LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes – Dec. 22, 2004

Abortion Statistics Hyped, Says Argentine Group https://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63978   Forced abortions devastate Chinese women https://www.fotf.ca/familyfacts/tfn/2004/122204.html#3   Fr. McBrien attacks pro-life bishops in syndicated column https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=2741   British scientists alarmed by new Education Secretary Ruth Kelly’s Christian principles https://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1411905,00.html   From fetus to baby   https://www.townhall.com/columnists/richlowry/rl20041221.shtml The answer to AIDS is values https://www.townhall.com/columnists/StarParker/sp20041221.shtml   Bush White House’s Christ-less Christmas – Official commemorations emphasize Santa, Rudolph over Jesus in 2004 https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42027   Women in combat (again)  https://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20041220.shtml   Bob Casey’s Revenge – First Things https://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0501/opinion/mcgurn.htm   A Reply to Rabbi Boteach- There’s no cabal, but there is a segment of Hollywood’s secular Jewish […]
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LifeSiteNews.com Year in Review – 2004

This year has without doubt been the most hectic year in terms of developments in the culture wars.  Other than the Bush victory which was likely the biggest newsmaker of the year, Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, ranked as one of the most talked about developments. LifeSiteNews.com provided extensive coverage of the Bush election and gave its readers a preview review of The Passion of the Christ (https://www.theinterim.com/2004/feb/index.html) and even set up a separate page on LifeSiteNews.com to follow the developments around the epic film (https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/feb/040225a.html ).  One particularly ominous story was that of the Swedish Pastor […]
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Department of Justice Appeal of Partial-Birth Abortion Decision says Judge made Three Blunders

SAN FRANCISCO, December 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US Justice Department, in its appeal filed Monday, said that the judge who struck down the partial-birth abortion ban in June made three errors in doing so. US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton was the first of three judges to permanently strike down the ban, implemented in 2003 by US President Bush.  Hamilton argued that the ban does not make any provision for the so-called health of the woman; that the law is vague; and that the law places an undue burden upon women seeking late-term abortions.  In defence of its stance, the […]
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New Brunswick Parents send Premier “No Sex-Ed” Christmas Cards

FREDERICTON, New Brunswick, December 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord is getting his share of Christmas cards this year—approximately 700 cards from angry parents with a clear message: scrap the explicit sex-ed program for our schoolchildren.  Parents are incensed at the degree of explicit materials being offered to their children in grades six through eight, including information on masturbation and oral sex. They warn that the curriculum fails to encourage children to exercise self-control.  “There is no idea of restraint taught to children,” one parent said at a town-hall meeting held in November, as reported by The […]
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The Not-So-Great Canadian Divide

by John-Henry Westen   December 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – LifeSiteNews.com News Editor, John-Henry Westen, has written a special LifeSiteNews.com commentary on the “The smug self-righteous attitude of Canadian liberals” towards the United States and the evidence of a comparative greater moral decline in Canada. The article was spurred by Westen’s preparations for his appearance on the Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor program last week.  Westen notes that Canada has become a haven for sexual predators and that Canadian culture and freedoms are being “Niced to death” by Canadians’ ingrained reluctance to rock the boat, no matter how serious the issues might […]
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Physicians Believe: Christmas Survey reveals Doctors Believe in God, Miracles, like most

NEW YORK, December 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A U.S. recent survey revealed that most doctors believe in God and in miracles, just like most Americans. The survey of 1,100 physicians conducted over the past weekend revealed that 74 percent believe miracles have occurred in the past and 73 percent believe they can occur today. The poll also indicated that American physicians are surprisingly religious, with 72 percent indicating they believe that religion provides a reliable and necessary guide to life. Those surveyed represented physicians from Christian (Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox Christian and other), Jewish (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and secular) Muslim, […]
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LifeSiteNews.com Takes a Christmas (Not “Holiday”) Break Dec. 23 to Jan. 2

December 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – You may want to take a few days to read all of today’s LifeSiteNews reports. There is more than usual. That’s because it’s time for us to take a Christmas break and spend more than the usual limited time with our wonderful families and friends, as well as recharge our spiritual batteries.  As John-Henry Westen writes in his review of 2004, “This year has without doubt been the most hectic year in terms of developments in the culture wars.” It has therefore also been the most demanding for us, to say the least. When John-Henry […]
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Ugandan First Lady Defends Abstinence in Fight against HIV/AIDS

KAMPALA, December 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Uganda’s First Lady, Janet Museveni, said critics of Uganda’s successful abstinence campaign, who promote so-called safe-sex, are leading the youth of her country to “death,” in remarks Monday, as reported by allafrica.com. Museveni reiterated her stance of calling on young people to abstain from premarital sex, and for married couples to remain faithful within marriage.  “What is not practical about that? Why should young people in colleges and universities run around with sex? What is the hurry? Why should we allow ourselves to listen to voices that lead us to death and debate with […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

Study Claims Six million abortions in India Every Year https://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&id=49048   Spyware is now officially out of control Says Dvorak https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1744126,00.asp   The long-term damage of Sharon Osbourne’s abortion https://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=331265&in_page_id=1773   Pro-Life Reps Brownback, Coburn Selected for Senate Judiciary Committee Seats Vow No More Blocking Bush Nominees https://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20041220-103705-7282r.htm   Beware of spyware called CoolWebSearch, a program that can change Microsoft Internet Explorer’s security settings and wreak havoc on computers https://news.com.com/Worst+spyware+queues+up/2100-7349_3-5499609.html?tag=nefd.top   Hawaii Republican Gov. Linda Lingle approves rules for pharmacists to dispense abortifacient morning after pill over the counter https://starbulletin.com/2004/12/17/news/story6.html   A new discussion in Russia: is euthanasia acceptable?  tp://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=104802 […]
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Washington Post Expose Reveals Many Pregnant Women Die by Homicide

FRONT ROYAL, Va., December 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – According to a yearlong investigation by the Washington Post, at least 1,367 pregnant women and new mothers—not including women from 13 states that do not record such figures—have been murdered since 1990. A Maryland study highlighted by the Post declared, “A pregnant or recently pregnant woman is more likely to be a victim of homicide than to die of any other cause.” The men who fathered the unborn children killed with their mothers are often the perpetrators of the homicides, after they have insisted on abortions but their partners have refused.  The […]
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Pro-Life Group Praises Beatification of Anti-Euthanasia German Bishop

VATICAN CITY, December 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Cardinal Clemens August von Galen, known as the “Lion of Munster”, has been approved by Pope John Paul II for beatification, a step on the road toward being declared a saint in the Catholic Church. Cardinal von Galen was best known for his stand against Hitler which was ignited mainly through his defeat of Hitler’s program of euthanasia for the mentally and physically disabled.  The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) welcomed the announcement of the German Cardinal’s upcoming beatification.  John Smeaton, SPUC national director, commented: “Cardinal von Galen is a […]
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Fat Cells Used in Breakthrough Surgery to Create Bone for Injured Girl’s Skull

GIESSEN, Germany, December 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite the persistent claims of some researchers, adult stem cells continue to prove their ability to produce a vast array of new tissue types. In the latest news, a 7-year-old German girl with severe damage to her skull from a fall, has been treated with stem cells derived from her own fat cells. Dr. Hans-Peter Howaldt of the Justus-Liebig-University Medical School in Giessen, Germany had attempted to repair the 19 square inches of damaged bone with grafts but the surgery was not successful. “Chronic infection resulted in an unstable skull with marked bony […]
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Newfoundland Supreme Court Orders Legalization of Gay ‘Marriage’

ST. JOHN’S, December 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Newfoundland Supreme Court Justice Derek Green today issued a ruling ordering the provincial government to issue marriage licences to homosexual couples. Two homosexual activist couples Jacqueline Pottle & Noelle French and Lisa Zigler & Theresa Walsh brought the case forward.  Provincial Justice Minister Tom Marshall announced earlier this month that the government would defend marriage in court.  jhw
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Denver Archdiocese Severs Ties with Catholic Lawyers’ Group over Award to Abortion Supporter

DENVER, December 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This November, the controversy over pro-abortion Catholic politicians has ended the association of the Catholic Lawyer’s Guild with the Denver Archdiocese. Every year, various branches of a Catholic lawyer’s association around the world gather to celebrate their profession with the Red Mass, a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages. In most dioceses, the bishop or his delegate celebrates the Red Mass and the Guild gives an award to a Catholic politician. This year, the Denver group has invited pro-abortion Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, who won a Senate seat in the past […]
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‘I Would Have Had an Abortion’ – “Wrongful Life” Claim Rejected by South Carolina Court

COLUMBIA, South Carolina, December 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A woman, who says she would have aborted her son had her obstetrician not failed to warn her of his serious handicap, has had her “wrongful life” lawsuit thrown out of the state Supreme Court. Jennie Willis claimed that, had she known most of her son’s brain was missing, she would have aborted him. The high court decided unanimously against Willis.  “Even a jury collectively imbued with the wisdom of Solomon would be unable to weigh the fact of being born with a defective condition against the fact of not being born […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

China unveils new rules for religion: Control Still Seen as a Hallmark of Government Policy https://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63854   Grit MP O’Brien predicts four more Canadian Cabinet ministers to struggle with same-sex bill https://www.thehilltimes.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2004/december/20/samesex/&c=1   What is Svend Robinson, Former Gay-Activist Canadian MP and Ring Thief, Up to Now?  https://www.940news.com/news.php?cat=9&id=n121902A   Pregnant women slain more often than records show https://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/10454226.htm Tiger Woods says marriage ‘makes you stronger’  https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6735184/  Hillary’s Clinton’s Poll Numbers Startling https://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/12/19/215312.shtml   ‘Christmas is taboo in America, but now people are fighting back’  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=Q5RHVHSGIFU0LQFIQMGSNAGAVCBQWJVC?xml=/news/2004/12/19/wxmas19.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/12/19/ixworld.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=23389   Schwarzenegger suggests U.S. Republicans move leftward away from what has worked so well   […]
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Regular Canadian Churchgoers Oppose Gay “Marriage”, Nominal Christians Don’t

LETHBRIDGE, Alberta, December 20, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A national survey of families conducted by sociologist Reginald Bibby for the Vanier Institute of the Family has revealed that only 26% of Canadians who attend religious services at least once a month approve of gay marriage, well below the approval figure of 58% among those who attend services less than once a month.  The discrepancy enlarges even more when evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics who are active in their church are compared to those who are less involved. About 25% of Catholics who attend services monthly or more approve of gay marriages, […]
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St. Paul Minneapolis Bishop Accuses Priests Faithful to Catholic Teaching of Operating “Parallel Ch

MINNEAPOLIS- ST. PAUL, December 20, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – While Bishop Harry Flynn’s welcoming of militant homosexual activists into his cathedral continues to embarrass the Catholic Church, the Archbishop of Minneapolis-St. Paul has gone one step further and issued a letter banning priests faithful to the teaching of the Church from working in the archdiocese. In a letter to parishes, Flynn banned the activities of the Legionaries of Christ, a group of priests with full Vatican approval, dedicated to implementing Pope John Paul II’s call for a ‘new evangelization’. Flynn wrote, “The Legionaries of Christ are not to be active in […]
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Abortion-Supporting Politicians Are “Agents of Evil” says Fargo Bishop

FARGO, December 20, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a recent address to visiting US bishops, Pope John Paul II mentioned his concern about what he called the “serious pastoral problems” of a Catholic laity that has failed to understand the “duty…to act in accordance with (the church’s) authoritative teaching.” He reminded the bishops of their duty to teach the laity the true social teaching of the Church, a social teaching that categorically rules out the ‘personally opposed but’ position on abortion and euthanasia claimed by many politicians who call themselves Catholic.  Anticipating the Pope’s concerns, Samuel J. Aquila, Bishop of Fargo, […]
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Pope Warns that Societal Recognition of Gay Unions Causing “Irreparable Damage” to Society

VATICAN CITY, December 20, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an address on Saturday, Pope John Paul II has warned that the “union between a man and a woman which takes place in marriage and gives rise to the family community” is confronted today by attacks which “grow stronger and more radical every day.”  He said, “Whoever destroys this basic fabric of human coexistence causes a deep wound to society and often causes irreparable damage.”  The Pope did not content himself, as many other religious leaders have, with speaking out only against homosexual ‘marriage’.  He spoke specifically against proposals to give the […]
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Abducted Baby Cut from Murdered Mother’s Womb Found; Woman Charged

TOPEKA, Kansas, December 20, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The baby girl cut from her mother’s womb while her mother was strangled Thursday has been reunited with her father. The baby is under observation in a hospital in Topeka, but in good health. The girl’s father, Zebulon Stinnett, said she was “a miracle,” according to a Reuters report.  Lisa Montgomery, 36, of Kansas, has admitted to the murder of the baby’s mother, Bobbie Jo Stinnett, and abduction of the child. Montgomery, a mother of two, told her husband she had given birth to another child. US District Attorney for Western Missouri, Todd […]
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Mississippi Abortionist says He won’t Commit Abortions Again

JACKSON, Mississippi, December 20, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Abortionist Malachy Dehenre, who had his license to practice medicine in Alabama suspended for Malpractice, said he is unlikely to commit abortions ever again there or in Mississippi, even if he gets his license back. An Alabama woman died as a result of the abortion he committed on her there last year.  Dehenre, 54, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he will abide by the decision of the Medical Licensure Commission of Alabama. The commission said Dehenre’s treatment of four women between 2000 and 2003 was “immoral, unprofessional or dishonorable,” saying his […]
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Australian Youth Protest City’s Secularized Christmas

MELBOURNE, December 20, 2004 (CWNews.comLifeSiteNews.com) – Young Catholics in Melbourne, Australia, are staging a public demonstration to protest the exclusion of Christ from public mention during the Christmas season.  The Melbourne Herald Sun reported that Catholic Youth Ministry had organized a public Nativity pageant, to be performed on the steps of a Melbourne municipal building. The event was organized after the City Council would not authorize the public display of a Christmas crèche. Msgr. Les Tomlinson told the Sun that the young Catholics were trying to call attention back to the reason for the Christmas celebration. He remarked: “The aggressive […]
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Called Ignorant for Suggestion that Republicans Move Left

SACRAMENTO, December 20, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bodybuilder turned actor, turned politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger made statements in a German magazine, published over the weekend, that the Republican Party should move to the left.  To conservatives that talk from Schwarzenegger, who fancies himself as a so-called ‘moderate’ Republican, mesans embracing gay rights and abortion. “I would like the Republican Party to cross this line, move a little further left and place more weight on the center,” said Schwarzenegger. “This would immediately give the party 5% more votes without it losing anything elsewhere.”“Schwarzenegger’s statements that the GOP party would not lose its base […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

Pope Warns of a New Colonialism in AIDS Fight   https://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63723   Legalise mercy killing in hopeless cases: Indian MP https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/960820.cms   Toronto police chief says teens are out of control https://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/12/17/787375-sun.html   Australian Christian Pastors Found Guilty of Vilifying Islam https://www.cnsnews.com//ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200412/FOR20041217b.html   Judge rules against school district: Says students, parents can exchange religious cards, wear red and green https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41975   Jersey mayor sponsors ‘illegal’ caroling: Governor candidate invites rivals to sing banned songs outside school https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41971   Parents kicked out of ‘gay day’: Concerned mom tried to videotape event https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41972   Greens Admit Kyoto Protocol Will Not Affect ‘Global […]
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U.S. Study: TV Depicts Religion in Negative Light

LOS ANGELES, December 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new study revealed that religion, as depicted on television, has become increasingly negative and doesn’t reflect the viewpoints of a majority of Americans. The study also found that NBC leads the other major networks by far in terms of the number of negative depictions of faith.  Conducted by the Parents Television Council (PTC), the study titled Faith in a Box: Entertainment Television and Religion, found that the treatment of religion, especially as depicted in an institutional or doctrinal context was “strikingly negative,” according to a PTC press release.  “Catholicism is in the […]
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Success For Amber Alert Issued in U.S. for Missing Child Taken From Mother’s Womb

SKIDMORE, Missouri, December 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An Amber Alert was issued for an abducted 8-month-gestation baby, cut from the mother’s womb after she was murdered. Police suspected the murderer abducted the child.  Nodaway County Sheriff Ben Espey issued the Amber Alert, reporting that the mother, Bobbi Jo Stinnett, was murdered at approximately three p.m. Thursday. She was pregnant with an eight-month-old white female unborn child. Police suspected the baby girl was still living and asked citizens to keep a lookout for her. The Amber Alert appears to have been successful. AP reported Friday that “A baby girl who apparently […]
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In World Day of Peace Message Pope Notes the Newly Conceived Child Deserves Rights

VATICAN CITY, December 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In his message for World Day of Peace, January 1, 2005, Pope John Paul II made yet another effort to give instruction on the humanity of the unborn.  The Pope used the construct of a “citizen of the world” to teach that the basic rights of persons are inalienable.  “As a member of the human family, each person becomes as it were a citizen of the world, with consequent duties and rights, since all human beings are united by a common origin and the same supreme destiny,” said the Pope.  John Paul outlined […]
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Newfoundland Mayors Say they Won’t Marry Homosexuals, Even if Court Says So

ST. JOHN’S, December 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Some Newfoundland mayors say they will refuse to solemnize same-sex “marriages,” even if ordered to do so by the Newfoundland Supreme Court, according to Gander mayor Claude Elliott.  Elliott told the CBC news: “It’s not right for two people of the same sex to be married, and I will refuse to do any same-sex marriages,” emphasizing that to do so goes against his religious beliefs. Elliott said that, rather than officiate at same-sex “weddings,” he won’t perform any weddings at all. He said that other mayors felt the same way.  Two lesbians launch […]
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Legalizing Abortion More Likely to Increase Rather than Decrease Maternal Mortality, Particularly in

NEW YORK, December 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The population control arm of the United Nations, UNFPA, and its abortion-pushing allies, most notably International Planned Parenthood, relentlessly press for legalizing abortion with the claim that it is needed to reduce maternal mortality by reducing “unsafe” abortions, particularly in the Developing World.  However, Jeanne Head, R.N., the chief pro-life lobbyist at the United Nations, and herself a former labor and delivery nurse says the reality is quite different from the UNFPA claims. She told LifeSiteNews.com that statistics from the United Nations World Health Organization itself demonstrate that maternal mortality decreases with the […]
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Quebec Will Challenge Federal Legislation on Artificial Human Reproduction

QUEBEC CITY, December 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Quebec’s intergovernmental affairs minister, Benoit Pelletier, says the province will challenge the constitutionality of the federal law on cloning and embryo research. He says that the jurisdiction is not Ottawa’s. Quebec already has a law prohibiting experimental research on living embryonic human beings. When the cloning bill, C-6 was being debated, Quebec MP’s raised concerns that it would infringe upon the rights of provinces to legislate on the issue. Jurisdictional matters are always touchy between Quebec and Ottawa, and Quebec has introduced provincial legislation to “regulate” what is broadly referred to as “assisted […]
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British Youngster with Rare Immune System Disease Improved after Cord Blood Treatment

NEWCASTLE, December 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Almost a year after George Young received stem cells from the placental cord blood of an American infant donor, his condition is improving. 19-month-old George suffers from Ipex Syndrome, a disease that left his doctors predicting only a 50% chance of survival. Today he is home from the hospital with his parents Emma Young and George Oldham and eight-year-old brother Reece. Ipex Syndrome is a rare genetic disease of the immune system that causes a host of symptoms including insulin-dependent diabetes, eczema, diarrhea, anemia and thrombocytopenia which lowers the production of platelets in the […]
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LifeSiteNews.com Newsbytes

Defending Supreme Court Juctice Clarence Thomas https://www.claremont.org/writings/precepts/041213.html   Churches and Wal-Mart Help Rescue Salvation Army From Target’s Snub https://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/12/16/162134.shtml   ‘Merry Christmas’ – Or No Sale https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/16/national/main661383.shtml   Oklahoma Voters Show Fury at Removal of Nativity Scene   https://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/12/16/95158.shtml   Pro-Life Mistake: Strategize wisely. It’s a life or death decision https://www.nationalreview.com/comment/forsythe200412160851.asp   4 who protested at Philly homosexual event ordered to stand trial, face 47 years in prison   https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41969   World Racked by Political, Social ‘Evil’—Pope https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=335687   South African Church Leaders Want Referendum on Same-Sex ‘Marriage’  https://www.cnsnews.com//ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=ForeignBureausarchive
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No CTV Telephone Poll on Same-Sex Marriage

TORONTO, December 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A flurry of emails has been making the rounds throughout Canada the past few days about a supposed CTV television network telephone call-in poll on same-sex marriage. It appears that thousands of people may have called into the promoted number only to have voted NO to banning pit bulls, not same-sex marriage. Even LifeSiteNews.com added the item to its NewsBytes section after receiving numerous emails from supporters advocating promotion of the poll which has turned out to be a December April Fool’s joke.  An alert LifeSiteNews.com reader in Nova Scotia, wanting to find out […]
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Survey: Teens Say Parents Influence Their Decisions About Sex Most

WASHINGTON, December 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A survey commissioned by The National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy has revealed that US parents play the biggest role in a teenager’s decision to engage in sex before marriage. Teens rated the influence of parents at 37 percent, with the influence of their peers at only 33 percent.  Nearly seven in 10 teens (69 percent) do not think it’s okay for high school teens to have sexual intercourse, whereas two-thirds of all sexually experienced teens (63 percent of boys and 69 percent of girls) said they wish they had waited longer to have […]
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Mentioning Christmas in Workplaces Attacked By Political Correctness Across US

NEW YORK, December 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic League has highlighted incidents of anti-Christmas shenanigans at businesses throughout the nation. Commenting on the hostility to the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child, Catholic League president William Donohue said, “What bothers these cultural fascists is traditional morality.”“For decades, employees at Time magazine had a Christmas party and looked forward to receiving a Christmas bonus,” Donohue explained. “But starting three years ago, the party was banned and so were the Christmas bonuses. This is not to say that bonuses are no longer given-they are-it’s just that the dreaded ‘C-word’ […]
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Same-Sex “Marriage” is Bad for Children, Halifax Archbishop says

HALIFAX, December 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Most Rev. Terrence Prendergast, Archbishop of Halifax, has just written that same-sex “marriage,” while presumably expanding the rights of one group—homosexuals—overlooks the rights of another group: children. His editorial, available from the Archdiocesan web-site, also appeared in The Halifax Herald Wednesday.  “In a same-sex union, children can be deprived of their simple natural right to live with both their birthparents in one family,” the bishop writes, as compared with traditional marriage, where “husband and wife form a committed partnership to care for the children they create through their love.”“Marriage is the social institution intended […]
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Canadian Biotechnology Expert Denounces the Creation of ‘Quasi-Embryos’ as “Morally Repugnant”

VICTORIA, December 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last week, LifeSiteNews.com reported that a member of the US President’s Council on Bioethics proposed the creation of genetically engineered ‘biological artifacts’ that he claimed, though capable of producing embryonic stem cells, would not technically be embryos. This proposal was heralded as a means of skirting the ethical barrier to obtaining embryonic cells, which requires the killing of human beings in the embryonic stage of life. Dr. William Hurlbut, a professor at Stanford University, proposed the creation of life forms made from human ova and injected DNA. Dr. Hurlbut explained that these things, “even […]
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British Researchers to Attempt Liver Damage Repair Using Bone Marrow Stem Cells

LONDON, December 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – London’s Hammersmith Hospitals are working to reverse the damage caused by advanced cirrhosis of the liver using patients’ own stem cells derived from bone marrow. About 4,000 people in the UK each year die of the disease.  The only other way to treat advanced cirrhosis, organ transplantation, is extremely costly, and difficult for the patient whose immune system rejects the foreign tissue.  The proposed treatment is one that is already used for certain forms of cancer. The stem cells are collected from the patients’ blood, cultured and then injected into the hepatic artery in […]
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Conservative Leader’s Proposals to Protect Marriage Puzzles Canadian Conservatives

OTTAWA, December 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s press conference Tuesday outlining his three proposed amendments to the upcoming legislation on same-sex ‘marriage’ left Canada’s social conservative groups scratching their heads. The first proposal, to amend the legislation so that it “Recognizes the traditional definition of marriage, i.e. one man and one woman”, was welcomed by conservative groups. The second proposal has caused conservative groups considerable bewilderment and serious concern. The amendment, to ensure the government legislation “Protects the rights of non-traditional unions so that they are afforded the same benefits as married couples,” has raised concerns that […]
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Bush Administration Representative Explains Why UNFPA Will be Denied US Funds

Testimony of Assistant Secretary Arthur E. Dewey Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration U.S. Department of State Before The International Relations Committee U.S. House of Representatives December 14, 2004 Thank you Chairman Smith and Members of the Committee for providing us with an opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the one-child policy in China. The Bush Administration is deeply committed to advancing human rights issues, in China and around the globe. The Administration is also deeply committed to upholding liberty and the dignity of human life, and we strongly and absolutely oppose the practice of coercive abortions and […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

Chinese Province Bans Abortions of More Than 14-Week Old Unborn Children https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-12/16/content_400627.htm   I was almost put to sleep in hospital https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/15/neuth215.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/12/15/ixnewstop.html   Some Australian doctors rebel over abortion restrictions https://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,11704276,00.html   Grassroots Lobbying forces California Attorney General to allow parents to be informed if their children go off school for “confidential” medical services https://www.wnd.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41918   Australian Evangelicals Pro-Abortion https://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Evangelicals-back-prochoice-survey/2004/12/15/1102787150247.html?oneclick=true#  Oregon Supreme Court to hear gay marriage final arguments https://www.tdn.com/articles/2004/12/15/oregon/news02.txt   ‘Ignore Global Warming,’ Says Former Greenpeace Member   https://www.cnsnews.com//ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=SpecialReportsarchive
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Avoiding and Removing Internet Adware and Spyware – Sanity Saving Advice

December 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – LifeSiteNews.com staff assume many of our readers are experiencing the same daily struggles as we are in trying to cope with a flood of damaging and annoying adware and spyware being inserted onto their computers without their permission. Most of this gets onto your computer simply as a result of browsing from one website to another.  If your computer seems sick, is behaving strangely and browsing the Internet has become a very unpleasant chore of fighting pop-ups and figuring out why all kinds of strange icons or services are attaching themselves to your browser window, […]
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UK Mother Wins Right to Challenge Parental Consent Law

MANCHESTER, December 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A mother-of-five, battling to overturn the UK’s parental notification laws, has been granted leave to challenge the laws in court. Current UK law allows girls under 16 years old to obtain abortions without a parent’s permission.  Sue Axon, 50, from Baguley, Manchester, sought a judicial review from the High Court, challenging the Health Department guidelines. She told scotsman.com news that she experienced long-term ill effects from her own abortion 20 years ago.  Axon says legal guidelines allowing under-age girls access to abortion without parental consent is unlawful. She has two girls aged 12 and […]
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UK Parliament Defeats Measure to Prevent Food and Water From Being Easily Removed From Dying Patient

LONDON, December 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – UK Members of Parliament defeated by 297 votes to 203 a proposed amendment to a Mental Capacity Bill to prevent normal, life-sustaining measures of food and water being too easily removed from dying patients. The new bill, which enlarges the ability of individuals to decide on end-of-life treatments by creating “living wills,” passed its third reading Tuesday in the House of Commons. Pro-life groups and MPs charge that the bill will bring in euthanasia by the “back door.”  Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith argued in support of the amendment, saying the Mental Capacity […]
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Civic Officials can Refuse to Perform Same-Sex “Marriages,” Canadian Justice Minister says

OTTAWA, December 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In what some analysts are calling a concession to Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, Liberal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler has indicated he will add a clause to the proposed same-sex “marriage” legislation allowing civil servants to opt out of performing the weddings, if it violates their conscience.  “Even if it is civic officials and not religious officials, we can bring about the kind of mutually respectable and tolerant accommodation . . . where we can protect both equality rights and freedom of religion,” Cotler said Tuesday, as reported by the Canadian Press. CanWest News Service reported […]
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Minneapolis Archbishop Claims Vatican Okay with Communion for Homosexual Activists

ROME, December 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of Minneapolis-St. Paul, after speaking with a top Vatican official, has claimed that the Vatican has not asked him to change his policy of allowing communion to be given to homosexual activists wearing rainbow sashes to demonstrate their stand.  The Catholic News Service (CNS) reports that Archbishop Flynn said he met privately in early December with Cardinal Francis Arinze, head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.  Archbishop Flynn discussed his interview with Cardinal Arinze with CNS saying: “I got the clear understanding that this is recognized as […]
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Bush Nominee for Health Secretary Stirs Concern over Abortion Position

WASHINGTON, December 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Bush’s appointment of Mike Leavitt as Health and Human Services Secretary has left conservatives in a quandary.  Many conservative organizations were hoping for a true conservative to take over for departing Tommy Thompson. Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council (FRC), said that, though a self-proclaimed pro-lifer, Governor Leavitt’s background begs serious questions as to his advocacy.  FRC points out that Leavitt rejected Utah’s court appeal over the state’s 1991 pro-life law.  Moreover, he vetoed HB4ll, the sex-ed bill designed to stop the graphic, inappropriate materials used in sex-ed programs.  Leavitt also sanctioned […]
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Avoiding and Removing Adware and Spyware – Sanity Saving Advice

December 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – LifeSiteNews.com staff assume many of our readers are experiencing the same daily struggles as we are in trying to cope with a flood of damaging and annoying adware and spyware being inserted onto their computers without their permission. Most of this gets onto your computer simply as a result of browsing from one website to another. If your computer is behaving strangely and browsing the Internet has become a very unpleasant chore of fighting pop-ups and figuring out why all kinds of strange icons or services are attaching themselves to your browser window, this article […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

Bishops Assail Brazil’s Talk of Easing Abortion Restrictions https://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63480   Pro-Life Teen to Planned Parenthood: Take Your Lies and Leave https://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/132004e.asp   Schwarzenegger Nominates Stem Cell Research Chief https://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7080147   New Zealand Euthanasia Campaigner Lesley Martin Out Of Jail Today And Still Unrepentant After 7.5 Months In Prison https://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3127106a10,00.html   Canadian Family endured legal nightmare over harmless spanking of one child https://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Michael_Coren/2004/12/11/777174.html   US Supreme Court Retirement Soon?  https://www.cnsnews.com//ViewPolitics.asp?Page=Politicsarchive
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Contraceptive Pill Increases Risk of Stroke Among Migraine Sufferers

LONDON, England, December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A meta-analysis of 14 studies has shown that the risk of stroke is increased among women who suffer from migraines and are on oral chemical contraceptives. A group of researchers have discovered a statistical connection between stroke, migraines and the Pill. “The results of our study strongly suggest that migraine may be an independent risk factor for stroke,” Ali Samii, a neurologist at the University of Washington. Three studies in the review have shown that women who have migraines and who take oral contraceptives were up to 8 times more likely to have […]
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Dutch Say Child Euthanasia Happening Around the World

GRONINGEN, December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A hospital in the Netherlands, after admitting that it has already euthanized three babies last year, and is now asking the Dutch government to create guidelines for the practice,has further shocked by claiming that the practice is common all over the world. Groningen Academic Hospital, has asked for the legalization of euthanasia for newborns who endure, “unbearable suffering” with “no hope of a future.” Groningen pediatrics head Dr. A. Verhagen said in a statement, “Worldwide, the U.S. included, many deaths among newborns are based on end-of-life decisions, after physicians reached the conclusion that there […]
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Report Finds Canada’s Same-Sex Couples Immeasurably Small in Number

OTTAWA, December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new report on Canadian families released in November revealed that, contrary to media bias, there are extremely few same-sex couples in the nation.  The report, Profiling Canada’s Families, was conducted by the Vanier Institute of the Family. The number of same-sex couples was so insignificant that it prompted VIF executive director of research Robert Glossop to say that, although the trend towards non-traditional families like common-law and single parent families was on the increase, the number of same-sex couples could not be measured.  “There are not enough of them to represent a fundamental […]
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Late-Term Abortion Hospital Covers Up Saint’s Portrait – Bishop Objects

CALGARY, December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The covering-up of the picture of a saint, depicted inside a chapel at Calgary’s notorious Foothills hospital, has brought the ire of local Roman Catholic bishop Fred Henry.  The hospital claims the picture of St. Luke, a physician, is offensive to non-Christians, and has had doors placed over it. A note over the doors explains that any representation of the human form in a place of worship is offensive to both Jews and Muslims. Bishop Henry said the move is ridiculous.  The Foothills hospital gained notoriety in 1998, after nurses charged that hospital staff […]
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15,000 African Americans March to Support Traditional Marriage in Georgia

ATLANTA, Georgia, December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Thousands of African-Americans marched through Atlanta on Saturday in support of the traditional definition of marriage. One source estimated the crowd at 15,000. The march, organized by Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, began at the King Center—the burial place of Martin Luther King. King’s daughter, Rev. Bernice King, is also an elder in Long’s congregation. King lit a torch from an eternal flame burning at the King Center, which Long carried throughout the march.  New Birth supports “a constitutional amendment to fully protect marriage between one man and […]
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Scott Peterson Trial and Sentence Gave Massive Exposure to Humanity of Unborn Child

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  The massively publicized trial of Californian Scott Peterson for the double murder of his pregnant wife Laci and unborn son Connor ended yesterday with the jury’s recommended sentence of death by injection for the convicted murderer.  Setting aside arguments over the death penalty, which most pro-life leaders tend to oppose, the case itself gave extraordinary public exposure to the reality of the humanity of the unborn child, who in this case was Connor Peterson.  SEE THE REST OF THIS LIFESITENEWS.COM SPECIAL REPORT AT;  https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/dec/041214a.html
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Lawsuit Filed Against New US Law Barring Discrimination Against Pro-Life Doctors

WASHINGTON, December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday, a pro-abortion association, whose members include Planned Parenthood, announced plans to file a federal lawsuit against the pro-life conscience protection in the newly-enacted federal spending bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005.  The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) plans to attack the provision, known as the Hyde-Weldon Conscience Protection Amendment, which prohibits discrimination against health care providers who choose not to provide or participate in abortions.  “This lawsuit is the height of hypocrisy: A ‘pro-choice’ group is suing so that health care providers will have no choice but to participate […]
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Scott Peterson Trial and Sentence Gave Massive Exposure to Humanity of Unborn Child

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  The massively publicized trial of Californian Scott Peterson for the double murder of his pregnant wife Laci and unborn son Connor ended yesterday with the jury’s recommended sentence of death by injection for the convicted murderer. Setting aside arguments over the death penalty, which most pro-life leaders tend to opppose, the case itself gave extraordinary public exposure to the reality of the humanity of the unborn child, who in this case was Connor Peterson. Fox News began its report today on the sentencing with the statement, “the jury that convicted Scott Peterson […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewBytes

Ontario to scrap movie censors – anything goes now https://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/12/10/pf-775910.html   Teens delaying sexual activity https://www.washtimes.com/national/20041211-120344-8610r.htm   Stem Cell Institute’s Start-Up Debated https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-stem11dec11,0,2514437.story?coll=la-home-headlines   Chinese abortion outcry saves life of prisoner https://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1399900,00.html   Man challenges funding for Planned Parenthood https://www.columbiatribune.com/2004/Dec/20041212News029.asp   Buttiglione cites ‘anti-Christian’ fad https://washingtontimes.com/world/20041211-114117-7361r.htm   UN Ranks Nations According To Condom Use https://www.rense.com/general60/condomuse.htm   AP: U.S. Officials Knew of AIDS Drug Risks https://apnews.myway.com/article/20041213/D86UUS7O0.html   Louisiana Gov. Defends Abstinence Program Against ACLU’s Charge that it’s Pushing Religion https://www.dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041209/APN/412091153   New York Times Round-Up of State Life and Family Legal Initiatives https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/national/13states.html?oref=login&oref=login   Christmas haters have an agenda – Bill […]
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New Vatican Document on Homosexuality and the Priesthood Coming Before Fall 2005

VATICAN CITY, December 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – John Thavis, the Vatican correspondent for the Catholic News Service, an agency of the US Bishops Conference, reports that the Vatican will soon publish a document concerning homosexuality and the priesthood.  The report notes that Vatican officials are preparing an inspection (or visitation) of US seminaries to commence in the Fall of 2005 and the document is expected prior to the visitation.  Bishop John C. Nienstedt of New Ulm, Minn., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Priestly Formation, said in an interview in Rome, “I think they intend to have it out […]
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Alberta Government says Supreme Court Decision on Gay “Marriage” Rules Out Use of Notwithstanding Cl

EDMONTON, December 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Alberta’s Justice Minister, Ron Stevens, responding to the Supreme Court decision paving the way for legalization of same-sex “marriage” in Canada, said that Alberta doesn’t have legal grounds for using the notwithstanding clause to overrule the decision. Stevens said that only the federal government can decide the legal definition of marriage; provinces only enforce those laws and grant marriage licenses. “Since the court ruled the authority over same-sex marriage falls to the federal government, it is only the federal government who can invoke the notwithstanding clause to maintain the traditional definition of marriage,” Stevens […]
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Prime Minister Martin says a Country-Wide Referendum on Gay “Marriage” Unlikely

MONTREAL, December 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Responding to Alberta Premier Ralph Klein’s suggestion to hold a country-wide referendum on the same-sex “marriage” question before parliament, Prime Minister Paul Martin said it is an issue that is the responsibility of elected representatives to decide. “I think that this is an issue that Parliamentarians ought to decide,” he said, speaking to reporters before attending a brunch in his Montreal-area riding Sunday, as reported by the Canadian Press. “The courts have now given their direction. I think it’s one for Parliament and I think that Parliament ought to accept their responsibility.”  Justice Minister […]
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Senior Church of England Leader: Church Will Self-Destruct, Underground Movement Coming

LONDON, December 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Jayne Ozanne, who is departing the Anglican Church’s Archbishops’ Council after serving on it for six years, submitted a confidential document to Church leaders last week.  That document, leaked to the press, speaks of a coming “great persecution” and an “underground resistance movement being formed.”“I see a time of great persecution coming, which will drive Christianity all but underground in the West. I believe this will primarily take the form of social and economic persecution, where Christians will be ridiculed for their faith and pressurised into making it a purely private matter. Meanwhile, the […]
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Canadian Anglican Bishop Upset that Courts Won’t Force Religions to Allow Gay ‘Marriage’

VANCOUVER, December 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The controversial Canadian Anglican Bishop who bears partial responsibility for the ruckus in the Anglican Communion worldwide for his blessing of homosexual unions within his New Westminster diocese, has said he is worried about the Supreme Court opinion on homosexual ‘marriage’.  Bishop Michael Ingham is concerned about the section of the Court decision which specifies that religious officials in Canada cannot be forced by the state to perform homosexual ‘marriages’. Bishop Ingham told the media: “It means that if you’re a non-believer, you can’t discriminate against gay and lesbians, but if you’re a believer […]
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Canadian Baptist Church Decides to Revoke Licenses to Marry From Pastors who Solemnize Homosexual “M

ST JOHN, New Brunswick, December 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At a Convention Council meeting held in November, the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches, responded to a judicial decree legalizing same-sex “marriage” for Nova Scotia. The Council warned that any Baptist ministers who solemnize same-sex unions would have their licenses to perform marriages revoked. “Be it resolved that no pastor or chaplain, who is registered as authorized to solemnize marriages under the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches shall perform or assist at any same-sex marriage ceremony, and if any pastor or chaplain does, his/her authorization to perform marriages shall be revoked […]
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New Type of Adult Stem Cell Shows Exciting Similarity to Embryonic Stem Cell Flexibility

December 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A type of stem cell found in adults is proving to be similar to embryonic stem cells in flexibility. The stem cell, called a neural crest stem cell, is one that develops before birth and persists into adulthood in hair follicles. Maya Sieber-Blum, Ph.D., of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milos Grim, MD Ph.D., of Charles University Prague, and their team of researchers discovered the new type of adult stem cell and say they hope it can be used in therapeutic applications. Like all stem cells derived from a patient’s own body, neural crest stem […]
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LifeSiteNews.com Newsbytes

Senior Bush suggests that Schwarzenegger could someday become president https://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2926290   U.S. communities fail to keep ‘Christ’ in Christmas https://www.washtimes.com/national/20041209-122555-6083r.htm   How “The Passion” Rattled Hollywood https://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63321   Canadian Supreme Court decision on marriage will erode religious freedom, says Michael Coren   https://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Michael_Coren/2004/12/10/775734.html   Vatican University to Offer Courses in Satanism and Exorcism https://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7043360   Famous European Athiest now believes in God https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=315976   Pentagon Wants Women In Combat   https://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/12/9/133043.shtml   ‘Gay’ Activists Target Salvation Army Bell Ringers https://www.cwfa.org/articles/7003/CFI/freedom/index.htm   2005 Family-Friendly State Legislation https://www.cwalac.org/model/cwalac-family-friendly-legislation.pdf
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Korean Scientists Use Bone Marrow Stem Cells to Re-Grow Dead Brain Tissue

SONGEUI, December 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  Professors Rha Hyoung-kyun and Lee Jong-wook, of the medical college of the Catholic University of Korea, have discovered that adult stem cells can be implanted into damaged areas of the brain to re-build dead tissue. The researchers worked with five cerebral infarction patients who suffered severe symptoms of paralysis and speech disorder. Cerebral infarction is the formation of an area of dead tissue in the brain caused by insufficient blood flow and until the advent of stem cells, it was considered incurable. If blood flow in the brain becomes blocked it is possible for […]
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White House Backs Ten Commandments Displays

WASHINGTON, December 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The White House Wednesday urged the US Supreme Court to rule in favour of allowing courts to continue to display the Ten Commandments. In February the high court will hear the appeal of two Kentucky counties that lost a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union for displaying the Ten Commandments in their courthouses.  White House lawyer Paul Clement argued before justices Wednesday, that the Ten Commandments are displayed in a number of locations throughout the US, including the Supreme Court.  “Reproductions and representations of the Ten Commandments have been commonly employed across […]
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Lobbying of Liberal MPs Key to Possible Defeat of Canadian Gay ‘Marriage’ Law

OTTAWA, December 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With almost every member of the socialist Bloc Quebecois and NDP parties certain to vote for the Liberal government’s bill to legalize gay “marriage,” and all but four of the 99 Conservatives known to be opposed to the upcoming marriage re-definition, the main focus of lobbying by pro-family Canadians will be on influencing individual Liberal MPs across the nation. There is a slight chance they could succeed. Pro-family leaders are mindful that the 1999 defense of marriage motion passed by a whopping 216-55.  The September 16, 2003 vote on an identical motion lost by […]
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Prominent Medical Journal Slams UNICEF for Putting Children’s ‘Rights’ Over Saving Their Lives

LONDON, December 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Richard Horton, editor of the British medical journal, The Lancet, is critical of the United Nations agency for children, UNICEF, in comments published in the journal’s current issue. Horton charges the UN agency has given priority to so-called children’s rights, over its primary mandate – to save the lives of children through improved health initiatives.  Many say UNICEF director Carol Bellamy, whose final term concludes this spring, is to blame. “It is widely, if regrettably, accepted that UNICEF has lost its way during Carol Bellamy’s long term of office,” Lancet editor Horton said. “While […]
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Overturn Abortion Decision, 26 Republican Congressmen Urge Court

LINCOLN, Nebraska, December 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Twenty-six Republican members of Congress filed a friend-of-the-court brief Thursday requesting that an appeals court overturn the September decision of Nebraska judge Richard Kopf, who ruled that the ban on partial-birth abortion is unconstitutional. The US Department of Justice launched an appeal of Kopf’s decision with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Lincoln last week. U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf ruled in September that a ban on committing the grisly procedure is unconstitutional because it does not allow any exception for the so-called health of the mother.  “We are supporting the […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

U.S. Has `Confidence’ in UN’s Annan, Danforth Says   https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aNvCtLQglibo&refer=us   ‘Immaculate Contraception’ Ad Withdrawn https://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?id=2004120809050002965312&dt=20041208090500&w=RTR&coview=  Marriage on Trial: Why We Must Privilege and Burden the Traditional Marriage Bond https://www.frc.org/index.cfm?i=PL03D1&f=WU04L07   NDP MP to vote against Same-Sex Marriage: Anti-Choice Leader Layton to Crack Whip on the Issue https://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/12/09/774539.html   Anti-Choice California to Sue U.S. Over Conscience Protection Given Health Care Providers in Spending Bill https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a3IGdOpUdPvA&refer=us New Brunswick Parents: Sex-ed course links to porn https://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/12/07/771321-cp.html
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New Zealand Acknowledges Same-Sex Unions

WELLINGTON, December 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New Zealand’s parliament mirrored Canada’s Supreme Court Thursday by voting in new legislation recognising civil unions for same-sex couples. The new law grants any unmarried couple—same-sex or heterosexual—all the rights and privileges of marriage, including the right to adopt and retain custody of children, as well as pension and taxation benefits. National MP Nick Smith called the bill a gay “marriage” bill dressed up “in drag,” according to a BBC report.  Brian Connell, also an MP from the National Party, said: “The fact around this bill is that it’s about homosexual marriage. And the […]
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Italian Bishops Urge Resistance To Public Campaign to Remove Christmas Crèches

ROME, December 9, 2004 (CWNews.comLifeSiteNews.com) –  Cardinal Camillo Ruini has urged all Italians to resist a public campaign to eliminate Christmas crèches, or nativity scenes,  from public places, dismissing the argument that such displays might be offensive to non-Christians.  Arguing that the complaints of a few people are being “exaggerated—much too much,” the cardinal said that by removing the traditional Christmas displays from public schools, authorities would be acting on the basis of a “radically bad” approach, which could have serious repercussions for schoolchildren.  Cardinal Ruini was entering into a heated public debate that began last week, when one Italian […]
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President Bush Signs Federal Conscience Bill into Law

WASHINGTON, December 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday, President Bush signed an appropriations bill containing language that would protect hospitals, medical professionals and health insurance providers from being forced to participate in or pay for abortions. The language insures that state and local governments that are recipients of federal dollars from the Health and Human Services Department cannot discriminate against hospitals, medical professionals and health insurance providers that do not perform abortions, pay for abortions, provide insurance coverage for abortions or make abortion referrals.  Wisconsin Right to Life was very pleased with the new legislation.  “We deeply appreciate President Bush’s efforts […]
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Protection for Religious Freedom in Homosexual ‘Marriage’ Legislation “Very Weak”

OTTAWA, December 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian Supreme Court opinion giving the proposed Liberal legislation on same-sex ‘marriage’ the green light has “very weak” protection for freedom of religion, according to Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.  Reacting to the Supreme Court decision today, Harper noted that the Court has made assurances for freedom of religion beyond what is covered in the legislation.  The draft legislation states only that “Nothing in this Act affects the freedom of officials of religious groups to refuse to perform marriages that are not in accordance with their religious beliefs.”  However, many questions regarding religious freedom […]
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Canadian Pro-Family Groups Respond To Supreme Court Reference Decision

OTTAWA, December 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Most Canadian pro-family groups have strongly criticized the Supreme Court today for its response to the Liberal government’s reference to the Court on its not yet formally introduced nor voted upon legislation to allow homosexual ‘marriage’.  Campaign Life Coalition President Jim Hughes said, “The Supreme Court has chosen to direct government legislation rather than telling Parliament that they should draft, debate and vote on such legislation before the Courts speak.” Hughes called the Prime Minister to task for trying to “stifle legitimate debate by having the Court rule before draft legislation has even been […]
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Canada’s Supreme Court Gives Its Blessing to Homosexual ‘Marriage’ – Legislative Fight Next

OTTAWA, December 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Supreme Court of Canada handed down its unanimous 9-0 opinion this morning on the reference questions on same-sex ‘marriage’ put forward by the Liberal Government of Canada.  The decision gives the legal go-ahead for the government’s stated intention to introduce same-sex marriage legislation. It does not, however, require the government to introduce such legislation, as many had expected might have been the result if the mostly activist judges answered the government’s fourth reference question.  The Court judges rendered their opinion that the federal government has exclusive control over determining the legal capacity to […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

U.S. Battle for Conscience Protection Isn’t Over https://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63256   The War Against Christmas by Time and Newsweek – Phase 2   https://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/12/8/85728.shtml   Vancouver Mom wants justice for her unborn child killed in crash https://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/story.html?id=cfb72db6-c720-4e94-bb70-d724cdc4cada   Annan Refuses to Stop ‘Carrying On’ at U.N.; Congressman Suggests Jail https://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/12/7/141602.shtml   The World Unites at the UN to Support the Family – except for EU https://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU04L05&f=PG03I03   Pornography is Anything But a ‘Victimless Crime’   https://www.cwfa.org/articles/6990/CWA/pornography/index.htm   One in four Brits buy broadband Internet access for porn https://www.thisislondon.com/til/jsp/modules/Article/print.jsp?itemId=15175667   Legal Expert: Forced Secularization of Christmas by Schools Violates Students’ Rights https://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/72004e.asp   […]
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Ruling Awaited in New Brunswick Morgentaler Case

FREDERICTON, New Brunswick, December 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The New Brunswick Court of Appeal reserved judgment Monday on the issue of allowing a coalition of pro-life groups to intervene as a third party in Morgentaler’s lawsuit against the Province of New Brunswick. Morgentaler has sued the province for refusing to fund his private abortion clinic in Fredericton.  In April, Justice David Russell of the Court of Queen’s Bench ruled against a motion by the Coalition of Life and Health to intervene. Coalition members include Campaign Life Coalition New Brunswick, New Brunswick Right to Life, Physicians for Life, Focus on the […]
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Canada May be Mentioned in US Report of Countries Involved in Human Trafficking

OTTAWA, December 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New evidence on the Sgro exotic dancer visas scandal has caught the attention of the U.S. State Department which annually evaluates countries in its “Trafficking in Persons” report.  The Irish Anti-Trafficking Coalition (IATC) suggests that allegations that Canada turned a blind eye to trafficking of juveniles from Romania and links to organized crime oblige Prime Minister Paul Martin to announce a public inquiry.  Groups in the United States and Europe, including the IATC, have informed the U.S. State Department they are leading a group that will develop a shadow Trafficking In Persons report for […]
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Canadian Justice Minister Asked to Resign Over Alleged Foul Play with Supreme Court Marriage Ruling

MONTREAL, December 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Quebec Catholic Lawyers Association (Association des juristes catholiques du Québec) has written Prime Minister Paul Martin asking for the resignation of Justice Minister Irwin Cotler.  The lawyer’s association is accusing Cotler of unduly influencing the Supreme Court of Canada in its decision on the same-sex ‘marriage’ question.  The Supreme Court has announced that it will issue a ruling on the question Thursday, December 9, 2004.  However, last week Cotler announced that he was quite confident that the Court would endorse homosexual ‘marriage’ and promised to introduce a bill as early as January of […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

Melbourne bishop regrets politically-correct Christmas celebrations https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=2650   Why Democrats Will Continue Losing the ‘Moral Values’ Vote https://www.cnsnews.com/Commentary.asp   New lawmaker proposes death certificates for all abortions https://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/12/07/build/state/65-abortion-bill.inc   Where the Right Went Wrong: An Interview with Pat Buchanan https://www.godspy.com/reviews/Where-the-Right-Went-Wrong-An-Interview-with-Pat-Buchanan-by-Godspy.cfm   Christian Doctor Warns Against Radical Human Hybrid Research https://www.crosswalk.com/news/1300171.html   Reporters Trail Badly (Again) in Annual Poll on Honesty and Ethics https://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000732750   Abortion and Child Abuse – Part 3 https://www.theconservativevoice.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1401   ‘Mr. Bean’ Defends Right to Offend Religions https://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/07/natkin07.xml   Two Russian Teenagers Have Been Sentenced To Correctional Labour For Strangling A Severely Paralysed Woman Who, They Say, […]
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Faith-Based Post-Abortion Counselling Helps Women Recover from Experience

TAMPA, Florida, December 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New research published in the journal Research on Social Work Practice has found that faith-based post-abortion counselling is effective for alleviating the post-traumatic stress and shame often experienced by women after an abortion.  The Elliot institute reported on the findings, revealing that women who sought out support groups with a faith-based dimension improved significantly. Of the 35 women involved in the study, more than 80 percent said that “their religious beliefs and the spiritual intervention played a strong to very strong role in the group.”  The scientists, affiliated with the University of South […]
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Vatican Delegate to UN says States Must Support the Family for International Security

NEW YORK, December 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Year of the Family, representatives of the Vatican addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on the issue of security of nations. The Apostolic Nuncio to the UN connected the threats to the family to threats to international security or peace, in the language of the UN.  Archbishop Celestino Migliore offered the strengthening of the family as an answer to what in UN-speak are called “hard threats” to peace such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and “soft threats” like unemployment, poverty, […]
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Vatican Officials Warn of Growing “Christianophobia”

ROME, December 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the world of human rights advocacy, anti-Semitism and the more recently coined, “Islamophobia” are the subject of hundreds of books, international conventions, even treaties and agreements between governments. But the anti-Christian sentiments that have grown up in the years since the second world war, have often passed without comment or censure. The phenomenon is now being brought out in the open in the international realm by the Vatican’s foreign minister Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, who gave a speech at a conference in Rome. Lajolo told reporters that the Vatican is attempting to bring the […]
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Order CLC Gourmet Christmas Cakes

TORONTO, December 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Campaign Life Coalition is well into its annual Christmas gourmet fruitcake sale. This annual, biggest fundraising sales program for Canada’s national pro-life political organization involves the sales of thousands of these cakes specially baked for CLC.  Each cake is slowly baked and aged to perfection. Choice fruits and pecans, creamery butter and quality ingredients are carefully blended according to a traditional home-made recipe creating a rich, delicious fruitcake.  Bulk sales have been taking place at churches, schools and other organizations. There are still many cakes available for additional such sales in central and southern […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

Stem-cell ‘miracle’ thriving https://www.canada.com/news/story.html?id=3bbd1a86-7c8e-4c8d-8510-0282e75ccc3c   Chinese Doctor attacked over ‘miracle cures’ based on aborted foetuses https://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/05/wchin05.xml   Embryonic stem cell activity around the nation https://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2931284   SRS upsets fetus-insurance advocates   https://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/189449   Medical tourism to India for abortions https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/946798.cms   Most Americans believe the virgin birth is literally true, NEWSWEEK poll finds https://msnbc.msn.com/id/6650997/site/newsweek/  China Fears a Baby Bust https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-onechild6dec06,1,2781573.story?coll=la-headlines-world   Pro-choicers told to rethink https://washingtontimes.com/national/20041206-120818-4147r.htm   Leading Psychiatrist Warns Internet May Be Fuelling A Rise In Suicide Pacts https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4061623.stm   TURN OFF the news when children around, stresses New York child psychiatrist   https://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/12/05/766157.html   New Zealand woman almost […]
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Canadian Food Inspection Regulations Shutting Down Church Potluck and Bake Sale Fundraisers

TORONTO, December 6, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – More stringent application of Canadian government food inspection guidelines in recent months has forced cancellations of church fundraising potluck dinners and bake sales across the country, according to a December Saturday Night magazine report. The fundraisers are in many cases the only source of funding that keeps some small churches from closing.  The controversy erupted in rural Ontario in June, when an Ontario food inspector shut down a vendor at the 12th annual Rosy Rhubarb Festival in Shedden. A person selling pies was told to desist, because the kitchen where the pies had been […]
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MuchMusic Teams Up with Planned Parenthood to Create Sex-Ed Infomercial

TORONTO, December 6, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Addressing what Planned Parenthood considers a deficiency in quantity and quality of sex-education taught by schools, the militant abortion rights promoter has teamed up with a Canadian television music video channel to produce a sex education “public service announcement” set to debut today. MuchMusic’s “Groovy New Feelings” Broadway-style program features a dancing penis and vagina, “designed to capture the attention of teens and young adults,” and to promote “the availability of much-needed direct information resources and dialogue options,” according to a MuchMusic press release.  “You’ve got urges, yeah, That’s okay man, it’s totally natural […]
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Japan Turning into a “Society without Children”

TOKYO, December 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A record number of Japanese women are unmarried and childless, leading the country perilously close to a childless society. The country has actually coined a new term to describe the phenomenon – ‘shoshika,’ which means “a society without children,” according to a BBC report.  The population, if current trends continue, will be reduced by 20 percent by mid-century, with nearly 50 percent of those being elderly—an “impossible” situation for maintaining the health and pension systems.  Women in the country are reticent to marry, blaming employer and social expectations, such as long working hours for […]
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Pope Admonishes US Bishops to Teach Laymen to Form Conscience According to Church Teaching

ROME, December 6, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope John Paul II, in meetings with some US bishops, said that the office of the bishop is one in which there is a ‘clear duty’ to instruct and encourage the laity to adhere to Catholic teaching “in every temporal affair.” The Pope, quoting the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, said, “there is no human activity – even of the temporal order – that can be withdrawn from God’s dominion.”  Now that the electoral dust has settled, some bishops are saying that the issue of doctrinal adherence among the laity is not concluded. […]
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Canadian Conservative Leader Harper Decries Lack of National Conservative Paper in Canada

OTTAWA, December 6, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The smashing success of true-blue conservative George W. Bush and Fox media has their wannabe conservative Canadian counterparts spinning wheels. Last week Canada’s National Post, which – except for a short while after its launch – has so utterly disappointed conservative Canadians with its frequent liberal bias, slammed Canadian Conservative Leader Stephen Harper for not being enough like Bush.  Responding in a letter to the editor published in the Post today, Harper, who has himself greatly disappointed conservatives with a lackluster performance on most things conservative, blasted the Post for not being a conservative […]
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Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Testimonial from Russia: Spinal Cord Injuries Reversed

MOSCOW, December 6, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Russian news agency Novosti reported Monday that Russian scientists have succeeded in treating six individuals bed-ridden with spinal cord damage using non-embryonic stem cells derived from the patient’s own nasal tissues. All six are learning to walk again. Scientists at the Neurology Clinic of Russia’s Blokhin Oncology Research Center removed neural stem cells from the lining of the nose, which were then grown in tissue culture. The resulting cells were injected into damaged areas of the spine, re-growing damaged spinal segments one at a time.  “No one has done anything like that before […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes – Dec 2, 2004

“Merry Christmas” to stay on Denver city hall https://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2572427,00.html   Principal Apologizes for Satire on Political Correctness Against Prayer https://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/12/3/100549.shtml   Pro-Life Dems Seek Better Seat at Table https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,140347,00.html   Big Biotech’s Voracious Appetite   https://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/927njvqm.asp   Noxious Nitschke: Euthanasia advocates work to make suicide easy https://www.nationalreview.com/smithw/smith200411150826.asp   Russia, China, Britain Rally to Back Annan   https://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/12/3/103238.shtml   Bush stands by ‘gays’ in military policy https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41741   Liberal professors routinely harass conservative students https://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110005976   Today’s female stars reveal 59% of their bodies to media flashbulbs – up from only 7% in the 1970s https://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=7d32b2ac-9020-44ed-b827-bbcdc037150c   NY School Bus Driver […]
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New Zealand Family Group Opposes Civil-Union Bill

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, December 2, 2004 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) – Family Life International, New Zealand has released a statement warning that the Civil Union Bill, which would give legal recognition to same-sex unions, has been rushed toward an early vote in order to take advantage of public ignorance about the practical results of the legislation.  The New Zealand parliament was scheduled debate the measure on December 2, with a vote expected by December 7. But Family Life urged a delay, saying that the legislation is based on inaccurate claims, raises questions of conflict of interest, and could have an impact that “will […]
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Christian Names Not Allowed on Azerbaijani Birth Certificates

Baku, Azerbaijan Dec. 2 (CWNews.com/LifeSite) – Authorities in Azerbaijan are refusing to issue birth certificates for children with Christian names, the Forum 18 News Service reports. Without birth certificates, the children are unable to enroll in school, receive medical service, or obtain passports.  Government officials claim that the public opposes the use of Christian names, preferring traditional Azerbaijani names. “We have letters from village residents and 98 percent are opposed to registering Christian names,” local registration official Aybeniz Kalashova told Forum 18. Azerbaijan is more than 90 percent Muslim. When questioned by Forum 18 as to why parents should be […]
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International Conference Calls on Muslims and Others to Become More Involved in Protecting the Famil

NEW YORK, December 3, 2004 (C-Fam.org/LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute reports today on the two-day governmental conference in Doha, Qatar that ended on Tuesday with a document endorsing the traditional family as the foundation of society. The Doha Declaration, says C-Fam, reaffirms that the “family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to the widest possible protection and assistance by society and the State,“and calls upon all nations to “uphold, preserve and defend the institution of marriage.”  The Doha International Conference for the Family was hosted by the State of Qatar […]
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Doctorate Degree Awarded for Thesis Defending Pedophilia

LONDON, December 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Richard Yuill, awarded a doctorate degree from Glasgow University this week, argued in his doctoral thesis that sex between children and adults is sometimes a positive experience for the children. The assumption has been challenged by sex abuse experts, who say the work could add fuel to the arguments of pedophiles who say that their abusive acts are consensual, and that they are not harming anyone.  “The conclusions are that in such relationships I think you’ve got the good, the bad and the ugly, and that’s where I stand on that,” Yuill said, as […]
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Liberal Canadian Senator Tables Bill to Criminalize Spanking

OTTAWA, December 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Liberal Senator is tabling a bill that would make spanking by parents a criminal offense. Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette has proposed a Senate bill that would remove the defence currently contained in section 43 of the Criminal Code that reasonable corporal punishment by parents and teachers does not constitute assault. According to Hervieux-Payette, in the past other bills to criminalize corporal punishment have failed because of the effectiveness of a strong opposition party. Now, however, the Liberal government is in a coalition with the socialist NDP, which has long supported the idea of such […]
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Scottish Research “Discovers” Morning-After Pill Does Not Reduce Abortion Rate

DUNDEE, Scotland, December 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New research has again supported the position of the pro-life movement with the ‘discovery’ that wide availability of the Morning-After pill (MAP) does nothing to reduce the rate of abortion. Dr. Sally Wyke, of Dundee University and director of the Scottish School of Primary Care, said, “Enthusiasm for distributing advanced supplies of emergency contraception may be misplaced as a strategy to reduce unintended pregnancy in the UK.” Women, it turns out, fear being seen as immoral when asking for the abortifacients from doctors. In recent years, social workers, journalists and legislators were shocked […]
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Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Resurrected as US Justice Department Appeals Negative Ruling

LINCOLN, Nebraska, December 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US Department of Justice has launched an appeal of one partial-birth abortion ban ruling, arguing that the judge ignored evidence collected by Congress before passing the ban in 2003.  The judgement handed down by Lincoln’s U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf in September said the ban on committing the grisly procedure is unconstitutional, because it does not allow any exception for the so-called health of the mother.  The Justice Department appealed the decision Tuesday to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Lincoln.  “The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 prohibits … […]
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Canadian Government Indicates Religious Freedom Dependent on Supreme Court

OTTAWA, December 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian government appears to be leaving a critical call on religious freedom in Canada completely up to the decision of nine unelected and unaccountable Supreme Court Justices. In the reference decision on same-sex ‘marriage’ to be handed down Thursday, the Supreme Court will rule on whether constitutional protection of freedom of religion will spare priests and other religious leaders from being forced to perform homosexual ‘marriages’. An exchange in the House of Commons today exemplified the Liberal government’s abdication of its responsibility to actively protect the freedom of religion that has existed in […]
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John Danforth Resigns as US Ambassador to UN – Pro-Life Replacement Sought

WASHINGTON, December 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Bush administration has most impressively demonstrated its commitment to the right to life and the dignity of the family through its actions at the United Nations.  One key player in that development is resigning. John Danforth, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, has resigned from his post and pro-life Americans and others around the world will be looking to President Bush to replace him with another principled, pro-life, pro-family ambassador.  Danforth, 68, said in his letter of resignation that he was going to be spending more time with his wife.  News reports […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

U.N. Rejects Call for Annan’s Resignation   https://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_ANNAN_UNDER_FIRE?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME   No decrease in U.S. HIV cases in last ten years https://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/12/02/hiv.infections.ap/index.html   Macy’s stores boycotted for replacing ‘Christmas’  https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41700   Kofi Annan Circles the Wagons   https://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/12/2/132527.shtml   Bishops Again Postpone Statement on Catholics in Public Life https://www.ncregister.com/current/1128lead3.htm   Meteorologist Likens Fear of Global Warming to ‘Religious Belief’  https://www.cnsnews.com//ViewCulture.asp?Page=Culturearchive
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Private Members Bill on Gay ‘Marriage’ Introduced to Counter Pro-Family Proposals

OTTAWA, December 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – While Canada’s Liberal government dithers over the legal definition of marriage, homosexual activists in Parliament carry forward with their plans. A private members’ bill has been introduced by Bill Siksay, who replaced the disgraced Svend Robinson in his Burnaby Douglas riding, which “modernizes the definition of marriage to include same-sex spouses.” The act, introduced in Parliament for first reading, November 24, proposed to change the definition of ‘spouse’ in subsection 2(1) of the Divorce Act to read, “either of two persons who are married to each other.” It specifically proposes to amend the existing […]
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UK Study Finds 43% of Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals Have a Mental Disorder

LONDON, December 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A study published in the current issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry has revealed that 43% of gays, lesbians and bisexuals have a mental disorder. The study carried out by the Imperial College in London surveyed 1285 respondents from these groups.  Mental problems included anxiety, sleep disturbance, panic attacks, depressive moods or thoughts, problems with memory or concentration and compulsive behaviour or obsessive thoughts. The researchers noted that there is a dearth of research into the mental health of gay men, lesbians and bisexual men and women in the UK. The study found […]
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British Man Receives Permission from High Court to take Wife to Switzerland to be Killed

LONDON, December 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – London’s High Court said Tuesday, that it was not a matter for a judge to decide if a man has a right to have his critically ill wife euthanized in a Switzerland ‘clinic.’ “I have decided to discharge the injunction,” Justice Hedley said in his ruling.  The ruling is the culmination of a legal battle waged by “Mr. Z.” to be allowed to transport his wife to a country where she could be legally put to death. “Mrs. Z.” suffers from a terminal degenerative brain disease.  The judge said that it was for police […]
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Governor Bush Files US Supreme Court Appeal to Save Life of Terri Schiavo

CLEARWATER, Florida, December 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Florida Governor Jed Bush has appealed to the US Supreme Court to save the life of brain-disabled Terri Schaivo. She is the victim in an ongoing battle being waged between Terri’s estranged husband Michael Schaivo who wants to euthanize his wife and her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler who have been heroically battling to keep her alive.  The Florida Supreme Court ruled in September that Gov. Bush and the Florida Legislature overstepped its mandate when it created Terri’s Law to prevent the euthanasia of brain-disabled Terri Schiavo last year. The emergency measure prevented […]
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Bush’s Halifax Speech Includes Reference to “the dignity of every human life”

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, December 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – None of the media covering President Bush’s spirited address to the Canadian people in Halifax yesterday seem to have picked up on the president’s inclusion of what is normally considered a pro-life phrase in his speech.  About one-third of the way into his speech the president referred to Canada-U.S. ties as going “deeper than trade”. Bush stated “Our community of values reaches back centuries. Canada and the U.S. may have disagreed on the wisdom of separating from the Crown, but we’ve always agreed on the great principles of liberty derived from our […]
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Woman wins 5-Year Legal Battle To See Court File on Abortion She Obtained as a Minor

ANN ARBOR, MI, December 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – When she was 15 years old and suffering from a mental illness that required her to take prescribed medication, FG found she was pregnant.  Instead of telling either one of her parents, she went to a Washtenaw County Probate Court Judge for a judicial bypass to get an abortion without informing or getting her parents’ permission. In February 2000, a few years after her abortion, FG obtained the help of the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm, to formally request her court file regarding the abortion. FG wanted […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes

Europe’s Population to fall 100 Million in 50 years https://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1381238,00.html   Senator Wants UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Step Down https://www.cnsnews.com//ViewPolitics.asp?Page=Politicsarchive
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Adult Stem Cells from Muscle Tissue to Cure Incontinence

INNSBRUCK, Austria December 1, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Doctors at the Medical University of Innsbruck revealed that stem cells derived from a patient’s own muscle tissue could successfully treat urinary stress incontinence.  The research team followed the progress of 20 women for one year. Eighteen of the 20 were still symptom-free one year after the fifteen minute procedure was performed on them. The process involves injecting stem cells derived from a patient’s muscle tissue from the arm, then culturing the cells for six weeks using a patented process to allow them to transform into muscle and connective tissue cells. The stem […]
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Liberal Bishops Bash Gibson’s Passion as “A Modern Version of Notorious Medieval Passion Plays”

BALTIMORE, December 1, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At a November 29th meeting of the U.S. Catholic-Jewish Consultation Committee, a group of Catholic bishops condemned the movie, The Passion of the Christ, calling it a “modern version of the notorious medieval Passion Plays.” The release of Mel Gibson’s movie earlier this year sparked near hysterical reactions by the American Civil Liberties Association and the Anti-Defamation League. This was called “understandable concern,” in the bishops’ Nov 29 statement. While the bishops present at the Baltimore meeting – William Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore, Arthur J. Seratelli of Paterson New Jersey, John J. Nevins of […]
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Canadian Supreme Court To Release Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Ruling December 9

OTTAWA, December 1, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Supreme Court will release its response to the Liberal government’s marriage reference on December 9, 2004, at 9:45 a.m.  The announcement came after only two months of deliberation. Most analysts expected at least a three month period before a decision was finalized.  Spokeswoman for Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, Denise Rudnicki, said the Liberal government will review the decision before deciding how best to implement it. She said that legislation could be tabled by early 2005.  See previous LifeSiteNews.com reports Canadian Government to Seek Supreme Court Opinion on Homosexual ‘Marriage’ Law https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/jul/03070702.html   Supreme […]
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European Parliamentarian, Vatican Cardinal Comment on Threat of AIDS to Women

December 1, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – World AIDS day is dedicated to women this year, and it has been noted by Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, “The impact of HIV/AIDS on women aggravates inequality and impedes progress toward the universality of rights.  The more the disease spreads among women, who are the nucleus of the family and of communities, the greater the risk of social devastation.”  Barragan made the comments in a message for World AIDS day on behalf of the Council for Health Care Ministry that oversees the Vatican’s support of the […]
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Canada Abruptly Ends Special Visas for Exotic Dancers after Inquiries into Underage Strippers

OTTAWA, December 1, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Today in the House of Commons, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan announced an abrupt end to the Canadian scheme of arranging visas specifically for exotic dancers, or strippers, which are used to fill positions at strip clubs in Canada.  Those clubs, it has been acknowledged even by club owners, are notorious for forced back-room prostitution work.  Weeks of House of Commons questioning directed at Immigration Minister Judy Sgro for her issuance of an exotic dancer visa to one of her campaign workers from Romania has left an opening for anti-trafficking NGO’s to address serious […]
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Maltese Prime Minister and Bishop’s Conference Reject United Nations Abortion Push

VALLETTA, December 1, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A United Nations committee recommendation to Malta to legalize abortion has been rejected by Maltese Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi, and condemned by the Roman Catholic Bishops of Malta. LifeSiteNews.com first revealed the UN directive to Malta yesterday.  The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in official recommendations to Malta, released November 26 said, “The Committee urges the State party to review its legislation on abortion and consider exceptions to the general prohibition of abortion for cases of therapeutic abortions and when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.”  […]
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