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Illegal Fetal Age Deception Scheme Uncovered at Tiller's Abortion Clinic with Undercover Investigation

Undercover investigation reveals that viability and fetal age are underestimated to avoid compliance with Kansas law

WICHITA, Kansas, Jan. 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Operation Rescue has released the results of an undercover investigation it recently conducted at George R. Tiller's late-term abortion clinic, Women's Health Care Services (WHCS). The investigation involved a pregnant volunteer, known only by her first name, Shaye, who offered to enter the Tiller abortuary, pretending to be a mother seeking an abortion.

At the time when Shaye entered Tiller’s abortuary she was estimated to be at 25 weeks and 5 days gestation, calculating gestation from the first day of her last menstrual period. This would put her baby well beyond the 22 weeks when viability must be determined under Kansas law.

In a sworn statement Shaye said that a WHCS employee conducted her sonogram and determined that her baby was 24 weeks, 6 days gestation, past the threshold of viability. The Tiller employee then tore up those ultrasound photos and threw them into the trash. She took new measurements, telling Shaye her baby was only 23 weeks gestation.

Shaye then easily obtained an appointment for an abortion without having to see the second physician required by law for post-viability abortions.

In order to confirm the actual fetal age of Shaye's baby, she received two more sonograms on that same day, both of which indicated the baby was beyond 24 weeks gestation.

Shaye had made WHCS aware that both she and her baby were healthy and that the pregnancy was without complications. She did not receive the abortion only because she did not show up for the abortion appointment.

Operation Rescue says that its investigation confirms the testimony of District Attorney Phill Kline, who stated in court last week that evidence he obtained shows that Tiller has performed late-term abortions on healthy women with viable babies. Kline also told the court that he saw evidence that Planned Parenthood referred women in such situations to Tiller for illegal abortions.

"This evidence warrants further investigation by law enforcement authorities," said Newman. "This is convincing proof that, in spite of already facing 19 criminal charges, Tiller continues to flout the law to the danger of women and their babies."

Operation Rescue called on Attorney General Steve Six to launch a further investigation of Tiller, and renewed its call on the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts for an emergency closure of WHCS and suspension of Tiller's medical license.

To find out more, see: http://www.operationrescue.org/illegal-fetal-ageviability-deception-scheme-uncov...

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EU Votes this Week to Push Same-Sex Civil Unions on all Member States

By Hilary White

ROME, January 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The European Parliament is set to vote this week on a resolution that will promote abortion and same-sex unions throughout the European Union. The resolution, authored by Giusto Catania, an Italian Communist MEP, calls upon EU member-states to guarantee access to “sexual and reproductive health and rights” and represents the next step in the work of European homosexualist activists.

In article 75, the resolution, which bases its arguments on the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, calls for Member States that have already recognized same-sex civil unions in law to also recognize similar unions contracted by homosexual couples in other Member States.

Member States with same-sex partnership legislation, says the resolution, should “propose guidelines for mutual recognition of existing legislation between Member States in order to guarantee that the right of free movement within the European Union for same-sex couples applies under conditions equal to those applicable to heterosexual couples.”

Pro-family and pro-life advocates are calling on citizens of EU member states to contact their representatives to ask them to oppose the resolution. John Smeaton, director of the UK’s Society for the Protection of Unborn Children wrote that the resolution “repeats the usual calls by the pro-abortion lobby for more contraception, more sex education and more confidential advisory services.”

“Providing these things, however, does nothing to decrease the numbers of abortions, sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancies, and may in fact serve to increase them.”

Smeaton warns that the resolution must be rejected because it “promotes an unauthentic model of the family, by seeking to impose upon EU member-states the recognition of same-sex unions.”

The Giusto Catania resolution is the next step in a process to force EU member states to implement the full homosexualist political program. In October last year, a declaration tabled by British MEP Sharon Bowles instructed member states “with existing same-sex partnership legislation to recognise the arrangements of other Member States that have also made provisions for same-sex partnerships.” It called for “guidelines for such mutual recognition by Member States with existing same-sex partnership legislation.” The Bowles declaration also demanded that all member states recognise the same-sex “marriages” and civil partnerships of all other member states, as part of the freedom of movement provisions of the EU.

This move was the result of the work of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA-Europe) which had told the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on Fundamental Rights in the EU that recognition of civil same-sex partnerings is one of the issues of "freedom of movement and mutual recognition of LGBT families relationships in the EU." Bowles had admitted in an interview in August 2008 that she had drafted the declaration “with the participation of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) Europe.”

In August this year, a report by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the European Union called for binding EU regulations that would equalize the legal status of couples in natural marriages with that of same-sex partners across Europe.

Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro, head of the Rome office of Human Life International, an attorney with years of experience in international diplomacy at the UN, told LifeSiteNews.com that the push to enforce the recognition of same-sex partnerships within the whole of the EU is an indication of the “constant degradation of European Union institutions.”

“We see this resolution,” Barreiro said, “with the utmost concern and it is a clear indication of how the European Parliament is moving away from the Christian roots of Europe and also its roots in the Natural Law.”

Msgr. Barreiro explained that the push for same-sex “marriage” that is reaching its culmination in most western countries has as its ultimate goal the dissolution of natural marriage and, more generally, of the Christian foundation of western societies. Moreover, he said, this movement did not start with the homosexualist movement but with the legalisation of easy divorce.

Legally speaking, he said, “Christian marriage has been dissolved since the moment you have introduced divorce.” From the introduction in most western countries of so-called “no-fault divorce,” it was only a short slide down the slope to same-sex unions, he said.

“Fundamentally there is no difference between de facto couples and marriage with easy divorce. It’s a question of name only. If you can walk away from marriage without any difficulties, it’s basically the same as de facto unions.

“There is a relationship between divorce and the recognition of same sex unions because of the dissolution of marriage. … If you feel free to redraw this basic, natural institution, with the properties of indissolubility, and fidelity that is inherent to it, and you re-draw a natural institution, then the next step is to re-draw the sexual orientation that that nature has inscribed in the person. Persons come to feel free to choose whatever sexual orientation they please.”

This, he said, is the theory of gender that supports the whole of the homosexual political movement. “That the individual should be free to choose his sexual orientation as part of the many ersatz freedoms that have been coined in recent times.”

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

EU Declaration Tabled Demanding All Member States Recognize Same-sex "Marriage"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08100908.html

EU Equal Opportunities Commissioner says States Cannot be Forced to Recognise "Gay Marriage"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08101709.html

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Openly Homosexual Anglican Bishop to Kick Off Obama Inaugural Weekend

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following the row that erupted after pro-marriage and pro-life Saddleback pastor Rick Warren was picked to preside over the main inauguration event, Obama has selected the Episcopal Church's only openly homosexual bishop to give the main invocation at a Sunday event celebrating Obama's inauguration, to be held two days later.

New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, a central figure in the homosexual clergy controversy that has rocked the worldwide Anglican communion, will deliver his invocation on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

"I'm just overwhelmed and so humbled by this invitation," said Robinson, who entered into a legal civil union with his long-time partner Mark Andrews in June.

Joe Solmonese, president of the homosexual activist group the Human Rights Campaign, said Robinson's selection was "encouraging."

"Bishop Robinson models what prayer should be - spiritual reflection put into action for justice," he said.

Robinson said his prayer would focus on inclusiveness.

"It will certainly be a message that everyone in the nation can identify with. And part of the prayer will be for President Obama but also I am going to include words of prayer for the nation and what I think we are called upon to do," he said.

Mr. Obama felt the ire of homosexual activists and social liberals on the whole last month after inviting Rick Warren to deliver the main invocation at the presidential inauguration on January 20. 

Warren is widely known for proclaiming Christian teaching on marriage and family, which has frequently earned him the brand "anti-gay."  Robinson and his associates denied that Obama picked the bishop to help soothe anger from gay lobbyists; rather, the pick reflects Obama's longtime friendship with the bishop.

Obama sought out Robinson on several occasions during the presidential race.  During one such meeting, the two shared thoughts on being "first" of their kind.

Speaking of Obama, Robinson said in a Times interview last November: "The thing that I liked about him and what he said on this issue is that he and I would agree about the rightful place of religion vis-a-vis the secular state.

"That is to say, we don't impose our religious values on the secular state because God said so. Our faith informs our own values and then we take those values into the civil market place, the civil discourse, and then you argue for them based on the constitution."

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U.K. Advocacy Group Details Horrific Pattern of Neglect of Patients with Disabilities

By Kathleen Gilbert

LONDON, January 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - When 43-year-old Martin Ryan suffered a stroke that left him unable to swallow, a "communication breakdown" meant that the staff at Kingston hospital never inserted a feeding tube.  Doctors say they did not realize that nurses had not provided for Ryan - who died in agony after 26 days without food - until it was too late.

The advocacy group Mencap says that Ryan, a Down syndrome sufferer, fell victim to the widespread mistreatment of disabled patients by the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS).  Ryan's case is one of a number of horror stories uncovered by Mencap in a report entitled "Death by Indifference." 

The report, part of an ongoing campaign to raise awareness of the unfair treatment of learning-disabled patients, described six cases where patients suffered or died apparently due to disability discrimination.

Mark Cannon, 30, died from complications of a broken thigh bone after over two months of severe pain. Although he was expressing severe pain, he and his family were reportedly routinely ignored. At one point Cannon spent three days in agony before being able to see a pain team.  Cannon had severe learning difficulties and could speak very little.

In another case, 26-year-old Emma Kemp was sent home from the hospital despite being in great pain because her behavior was considered too difficult to manage; her severe learning disability made it difficult for her to communicate her distress.   When it was discovered that Emma had cancer and a 50/50 chance of survival with treatment, doctors refused to treat her, despite being begged by her mother, who eventually procured a High court order forcing them to treat Emma.  However, by the time the order came through, the cancer was too far progressed, and Emma died a month later.

An inquiry into the report, chaired by Sir Jonathan Michael, a former chief executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, has vindicated Mencap's claims.  Michael said that the cases outlined in the publication were "by no means isolated," and called for "essential changes" in the NHS.  A wider inquiry by the Government was also issued in response to the Mencap report.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is expected to issue a verdict later this month on the accusations against NHS.

"These people were completely and unacceptably failed by the treatment they received," a Mencap spokesman told the Telegraph.  "It was a catalogue of disasters and poor treatment of very vulnerable people who deserved so much more.

"We are hoping that the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman gets justice for the families of these patients.  It would be irrational and perverse to say anything other than that there were grotesque failures for these people."

Mark Goldring, Mencap's chief executive, said: "Our report exposed the horrific deaths of six people with a learning disability who died unnecessarily in NHS care.

"We have fought and will continue our fight for justice for their families.  The reports have a duty to challenge complacency, where it has been shown to exist within the health service, when treating people with a learning disability and must hold individuals to account for their actions."

Conservative bioethicist Wesley Smith speculated that there is likely a relationship between the fact that a large number of disabled children are killed in the womb for eugenic reasons, and the abuses documented in the Mencap report.

“Given the indifference to the high eugenic abortion rate, the respect in the media for people like Peter Singer who asserts it is okay for parents to kill babies born with Down,” said Smith “there is a (perhaps unconscious) mindset afoot that people like Martin [one of the disabled people in the Mencap report] should never be born.”

To visit Mencap's website, go to: http://www.mencap.org.uk

To view the report "Healthcare for All," go to: http://www.iahpld.org.uk/

To download Mencap's report "Death by Indifference," go to: http://www.mencap.org.uk/document.asp?id=284

To listen to a tribute to Emma, go to: http://www.mencap.org.uk/MediaFiles/tribute_to_emma.mp3

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U.K. Mother Pregnant with Siamese Twins Resists Abortion Pressure

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

PORTSMOUTH, UK, January 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Lisa Chamberlain, 25, pregnant with dicephalus twins who have separate heads but share a single body, is determined to allow her conjoined daughters a chance at life, despite doctors advice to kill the children in utero.

If the babies survive after birth, they will become the first ever living British dicephalus twins.

"Some people might look at me and say 'You're going to give birth to a freak' but I don't care because I feel blessed," Chamberlain told the UK Sun.

"To me, my twins are a gift from God and we're determined to give them their chance of life," she said, adding, "I've even given the twins names – Layla and Kelsey – because I think they're going to be little girls. I've been told that 75 per cent of Siamese twins are."

Lisa and Mike Pedace, who are both Catholics, said doctors advised Lisa to kill the children after a routine scan revealed that they had the extremely rare condition.

"Some might think my twins are strange but to me they're just special. Even some of my family say they'd have an abortion but I hate the word and I just don't think it's up to us to decide,” Lisa said.

Mike, who said they had been trying for a baby for seven years, told The Sun: "We just want everyone to give us a chance. We know it's going to be very tough and we're prepared for that as much as we can be. We've struggled so long for the chance to have children. Now that we've got that chance we're not going to throw it away."

Mike said he and Lisa were encouraged by the example of Abigail and Brittany Hensel, 18-year-old dicephalus twins in the US, who though they share a liver and rib-cage, lead virtually normal lives.

A UK Telegraph report indicated that doctors at St. Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth say that they will not know how many organs the twins share until the twentieth week of pregnancy. They have only detected a single heartbeat so far, but it is possible that another one may emerge.

Michaela Aston of the pro-life group LIFE, the UK's leading provider of crisis pregnancy and post-abortion counseling, commended Lisa on her decision.

"This young mother is an example to us all as she unconditionally welcomes her twins into the world," Aston said in Press Association report.

"She knows it will be difficult but she is focusing on the fact that she is already the proud mother of these babies and accepts them however they are. They may not be perfect in the eyes of the world but they are fully human and as such should have the same value and right to life as any other human beings.

"It is sad that this young mother must face a society which is increasingly unable to accept babies who are not genetically perfect and which may judge her for allowing her twins to continue to live," Aston concluded.

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Gibbons freed from custody after judge quashes charge

By Tony Gosgnach

TORONTO, January 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-life demonstrator Linda Gibbons walked out of court a free woman to the hugs of supporters after a criminal court judge quashed a charge of disobeying a court order against her this afternoon. She had been held in prison since her arrest last Oct. 8 outside the Scott "Clinic" abortion site in downtown Toronto, which is shielded by a legal bubble zone established as part of a "temporary" court injunction implemented in 1994.

The development is the second in a row for Gibbons, who similarly was immediately released from custody last Sept. 30 after a judge found her not guilty of obstructing a peace officer. Today, her lawyer, Daniel Santoro, successfully argued that Gibbons could not be criminally charged with disobeying a court order, since the injunction that shields the Scott site was imposed by a civil court.

Legal arguments took up the whole day, until about 4 p.m. when the judge made his finding and a smiling Gibbons was released. The Crown attorney attempted to argue that the criminal charge was an appropriate one, but the judge concluded that it was "really a simple issue" in quashing the charge.

Noting that the 1994 injunction was a civil proceeding, the judge said, "There are rules for civil matters and there are rules for criminal matters. They're separate and apart … The rules are clear and mutually exclusive."

The latest development presents an interesting conundrum for those who have prosecuted Gibbons over the past 15 years. With judges having successively thrown out charges of obstructing a peace officer and disobeying a court order, the province and Crown attorney's office appear to be left with little option but to launch a civil proceeding against her, if they wish to pursue the matter at all. They have two years from the date of the alleged transgression to do so.

However, a civil proceeding raises the spectre of a challenge to the legality of the injunction itself, which was supposed to be temporary but has now stretched to the unprecedented age of 15 years. Pro-life activists in Toronto will be watching carefully to see what path the authorities choose to follow.

For her part, Gibbons had a few words as she was whisked away to a vehicle for a change of clothes and some nourishment after a long day in court: "The courts need to establish their credibility by acknowledging the rights of every human being, born or unborn."

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Poll Shows 92 Percent of Canadians Unaware that Law Permits Abortion up to Birth

January 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Angus Reid poll has found that a vast majority of Canadians do not know that under the country’s current legal situation the killing of an unborn child is permitted at any time from conception up to the moment of birth.

The poll results have been made public on the heels of a late-December declaration by Dimitri Soudas, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, that the Conservative government has no intention of reopening the abortion debate in Canada.

The Angus Reid poll found that 92 percent of the respondents did not know abortion was available to a woman throughout the full nine months of gestation.

Significantly, a June 2008 poll by Angus Reid Strategies found that 46 percent of Canadians approve of the Canadian legal status quo, even if—as the more recent poll shows—they do not actually understand what the status quo is.

The new poll also found that respondents wanted information to be readily available to women contemplating abortion.  Fully 95 percent said all information about all options should be made available to women, and 95 and 96 percent (respectively) said that information about the physical and psychological effects of abortion should be made available.

“Canadian women have a right to know,” said Yvonne Douma, Executive Director of Signal Hill, a human rights organization whose mandate is to provide accurate information to the public on these and other life issues (http://www.thesignalhill.com). 

The poll also found that an overwhelming number of respondents did not support a woman’s right to abort a fetus because of its gender, a practice that is legal in Canada. Only six percent supported a woman’s right to choose abortion when the fetus is an undesired gender, usually female.

“Society recognizes that choice is not an absolute,” said Douma. “Some choices cannot be supported as is evident with gender selection abortions.  But informed consent is vital to making good choices, and we do not see women getting all the information they need when making these life-changing decisions.”

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Atheist Ad Adorns 800 London Buses - Another 1,000 to Be Placed in Underground

Catholic Herald editor and Daily Telegraph blogger, Damian Thompson, said that the ads will likely have the opposite of the intended effect.

By Hilary White

LONDON, January 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An atheist ad campaign run by the UK’s secularists has garnered complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The message, “There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” has appeared on over 800 London buses since the campaign began in October and, starting next week, 1,000 of the ads are to be placed on the London underground and on two large LCD screens on the city's shopping mecca, Oxford Street.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) that has funded the campaign, dismissed the news that the ASA has received a complaint from the evangelical group Christian Voice, which say the ads break rules on substantiation and truthfulness.

Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, said, “There is plenty of evidence for God, from people's personal experience, to the complexity, interdependence, beauty and design of the natural world.

“But there is scant evidence on the other side, so I think the advertisers are really going to struggle to show their claim is not an exaggeration or inaccurate, as the ASA code puts it.”

Catholic Herald editor and Daily Telegraph blogger, Damian Thompson, said that the ads will likely have the opposite of the intended effect. “The British Humanist Association bus campaign, which tells us to stop worrying because there probably isn't a God, really is an answer to prayers,” he wrote.

Given the widespread indifference to religion among the British public, Thompson wrote, “In the first place, it’s counter-productive: plaster double-deckers with posters about the existence of God and you'll make people think about him for the first time in years.”

Britain’s best known “evangelical atheist,” professor Richard Dawkins, told the Irish Times that he thinks the UK campaign does not go far enough. Dawkins called those who objected “pathetic cry-babies” and said, “For Ireland, I would suggest: ‘There's no such thing as a Catholic child. Protect your children from priestly indoctrination - until they are old enough to decide for themselves’.”

The campaign’s organisers have boasted that their fundraising requests have garnered over £135,000 ($243,448 Cn.) within weeks of being posted to the internet. Dawkins, who is vice president of the BHA, said that the money has come from “thousands and thousands of ordinary people, sick and tired of being taken for granted as docile, religious sheep.”

The writer whose blog post on the Guardian website inspired the campaign, Ariane Sherine, said that the message, though meant to be “fun and light hearted,” has a serious intention. She told Elaine Edwards of the Irish Times, “Atheists want a secular country, we want a secular school and a secular government. The strength of feeling has been shown with so many people willing to pay for this campaign.”

Sherine’s wish, however, has in large part already come true; Britain is known to be one of the world’s least religious nations. In 2000, the BBC reported that almost half of all adults in the UK said on a survey that they have no religious affiliation. That figure rose to two-thirds of 18-24 year-olds. At the same time, the nation’s established Church, the Church of England, claimed only one quarter of the British public as members and only a tiny fraction of those attended Sunday services regularly. This week, it was reported that the number of marriages in Catholic churches in Britain has fallen by 24 per cent since the start of the decade.

In addition, the legal situation has never been more hostile to the public profession of Britain’s traditional Christian religious belief. Secularists, together with homosexualist activists and their collaborators in the Labour government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, have made strides in their stated goals of suppressing Christian institutions and charities.

With the legal recognition of same-sex partnerings and the passage of the Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) of the Equality Act, Britain’s Christian schools have come under threat when they refuse to cooperate in endorsing the homosexualist doctrines. In the last year, Christian couples have been refused permission to act as foster parents to needy children and to adopt children for upholding Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality. Since the passage of the SORs, many of the country’s Catholic adoption agencies have chosen either to sever their ties with the Catholic Church or close their doors.

Similar campaigns to that of the UK are being undertaken in Italy, Australia, the US and Spain, where religious practice has been in decline for decades.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Advertising Nothing: London Buses to Sport Atheist Message, "There's Probably No God"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08102304.html

Atheist Humanist Ads Hit Washington DC Buses During Christmas season
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111307.html

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Pepsi Gives $1,000,000 to Advance Homosexualist Agenda

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

January 2, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) - Soft drink giant PepsiCo, which also owns Frito Lay chips, Tropicana orange juice, Gatorade and Quaker oatmeal, has given a million dollars in the past two years to organizations which promote homosexuality, and forces its employees to attend sexual orientation and gender identity/expression classes.

$500,000 went to the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays' (PFLAG) "Straight for Equality" program which, according to PFLAG's website (http://community.pflag.org/Document.Doc?id=160), "will be used to expand workplace training."

Jacqueline Millan, director of PepsiCo Corporate Contributions, said in a PepsiCo bulletin, "We are delighted to continue our partnership with PFLAG. The Straight for Equality in the Workplace training program is unique in that it is promoting the necessary message of inclusion to untapped groups within the local community, and that is a crucial step towards building a healthy work environment."

Pepsi also gave $500,000 to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a group that describes itself as "America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality," according to an American Family Association (AFA) report.

The AFA indicated that both HRC and PFLAG supported efforts in California to defeat Proposition 8, which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. HRC, the homosexual group financially supported by Pepsi, gave $2.3 million to defeat Prop 8.

The AFA has launched a petition and boycott campaign focused on demanding that Pepsi "remain neutral in the culture war."

"PepsiCo has refused a request by AFA to remain neutral in the culture war," said AFA Chairman Donald Wildmon in an Action Alert. "The company indicated that it will continue major financial support of homosexual organizations," adding that "Pepsi refuses to give money to any pro-family organization that opposes the homosexual agenda."

Wildmon explained that the AFA wrote Pepsi two times (on October 14 and October 29) requesting a meeting to discuss Pepsi's support of homosexual groups, subsequently receiving a "condescending letter" from Paul Boykas, director of public policy, in which Boykas refused to address Pepsi's support of the homosexual agenda.

Link to the AFA Action Alert: http://www.afa.net/boycottpepsico/pepsionemillion.htm

Link to the AFA petition: https://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/signpetition.asp?id=1800

Contact PepsiCo with your concern:

PepsiCo, Inc.
700 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase, NY 10577
Phone: (914) 253-2000
Toll-free: 1-800-433-2652

Pepsi – QTG Canada
Quaker Park
14 Hunter St E
Peterborough ON
K9J 7B2
Phone: 1-888-794-2867

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Abortion Opponents Ready to Launch Focused International 40-Day Campaign During Lent

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – From February 25 until April 5, people across North America will join together for 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion. The upcoming campaign is merely the latest effort of the growing and startlingly effective 40 Days for Life movement.
 
"As America approaches the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court ruling that imposed abortion on our nation, pro- life advocates are launching the next wave of a unique pro-life campaign," said David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life.

Cities interested in hosting campaigns are invited to apply online at http://www.40daysforlife.com/apply. "In addition to U.S. cities from coast to coast, we've also received inquiries from Canada and Australia," said Bereit. Applications will be accepted through Wednesday, January 14.

The campaign dates coincide with the Christian season of Lent. "Lent is a season of prayer, fasting and reparation," continued Bereit, "and many Christians who observe Lent are being drawn to 40 Days for Life and its call to offer personal sacrifice in the effort to put an end to the evil of abortion."

There have been three coordinated national 40 Days for Life campaigns, beginning in the fall of 2007. "The efforts of people at the grassroots level have shown a profound impact," said Bereit. "More than 200 cities have participated thus far, reporting more than 175,000 people united in prayer and fasting. Three abortion facilities closed following 40 Days for Life campaigns, and more than a dozen abortion industry employees have left their jobs during these times of prayerful outreach. And most notably, we are aware of 1,128 innocent children who were spared from death by abortion during these campaigns."

Even Planned Parenthood -- the nation's largest abortion chain -- has noted the impact of 40 Days for Life's previous efforts. A Planned Parenthood fundraising letter specifically identifies 40 Days for Life as one of the greatest threats to the organization's abortion business. The letter states, “The hard-edged, well-funded groups coming after Planned Parenthood are playing for keeps."

"I don't know about that 'well-funded' part," said Bereit, "but we are playing for keeps in this effort to end abortion. Following the tremendous impact experienced during the first three national 40 Days for Life campaigns, I can't wait to see what life-saving results will be accomplished this spring."

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Best Good News Stories of 2008

Quintuplets Born in UK in Defiance of Medical Pressure to Abort
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08010406.html

Top U.S. Evangelical Leader: All Involved with IVF Responsible for "Vast Human Tragedy"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08011104.html

"One who is unable to live without sex, in the end, becomes a slave": Italian Soccer Superstar
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08013007.html

Mother Refused Cancer Treatment So Baby Could live
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08012505.html

Portuguese Medical Association Defies Government Order to Accept Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08012202.html

President Declares Sunday January 20, 2008 "National Sanctity of Human Life Day"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08012101.html

Unborn Twins Save Mother by Dislodging Tumor With Their Kicks
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08020407.html

20 Years On - The Man Who Congratulated Canada's First Gay Politician Reconsiders
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08031308.html

Canada Finally Moves Age of Consent for Sex from 14 to 16
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08030501.html

William Wilberforce's Great Grandson Says if Alive Today Wilberforce Would Fight Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08033106.html

Famous Model and TV Announcer Wins Battle to Protect Life and Family Values in Ecuadoran Constitution
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08040110.html

With Adoption of Second Disabled Child Jim Caviezel Makes Good on Pro-Life Convictions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08042907.html

Largest Canadian March for Life Ever - 8,000 Attend Rally on Parliament Hill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08050803.html

Italian Mother "Lays Down Her Life" for Her Unborn Child
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08050108.html

March for Life: "I Went to get out of Class; I Came Back Pro-Life"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051605.html

On the Pro-Life Victory in Brazil: "I have Never Seen This Happen in the National Congress!"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051503.html

Famous Mexican Actress to Star in Pro-Life Play Authored by Herself
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08032803.html

Eucharistic Congress Ordinations Called "THE Turning Point" in the History of the Church in Quebec
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08062514.html

Closing Mass Drenches 60,000: Eucharistic Congress Brings a "Cleansing" for Quebec
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08062511.html

Quebec City Eucharistic Procession Considered Historic Event
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08062409.html

Canadian March for Life Photos Now Online
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061704.html

Ecuadorian Obstetricians and Gynecologists Issue Thundering Manifesto Against Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061715.html

Order of Canada Members Return their Awards Over Morgentaler Decision
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08070307.html

South Dakota Law Goes Into Effect: Women Must be Told They Are "Terminating the Life of a Whole Separate, Unique Living Human Being"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08072207.html

Bella Star Eduardo Saves Five Unborn Babies' Lives
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08093015.html

Vatican Forces Pro-Abortion, Pro-Homosexual "Marriage" Catholic Priest From Canadian Politics
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08090309.html

Cardinal Archbishop of Montréal: "I Am Returning my Order of Canada Insignia"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08091101.html

Miss America 2001 Angela Baraquio Urges Americans to 'End the Reign' of Roe v. Wade on November 4th
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08103109.html

Victory: California Marriage Proposition 8 Passes in Historic Battle
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08110506.html

Serbian Abortionist Who Aborted 48,000 Babies Becomes Pro-Life Activist
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111304.html

Interview: Bishop Expands on Why a Bishop "Would Consider It a Privilege to Die to End to Abortion"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08112103.html

Kenny Chesney Song Helps Save Unborn Child, Gives Hope to New Parents
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08112603.html

Behind the Scenes of Volition: Coincidences and Startling Circumstances
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08112708.html

Evangelical Association Reaffirms Biblical Stance after Statements Supporting Obama, Homosexual Civil Unions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08120905.html

5.4 Million Names Submitted to UN in Favor of the Family and the Right to Life
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121104.html

Evangelical Association Lobbyist Quits Under Fire for Same-Sex Union, Obama Comments
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121204.html

Outgoing Bush Administration Enacts Conscience Protection for Pro-Life Health Care Workers - Can Refuse to Participate in Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121808.html

Noted Atheist Says if You Believe, You Should Proselytize - Or do you Hate Enough Not to?
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08122207.html

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Following the Pope's Warnings on Life, Family and Culture Through 2008

January 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The following are a series of links to a selection of stories from the previous year that detail Pope Benedict XVI's various statements on the life, cultural, family and faith issues. As the stories reveal, the current pontiff has clearly emerged as a fierce and outspoken defender of the right to life of all human beings, including the most vulnerable.

Pope Says the "Future of Society" is "Clearly at Stake" from Attacks Against the Family Based on Marriage
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08011011.html

Pope Highlights "Educational Emergency" of Passing on Values and Correct Behavior to Youth
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08010202.html

Benedict XVI Calls Catholic Faithful to Adoration in Reparation for Clergy Sex Abuses
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08010704.html

Pope Tells Nations He is Upset by Attack on One Man, One Woman Marriage
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08010710.html

Pope to Jesuits: Reaffirm "Total Adhesion to Catholic Doctrine" on "Sexual Morality"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08011805.html

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

Pope Benedict: "It Is, in Fact, Everyone's Duty" To Protect Life Before Birth
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08020402.html

Benedict Says Pressure For Euthanasia Mounting Because of Population Control, Tight Medical Resources
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08022507.html

Pope Benedict: Hedonistic Secularist Mentality Pervades the Church
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08031109.html

Pope Praises Americans' Efforts to Defend Life and Marriage to New US Ambassador
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08030401.html

Pope Calls for End to "Conspiracy of Silence" over Wounds Caused by "Grave Sins" of Abortion and Divorce
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08040704.html

Pope Touches Down in Washington DC, Purposely Avoided Talk of Homosexuality During Plane Interview
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041506.html

Pope Benedict Extols the Christian Vision of America's Founding Fathers
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041603.html

Pope: US Pro-Freedom Secularism is a Model for Europe, Not New Anti-Religious Secularism
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041602.html

Pope Tells Bishops they Must Deal with Sex Abuse Scandal by Addressing All of Sexual Morality
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041709.html

Pope to Educators: Appeals to Academic Freedom Cannot Justify Positions Against the Faith
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041804.html

Pope Decries the "Scandal Given by Catholics Who Promote an Alleged Right to Abortion"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041805.html

Highlights from Pope's Address to the United Nations - Religious Freedom Means Faith Allowed in Politics
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041809.html

Pope Spoke Privately with President Bush about Abortion and Homosexual 'Marriage'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041604.html

Highlights from the Pope's Address to Young People
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08042102.html

Pope to Pro-Lifers: "How many human lives have you saved from death! . . . do not be afraid"
"Respect For Life is the first form of justice that must be applied"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051202.html

Pope Reminds Spouses of their "Responsibility To Generate New Children"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051204.html

Pope Says Defence of Life and Family Urgent as "Numerous Forces Are Trying to Weaken Them"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061604.html

Pope Links the Eucharist with the Right to Life
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08062307.html

Pope to World Youth Day: "The Womb - Has Become A Place of Unutterable Violence"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071704.html

Pope To Canada: "I Know it is Possible" For You to Turn to a Culture of Life and Respect Natural Marriage
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08103003.html

Pope: Christianity is in Crisis
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071407.html

Pope Encourages 100 New Bishops to Use the "Weapon of Preaching" Against Secularization
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08092206.html

Pope Warns Organ Transplant Conference of Abuses of Death Criteria
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08110706.html

Pope Reiterates Catholic Politicians Must "Remain Coherent To the Faith They Profess"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111809.html

Pope Urges Argentina to Reject Proposals to Legalize Abortion and Gay "Marriage"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08120510.html

Pope: Human Rights Have Their Basis in God
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121109.html

Pope on Addressing AIDS: "First and Foremost," Work to Change Sexual Behavior
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121110.html

Pope Against Population Control: "Population Is Proving To Be An Asset, Not A Factor That Contributes To Poverty"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121202.html

Pope Decries Euthanasia as "Evil" as Luxembourg Parliament Advances with Assisted Suicide Legalization
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121908.html

Pope's Christmas Greeting Says We Must "Protect the Human Being against Self-Destruction" of Sexual Aberration
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08122213.html

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Christendom College to Cancel Classes So Entire Student Body Can March For Life

 FRONT ROYAL, VA (JANUARY 9 2009) – The entire student body of Christendom College, including many of the faculty and staff, will join hundreds of thousands in protesting abortion at the 36th annual March for Life, to be held in Washington, D.C., on January 22.

The College routinely cancels classes on the anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand in the United States, and its Student Activities Council charters buses to provide transportation for the hundreds of students eager to attend.

“Since the College is closed for the March For Life, Christendom's commitment to life affords all our students the opportunity to give public witness to the importance of life in our nation's capital,” Dean of Student Life Jesse Dorman said.

"The March is a critical part of the pro-life movement and has a tremendous impact on both the participants and the greater public,” President of Christendom College’s Students for Life Cyrus Artz said. “Christendom students and other attendees are given the opportunity to connect with other pro-lifers and realize that they are not alone in a hostile culture and frightening political environment. The nation at large is given a witness that America is not complacent about life, and that the youth of America are going to be fighting the battle for life until won."

The theme of this years march is “REMEMBER – the Life Principles mean Equal Care with No Exception!” The March’s website states that “the Life Principles focus on the fact that each human life begins at fertilization by any means, and society must provide equal care for the right to life of each born and preborn human. The Life Principles are based on our secular homicide laws.”

Founded over 30 years ago Christendom College has attended the March for Life as a community every year. Its students are active in pro-life work year round, leading prayerful protests at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Washington once a week, as well as taking part in sidewalk counseling and other pro-life activities.

For more information visit http://www.christendom.edu.

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Porn Kings Joke About Bailout Funds, But Rampant Addiction No Laughing Matter: Anti-Porn Activist

NASHVILLE, Jan. 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, and Joe Francis, the producer of "Girls Gone Wild" videos, recently said they were asking Congress for $5 billion in federal assistance, asserting the adult entertainment industry was among those hit "like a cold shower" by the recession.

However, Steve Siler, director of Music for the Soul (MFS), a Nashville-based Christian ministry, said that while Flynt’s and Francis’ remarks may seem like simply a twisted joke to most Americans, the pornography industry in the United States and its devastating effect on individuals, marriages, families and workplaces is no laughing matter.

"Pornographers continue to disregard the heartbreak and devastation they wreak on a daily basis," said Siler. "Then they take advantage of the economic misfortune of millions of Americans in order to generate free publicity. I would call this act thoughtless, if it wasn't so calculated. Some have called it a joke. But to laugh and joke about this epidemic is hurtful and offensive."

Siler and MFS recently released "Somebody's Daughter: A Journey to Freedom from Pornography", featuring a television documentary detailing the lives of three men and one couple active in Christian ministry who struggled with and overcame addiction to pornography.

The "Somebody's Daughter" TV documentary has appeared on the ION Network and is set to air on the INSP, Daystar and NRB networks and on an American Family Association webcast.

According to recent surveys, nearly 60 percent of Christian men and 37 percent of pastors admit to struggling with pornography. No longer just a problem for men, 35 percent of women also admit to the addiction. "Somebody's Daughter" was produced to shine the light on how the $13.3 billion pornography industry is plaguing those who profess Christianity, and to promote healing and deliverance from the growing epidemic.

To find out more, see: http://www.SomebodysDaughter.org

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