003.html

UNICEF's Other Agendas
Popular Children's Aid Agency at Odds With Conservative Religious Groups for Embracing Politically Correct U.N. Viewpoints
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/oct/021030a.html

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Batman The Dark Knight - Should We Fear Imitation of the Joker? 

The film could easily be seen to portray good as a weakness used and repeatedly exploited by evil

Editorial by John-Henry Westen

I finally saw the movie which has grossed $400 million in its first 18 days - well on its way to overtaking Titanic as box-office champ.  The movie was visually and viscerally stunning but deeply disturbing, even diabolic.

My concerns were confirmed when LifeSiteNews.com co-founder Steve Jalsevac told me he had also just seen the film and shared my unease.

Some have pointed to the extreme violence in the film, but my concerns go well beyond that.  In a Canwest News Service review Jay Stone refers to Joker as a "psychotic butcher"; Jenny McCarthy in her August 2 review in the London Telegraph wrote, "The greatest surprise of all - even for me, after eight years spent working as a film critic - has been the sustained level of intensely sadistic brutality throughout the film." One reviewer even called the film "torture porn."

The story's focus is the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger of Brokeback Mountain fame.  The Joker is portrayed as a man engaging in a purity of evil rarely seen.  An anti-Christ type figure, he engages in evil for evil's sake and not for any material motive, and is totally unconcerned about his own well-being. 

So youth seeing the film will see the evil of the Joker, be repulsed by it and turn away from it, right?  Wrong.

There are two supermen in this film - Batman and the Joker. 

One problem, however, is that while Batman is a somewhat distant figure - a multi-billionaire whose money is largely the source of his being a superhero - the common man can relate more to the Joker who is a man dealing, in his own intensely cruel way, with a rough past.

In one scene the Joker describes the way he got his 'smile' - the two obvious scars which run up from both corners of his mouth.  He describes domestic violence in his home where his father attacked his mother and then turned on him as a child, saying, "Why so serious? Let's put a smile on that face," and carved one in.  As sick and scary as that scenario is, it is nevertheless one with which a great many of today's youth - deeply scarred internally - will easily identify as they too have been subjected to domestic violence.

And if that's not enough, Joker changes the scenario half-way through the film.  He explains that his 'smile' is the result of an incident stemming from a disagreement with his wife who would thereafter have nothing to do with him.  Hence, Joker's psychosis is portrayed as being a response to the all-too-common experience of domestic turbulence, whether involving one's parents or one's spouse.

The Joker and Batman are both presented as virtually invincible; indeed, if anything, the Joker is presented as being more powerful in many respects. He is completely unrestricted in terms of his actions, while the film clearly portrays Batman as hampered by his conscience.  Batman The Dark Knight could easily be seen to portray good as a weakness which is used and repeatedly exploited by evil - the Joker.  The corruption of the good in people is one of his main aims - it is in fact the only purpose which can be discerned in the Joker's otherwise completely chaotic acts.

But for all the power of this anti-Christ portrayal, there is no portrayal of an equally pure Christ figure.  An heroic man in public power, one of the main characters, is eventually corrupted by the Joker's devices, and the only two good guys left - Commissioner Gordon and Batman himself - are themselves corrupted in that they must foster and live with a lie to maintain the illusion that the one who thoroughly succumbed to evil was actually the hero of the day.

Batman, meant to be the hero of the film, is far less morally consistent in his pursuits than is the Joker.  As Bruce Wayne the billionaire, he is portrayed as a jealous, spiteful ex-lover, insulting his rival and using other women (even three at a time) to inspire jealousy in his ex-lover.  The portrayal of Batman is weak and conflicted compared to that of the Joker.  The Joker's character dominates the screen and the brilliance of Ledger's performance in this role serves to highlight this difference.

It should also be noted that many have pointed to Ledger's Joker role as possibly having a role in the 28-year-old's death by an overdose of drugs including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication shortly after filming of the movie was completed.

The suspicions are not unfounded as his final interviews indicate Ledger was very troubled during and after the filming.  A New York Times interview which took place during the filming noted that Ledger's Joker role was "physically and mentally draining". Ledger described the Joker as a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy".  He also revealed he was having trouble sleeping and the reporter noted his bizarre restless behaviour.

Reported the New York Times:

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," he said. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." One night he took an Ambien, which failed to work. He took a second one and fell into a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing.

Even as he spoke, Mr. Ledger was hard-pressed to keep still. He got up and poured more coffee. He stepped outside into the courtyard and smoked a cigarette. He shook his hair out from under its hood, put a rubber band around it, took out the rubber band, put on a hat, took off the hat, put the hood back up. He went outside and had another cigarette. (see the full Times interview: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/movies/moviesspecial/04lyal.html?_r=1&oref... )

A video interview available on YouTube, which took place just after the filming finished and is billed as one of the last interviews before Ledger's death, visually demonstrates that bizarre restlessness. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKa-aDga1fE&feature=related

Are there going to be imitators of the Joker portrayed in The Dark Knight? There already are.  Just look on YouTube for the number of videos where teens are dressing up as and imitating the lines of the Joker.  Even more seriously, however, there have been crimes committed since the film's release where the criminals have dressed in Joker makeup.

The film would likely not be dangerous for those well-grounded in morality; but for the many in today's world who have not received the moral training that would allow them to clearly distinguish between good and evil, Joker character and philosophy of "anything goes" presents an all-too-appealing alternative way of attaining power and recognition. 

Seeing the film only a few days after the very disturbing and unexplainable beheading of a passenger on a Canadian bus, I could not help wonder if the perpetrator had seen the Batman film.  The description of the killing and decapitation as having been carried out in a calm manner, entirely without emotion, and the killer taking the head of the man and glibly showing it to horrified witnesses, seemed to fit with the Joker's character.  Media screen shots of the film showing the Joker holding up his "calling card" (a Joker playing card with a decapitated head dripping blood) added powerfully to the association.

Superheroes in films normally generate imitation. Joker is every bit a superhero in The Dark Knight - but a super-evil one.

If your children have seen the film, talk to them about it.  If they have not yet seen it I would tactfully discourage it.

For a parental review of the film see Screenit's very detailed information (the Internet's most useful movie information website for those concerned about ethical content): http://www.screenit.com/movies/2008/the_dark_knight.html#v

See other reviews noted above here:
"This is a movie that turns its heroes into villains and its villains into immortals. It's a haunting mess." A 'psychotic butcher'
http://canada.com.dose.ca/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=15088ff6-3494-4761-...

Torture Porn Aimed At The Kids by Jenny McCartney National Post, August 2, 2008
http://www.orwelltoday.com/batmanbewaredark.shtml

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Will McCain VP Pick Be a Ridge Too Far for Pro-Lifers?

McCain has disturbed pro-lifers by expressing his willingness to pick a pro-abortion running mate

Commentary by Peter J. Smith

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Senator John McCain has stirred up passions among GOP social conservatives after the Republican presidential candidate indicated he might consider pro-abortion and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge as his Vice-President. New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, however, did not make the cut for McCain, because Bloomberg is both pro-abortion and pro-gay.

McCain revealed in a Wednesday interview with the Weekly Standard that he was open to a pro-abortion running mate, unsettling social conservatives who have had uneasy feelings about supporting a candidate who once referred to leaders of the religious right as "agents of intolerance."

McCain told the Standard's Stephen F. Hayes: "I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party.

"And I also feel that - and I'm not trying to equivocate here - that Americans want us to work together. You know, Tom Ridge is one of the great leaders and he happens to be pro-choice. And I don't think that that would necessarily rule Tom Ridge out."
 
"I think it's a fundamental tenet of our party to be pro-life but that does not mean we exclude people from our party that are pro-choice. We just have a - albeit strong - but just it's a disagreement. And I think Ridge is a great example of that. Far more so than Bloomberg, because Bloomberg is pro-gay rights, pro, you know, a number of other issues."

The selection of Ridge as a running mate for McCain would put Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes in play according to GOP strategists, who believe that Obama is not resonating with blue-collar Democrats there. Obama losing Pennsylvania might be just enough to clinch the presidency for McCain, translating into another four years of GOP control of the White House. Obama stirred up ire earlier this year when he insulted small town Pennsylvania voters, saying in the economic downturn "they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion."

The selection of Ridge may encourage 'moderate' (liberal) Republicans to line-up for McCain, but also have the disastrous effect of depressing voter turnout among the GOP's large conservative base, should it feel its support is taken for granted. In this case, the McCain camp would have to bet that the specter of an Obama presidency would be enough to offset his base's dissatisfaction to get them to the polls and pull the lever for McCain.

An additional four years of a GOP controlled White House could hold the promise of changing the Supreme Court make-up decidedly against Roe v. Wade. Roe overturned would once again place abortion in the hands of the states. A report from the Center for Reproductive Rights indicates that at least 30 US states are poised to restrict or ban abortion once Roe falls. (http://www.womensenews.org/PDF_files/What_if_Roe_Fell.pdf)

McCain's openness to a pro-abortion VP pick, however, vexes social conservatives, especially since McCain has had a tumultuous history with them and they are worried about the depth of his commitment to the causes that resonate most deeply with them.

McCain co-authored the greatest restrictions on political free speech in the United States under the guise of "Campaign Finance Reform," which effectively muzzled the ability of pro-life lobbying groups to pay for ads calling a candidate on the carpet for his positions leading up to an election.

The Arizona Senator's pro-life credentials have also been called into question over his continued advocacy of embryo-destroying stem-cell research. Despite well-documented evidence proving the ethical and qualitative superiority of adult stem cell therapies, McCain has not abandoned his support for embryonic stem cell research, which, by contrast, has still yielded no therapies or cures despite overwhelming government funding worldwide. 

McCain is expected to name his VP choice within the next week or so, before the Republican National Convention kicks off September 1.

Possible pro-life VP candidates mentioned have been Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty or Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been floated as a VP pick, although the McCain campaign savaged his pro-life credentials during the primary by highlighting a May 2005 press conference in which Romney told reporters he was committed to the "status quo" on "abortion and choice."

Besides Ridge, the other pro-abortion running mate whom McCain might consider is Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, former US Vice President Al Gore's running mate. Both Lieberman and McCain have a good relationship, although the choice of a non-Republican and abortion advocate may just be a bridge too far for conservatives waiting for a McCain to reach out to their interests and not take their support for granted.

"What if Roe Fell Chart" predictions from Center for Reproductive Rights available here:
http://www.womensenews.org/PDF_files/What_if_Roe_Fell.pdf

See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:

McCain Meets Privately with Fr. Pavone - Says Constitutional Right to Life Applies to Unborn
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061302.html

McCain and the Pope: McCain cannot win in November without the Catholic vote
How is he going to get it?
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08032605.html

McCain's Rejection of Roe v. Wade Seems As Wobbly as His Rejection of Gay "Marriage"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07021908.html

McCain: "No, I don't Believe in Gay Adoption"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071408.html

Why did McCain not Defend Himself on Gay "Marriage" on Ellen's Show? The Official Answer
McCain spokesman Q&A with Catholic journalists answers some interesting questions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071113.html

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U.S. Women's Group Urges Comments to Health Secretary - Protect Physician Conscience Rights on Abortion

Concerned Women for America (CWA) is alerting members to protect their right to choose pro-life doctors

WASHINGTON, August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Concerned Women for America (CWA) is alerting members to protect their right to choose pro-life doctors by sending comments to the Health and Human Services Secretary's blog. (http://secretarysblog.hhs.gov/)

"The Bush Administration will soon propose regulations to protect healthcare professionals from being forced to participate in immoral practices. Astonishingly, abortion proponents vehemently oppose this. They are against the right of doctors to choose not to do abortions," noted Wendy Wright, President of CWA.

"Federal laws protect the right of healthcare providers not to participate in abortion or other controversial practices. But the laws are ignored. Recently two medical associations passed guidelines that could require doctors to commit or refer for abortions."

In July a memo was leaked that revealed that the HHS was considering proposed guidelines that would refuse federal funding to organizations that "support morally coercive or discriminatory practices or policies in violation of federal law."

The new rules as outlined in the memo would have required hospitals, clinics, researchers, medical schools, and even state and local governments who receive funding under federal health care programs to guarantee they will not discriminate against hiring doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals who have moral objections to abortion and abortifacient birth control.

The most controversial passage of the proposed regulations define abortion as "any of the various procedures - including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action - that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation."

After the proposed regulations were leaked pro-abortion groups were immediately up in arms, claiming that the HHS was "redefining" contraception as abortion.

"Planned Parenthood and some media are trying to frame the new regulations as an attack on contraception," said Wright. "On the contrary, the proposed regulations focus on the right of health professionals to follow their conscience and to 'do no harm.' It allows medical providers, in their professional judgment and substantiated by medical textbooks, to determine that abortion is an action that terminates a human life before or after implantation."

"Abortion advocates are causing a ruckus about a rule that simply requires health agencies to follow the law and not to discriminate against people with moral beliefs against taking an innocent life.

"Secretary Leavitt provided an excellent explanation on his blog. It's been flooded with negative comments from abortion advocates demanding that health providers do whatever a woman demands.

"As patients, we depend - with our lives - on health providers to be moral. But if ethical professionals with strong consciences are forced out of the profession, patients will suffer the most."

CWA has asked members to protect their rights as patients and show their support for the regulations by adding comments to Secretary Leavitt's blog.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Bush Administration Seeks to Forbid Federal Aid Discrimination against Pro-Life Health Care Professionals
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071508.html

Planned Parenthood in Hysterics over Bush Memo Defining Abortifacient Contraception as Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071604.html

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HPV Vaccine Causes 21 Deaths and Counting - CDC Study Launched

New England Journal of Medicine claims that only about 10% of drug induced side effects are reported

By Tim Waggoner

OTTAWA, August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Critics say that the reasons to avoid using the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, continue to pile up in the form of thousands of instances of severe side effects, including numerous deaths. In response to the mounting evidence that the vaccine may not be safe for widespread use, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is slated to release a study in October that will attempt to determine the validity of these reports.

Judicial Watch, a public interest group, has closely monitored Gardasil since it was released by creator Merck in 2006, periodically detailing statistics on the numerous side effects users have experienced. The most recent report alleges that the drug has been responsible for 21 deaths and 9,749 adverse reactions, including 78 outbreaks of genital warts and 10 miscarriages.

As daunting as these current statistics are, it seems that even they may be gravely underestimating the health risks associated with using Gardasil. A study by the New England Journal of Medicine claims that only about 10% of drug induced side effects are reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

Furthermore, FiercePharma.com claims that experts have criticized the actual effectiveness of the cervical cancer vaccine, saying Merck has exaggerated the drug's usefulness.

Despite the alleged dangers of using Gardasil and concerns about its actual medical success, Merck is continuing to push the drug into state mandatory vaccine lists and schools. 

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Gardasil - 18 Dead, Thousands Suffer Complications
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08070809.html

Why Medical Authorities Cannot be Trusted on Gardasil HPV Vaccine By Gwen Landolt
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07121905.html

Ontario Catholic School Board Rejects HPV Vaccine on School Premises
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07101806.html

Controversial HPV Vaccine Causing One Death Per Month: FDA Report
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08070316.html

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Forty-two Organizations Appeal to Have Canadian Supreme Court Chief Justice Removed from Office over Morgentaler Affair

OTTAWA, August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Forty-two Canadian organizations, representing an estimated one million plus members, collectively filed a letter of complaint with the Canadian Judicial Council on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 about federally appointed chief justice Beverley McLachlin for conduct that breaches the high standard of behaviour required to be a member of the judiciary.  The complaint is based on six alleged counts of violating the Constitution of the Order of Canada (an act of Parliament) and its regulations and one count of compromising the Supreme Court of Canada.

On Canada Day this year it was announced that arch-abortionist Henry Morgentaler had been named at the last minute to the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honor. However, reports have indicated that, contrary to normal procedure, the decision to grant Morgentaler the award was not a unanimous decision of the advisory council. Instead, it has been reported that Justice McLachlin personally spearheaded the push to violate Order of Canada procedural regulations and nominate Morgentaler despite objections from members of the advisory council.

Brian Rushfeldt, Executive Director, Canada Family Action Coalition says, "It is critical for Canadians to have trust in the conduct of judges, especially the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.  By willfully breaching the requirements of the Constitution of the Order of Canada and the judicial standards of conduct, Beverley McLachlin compromises the integrity of Canada's judicial system. The behaviour of Beverley McLachlin outside the courtroom, clearly demonstrates bias along with improper conduct driven by political ideology or personal agenda."

Both the Governor General and Justice McLachlin have refused to explain publicly what occurred this year during the process of selecting Order of Canada nominees. Rushfeldt said that the advisory council has a responsibility to be transparent just as any other government function ought to be. "The silence of the GG and the chief judge raises more doubt and mistrust about who we are dealing with here and what they have done. That is why we need an investigation" he said.

The letter from the 42 organizations reads: "In order to preserve the integrity of Canada's judicial system we respectfully ask that the Canadian Judicial Council consider this complaint seriously, investigate Beverley McLachlin's inappropriate behaviour and recommend to Parliament that Ms. McLachlin be sanctioned or removed from office."

For related coverage see LifeSiteNews.com's Morgentaler Order of Canada page:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/Morgentalerorder.html

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When Donated Sperm are Loved and Lost: Tragic Love Story, or Customer Service Blunder?

Commentary by Kathleen Gilbert

August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - How far would you go for that unique bundle of genetic information you love more than any other?

In "Mad Cow Rules Hit Sperm Banks' Patrons," published recently in the Washington Post, Julie Peterson, a pretty, blonde 43-year-old from North Carolina, describes how a sperm embargo has stolen her chance to have another perfect child. 

Once upon a time, Julie found a desirable donor - an attractive Prince Charming promising fair Scandinavian features like her own, as well as the smarts suggested by his engineering degree.  Peterson conceived once by the donor's sperm and has the perfect child to prove it. But tragedy struck for Peterson when, upon returning for another amorous encounter with the same donor's sperm, she discovered that the US Government had made this impossible by banning foreign sperm out of concern that they may carry mad cow disease.

Ah, a bittersweet story of meeting, falling in love, and losing...sperm?

"I just cried," said Peterson. "I was in complete shock. I hadn't thought about anything but having another baby with this donor. It was just so surprising and bewildering."

Crushed as she was, she would not be kept from the only sperm that has ever made her happy.

"Peterson has flown repeatedly to Denmark, and went again this week, to try to get pregnant with sperm from the same donor," reports the Washington Post. 

Her tenacity and devotion are admirable - few people so fully invest themselves in a long-distance love interest, much less a sperm interest. 

Peterson is not the only victim of the governmental match-meddling.  The story also relates how a woman named Laura was outraged when another woman, possessed of sperm vials that both she and Laura happened to prefer, demanded a higher price for them than Laura could pay.  As a result, the offerings of "Sven" remained unavailable to Laura, and the sperm continued to live monogamously with the other woman.

Laura and Peterson, however, are motivated by no mere fleeting sense of romance.  Both express deep dismay that they are unable to give their first children a sibling by the same man.  Clearly this is about more than mere romance; this is about values, about faithfulness to one partner...er, donor. Perhaps these remarkable women are seeking to set an example for their children, inculcating in them the seemingly outmoded virtue of fidelity in a world that celebrates profligacy. But, sad to say, the significance of such fidelity is tenuous.

In the end we can't but wonder just how edifying it would be for a child to hear his mother say that his father was not simply a random person she hooked up with, but that he had desirable genetic characteristics that she insisted on having for all her children, and she can prove it by looking up the donor number. 

The women may have a point, however, in that the alternative would probably be even more devastating for their children to hear. "Honey, when mommy went shopping at the Cryobank to buy a father for you, she couldn't get the best sperm because the government wouldn't let her, and so she settled for something less. And that's why you're just not as handsome or smart or fast as your brother."  

Let's be honest.  Favorite sperm or no favorite sperm, nobody wants to grow up hearing that they were shopped for and bought, robbed of a right all persons have - to be conceived in a relationship of love and tangible commitment. 

The thought that genetic material is selected and purchased based on standards of quality naturally causes us to recoil.  Almost everyone recognizes that they, at least, do not have a market value, based on looks and intelligence.  As Donum Vitae, a document published by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) reminds Catholics and all men of good will, a human person is not, after all, the sum of his genetic characteristics.  A child has the unquantifiable "personal dignity" that he shares with his parents: and his parents give life as co-creators with God, both physically and spiritually. 

This deep dependence of the child on his parent's spiritual union gives him a longing to know his parents in the intimate family relationship, in order fully to develop knowledge of himself.  "It is through the secure and recognized relationship to his own parents," says Donum Vitae, "that the child can discover his own identity and achieve his own proper human development." 

But in the end in-vitro fertilization leaves both children and their mothers in the dark about the real identity of love. It turns the natural dynamic of love on its head, reducing the bearing of children to an issue of "whom will I take from?", rather than, "whom will I give to?"

The original Washington Post story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/12/AR2008081203131....

Related LifeSiteNews,com articles:

Sperm Donor Siblings, Mothers, Connect Online
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06031009.html

UK Death Linked to IVF Treatment
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05041408.html

Pope Condemns In Vitro Fertilization: "Barrier protecting human dignity has been broken"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08013110.html

In Vitro Fertilizations Causes Genetic Abnormalities
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1998/apr/98040802.html

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Stem Cells in Baby's Own Amniotic Fluid Used to Help Form New Organ Tissues

Scientists claim cells could be used to treat newborns with serious health problems diagnosed in utero

By Hilary White

SYDNEY, Australia, August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A team of researchers at the Wake Forest University in North Carolina has extracted stem cells from amniotic fluid that have been found able to grow new organ tissue. This could be used, the scientists say, to treat newborns with serious health problems diagnosed in utero.

The technique of creating tissue from amniotic fluid and placental stem cells, said Dr. Anthony Atala, could potentially work to cure "any abnormality that would not be lethal before a baby is born".

Professor Atala told The Age newspaper, "The hope is … that if you have a baby diagnosed prenatally with a defect then you can take cells from the amniotic fluid and then expand those cells in large quantities and create the tissue or organ that is needed."

"You could turn the cells, for example, into liver cells … and have them ready for when the baby is born."

Presenting his team's findings at a conference on transplantation in Sydney, Australia, earlier this week, he said, "It's all still experimental, but … it shows we have the capacity to create these organs (for transplant)."

The team created liver, pancreatic, nerve and kidney tissue using stem cells found in the placenta and in amniotic fluid. Dr. Atala, a paediatric urologist and a leader in the field of stem cell tissue regeneration, said work with amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (AFS cells) shows great promise and suggests it could ultimately relieve the pressure to procure donor organs for transplants.

He said that the goal would be to create a tissue bank where stem cells derived from amniotic fluid are stored cryogenically for later use. Once a large enough system of banks is established, the technology can be expanded and those who have not saved their tissue could be aided by genetic matching of tissues.

The proof of success came in 2004, when Dr. Atala led the team that developed the first lab-grown organ, a bladder, to be implanted into a human.

Similar to embryonic stem cells (ESC), AFS cells, like those derived from umbilical cord blood, are "pluripotent", meaning they can potentially be manipulated to become many different types of mature tissues while avoiding not only the killing of embryonic human beings to obtain them, but also the problem of tumour formation immune system rejection. Dr. Atala has also said they are slightly easier to deal with and manipulate in animal trials, than ESC.

In 2006, he wrote that it may be possible to create "universal donor cells" that can be injected into the body that "will naturally migrate to the site of injury, where tissue repair and regeneration can occur, all without rejection".

"One could even have preventive 'cell tune-ups' to slow the natural process of ageing with periodic cell injections - using a needle-less system, of course."

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Complete Bladders Grown from Patients' Own Cells
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/apr/06040405.html

Exciting Amniotic Stem Cell Discovery Backed up by New Study
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07010805.html ;

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Pro-life Victory: University of Maryland to Change Restrictive Speech Code

WASHINGTON, DC, August 14 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Rock for Life college group has decided to drop a lawsuit against the University of Maryland Aug. 12 after the school agreed to change its free speech policies.

"May this put all universities on notice," said Erik Whittington, Rock for Life's national director. "Our message will not be silenced, nor will our First Amendment rights be abridged."

Last year, the University of Maryland twice told Rock for Life, a registered student organization, to move its display, the Genocide Awareness Project, to less and less visible locations - thus thwarting the students' ability to exercise their free speech rights at a public university.

Rock for Life, aided by the Alliance Defense Fund, a public-interest law firm, sued the school for free speech violations.

Earlier this week, Rock for Life agreed to drop the lawsuit when the University of Maryland agreed to change its facilities-use policies as well as revise its speech codes. To ensure the university's compliance, both the university and Rock for Life will give Judge J. Frederick Motz a joint status report Sept. 19.

"We are excited to learn that the free speech rights of pro-life students on campus have been restored," Whittington said. "All the group wanted to do was educate fellow students about the horrors of abortion. How can they do that when their speech gets restricted to low-visibility areas of campus? We are thankful to the Alliance Defense Fund for coming to their aid."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

One News Now: Once sued, University Changes Tone about Pro-Life Display (13 August 2008)
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=210790

Christian Broadcasting Network: Pro-Life Group Wins Free Speech Suit (11 August 2008)
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/426141.aspx

Rock for Life:
http://www.rockforlife.org/

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McDonald's Restaurants Continue to Promote Homosexuality

Sponsors training for homosexuals on how to promote their agenda among corporations from the inside

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A press release from the American Family Association has given an update on the involvement of McDonald's in the promotion of homosexuality.

"Now we learn that McDonald's sponsors training for homosexuals on how to promote their agenda among corporations from the inside. Out & Equal™ Workplace Advocates is a national organization devoted to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the workplace," the press release states.

"One of its primary purposes is to train employees how to aggressively promote homosexuality within the company they work for, all the way to the corporate boardroom. Part of last year's Out & Equal Summit in Washington, DC, (sponsored by McDonald's) was an organized march into congressional offices demanding same-sex marriage laws be passed."
 
"At the bottom of McDonald's half-page ad in the Out & Equal Summit booklet is this statement: 'From neighborhood to neighborhood, coast to coast and around the world, McDonald's is proud to celebrate diversity,'" the press release concludes.

McDonald's first overt entry into promotion of the homosexual agenda was their announcement in March, 2008, of a $20,000 donation to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in order to become a corporate sponsor and to have a seat on the board of directors. (See "Ronald McDonald Cozies Up To Homosexual Movement": http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08033105.html)

After back-peddling from this disclosure (See "McDonald's Throws up A Smoke Screen to Cover Support for Homosexual Agenda": http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08040905.html) McDonald's has openly challenged those opposing the homosexual agenda, including same-sex "marriage", by accusing various pro-family organizations of being motivated by hate. (See "Family Advocates Take McDonald's Boycott to Home of the Golden Arches After "Hate" Smear": http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071602.html)

For related LifeSiteNews.com coverage please see:

Golden Arches Awash in Rainbow Colors: Family Group Boycotts McDonalds for Support for Homosexual Agenda
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08070402.html

McDonald's Protesters Gather in California: "Stop Promoting Homosexuality"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08072302.html

McDonalds Homosexual Advocacy Increases - Now Funds Pride Parade
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08073002.html

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Netherlands Recognises Polygamous Marriages of Muslims reports Dutch Newspaper

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

ROTTERDAM, August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two Dutch cities have instructed their marriage registrars to recognize polygamous marriages of immigrants that have taken place in countries where having more than one wife is permitted, such as Morocco.

Although polygamy is technically banned in the Netherlands, the marriages of Muslims who have several wives are now recognized by Dutch authorities in the cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, reports the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad.

Until now, registrars in the major cities had been recording the irregular marriages of immigrants, but the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS), where all marriages are registered nationally, has been removing these bigamous or polygamous marriages from its files, on the assumption that administrative errors had occurred, reports NIS News.

The city councils of Amsterdam and Rotterdam have informed the CBS that the marriage records are not a mistake.

CBS researcher Jan Latten told NRC Handelsblad that the CBS would study whether or not to recognize the bigamous and polygamous marriages. "We will now investigate whether this can be regarded as a trend that was previously not recognised. If this is the case, it is our task to report this."

"At present, it is not included in our statistics," Latten pointed out. "In the same way, we delete marriages involving fourteen-year-olds. A man with two wives just cannot exist by law."

Rotterdam city council spokesman T. Verhoeven said that bigamous and polygamous marriages are registered regularly, though government employees must inform the Public Prosecutors' Office (OM) if there is any suspicion of marriages of convenience or exploitation of women.

"They are simply acknowledged. It is important for us to check that the documents are authentic and that the husband does not have Dutch nationality. Otherwise the construction is illegal," Verhoeven explained.

The Netherlands has for years pushed the boundary of what constitutes marriage, beginning with the decision to legalize homosexual "marriage" in 2001 - the first country in the world to do so. In 2005 the Netherlands entered heretofore uncharted territory when a Dutch man and two women were given a license for their three-way civil union.

In September, 2005 LifeSiteNews.com reported on the "co-habitation contract" entered into by the threesome.

The man claimed that the arrangement was justified because there is no jealousy. "There is no jealousy because both women are bisexual. If they had been both hetero, it would be more difficult." The arrangement was given government sanction after it was confirmed before a notary who duly registered it as a legal civil union.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Dutch Couple Contracts with Second Woman in Netherlands' First Legal Polygamy
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/sep/05093008.html

Norway's Polygamy Problem a Sign of Things to Come
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05111508.html

Russia May Legalize Polygamy for "10 Million Lonely Women"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jan/06011308.html

A Look Into the Future?: Dutch Party Pushes Pedophilia, Pornography, Bestiality, Soft/Hard Drugs
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jul/06072707.html

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Homosexual British Police Officers Acquitted After Getting Caught with Child Porn

Movie and still images found at their shared home and in work files and laptop

By Hilary White

LONDON, August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A pair of homosexual police "partners" have been cleared of charges of possession of child pornography, both in their shared home and on the computers used in their work. The jury of eight women and four men at Southwark Crown Court returned unanimous not guilty verdicts on all six charges.

Prosecutor Tim Hunter had told the court, "The case is that the images on the disk are illicit or illegal and they didn't seem to relate to a professional task."

Early this year, colleagues discovered pornographic images of children on computer disks used by Graham Ferguson, a detective with the London Metropolitan Police, and Gerard Collins, a British Transport Police officer. Ferguson, 41, worked in the Professional Standards Directorate of London Metropolitan Police, the office charged with investigating other officers for misconduct.

The discovery prompted a search of the home the two men shared where more images were found on disks and a laptop computer, with some of the material being hidden under the bed. The disk from the officer's filing cabinet contained 57 paedophile film files and one still image. The material found in the officers' home included 25 indecent images and the CD contained two images. The laptop held a movie file and a single image.

Ferguson's superior believed that none of the images were part of any investigation Ferguson might have been conducting. In total, DC Ferguson was charged with possession of more than 80 indecent images of children.

The two policemen denied knowing there were pornographic images of children on their computer discs. Collins, 27, claimed that it may have got onto his computer inadvertently when he was doing an overnight "bulk download" of material from a general gay pornography website. This, despite the insistence of the homosexual community that homosexuality has no connection to paedophilia. He denied being attracted to children, saying he preferred older men.

The two police officers reportedly burst into tears and embraced in the dock after being cleared.

The use of child pornography and the interest of homosexuals in children and adolescents are well documented, despite the vociferous denials of homosexual political activists.

 In 1990, the Journal of Homosexuality, a peer reviewed academic journal that publishes research into same-sex attraction and examines homosexual practices, produced a special double issue devoted to adult-child sex, entitled "Male Intergenerational Intimacy".

In one article, a writer said that a "loving" paedophile can offer "companionship, security and protection" and that parents should look upon a paedophile who loves their son "not as a rival or competitor, not as a thief of their property, but as a partner in the boy's upbringing, someone to be welcomed into their home..."

A British university professor wrote in the same issue, "Boys want sex with men, boys seduce adult men, the experience is very common and much enjoyed".

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