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Comments on August 28 LifeSiteNews

Dear Readers,

Nancy Pelosi yesterday, Ted Kennedy at the Convention the day before and now our stories on Joe Biden today, yesterday and Tuesday. These should make it clear that, despite the wonderful statements by prominent US bishops in recent days, pro-abortion Catholic US politicians are not going to actually understand the church's teaching on abortion until the bishops use more than words, words, to uphold truth and charity.

Mind you, strong words are a first necessary part of the process. But then, and the hour is very late, over 30 years late - the bishops must prove to their understandably wayward flock in Congress and the Senate and in governors' chairs, etc. that abortion is murder and support for that murder is a very grave violation of God's laws of love. So far, we suggest the bishops have still not proved that, although we do applaud the recent statements.

Now is the time for long overdue actions, not as punishment, but as acts of charity to the pro-abortion Catholic politicians. Actions are also needed to correct the many years of deadly public confusion caused by the fact that these politicians have been able to continue in good standing in the Church while facilitating mass murder of unborn children. That has been sending a strong message that even militant abortion advocacy is not that serious for Catholics.

Will John McCain select a pro-life running mate? We hope and pray he does. Joe Lieberman would be a dreadful choice and Mitt Romney would also be a big problem.

The Mexico situation is of great concern. Once again, pro-aborts in yet another nation are succeeding in using corrupt judges to bypass democracy and the will of the people to force abortion on the nation. One thing is certain, the international de-populationists are behind all these nefarious occurrences.

Today's story on the Philippine's court judgment shows that the courts there are not easily bribed and corrupted as they have been in so many other nations. Bravo for them.

Canada's Conservative government is fanatical about avoiding even the slightest appearance of standing up for life. Well, no matter how much they do to stop anyone who tries to raise the abortion issue during elections, it comes up anyway. Really, how do you hide the annual murder of over 100,000 of the most innocent Canadians? It cries to heaven for justice. All the other issues are nothing compared to this.

Hearing no evil, seeing no evil, when great evil is taking place, is complicity with evil.

Over 100 Canadian Members of Parliament have indicated their opposition to the awarding of the Order of Canada to abortionist Henry Morgentaler. That makes abortion an election issue, no matter what the cold-blooded backroom strategists would prefer.

And then there is Bill C-484, the Unborn Victims of Violence Bill - not an abortion bill. By their shocking opposition to the bill because of their intense fear of anything that the pro-aborts see as an abortion issue, the Conservatives have made abortion an election issue. Opponents to C-484 can only be fanatically pro-abortion or very cowardly. There are no other explanations for opposition to such a common sense, just law that is supported by people of various views on abortion and a large majority of the public.

It's time for the Canadian voters to forget their usual voting patterns and vote only for principled individual candidates of any party rather than vote for the parties.

Steve Jalsevac
LifeSiteNews.com

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Over 100 MPs Oppose Morgentaler Order of Canada - List Released Today

See list of:
1. Those who opposed the award:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/OrderofCanadaNo.pdf

2. Those who approved of the award
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/OrderofCanadaApproval.pdf

3. Those who refused to respond after repeated requests
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/OrderofCanadaNoComment.pdf

OTTAWA, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Campaign Life Coalition, the political arm of the pro-life movement in Canada, has released the names of 105 Members of Parliament who have come out publicly against the nomination of abortionist Henry Morgentaler to the Order of Canada.  Also listed are 35 MPs who have publicly come out in support of Morgentaler's nomination. 

The list of those opposed to the Morgentaler appointment includes MPs from all political parties represented in the House of Commons, except for the NDP.

Even though he did not respond to the CLC survey, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper was one of the first politicians to speak out against the nomination of Morgentaler, labeling it as divisive.  Only one day after the official announcement of the award, Mr. Harper made unusually frank comments expressing his displeasure with the selection. 

"It's not a decision of the government of Canada," Mr. Harper said at a press conference. He added: "The Order of Canada - these decisions are made independently of the government. That said, I guess my preference, to be frank, would be to see the Order of Canada be something that really unifies, that brings Canadians together."

"This has been the most divisive appointment to the Order since its inception in 1967," Jim Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), told LifeSiteNews.com. "CLC re-iterates its request to the Prime Minister that the government set up a special committee to review the nominations with a view to ensuring this never re-occurs." 

Concluding, Hughes indicated that besides the opposition of over 100 MPs, "Our survey of 157,165 households across Canada, revealed that 56% of the 13,324 who responded, did not agree with the appointment." (see coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08072202.html )

Campaign Life Coalition surveyed all MPs on the matter, making numerous attempts to reach each MP in the nation.  Well over half the MPs responded to the survey, with 34 saying merely that they had no comment.

The results of that effort - the list of names and responses - are available on LifeSiteNews.com here:

1. Those who opposed the award:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/OrderofCanadaNo.pdf

2. Those who approved of the award
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/OrderofCanadaApproval.pdf

3. Those who refused to respond after repeated requests
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/OrderofCanadaNoComment.pdf

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McCain Himself Accuses Obama of Courting Infanticide

By John-Henry Westen

WASHINGTON, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mainstream media has yet to notice, but Senator McCain last week directly accused Barack Obama of courting infanticide.  While the pro-life movement in the nation has been on the issue for weeks, McCain himself delivered the punch line in his radio address for August 23.

McCain noted Obama's vote against the Illinois version of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which McCain described as a "law to require medical care for babies who survive abortions."  McCain added to that description: "living, breathing babies whom Senator Obama described as, quote, 'previable.'"

McCain also accused Obama of lying on the matter, a fact which is well known to pro-life Americans who have followed the saga. 

"At Saddleback, he [Obama] assured a reporter that he'd have voted 'yes' on that bill if it had contained language similar to the federal version of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act," said McCain. "Even though the language of both the state and federal bills was identical, Senator Obama said people were, quote, 'lying' about his record."  McCain concluded: "When that record was later produced, he dropped the subject but didn't withdraw the slander. And now even Senator Obama's campaign has conceded that his claims and accusations were false."

Taking a shot at Obama's now famous "above my pay grade" cop out on the question of when life begins, McCain concluded his message saying: "I can assure you that if I am president, advancing the cause of life will not be above my pay grade."

Full Text of Senator John McCain's radio address of August 23
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082708.html

To listen to the audio version click here: http://www.johnmccain.com/Downloads/082208_B.mp3

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Exclusive: Prominent Rabbi Says Lieberman was Excommunicated and it is Still in Effect

Refers to Lieberman’s "long and sad record of embracing partial birth abortion and the homosexual agenda"

By John-Henry Westen

NEW YORK, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) -  Eight years ago when Al Gore selected then-Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman as his Vice Presidential running mate, an Orthodox Jewish Rabbinical court formally excommunicated Lieberman over his stands on partial birth abortion and homosexuality. The excommunication is said to stand to this day.

Rabbi Yehuda Levin spokesman for the Rabbinical Alliance of America and the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada, organizations representing over 1000 Orthodox Rabbis, told LifeSiteNews.com today that the excommunication is still in effect as Lieberman is in the final running as a potential VP pick for Senator McCain.

In October 2000, the New York Torah Court stated that Lieberman caused "grave scandal" for the Jewish religion "by the fact that, while claiming to be an observant Jew, [he] has been misrepresenting and falsifying to the American people the teachings of the Torah against partial birth infanticide, against special privileges and preferential treatment for flaunting homosexuals, and against religious intermarriage of Jews."

Rabbi Joseph Friedman, a spokesman and participant in the rabbinical court, said in a statement that Lieberman "violated our sacred Torah by his Senate votes upholding partial birth infanticide and legitimizing homosexuality, which abnormal and unhealthy behavior the Torah strongly condemns as sinful and immoral."

Rabbi Levin recalled his own participation in that process. “We excommunicated him to show that serious Orthodox Jews consider what Lieberman was doing a betrayal of the most basic values of our holy Torah. That excommunication, even though not widely acknowledged, is still one hundred percent spiritually valid.”

He explained to LifeSiteNews.com, “serious religious Jews who understand that the most important issues facing our country are the moral issues and know Senator Lieberman’s long and sad record of embracing partial birth abortion and the homosexual agenda realize that he’s the wrong choice for Vice President or for any high position in a McCain administration.”

Rabbi Levin expressed concern that Christian pro-family leaders in America may be tempted to soft-pedal criticism of Lieberman due to his Jewish faith.  “We call upon Christian pro-family leaders such as Gary Bauer, James Dobson, Don Wildmon, Tony Perkins et al. to raze McCain at the Republican Convention, he said. 

“To revolt and say that Lieberman should he be appointed is unacceptable.  It is only by respecting the pro-family values of Americans that McCain deserves to be President.  If he should betray us I don’t think it bodes well for his political future or the future of the country.”

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Two More Bishops Make 8 Who Have Come Out against Pelosi's 'Catholic' Abortion Theology

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two more bishops have released statements condemning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's widely publicized claim that the Catholic faith could support abortion.

Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs and Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh join the other six Catholic bishops who have already corrected Pelosi's false claims, made during an appearnace on NBC's Meet the Press, that when life begins has been "an issue of controversy" throughout the history of the Church and that, therefore, the Catholic faith can support abortion.

Bishop Sheridan warned Catholics in his statement Tuesday that Pelosi's picture of Church history and teaching is categorically false.  "Speaker Pelosi's outrageous attempt to present what she considers the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding abortion is simply wrong and should be disregarded by every faithful Catholic," he wrote.

Quoting Pope John Paul II, Bishop Sheridan reminded his readers that violating the right to life undermines all human rights, which are present "from the moment of conception until natural death."

"The teachings of the Church on abortion are consistent and unambiguous, and it is very disturbing to hear someone who claims to be a Catholic distort these teachings and sow seeds of confusion among the faithful by attempting to relativize the right to life," said Bishop Sheridan. 

Bishop Zubik on Wednesday also condemned Pelosi for going too far: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped out of her political role and completely misrepresented the teaching of the Catholic Church in regard to abortion."  The bishop went on to reject the notion that Church condemnation of abortion "is somehow new and therefore unsettled."

Both bishops cited the first-century Didache, the earliest collection of Catholic moral teachings besides the Bible, to show that the Catholic Church from the beginning has unequivocally condemned violence against unborn life: "You shall not kill the embryo by abortion."

Pelosi's own bishop, Archbishop George Hugh Niederauer, has thus far made no comment.  His spokesman Maurice Healy told LifeSiteNews.com that the Archbishop would be publishing something on the matter in his regular column in the diocesan newspaper on September 5.

Bishop Sheridan's full statement: http://www.diocs.org/images/Abortion%20Statement%20_2_%201pg.pdf

Bishop Zubik's full statement: http://www.diopitt.org/

See related LifeSiteNews.com articles:

Pelosi Spokeswoman About-face: Catholic Church "Clear" on Life Teaching After All - But Catholics Need Not Listen
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082706.html

"Catholic" Speaker Pelosi Denies that Catholicism Condemns Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082502.html

Cardinals, Bishops and Congressmen Slam Pelosi on Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082601.html

New York Cardinal - Pelosi Not Worthy of "Providing Leadership in a Civilized Democracy"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082605.html

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Democrat's Biden On his pro-abortion stance: "My Views are Totally Consistent with Catholic Social Doctrine..."

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - New Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden was blasted on Wednesday, in the wake of Nancy Pelosi's much derided remarks to the same effect, for claiming that his radically pro-abortion stance is "totally consistent" with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Biden made the remarks in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) in August of last year, which has received renewed attention in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding Pelosi's remarks. While discussing his desire to attract Catholics to the Democratic Party, Sen. Biden said, "My views are totally consistent with Catholic social doctrine.

"There are elements within the church who say that if you are at odds with any of the teachings of the church, you are at odds with the church. I think the church is bigger than that."

In response, Carl Olson of the Ignatius Insight blog turned to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church to measure up Biden's claim.  He quotes the Compendium, which condemns all types of abortion: "The first right presented in this list is the right to life, from conception to its natural end,[318] which is the condition for the exercise of all other rights and, in particular, implies the illicitness of every form of procured abortion and of euthanasia."

Olson said, "As we well know, anybody trying to find where the Church says that abortion is morally acceptable, or can be allowed in certain situations, or is just another issue open to debate, is going to fail miserably.  Which is probably why Biden and Co. don't bother to quote from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church."

Regarding Biden's statement that "the church is bigger than that", Olson says that Biden misrepresented the real "line of tension" in the Catholic community.  The Church's struggle over doctrine is not between antiquated tradition and fresh ideas, he says, but "between those who accept and understand that certain matters of faith and morals are settled and those who think that it is one's all-powerful conscience that makes the final decision . . . even while paying lip service to loving the Church."

Olson concludes: "Perhaps Biden, Pelosi, and others do suffer from invincible ignorance.  Or perhaps they are simply denying or ignoring what they know the Church does clearly teach.

"Regardless, any child receiving decent catechesis and anyone capable of reading the English language should recognize that Senator Biden's beliefs are not 'totally consistent with Catholic social doctrine.'"

Biden's statements came a few months after a Meet The Press interview in April 2007, where he justified abortion according to supposed "debates" in the Church about unborn life - in a manner little different from Pelosi's recent remarks.  (See LifeSiteNews.com coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082709.html).

Bishop Michael Saltarelli's spokesman Bob Krebs told LifeSiteNews earlier this week that Bishop Saltarelli, Sen. Biden's own bishop, will not allow the pro-choice Biden to speak at Catholic schools even if he becomes vice-president.  (See http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082606.html)

To read the Ignatius Insight blog post: http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2008/08/biden-my-views.html

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Pelosi's Theologizing on Abortion is a Repeat of Biden's Own Quotes on Meet the Press
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082709.html

"Catholic" Speaker Pelosi Denies that Catholicism Condemns Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082502.html

Cardinals, Bishops and Congressmen Slam Pelosi on Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082601.html

Pelosi Spokeswoman About-face: Catholic Church "Clear" on Life Teaching After All - But Catholics Need Not Listen
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082706.html

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Protests and Official Mourning Declared following Mexican Pro-Abortion Ruling

Cardinal Archbishop asks for forgiveness for those who support the "indiscriminate slaughter of infants"

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

MEXICO CITY, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the wake of a ruling by the Mexican Supreme Court in favor of a Mexico City law depenalizing abortion on demand for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, Cardinal Noberto Rivera Carrera has ordered that the bells of the city's Catholic churches be rung as a sign of "mourning."

The Archdiocese said that the bells will ring to "manifest our suffering in the face of the ratification of the criminal abortion law in our city."

On its official website, the Archdiocese adds that the law "makes legal what can never be moral, as is the murder of innocent and defenseless babies in the womb of their mother, and for which the government offers its health facilities for these abominable crimes, institutions that in other times sought to defend the principle of life."

"We contemplate with sadness the egotism and pettiness that defends death before life and for that reason we lift our requests through prayer and the ringing of the bells, so that, in a sign of suffering, mourning, and penance for the indiscriminate slaughter of infants, we may ask the forgiveness of God for those who have promoted, voted for, and ratified this murderous law."

Citizens of Mexico City also protested the decision, including a group of young women from various universities who stood in front of the Supreme Court, chanting "Life, yes, abortion no!" and "It's not opinion, and it's not religion, taking a life is not your decision!"

They told the newspaper Milenio that they intended to take their protest to the schools, workplaces, and public plazas of the city to stop the arbitrary destruction of life.

Only three of the court's eleven justices declared their intention to vote against the constitutionality of the law, which has resulted in the deaths of over 12,000 unborn children since its passage in 2007.  Despite the stance of the ruling Party of the Democratic Revolution, which passed the ordinance, the vast majority of Mexico City residents oppose abortion.

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National Right to Life calls GOP Platform "Strongest Ever" on Life Issues

WASHINGTON, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As the Democratic Party officially nominated pro-abortion Senator Barack Obama for president and pro-abortion Senator Joe Biden for vice-president during the third day of their convention in Denver yesterday, the Republican Party Platform Committee, meeting in Minneapolis, adopted the strongest and most explicit support for life ever expressed by a major political party.

"We applaud the Republican Party, and especially the members of the platform committee representing grassroots pro-life Republicans across the country, for making such a strong and unequivocal stand supporting life at all stages," said National Right to Life Political Director Karen Cross from Minneapolis.  "The work of the platform committee makes clear, in no uncertain terms, that the Republican Party is the pro-life party."

The platform, as approved yesterday, states in part:

Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.  We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children.  We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it.  We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.

We have made progress.  The Supreme Court has upheld prohibitions against the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion.  States are now permitted to extend health-care coverage to children before birth.  And the Born Alive Infants Protection Act has become law; this law ensures that infants who are born alive during an abortion receive all treatment and care that is provided to all newborn infants and are not neglected and left to die.  We must protect girls from exploitation and statutory rape through a parental notification requirement.  We all have a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy.  At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life.  Women deserve better than abortion.  Every effort should be made to work with women considering abortion to enable and empower them to choose life.  We salute those who provide them alternatives, including pregnancy care centers, and we take pride in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives. 

Respect for life requires efforts to include persons with disabilities in education, employment, the justice system, and civic participation.  In keeping with that commitment, we oppose the non-consensual withholding of care or treatment from people with disabilities, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, which endanger especially those on the margins of society....

The Republican Party platform stands in sharp contrast to the platform approved this week by delegates at the Democratic Convention which stated, in part, that the Democratic Party "strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right."  As noted by National Right to Life earlier this week, gone are former references of the Democratic Party's desire to see abortion as "rare."

"The Democrats have gone out of their way to alienate America's pro-life majority by embracing the radical pro-abortion agenda of Barack Obama," said National Right to Life Co-Executive Director Darla St. Martin.  "The Republican Party has once again demonstrated that it is completely in line with the majority of Americans who oppose the vast majority of abortions."

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Canadian MPs Affirm Continued Support for C-484 - Unborn Victims of Crime Bill

By John Jalsevac

OTTAWA, ON, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following the surprise move of Conservative Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to introduce legislation that could, in effect, kill Bill C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime bill, a group of MPs have expressed their continued support for C-484.

The legislation proposed by Nicholson, on behalf of the Conservative Party, would add the fact of a woman's pregnancy to the list of 'aggravating factors' which must be considered when sentencing criminals who have perpetrated a violent crime against a pregnant woman. The bill would not, however, recognize the individual life of the unborn child, something which C-484 proposes to do.

Ken Epp, the MP who is sponsoring C-484, has denounced the proposed Conservative Party legislation as adding little to current criminal law.

"Why have increased penalties for attacks on pregnant women if the not-yet-born baby doesn't matter?" Epp asked earlier this week. "Either that child matters so that attacks on pregnant women are more heinous, in which case Bill C-484 is a direct recognition of that reality; or that child doesn't matter, in which case we don't need any new law…The saddest thing of all is that the government Bill likely adds nothing that doesn't already exist in law."

"As Members of Parliament, we continue to support the passage of the Unborn Victims of Crime Act, a Private Member's Bill, sponsored by Ken Epp, MP for Edmonton-Sherwood Park," said the group of MPs in a media release.

"The Unborn Victims of Crime Act (C-484) is an important piece of legislation, one that will create a separate offence under the Criminal Code to injure or kill an unborn child when the mother is assaulted.

"At the present time, the Criminal Code of Canada 'does not provide for any charges to be laid in respect of the unborn child who is injured or dies as a result,' according to MP Epp.

"We, the undersigned, will continue to use all the legislative avenues at our disposal to ensure the successful passage of The Unborn Victims of Crime Act into law. We look forward to supporting Mr. Epp's bill at third reading."

The list of MPs who have pledged their continued support for C-484 are:

David Anderson, MP, Cypress Hills-Grasslands
Rod Bruinooge, MP, Winnipeg South
Royal Galipeau, MP, Ottawa-Orléans
Colin Mayes, MP, Okanagan-Shuswap
Myron Thompson, MP, Wild Rose
Brad Trost, MP, Saskatoon-Humboldt
Maurice Vellacott, MP, Saskatoon-Wanuskewin
Chris Warkentin, MP, Peace River

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Conservative MP Epp Will Not Scrap Unborn Victims Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082614.html

Conservative Party of Canada Kills Unborn Victims of Crime Act with Gutless Alternative
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082510.html

Canada's Abortion Militants Reiterate Condemnation of Unborn Victims of Crime Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08080707.html

Pro-Abortion Liberal Introduces Bill to Counter Unborn Victims of Crime Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051510.html

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New Research on Re-Progamming Cells Makes Embryonic Research "Irrelevant"

Claim findings enable scientists to directly reprogram a cell to become a different kind of tissue, while it remains in the body.

By Hilary White

WASHINGTON, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Researchers announced yesterday that they have isolated three molecular tags that control the nature of a cell, enabling scientists to directly reprogram a cell to become a different kind of tissue, while it remains in the body. A study published yesterday in the online edition of the journal Nature described the direct manipulation in the bodies of living mice, of common pancreatic cells to change them into insulin-producing cells.

Douglas A. Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, who led the research, called it, "an extreme makeover of a cell." He said, "The goal is to create cells that are missing or defective in people. It's very exciting." The research showed progress in treating diabetes in mice by increasing insulin-production and stabilizing their blood glucose levels.

"It didn't cure the mouse, but they were able to reduce their blood sugar levels to near-normal," Melton said.

Melton explained, "The presently accepted regenerative medicine idea is that you make a stem cell from a patient, bring it back to the beginning as it were, then you are left with the problem of how to instruct that cell to become a beta cell or a motor neuron."

"We asked the simple question, why should you have to go all the way back to the beginning? Could you go from one cell type to another?"

Because the process is done within the patient's own body, it obviates the need to use embryonic or adult cells that have been cultivated in a lab.

While he cautioned that many years of research remain ahead before a cure for diabetes could be offered to humans, Melton is currently working with human cells in the laboratory. He hopes to start planning the first human studies within a year.

"I would say within five years, we could be ready to start human trials," Melton said.

This advance prompted Richard Dorflinger, Deputy Director of the Secretariat of the pro-life activities of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, to tell the Washington Post, "This adds to the large and growing list of studies helping to make embryonic stem cells irrelevant to medical progress."
 
As usual, however, despite the ethical implications of their own work, the researchers remain adamant that embryonic human test subjects must continue to be used. "Embryonic stem cells offer a unique window in human disease and remain a key to the long-term progress of regenerative medicine," Melton said.

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Brazilian Supreme Court Hears Testimony on Eugenic Abortions

Mother of anencephalic baby who lived 18 months testifies that her daughter was "marvelous"

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

SAO PAULO, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Supreme Court of Brazil continued to hear testimony today from various organizations regarding eugenic abortions for anencephalic babies.

Following a previous, narrow decision to allow embryonic stem cell research, the issue was revived by a pro-abortion justice in the hope that the court was now "ready" to decide in favor of terminating the lives of unborn children at later stages of development.

Anencephalic babies are born with part or all of their upper brain missing.  Although they normally die within days of birth, some have lived for years, and their parents report that they exhibit signs of awareness, a conclusion that is supported by some doctors.

The first round of hearings on Monday included comments from religious groups and medical experts.

Father Luiz Bento, representing the Catholic Church, testified that aborting anencephalic babies is "a racist and discriminatory act" as well as being a form of "pre-natal euthanasia."

Also in attendance was Cacilda Galante Ferreira, the mother of Marcela Ferreira, an anencephalic baby who died earlier this month after a year and a half of life (see LifeSiteNews coverage at http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08060502.html).

"My relationship with her was marvelous, she was marvelous," said Ferreira.  "She would breathe, react, and smile.  I would caress her and she recognized it.  She would sense my presence and my absence."

"It never crossed my mind to interrupt the pregnancy," she added. "It wasn't difficult to take care of her, it was a true joy.  God gave me a more than special child.  I never suffered for even a minute."

Rudolfo Nunes, a professor of Medical Science in the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, testified that the very term "anencephalic" is misleading, because such babies always have some brain matter.

"Anencephaly is not the equivalent of brain death," he said.  "A child with anencephaly, when he breathes, is not in a state of brain death.  Despite the high mortality rate, some children can survive for months or even years."

"No in-depth studies exist on the part of the brain that is not compromised by anencephaly.  Many things exist that are unexplained.  For that reason, is it necessary to be prudent."

However, the court also received testimony from a pro-government sect known as the Universal Church of the Reign of God, which has a close association with the socialist Worker's Party of President Luiz Lula da Silva, and which has a history of supporting abortion.  The leader of the group, bishop Edir Macedo, when queried about his religion's view on abortion, asked, "Who is interested in a multitude of children without parents, without love and without anyone?"

"Catholics for the Right to Decide", an organization long-denounced by the Catholic Church for misleading the public about Catholic doctrine on abortion and other human life issues, also was invited to testify.

Today's hearings include medical experts, scientists, and government officials.  The final hearing will be held September 4th.

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Philippines Court Rejects Claims of New York Based Pro-Abortion Group

Court dismissed effort to overturn executive order promoting natural family planning

By Samantha Singson
    
NEW YORK, August 28, 2008 (C-FAM.org) - The Philippine Court of Appeals recently rejected claims made by a radical pro-abortion group based in New York. The court dismissed an effort seeking to overturn an executive order promoting natural family planning.  The petition was filed earlier this year by a group of Manila residents who relied heavily on legal advice and material from the international pro-abortion litigation group, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR).
   
Executive Order No. 003 was instituted in February 2000 by then-mayor of Manila, Jose Atienza. The executive order “upholds natural family planning not just as a method but as a way of self-awareness in promoting the culture of life while discouraging the use of artificial methods of contraception.”
   
CRR admits that the executive order technically applies only to city health centers and hospitals and does not explicitly ban “artificial” contraception.  But CRR and the petitioners alleged that the executive order created “serious and lingering damage to residents” and that the executive order has in practice resulted in a “sweep” of contraceptive supplies and services from city health centers and hospitals. Further, they claim that the executive order “deprive(s) many women of their main source of affordable family planning supplies.”
   
“Imposing Misery,” a CRR publication severely critical of the executive order, claims that the Philippines is in violation of international law and has a legal duty to “ensure right of citizens to a full range of family planning services and information.” 
   
The document argues that the Philippine government is required to provide contraception under its international legal obligations.  The document specifically mentions the CEDAW Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the non-binding Beijing Platform for Action.  CRR’s international law argument relies almost exclusively on the non-binding interpretations of the treaty monitoring bodies, which have routinely overstepped their mandates by criticizing sovereign states on their abortion laws and reproductive health programs.   

CRR regards the challenge to the Manila executive order as an important test case. According to CRR’s 2007 annual report, a positive decision to rescind the ban “would establish constitutional protections for reproductive rights throughout the country. It could also be used to defend similar rights in neighboring countries, as well as in Catholic countries throughout the world.”
   
Government officials have defended the focus on natural methods of family planning, as modern contraceptives have not been banned and are still available commercially throughout the country.
    
Though the Philippine Court of Appeals has dismissed the petition, the petitioners have vowed “to take their case to the international courts,” and other domestic avenues to challenge the order remain open.

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Pure Utilitarianism: Doctors Justifying Killing Infant Patients for Organ Donation

Report asks, "Euthanasia soon to be Linked to Organ Donation?"

By Hilary White

LONDON, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "Very few people," says the head of Britain's leading pro-life organisation, "realise that the pro-abortion and pro-euthanasia lobby believes it can be right intentionally to kill innocent human beings." John Smeaton, Director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, wrote that a report by a group of scientists, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), that said doctors should be able to remove organs from patients, even if this would cause the patient's death.

"The essential line taken by the paper's authors is that it really doesn't matter whether the patient is dead or not." Smeaton wrote, "This new, further slide down the slippery slope of anti-life thinking is truly disturbing."

In the paper, heart transplant surgeons described how they simply "modified" the definition of death for three brain-damaged infants so they could justify removing their hearts for transplantation into three other infants who suffered from severe heart problems.

Two bioethicists, Robert Truog and Franklin Miller, made the case that it is "perfectly ethical" to remove organs from patients who are not really or convincingly dead.

They said, "whether death occurs as the result of ventilator withdrawal or organ procurement, the ethically relevant precondition is valid consent by the patient or surrogate. With such consent, there is no harm or wrong done in retrieving vital organs before death, provided that anaesthesia is administered."

SPUC commissioned the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute (SCBI) to examine the NEJM paper.  SCBI concluded that the authors are utilitarians for whom the only ethical consideration is whether such patients have given "informed consent". The SCBI report concluded that Truog and Miller are asserting that the ultimate outcome of such organ transplant operations, "is really so good that traditionally unethical means can be justified".

The SCBI report asks, "Could we soon see euthanasia linked to organ donation? Could the 'altruism card' of organ donation be played to add nobility to an otherwise morbid cause?"

Bioethics is a branch of utilitarian philosophy, developed in the US in the early 1970s, and has almost completely replaced traditional Natural Law-based medical ethics in the medical professions all over the western world. Utilitarian bioethics proposes that the first duty of medicine is not to the individual patient, but to the "greatest good for the greatest number".

SCBI explains that the two new definitions of death, "brain death" and "cardiac death", widely adopted by the medical community, are merely manipulations of language devised to make organs available from living patients.

"Truog and Miller," the SCBI report says, "think the concept of brain death has 'served us well' because without it, procuring organs would not happen and so organs for transplantation would be scarce. Rather than the concept being right, they instead consider 'being served well' to be what counts."

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
New England Journal of Medicine: 'Brain Death' is not Death - Organ Donors are Alive
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081406.html ;

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Priests for Life Nine Week Novena Prayer for Election Begins September 1st

Washington, DC, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, the largest Catholic organization devoted exclusively to ending abortion, announced a nine-week "Novena of Prayer" starting on Monday, September 1, to prepare for our national elections. The Novena concludes on Monday, November 3, the day before Election Day. The prayer, in English and Spanish, can be found at http://www.PrayerCampaign.org and is interdenominational.  Priests for Life is asking pastors to promote it in their churches, and families to pray it together.
 
"The intentions of this prayer are that citizens participate in an active and informed way in the elections," Fr. Pavone explained, "and that their voting choices are wise. Wisdom means that we see things from God's perspective, put first things first, and discern what's important and what's not. One of the practical effects of such wisdom is that we realize that when the state fails to protect the right to life, it ceases to be a true democracy and instead becomes a tyrant state."
 
Fr. Pavone also pointed out that wisdom in the elections means not only registering and voting, but getting others to register and vote, and taking advantage of such provisions as early voting in states that allow it. 

Priests for Life has established an election website at http://www.PoliticalResponsibility.org where one can find the voter registration deadlines and the early voting policies for each of the 50 states. Many other election-related resources, including a non-partisan voters' guide for the Presidential race, are on that site.

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