Commentary on August 29 News Reports

Dear Readers,   John McCain certainly caught everyone off guard with his astonishing choice of Sarah Palin to be his vice-presidential running mate. A brilliant choice and quite frankly, in the opinion of many, the very best he could have made. It’s just that nobody thought Palin was available for the job or that McCain would have seriously considered her.   It’s a new ballgame now. Palin is not only solidly pro-life and pro-family but is also one very attractive, personable, bright and gutsy woman. See her great speech while it is still on line at https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26460643#26457563  (starts at around […]
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Florida Schools Charged with Violating Students’ Religious Freedom by Allowing Student Prayer at Gra

By Kathleen Gilbert PENSACOLA, FL, August 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Parents representing students who feel their religious rights have been violated by school policy have filed a lawsuit against Santa Rosa County school officials for exerting “subtle coercive pressures” to accept their personal religious beliefs by creating prayerful environments at official functions. The American Civil Liberties Union press release said that the defendants will be on trial for violating the religious freedom of their students by “promoting and endorsing prayers at graduation ceremonies and other school events, of sponsoring religious ceremonies and holding official school events at churches.”  Prosecutors allege […]
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Pro-life, Pro-family Leaders Praise McCain’s Choice of Pro-Life Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for VP Runni

By Kathleen Gilbert DAYTON, OH, August 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Republican John McCain has picked first-term Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his surprise choice for a running mate, in a move hailed by conservative leaders as “absolutely brilliant” and “electrifying” conservative voters, especially women. Gov. Sarah Palin, known for her traditional and unabashedly pro-life and pro-family views, is the mother of five children, including her youngest boy, Trig, who has Down Syndrome.  She is now only the second female vice-presidential candidate in history and the first for the Republican Party. Gov. Palin had been considered a wild-card for a running […]
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Homosexual Activists Target California Businesses That Support Pro-marriage Proposition

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski CALIFORNIA, August 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An upstart homosexual rights group in California has begun to target not only individuals, but also companies to which they are connected, if they have contributed money to committees that support Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to ban same-sex “marriage” in California. The Wall Street Journal reports that Californians Against Hate, a new homosexual-rights group, intends to identify and publicize corporate connections to individuals that make significant donations. Fred Karger, who runs the homosexual group, said he will compile and publish a list which includes the donor’s name, employer and […]
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Obama Acceptance Speech Calls for Change, Brushes Over Abortion, Same-Sex “Marriage”

By Kathleen Gilbert DENVER, CO, August 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama took full advantage of his historical position as the first black presidential candidate in his acceptance speech last night, which hinted, among familiar preaching for “change”, that the event was on a par with Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s “I have a dream” speech exactly 45 years before. “The change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington,” he told supporters. “Change happens because the American people demand it – because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new […]
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Comments on August 28 LifeSiteNews

Dear Readers,   Nancy Pelosi yesterday, Ted Kennedy at the Convention the day before and now our stories on Joe Biden today, yesterday and Tuesday. These should make it clear that, despite the wonderful statements by prominent US bishops in recent days, pro-abortion Catholic US politicians are not going to actually understand the church’s teaching on abortion until the bishops use more than words, words, to uphold truth and charity.   Mind you, strong words are a first necessary part of the process. But then, and the hour is very late, over 30 years late – the bishops must prove […]
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Democrat’s Biden On his pro-abortion stance: “My Views are Totally Consistent with Catholic Social D

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden was blasted on Wednesday, in the wake of Nancy Pelosi’s much derided remarks to the same effect, for claiming that his radically pro-abortion stance is “totally consistent” with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Biden made the remarks in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) in August of last year, which has received renewed attention in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding Pelosi’s remarks. While discussing his desire to attract Catholics to the Democratic Party, Sen. Biden said, “My views are totally […]
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Priests for Life Nine Week Novena Prayer for Election Begins September 1st

Washington, DC, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, the largest Catholic organization devoted exclusively to ending abortion, announced a nine-week “Novena of Prayer” starting on Monday, September 1, to prepare for our national elections. The Novena concludes on Monday, November 3, the day before Election Day. The prayer, in English and Spanish, can be found at www.PrayerCampaign.org and is interdenominational.  Priests for Life is asking pastors to promote it in their churches, and families to pray it together. “The intentions of this prayer are that citizens participate in an active and informed way […]
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Two More Bishops Make 8 Who Have Come Out against Pelosi’s ‘Catholic’ Abortion Theology

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two more bishops have released statements condemning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s widely publicized claim that the Catholic faith could support abortion. Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs and Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh join the other six Catholic bishops who have already corrected Pelosi’s false claims, made during an appearnace on NBC’s Meet the Press, that when life begins has been “an issue of controversy” throughout the history of the Church and that, therefore, the Catholic faith can support abortion. Bishop Sheridan warned Catholics in his statement Tuesday […]
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Canadian MPs Affirm Continued Support for C-484 – Unborn Victims of Crime Bill

By John Jalsevac OTTAWA, ON, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Following the surprise move of Conservative Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to introduce legislation that could, in effect, kill Bill C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime bill, a group of MPs have expressed their continued support for C-484. The legislation proposed by Nicholson, on behalf of the Conservative Party, would add the fact of a woman’s pregnancy to the list of ‘aggravating factors’ which must be considered when sentencing criminals who have perpetrated a violent crime against a pregnant woman. The bill would not, however, recognize the individual life of the […]
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McCain Himself Accuses Obama of Courting Infanticide

By John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The mainstream media has yet to notice, but Senator McCain last week directly accused Barack Obama of courting infanticide.  While the pro-life movement in the nation has been on the issue for weeks, McCain himself delivered the punch line in his radio address for August 23. McCain noted Obama’s vote against the Illinois version of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which McCain described as a “law to require medical care for babies who survive abortions.”  McCain added to that description: “living, breathing babies whom Senator Obama described as, quote, ‘previable.’” […]
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National Right to Life calls GOP Platform “Strongest Ever” on Life Issues

WASHINGTON, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the Democratic Party officially nominated pro-abortion Senator Barack Obama for president and pro-abortion Senator Joe Biden for vice-president during the third day of their convention in Denver yesterday, the Republican Party Platform Committee, meeting in Minneapolis, adopted the strongest and most explicit support for life ever expressed by a major political party. “We applaud the Republican Party, and especially the members of the platform committee representing grassroots pro-life Republicans across the country, for making such a strong and unequivocal stand supporting life at all stages,” said National Right to Life Political Director Karen Cross […]
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Canada’s Human Rights Commissions a Threat to Academic Freedom: US Academic Elites

By Hilary White OTTAWA, August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canada is a “problematic” destination for a conference on political thought because of the predilection of its Human Rights Commissions (HRC) for squashing freedom of expression says a number of American intellectuals. The group of U.S. academics is circulating a petition asking the American Political Science Association (APSA) not to hold its annual convention in Toronto next year for fear that some of its members will be subject to human rights prosecutions if they speak or write about controversial subjects. “Our belief is that most Americans – even APSA members – […]
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Majority on Mexican Supreme Court Endorse Constitutionality of Abortion Law

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman MEXICO CITY, August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A majority of justices serving on the Supreme Court of Mexico have now stated their support for the constitutionality of Mexico City’s abortion legislation, which depenalizes abortion on demand up to the 12th week of gestation. At publication time, seven of the eleven justices had indicated that they would vote in favor of the law.  Only four such votes were necessary to sustain it. Members of the socialist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) in the nation’s Chamber of Deputies celebrated the anticipated verdict and predicted that abortion would […]
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Pro-life Volunteer Allegedly Assaulted as Group Unfurls “World’s Largest” Sign Overlooking Democrati

By John Jalsevac DENVER, CO, August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Tuesday American Right to Life made a world record attempt by erecting a 530-foot tall and 666-foot wide pro-life sign overlooking Denver, where the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is currently taking place. One of the pro-life volunteers who helped erect the sign told LifeSiteNews today that in the process he was assaulted by a local man who was angered by the giant pro-life display. The message – claimed by American RTL to be the world’s largest sign – initially appeared with three 160-foot tall, bright yellow letters, D-N-C, stacked […]
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13th Canadian Bishop Publicly Denounces Morgentaler Order of Canada

By Tim Waggoner WINNIPEG, August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A month and a half after the Order of Canada was awarded to prolific abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler, Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg has issued a statement to Governor General Michelle Jean condemning the decision.  The nomination of Morgentaler, slated as an attempt to label the abortion issue as non-existent in Canada, backfired on abortion activists after it stirred up a heated national discussion on abortion. In releasing his statement Archbishop Weisgerber joins numerous MPs, bishops and Canadians who have already fervently protested the July 1st decision. Several members of the […]
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Pelosi’s Theologizing on Abortion is a Repeat of Biden’s Own Quotes on Meet the Press

By John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The August 24 Meet the Press interview with Nancy Pelosi which has received condemnation from Catholic leaders around the nation is little more than a repeat of Biden’s own comments on Meet the Press last year.  The massive reaction from the Catholic hierarchy against Pelosi’s theologizing on abortion (see coverage: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082601.html ) should also be applied to Biden. At issue is Pelosi’s assertion that the Catholic Church did not have a solid position against abortion. On when life begins, she said: “I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this […]
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McCain: “If I Am President, Advancing the Cause of Life Will Not Be Above My Pay Grade”

WASHINGTON, August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a radio address Saturday, Senator McCain took Barack Obama to task over his unwillingness to defend the life of children born alive after abortion attempts. Key quotes from the address follow: The week began with a debate of sorts between Senator Obama and me at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. In case you missed it, the discussion yielded the line of the week, and maybe even of the campaign, when Pastor Rick Warren asked my opponent a very serious question. He wanted to know at what point, in my opponent’s view, does […]
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Pelosi Spokeswoman About-face: Catholic Church “Clear” on Life Teaching After All – But Catholics Ne

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A spokeswoman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the speaker’s position as a “pro-abortion Catholic”, not because the Church is unclear on when life begins, as earlier stated, but because Catholics routinely contravene “clear Catholic teaching” against abortion. In a statement praising Pelosi’s appreciation for “the sanctity of the family,” Brenda Daly, speaking for Pelosi, said, “While Catholic teaching is clear that life begins at conception, many Catholics do not ascribe to that view.” In the controversial interview on NBC’s Meet The Press that spawned Daly’s statement, Pelosi had said,  “The […]
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Round Up – All You Need to Know about the Democratic National Convention

By Tim Waggoner DENVER, August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com)  DNC begins with denunciation of abortion The first “official event” of the 2008 Democratic Convention featured Pentecostal preacher Charles E. Blake of the Church of God in Christ, who took to the pulpit of an Interfaith Gathering that opened the convention. Blake unequivocally denounced abortion, saying God could not be pleased with millions of lives being ended by elective abortion. President of the pro-life National Clergy Council, Rev. Rob Schenck, who was present at the event, said, “This is an amazing development. Bishop Blake was crystal clear in condemning abortion. There was […]
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Letters to the Editor for Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Dear editor, Although I am not a Catholic, (I am an evangelical Protestant) I have had several discussions with some Catholic friends on their support of abortion and homosexual marriages. “I can’t understand,” I tell them, “why you just don’t leave your Catholic faith behind, instead of continuing to call yourself Catholics even though you mock Catholic teaching.” They never seem to give me a straight answer and quite frankly I don’t understand their stand. Thomas Corbett  Kingston, Nova Scotia ___________________________________________   Dear LifeSiteNews Team, You are doing a fantastic job! All the tips and information help me be more […]
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Pro-Life Billboard Vandalized with “Joker” Face Paint and Slogan: “Why So Serious?”

FREEPORT, Illinois, August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A billboard showing a baby’s face and the words “Abortion: The Ultimate Child Abuse” was vandalized in the style of Batman: The Dark Knight villain the Joker. The baby was made up to look like the arch-villain from the recent Batman film, with black spray paint circling the eyes and red duct tape stretched across the mouth in imitation of Joker’s signature grotesque smile. Under the pro-life message was spray painted the Joker’s famous line from the new movie: “why so serious?” According to Pro-Life Corner, the duct tape has been removed, but […]
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Mainstream Media Admits Anti-Family Bias: NBC to ‘Gay’ Activists: ‘Your Victories Are Our Victories’

Commentary by Brian Fitzpatrick, senior editor at the Culture and Media Institute, a division of the Media Research Center WASHINGTON, August 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) just held its annual convention here in Washington D.C., attracting hundreds of journalists – and ringing endorsements – from virtually every major publication and broadcaster in the news media. In a full-page ad in the convention program, NBC Universal declared it is “proud to support NLGJA,” under the bold headline: “YOUR VICTORIES ARE OUR VICTORIES.” After listening to speaker after speaker express hatred and contempt for political […]
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The Text of McCain’s Radio Address from Saturday, August 23, 2008

Good morning, this is John McCain, speaking to you at the end of an eventful week in the presidential campaign. All the talk today is about my opponent’s selection of his running mate. To his new running mate, my congratulations and I’ll get back to you real soon on your debating opponent. The week began with a debate of sorts between Senator Obama and me at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. In case you missed it, the discussion yielded the line of the week, and maybe even of the campaign, when Pastor Rick Warren asked my opponent a very […]
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Comments on Aug. 26 News

Dear readers,   We can all thank Nancy Pelosi for her bizarre attempt to be a Catholic theologian and suggest that the Catholic position on when human life starts is relatively new. Cardinals, bishops, and Catholic Congressman have reacted vociferously defending the Catholic teaching in defense of life from conception to natural death. Cardinal Egan’s judgment of Nandy Pelosi’s farce about the church’s teaching on abortion is unusually and refreshingly blunt. Bravo for him.   The mainstream media may pick up on our exclusive interview and take on Senator Biden’s Bishop. The suggestion that even if elected VP of the […]
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Arkansas Pro-Family Group Hopes To Ban Homosexuals From Adopting Children

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski   LITTLE ROCK, Ark., August 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Arkansas Family Council Action Committee has fulfilled the requirements to have a referendum question appear on this fall’s ballot that would effectively ban homosexuals from becoming foster or adoptive parents in the state.   An AP report says the measure, which is a response to a 2006 Arkansas Supreme Court decision striking down a state policy that specifically banned gays and lesbians from becoming foster parents, would prohibit unmarried couples living together from fostering or adopting children, and Arkansas doesn’t allow homosexuals to marry or recognize […]
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Massachusetts Pro-Family Group Successful In Bid To Challenge Repeal of “1913 Law”

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski   BOSTON, August 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The repeal of the so-called Massachusetts 1913 law, that declared it illegal for couples to get married in Massachusetts if their unions would be illegal in their home states, is being challenged by the state’s leading pro-family group MassResistance.   An Associated Press report said that Attorney General Martha Coakley authorized a referendum question initiated by MassResistance, to appear on the November 2010 ballot, proposing to reinstate the nearly century old law barring out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts.   MassResistance now needs to gather signatures from 33,297 registered […]
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Conservative MP Epp Will Not Scrap Unborn Victims Bill

By Tim Waggoner OTTAWA, August 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Today, Conservative MP Ken Epp announced he will continue to champion his unborn victims of crime bill despite yesterday’s announcement by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson that the Conservative Government will introduce similar legislation – a decision criticized as an obvious attempt to sink Epp’s Bill C-484. “I definitely will not be withdrawing my bill,” Epp told Sun Media. “They’re quite different. I don’t intend to let up.”   Unlike Epp’s bill, the new Conservative bill does not recognize the separate life of an unborn baby.  This key recognition, according to a […]
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Tens of Thousands of Christian Youth Cry for Life in Washington and Ottawa

By Jenna Murphy OTTAWA, August 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This past weekend, TheCRY, a non-denominational Christian movement of mostly young people, held an event called TheCRY: a day of prayer and fasting for an end to the morally destructive climate in Canada and especially for an end to abortion.   TheCRY’s organizers feel personally responsible to pray and fast for Canada’s conversion particularly among our nation’s lawmakers and leaders.   This event marks TheCRY’s third event on Parliament Hill. The first one took place in 2002 and the second in 2005. Though this year’s attendance was estimated at about 1,000, […]
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10 percent more reported cases of euthanasia in 2007 in the Netherlands

By Alex Schadenberg  Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition   August 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The number of reported cases of euthanasia in 2007 has increased by 10 percent in the Netherlands.   In 2007 the Regional Euthanasia Review Committees received 2120 euthanasia reports, which is up from 1923 reported cases in 2006.   Euthanasia as defined in the Netherlands only includes voluntary actions that are requested by a person who is competent. Any intentional actions that cause the death of a person who is incompetent or involuntary are not counted as acts of euthanasia but rather deaths without explicit request. […]
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Biden’s Bishop Will not Permit Him, Even if Elected VP, to Speak at Catholic Schools

By John-Henry Westen DELEWARE, August 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an interview with Bob Krebs, the Communications Director for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, to which Senator Joseph Biden belongs, Krebs confirmed that Biden’s Bishop will not permit the Senator even if elected Vice President of the United States of America to speak at Catholic schools. When asked for the Bishop’s take on Senator Biden and his stand in favor of abortion, Krebs directed LifeSiteNews.com to Bishop Michael Saltarelli’s 2004 statement on ‘Catholics in Political Life’ which, said Krebs, “very plainly states Bishop’s position in this matter.” In that document […]
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New York Cardinal – Pelosi Not Worthy of “Providing Leadership in a Civilized Democracy”

By Tim Waggoner NEW YORK, August 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, has unified his voice with fellow clergymen and Catholic congressmen, condemning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comments made on an August 24 episode of NBC’s Meet the Press.   In short, Pelosi told moderator Tom Brokaw that as an “ardent” and “practicing” Catholic and well-learned individual on the Catholic Church’s teaching on human life, no one knows “when life begins.”  She falsely claimed that the issue of human life has been a topic of “controversy” for the Catholic Church in order to support her […]
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Talk a Woman out of Abortion in the UK? Two Years Jail

By Hilary White   LONDON, August 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Crisis pregnancy centres, as well as doctors, nurses and midwives, may be subject to prosecution and a two-year jail sentence if they convince a woman to forego an abortion. Under a proposed amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, those groups advertising services to pregnant women who provide “false information” or even information that is “factually correct” that convinces a woman to change her mind about abortion, will have committed an offense.   Tabled by one of David Cameron’s Tory MPs, John Bercow, the amendment says, “It shall be […]
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Letter to the Editor- August 26, 2008

I am the director of a crisis pregnancy center located across the street from a busy abortion clinic. It’s often difficult and time consuming to stay current on what’s happening in the pro-life movement outside our ministry. There are many good sources, but none holds a candle to LifeSiteNews. You are in a league of your own because of your all encompassing and accurate coverage of what is going on around the globe. Whether the news is devastating and discouraging or an uplifting and providential story of how God is working, I can confidently share it with my pro-life friends and […]
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Commentary on August 25 News

Dear Readers,    Nancy Pelosi has a very distorted understanding of Catholic/Christian teaching on abortion. However, is she as accountable for this as the Catholic religious leaders who support her and others, such as her bishops, who absolutely refuse to hold her accountable for the scandal caused by her militant promotion of abortion rights? Really, if abortion is not an important matter for the Church, as it appears to Nancy, then Catholics should be able to kill their unborn children and receive communion, shouldn’t they? Not really, but as long as the scandal is allowed to continue perhaps we can’t […]
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Obama’s VP Pick Biden is a “Slap in the Face” to Catholics

WASHIGNTON, DC, August 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The selection of Delaware Senator Joseph Biden as the vice presidential running mate of Barack Obama poses a major challenge for American Catholics, according to Fidelis, a national Catholic-based advocacy group. Fidelis warned late last month that the choice of a pro-abortion Catholic as a vice presidential candidate would offend many Catholics who have struggled with the scandal of prominent pro-abortion Catholic politicians like Senator Biden. Fidelis President Brian Burch commented, “Barack Obama has re-opened a wound among American Catholics by picking a pro-abortion Catholic politician. The American bishops have made clear that […]
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Strong Pro-Life Presence at Democratic National Convention

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski DENVER, August 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Democratic Party will witness a large coalition of pro-life groups at their national convention which began August 22nd. A wide range of pro-life activities and prayerful events, organized under the name A Prayer For Change, is sponsored by the Christian Defense Coalition, based in Washington, D.C., and the Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, a youth training and activism organization based in Riverside, California. The National Clergy Council, one of the groups participating in A Prayer For Change, reported, “In its first official event (a prayer meeting held at the […]
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Pro-Life Hero Wins Olympic Medal in Beijing

By Tim Waggoner LONDON, August 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In 2004, U.K. Olympian Tasha Danvers-Smith sacrificed her spot at the Summer Olympics in Athens so she could bring her then-unborn baby to term.  Four years later, her little boy inspired her all the way to the podium in the women’s 400-metre hurdle event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. After discovering she was pregnant in 2004, Danvers-Smith made a joint decision with her husband and coach, Darrell, to put her baby’s life ahead of her dream of competing in the summer games in Athens. At the time some in the […]
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Abortion and Morning After Pill Rates Rise in Tandem in Sweden

STOCKHOLM, August 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – According to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, morning-after pill and abortion rates have risen significantly since 2000. 37,205 abortions were procured in Sweden in 2007, compared to the 30,980 in 2000 – an increase of approximately 17 percent. In Stockholm alone, 10,259 abortions were carried out in 2007, up 6.9 percent from 2006. The morning-after pill, which functions as an abortifacient, has also become increasingly popular.  Recorded uses of it have doubled in Sweden and tripled in Stockholm since it became a non-prescription drug in 2001. Many advocates of contraception claim that by promoting […]
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40 Days for Life Campaign Coming to 170+ Cities in US and Canada this Fall

WASHINGTON, August 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – 40 Days for Life has revealed that more than 170 cities will take part in this novel pro-life effort from September 24 through November 2 this year. “We may be on the verge of a turning point in the battle against abortion,” said David Bereit, national campaign director of 40 Days for Life. “Response to our call for communities to participate in this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign has exceeded our wildest expectations.”    The community-based 40 Days for Life campaign features 40 days of prayer and fasting, round-the-clock peaceful vigil outside an […]
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Hallmark Cards Wishes You A Happy Homosexual Wedding

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski   KANSAS CITY, MO, August 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The largest greeting card company in the US has rolled out a line of same-sex wedding cards, hoping to cash in on an “under-serviced market” after California joined Massachusetts in legalizing homosexual “marriage”.   Sarah Kolell, spokeswoman for Hallmark Cards, said the company wanted to be relevant to a market it was not addressing. “It’s our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can. We have more than 200 cards to address traditional weddings, second weddings and interracial weddings,” Kolell said […]
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Letters to the Editor for Friday, August 22, 2008

Re: Batman The Dark Knight – Should We Fear Imitation of the Joker?  https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081408.html   Editor:   WOW This news letter is packed! I wish I had read your article on Batman before my sons saw it so many times!   Jennifer Schuberth  Ellicott City, Maryland, USA   __________________________________________________________________________   Re: How Babies Were Left to Die: Nurse Recounts Horrors of Infanticide Practice Barack Obama Protected  https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081209.html   Editor:   Barack Obama said that National Right to Life is lying about his position on the Born Alive Infant Protection Act that he opposed while an Illinois Senator.  He opposed this […]
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Planned Parenthood’s ‘A’ Word Campaign Targets Cincinnati Teenagers

WASHINGTON, DC, August 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Today, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region announced that it has launched the “‘A’ Word Campaign” and its new Web site for teens, https://www.theawordohio.com. The campaign is set to hit the Cincinnati area just in time to coincide with the nation’s largest abortion giant’s push to open a new killing center just down the street from Western Hills High School, which has a high percentage of minority students.   Planned Parenthood’s ‘A’ Word Campaign supposedly stands for “abstinence, access, affordability and advocacy.” In one of its web sites (https://www.takecaredownthere.com), Planned Parenthood implies that abstinence […]
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Abortion Mill Charged with 12 Counts of Illegal Medical Record Dumping

DETROIT, Aug 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A District Court has issued a twelve-count warrant against WomanCare, a Detroit area abortion mill owned by Alberto Hodari, for illegal dumping of women’s private medical records.   Dr. Monica Migliorino Miller, Director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society, had exposed Hodari’s illegal dumping practices earlier this year when she published a video of his abortion mill trash that contained the records along with the remains of aborted babies. Dr. Miller reported the incident to the authorities.   While Hodari will have to appear in court on behalf of WomanCare, no arraignment date has […]
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Catholic Church in Africa, Philippines and Mexico Address Immodesty in the face of Fierce Opposition

By Tim Waggoner   ABUJA, Nigeria, August 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite defiant and scantily clad opposition, Nigerian, Filipino and Mexican Catholic Church officials are taking steps to quell the growing trend of immodesty that is becoming prevalent among Catholics.      After Mexican priest, Rev. Sergio Roman, said in an online publication, “When we show our body without prudence, without modesty, we are prostituting ourselves,” a group of women dressed in miniskirts and tank talks protested outside the Mexico City Cathedral holding signs that read “Clothed and naked, I am the same.”   The secular media has also jumped all over the […]
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New Zealand Provides Tax Payer Funded Flavoured Condoms

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski   AUCKLAND, August 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The New Zealand Pharmaceutical Management Agency (Pharmac) has decided to add flavoured condoms to the range of contraceptives that it subsidizes.   Pharmac is a government agency that decides which medicines are funded by the New Zealand Medicines System and fully or partially pays the cost of most prescription medicines for New Zealanders.   Citing extremely high and continually increasing rates of sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancies and abortions in New Zealand, Pharmac acting medical director Dilky Rasiah said that the decision was about getting better health outcomes through […]
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EU Agency Calls for a Re-definition of Marriage, Criminalization of “Homophobia”

By Maciej Golubiewski BRUSSELS, August 21, 2008 (C-FAM) – A recent report from the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the European Union (EU) has called for binding EU regulations that would equalize the legal status of married heterosexual couples with that of same-sex and opposite-sex couples across Europe.  It also recommends policies aimed at “promoting visibility of homosexuality and other gender identities” and criminalizing homophobia through “hate crime” legislation. FRA contracted writing of the report to a group called FRALEX.  FRALEX is roughly the same group as the now defunct EU “network of independent fundamental rights experts,” a group that […]
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World Health Organization Promotes Abortion Method in Bangladesh

By Samantha Singson BANGLADESH, August 21, 2008 (C-FAM) – The World Health Organization (WHO) launched an initiative recently to boost a program for menstrual regulation in Bangladesh. WHO states that the objectives of this program are to “ensure the quality of [menstrual regulation] and to share the knowledge of safe motherhood.” “Menstrual regulation,” also known as “menstrual extraction” (ME) is billed as a family planning method for women who missed their regular menstrual period and who strongly suspect that they are pregnant but cannot or do not want to wait for the results of a pregnancy test. Critics charge that […]
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Later Term Abortion on the Rise in France

By Jenna Murphy   PARIS, August 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Post 12-week abortions performed in France, which are only permitted for specific “medical reasons”,  increased by 10% in 2006 with a reported 6,787 compared to 6,093 in 2005.   France’s Biomedical Agency (Agence Biomedicin), which released its 2006 figures on “procreation and human genetic activities” on Wednesday, reported that despite a decline in the number of files reviewed (2.5% less than 2005), the number of requests for ‘interruption of pregnancy for medical reasons’ (IMG) has remained constant since the last report.   In France, abortion is illegal after the 12th week […]
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Articles in Prominent Medical Journal Doubt Worth and Benefit of HPV Vaccines

By Tim Waggoner WASHINGTON, August 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The New England Journal of Medicine posted two articles this week that asked why two human papillomavirus vaccines have been so widely distributed given their unproven effectiveness and high costs. Gardasil by Merck Sharp & Dohme, which has already received tremendous criticism for the severe and fatal side-effects experienced by users, and Cervarix by GlaxoSmithKline were the two drugs called to question. As reported by the New York Times, Dr. Charlotte J. Haug, editor of The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association, whose editorial appeared in Thursday’s issue of The New […]
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Oregon Bishop Calls Modern Cultural Changes “Pleasing” to the Devil

By Kathleen Gilbert   BAKER CITY, OR, August 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Robert Vasa has called the pro-choice culture a victory for the Devil, saying that “Satan must be very pleased indeed” with the results.   Bishop Vasa’s column in the Catholic Sentinel entitled Satan, while hidden, remains active in us and in society discussed society’s tendency to overlook the Devil’s role in the increasingly widespread acceptance and demand for abortion, euthanasia, and homosexual unions.     In a reference to demons in C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, he compared modern moral ambiguity to “the topsy-turvy world of Screwtape […]
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Levant Target of Latest Human Rights Complaint By Homosexual Activist

By Pete Vere EDMONTON, August 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Homosexual activist Rob Wells has filed a human rights complaint against Calgary lawyer and publisher Ezra Levant. Wells filed the complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) on June 26, accusing Levant of exposing homosexuals to hatred on the Internet after Levant republished a 2002 letter by Pastor Stephen Boissoin to the Red Deer Advocate. The letter was critical of homosexual activists promoting same-sex marriage and a homosexualist agenda in the public school system. Levant republished the letter on his blog (EzraLevant.com) after the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal levied a […]
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Benedict-Appointed Bishop in Germany Censures Priest for Same-Sex Blessing

By Hilary White LIMBURG, August 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com ) – The Catholic bishop of Limburg, Franz Peter Tebartz van Elst, has removed a priest from office after reports that the latter had “blessed” or “consecrated” the partnership of a pair of homosexual men. Fr. Peter Kollas, a dean of priests in the city of Wetzlar, participated in the “blessing” of the two men who had undertaken a civil “marriage” ceremony. The event, Friday August 15, was also witnessed by a Protestant minister and about 150 guests, local news reports. The bishop, appointed to the diocese of Limburg by Pope Benedict […]
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Statistics Canada Finds More Abstinence among Teen Girls in the Last Decade

OTTAWA, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In 2005, 43% of teens aged 15 to 19 reported that they had sexual intercourse at least once, down from 47% in 1996/1997.  The findings were released today by Statistics Canada, relying on data from the 1996/1997 National Population Health Survey and the 2003 and 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. The decline was due to young women, among whom the proportion who reported having had sexual intercourse fell from 51% to 43%. The proportion of young men who had had intercourse remained unchanged at 43%. Throughout the period studied, the percentage of teens reporting […]
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Indiana County Commission Upholds Regulations on Abortions under Criticism

 By Kathleen Gilbert VANDERBURGH CO., IN, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Indiana county officials upheld legislation that imposes greater health restrictions on doctors performing abortions after receiving criticism about how the legislation was passed earlier this month.  The Vanderburgh County Commission passed the “patient safety ordinance” on August 5th.  The ordinance requires that only doctors with local hospital admitting privileges may perform an abortion, and that doctors must inform their patients about where to find follow-up care in case of complications. Some complained at a county commissioners meeting on Tuesday that the legislation was passed too rapidly and without public […]
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Health Minister: Safe-Injection Sites a “Surrender to a Culture of Disease and Death.”

By Tim Waggoner Montreal, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – During Monday’s Canadian Medical Association annual meeting, federal Health Minister Tony Clement attacked those medical professionals who support facilities providing supervised injections of illegal drugs. “I find the ethical considerations of supervised injections to be profoundly disturbing,” Mr. Clement said. “The supervised injection site undercuts the ethic of medical practice and sets a debilitating example for all physicians and nurses, both present and future in Canada, who might begin to question whether it’s all right to allow someone to overdose under their care. “Is it ethical for health-care professionals to support […]
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Success with Re-growing Horse Ligaments Leads to New NIH Adult Stem Cell Centre

By Hilary White BETHESDA, Maryland, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Successes in using adult stem cells in re-growing cartilage and other tissues in injured horses have led the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US to establish a bone marrow stem cell transplant centre within the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. An NIH lab in Bethesda Maryland reports having grown human muscle, cartilage and spinal disks in vitro. While these new breakthroughs are not ready for human transplants, the researchers told Wired magazine that it is only a matter of time. Veterinarians are already using […]
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Guatemalan Cardinal on Abortion: “It is just as serious to kill a 10 year-old child”

By John-Henry Westen GUATEMALA CITY, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “It is just as serious to kill a 10 year-old child or a 20 year-old adult as it is to kill a baby in his mother’s womb,” said Guatemalan Cardinal Rodolfo Quezada Toruno in a homily Sunday. “No one, under any circumstances, can assume the right to directly kill an innocent human being,” he added. The Cardinal’s homily comes as pressure to legalize abortion increases from groups within the country, which groups are also supported by powerful international organizations.  The United Nations has long sought to overthrow Guatemala’s constitutional protections for […]
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Freedom of Conscience for Ontario Doctors: Public Comment Extended to September 12

By Tim Waggoner OTTAWA, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After receiving pressure from several public interest groups, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has extended the designated public comment period on their proposed policy that would force physicians to refer patients for medical practices that conflict with their consciences. Public comment on the new draft policy document, “Physicians and the Ontario Human Rights Code”, was slated to end on August 15, but concerned groups demanded this period be extended. Under the proposed plan physicians will be in breach of the Human Rights Code if they refuse to refer […]
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Petition of 30,000 Canadians Asks Governor General to Rescind Order of Canada to Abortionist

By John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Angelina Steenstra, National Coordinator of Silent No More Awareness Campaign, a group which represents women who have been hurt by abortion, today turned in a petition signed by 30,000 Canadians demanding that the Governor General revoke the Order of Canada nomination of abortionist Henry Morgentaler.  Steenstra turned in the petition which was launched by Canada’s national pro-life political organization, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), in response to the wave of opposition to the Morgentaler Order of Canada appointment. Adding insult to injury, the Governor General’s office, despite giving assurances that the petition […]
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Promote Culture of Life and Catholic Teaching to Combat Rising Crime and Cultural Degradation: Lanca

By Hilary White LANCASTER, UK, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Drug abuse, gun crime, pornography, alcoholism, suicide, euthanasia, and 2.2 million deaths of unborn children by “scientific experimentation” are the results of Britain’s 1967 Abortion Act, that allows virtually unlimited abortion up to 24 weeks gestation, says the Catholic bishop of Lancaster. In a 92-page document obtained by LifeSiteNews.com that is due to be released next week, Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue writes, “I am convinced another cause of the wide-spread violence lies in the Abortion Act of 1967.” “For 41 years we’ve lived in a state-sponsored culture of death that has […]
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Lithuanian Government Bans EU Pro-Homosexual Tour Truck

By Kathleen Gilbert VILNIUS, Lithuania, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A touring truck hired by the European Union to spread a message of acceptance of homosexuality has been banned from public property in Lithuania for the second consecutive year, reports the homosexual news service Pinknews.com. The truck was scheduled to arrive at a public venue in Vilnius today, and move to Kaunas on Friday.  But the cities’ mayors refused to admit the truck, and so it will stay on the private grounds of a supermarket parking lot.  In May of 2007, the Lithuanian government had banned the trucks from entering […]
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Australian Woman Dies from Taking Birth Control Pill

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski MELBOURNE, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A 24 year old Australian woman’s death has been blamed on her use of oral contraceptive pills, which she was taking them as part of her acne treatment. Tanya Hayes died on Monday from a pulmonary embolism – a blood clot in her lungs. Having ignored symptoms, including “breathlessness” and “a nasty, hard cough” for about two weeks, she collapsed on Sunday night in a parking lot and was rushed to Angliss Hospital in Melbourne were she died five hours later. The hospital’s director of emergency medicine, Associate Professor Graeme […]
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Speech by Silent No More’s Angelina Steenstra at Turning in of Petitions Against Morgentaler Award

OTTAWA, ON, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Welcome to all of you on this important occasion.  My name is Angelina Steenstra and I am the National Coordinator of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign; an outreach to people hurt after abortion.  I am also speaking on behalf of Campaign Life Coalition. On July 9 of this year, hundreds of you joined me in a public protest over the Governor General’s Order of Canada award given to the abortionist Henry Morgentaler. Once again, I am here to say there is nothing heroic or award-winning about taking the life of an unborn […]
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Contraception, Abortion and Sterilisation “Attack the Very Foundations of the Human World”: Lancaste

By Hilary White LANCASTER, UK, August 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue of the northern English diocese of Lancaster, has blasted the contraceptive mentality that has resulted, he said, in the dissolution of marriage as an institution, endlessly rising abortion and divorce rates, depressed and even suicidal children, and ultimately the degradation of an entire society. “I am convinced that there must be profoundly damaging consequences for the family in a country where contraception and abortion are so wide-spread,” he writes in a soon-to-be released document.   Artificial contraception, abortion, in vitro fertilisation,  sterilisation and sex outside marriage, are […]
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Birth Rates Continue to Plunge: US Census Bureau

By Jenna Murphy WASHINGTON, August 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The percentage of childless women who have reached the end of their child-bearing years in the United States has doubled from 10% to 20% in the last 30 years, reported the US Census Bureau on Monday. The survey also found that, “Women 40 to 44 years old will end their childbearing years with an average of 1.9 children each, a number below replacement-level fertility.” This is markedly fewer children than in 1976, when 3.1 children was the national average. 36% of the women who gave birth in 2006 were separated, widowed, […]
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Head of Vatican’s Highest Court: Ministers Have “Obligation to Deny” Communion to Pro-Abortion Polit

By John-Henry Westen ROME, August 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The head of the highest court in the Vatican has given an interview with a Roman magazine in which he notes that when dealing with pro-abortion Catholic politicians, “the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny It (Communion) to him.” Last month, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Raymond Burke, formerly the Archbishop of St. Louis, as the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, which is the highest judicial authority of the Catholic Church besides the Pope himself.  In an interview published in the current edition of […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes August 18, 2008

* Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews.com. They are presented only for your information. US POLITICS   Pro-abortion and pro-life Democrats to present “common ground” during DNC  https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13548   Founder of Operation Rescue to distribute new flyer: “Is it Immoral to Vote for Obama for President?”“It is mind boggling that millions of Catholics are considering voting for Obama – in spite of the fact that he is the most pro-death candidate in history,”  https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13553   Catholic and Evangelical leaders respond to Saddleback Forum  https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13547   […]
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Gay Anglican Posterboy Gene Robinson Complains of “Bigotry” from Fellow Bishops

By Hilary White CANTERBURY, UK, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Gene Robinson has castigated a fellow Anglican bishop for publicly disapproving of his crusade to inculcate “gay” values into the Anglican Communion. In an interview with SXNews, an Australian homosexual news website festooned with explicit sexual advertising, Robinson complained that the Sydney archdiocese is “bigoted” because its archbishop, Dr. Peter Jensen, boycotted the Lambeth conference, held this month in Canterbury, England. Gene Robinson is the active homosexual whose consecration as Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire caused a crisis in the global Anglican Communion. He called the Sydney archbishop’s defence of […]
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Walkers End Canadian Crossroads Walk for Life in Nation’s Capital

By Tim Waggoner OTTAWA, ON, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Five Canadians participating in the Crossroads pro-life awareness walk that began in Toronto on August 5, celebrated the successful completion of their journey in Ottawa this past Friday.   The five walkers constituted Canada’s participation in the growing Crossroads organization, which every summer sees dozens of volunteers walk thousands of miles across the U.S. and Canada in support of the Culture of Life. This is the second year that Canada has had such a walk. Tim Semlar led the group composed of Charles Pobee from Mensah NC, Sarah Gatt and Trisha […]
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APA Insider says Report on Abortion is a “Politically-Motivated Exercise” in Support of Legal Aborti

By Hilary White August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A member of the American Psychological Association and one of the trained psychologists asked by the APA to examine their report on the long-term psychological effects of abortion on women, has concluded that it is nothing more than a “politically-motivated exercise” in support of legal abortion. Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D. wrote that after close examination of it, she saw “no evidence” that the APA’s report “was actually interested in keeping up with real science.” The report, published earlier this month, claimed to have examined all the available research literature since 1989. It concluded […]
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Canada Supreme Court Justice Denies Involvement in Order of Canada to Abortionist

By Hilary White OTTAWA, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Six weeks after the decision was announced on Canada Day (July 1st), Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin has claimed that she had nothing to do with the selection of Henry Morgentaler, Canada’s “father of abortion.” McLachlin told a press conference this weekend that she was “not the driving force” behind the decision. She said that it is her longstanding “personal policy decision” not to promote or vote for candidates to the Order and that she has only voted once, to break a tie. “Some idea was put out by I […]
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Pro-Abortion/Same-Sex “Marriage” Belinda Stronach to be Keynote Speaker at Catholic College in Weste

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski MUENSTER, Saskatchewan, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – St. Peter’s College, a Benedictine liberal arts school affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan, and which describes itself as being deeply rooted in the Catholic tradition, has invited Belinda Stronach, known for her support of abortion and same-sex marriage, to be the keynote speaker at its fund-raising dinner to be held September 16, 2008. A spokeswoman at St. Peter’s college told LifeSiteNews.com that Stronach was chosen to speak at their Gala dinner because of her business experience and fund-raising acumen, but declined to comment on whether the college was […]
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Niece of Martin Luther King Jr. to Lead Prayer Vigil Outside Largest U.S. Abortion Centre – Monday A

By Jenna Murphy DENVER, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On August 25th, Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Auxiliary Bishop of Denver the Most Rev. James Conley and leaders of other Christian denominations will join Dr. Alveda C. King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Director of African American Outreach for the Gospel of Life Ministries for a peaceful prayer vigil in front of the new Planned Parenthood Clinic in Stapleton. The “Light in the Darkness” vigil, organized by the Denver Archdiocese’s Respect Life office and the Office of Black Catholics, will begin at 7:30pm in Martin Luther King […]
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Homeschooling Showdown in Brazil: Children to be Tested by Court in Battle Over Educational Rights o

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman MINAS GERAIS, Brazil, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two homeschooled children face a battery of tests this week in a showdown between the Brazilian government and a Christian family over the educational rights of parents in the South American nation. The children of Cleber and Bernadeth Nunes have already passed the entrance exams for law school at the ages of 13 and 14, but that doesn’t satisfy the Brazilian government, which has been trying to force them into its troubled school system since 2006. After over a year of battling authorities for the right to home […]
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Comments on August 15 News

Dear readers,   British Tory leader David Cameron has given some powerful pro-family, pro-morality speeches recently (see https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071011.html). So far however, every time the test has come for him to put those statements into action, Cameron proves his oratory was nothing more than hot air. Today we report that he backs unrestricted abortion of disabled children despite the fact that he himself is father to a disabled child. There was much hope that Cameron was the real thing – a genuine contrast to the destructive liberal political establishment. Sadly, he is just another liberal in a social conservative mask.   […]
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Letters to the Editor for Friday, August 15, 2008

RE: Morgentaler Order of Canada Dear Editor,   I just wanted to let you know that the Order of Canada controversy has actually been a blessing to the Waterloo Region in terms of finally breaking the silence and media censorship about abortion. It has allowed an intellectual debate to finally occur in the editorial pages of our main newspaper in the K-W area (the Record). It might even make for a motivating success story of sorts for your readers.   Here are some stats I tallied up to show the impressive amount of space our liberally-biased newspaper has given to pro-life letters. […]
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Massive Pro-Life Rally of Evangelical Youth to Hit Washington Mall Saturday August 16

WASHINGTON, DC, August 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Hundreds of thousands of Evangelical youths are expected to descend on the United States Capitol tomorrow to fast and ask God’s forgiveness for the sins of their nation. Those participating in TheCall, led by its creator Lou Engle, are expected to gather on the National Mall in Washington, DC and form an enormous prayer team, asking God’s forgiveness for the anti-life and anti-family agenda that has overtaken US politics and society. TheCall, the first gathering of which occurred in September of 2000, summoned 400,000 youth to the Mall. It is not a worship […]
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British Tory Leader Supports Unlimited Abortion for Disabled Unborn Children

 By Hilary White LONDON, August 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The leader of Britain’s Tory opposition party has stated that he supports eugenic abortion for disabled infants up to the time of birth. In the build-up to party conference season in the autumn, David Cameron was asked if he would be willing to change the law, amended in 1990, that allows disabled children to be aborted at any time of gestation up to the point of birth.  “If in power would you favour measures to reverse this discrimination by giving unborn children who are disabled the same protection under the law […]
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Ontario Plan: Professional Misconduct when Doctors Fail to Refer for Abortion

By John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, August 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “Refusal on conscientious or religious grounds to refer a woman for an abortion could be deemed professional misconduct under this new policy,” said Dr. Will Johnston, president of Canadian Physicians for Life.  Johnston was describing the likely outcome of a draft policy of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for which the public comment period officially ended today. A similar requirement (that doctors must make abortion referrals regardless of their conscientious beliefs) was proposed in a July 2006 guest editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. It triggered such […]
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New “Patriotic” Canadian Pornography Channel Approved by Canadian Government

By Jenna Murphy OTTAWA, August 15th, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This week another Canadian pay-television pornography channel was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Canadian federal government’s broadcasting sector. In its proposal, “Northern Peaks,” produced by Real Productions, differentiates itself from the handful of already existing pornographic channels offered in Canada in that it is “Canada’s first adult video channel offering significant Canadian adult content.” It promises that at least 50% of its pornography will be produced in Canada. “I think as Canadians there is a bit of a tiredness in seeing all American stuff,” Shaun Donnelly, […]
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Victory For 18 Arrested Maryland Pro-life Demonstrators – All Charges Dropped

Bel Air, MD, August 15,2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – All charges have been dropped against the eighteen pro-lifers who were unjustly arrested on August 1, 2008, during the Maryland Face the Truth Tour (see: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08080511.html). Harford County’s State Attorney Joe Cassilly dismissed the charges earlier this week against eight adults and ten teenagers, who had been arrested without warning during a peaceful public pro-life testimony in Bel Air, Maryland, during the last stop on a tour sponsored by Defend Life. While none of those taken into custody were told why they were being arrested, they were later charged with loitering, failure to obey […]
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Secret Meeting to Plot Global Abortion Strategy Exposed – UN Personnel Present

 By Samantha Singson       NEW YORK, August 15, 2008 (C-FAM) – A group calling itself the “brain trust” met in secret recently to plot how to take advantage of conflict situations to advance the abortion and radical feminist agenda. A new group called the Global Justice Center (GJC) hosted the New York meeting on June 9 of this year. The Friday Fax was given the chance to listen to a recording of the inaugural meeting of the “brain trust”, which details the GJC’s plan to exploit ceasefire and peace talks to gain leverage in newly-formed governments.       The GJC meeting […]
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Woman Awarded $2.78 Million in Malpractice Suit against Planned Parenthood Associated Doctor

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski PHILADELPHIA, August 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A woman who went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia in February 2003 to have contraceptive implant rods removed from her arm, has successfully sued the doctor who bungled the removal procedure. Dana Asbury, a 39-year-old mother of three, was awarded more than $2.78 million in damages in a medical malpractice suit in which she maintained she has suffered excruciating and chronic pain, first, after Dr. Joel Lebed, who was associated with Planned Parenthood of Philadelphia, attempted to remove contraceptive implant rods, and then later when she underwent “unnecessary” […]
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Traditional Fort Worth Episcopal Priests Seek Communion with Catholic Church

FORT WORTH, Texas, August 13, 2008 (CNA) – A senior Episcopal prelate recently confirmed that a delegation of Episcopal priests from Fort Worth visited the Catholic bishop of the diocese, Most Rev. Kevin Vann, to discuss how their diocese might enter full communion with the Catholic Church. While the seriousness of the discussion is not yet known, a document presented by the priests claims an overwhelming majority of clergy in the Episcopal diocese favor pursuing plans to bring the diocese into the Catholic Church. A spokesman for Bishop Vann, bishop of Fort Worth, confirmed that the meeting took place, the Dallas […]
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Comments on August 14 News Reports

Dear Readers,   There is a lot of important news today. It has been a busy day for us.   The New England Journal article on Brain Death is hugely significant. It will likely disturb many who were not previously told how organ harvesting is really done. Worse still, the two writers of the journal article, while emphasizing that “brain death” and “cardiac death” patients may often not really be dead when their vital organs are removed, nevertheless still approve the practice. Reminds us of pro-abortionists in recent years finally admitting that abortion does kill a young human but still […]
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When Donated Sperm are Loved and Lost: Tragic Love Story, or Customer Service Blunder?

Commentary by Kathleen Gilbert August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – How far would you go for that unique bundle of genetic information you love more than any other? In “Mad Cow Rules Hit Sperm Banks’ Patrons,” published recently in the Washington Post, Julie Peterson, a pretty, blonde 43-year-old from North Carolina, describes how a sperm embargo has stolen her chance to have another perfect child.  Once upon a time, Julie found a desirable donor – an attractive Prince Charming promising fair Scandinavian features like her own, as well as the smarts suggested by his engineering degree.  Peterson conceived once by the […]
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Massive Brazilian Vaccination Raises Suspicions of Covert Sterilization Program

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The commencement of a massive, mandatory vaccination program in Brazil has raised suspicions among international pro-life activists, who note that the program is similar to others in recent years that have included a hidden sterilizing agent in the vaccines. The campaign, which was begun last week by Brazil’s pro-abortion Health Minister, Jose Gomes Temporao, claims that its goal is to annihilate rubella in the South American nation. Temporao, who has expended considerable energy to legalize abortion, claims he is concerned about the fact that 17 Brazilian children each year suffer birth […]
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Netherlands Recognises Polygamous Marriages of Muslims reports Dutch Newspaper

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski ROTTERDAM, August 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two Dutch cities have instructed their marriage registrars to recognize polygamous marriages of immigrants that have taken place in countries where having more than one wife is permitted, such as Morocco. Although polygamy is technically banned in the Netherlands, the marriages of Muslims who have several wives are now recognized by Dutch authorities in the cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, reports the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. Until now, registrars in the major cities had been recording the irregular marriages of immigrants, but the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS), where all […]
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Pro-life Victory: University of Maryland to Change Restrictive Speech Code

WASHINGTON, DC, August 14 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Rock for Life college group has decided to drop a lawsuit against the University of Maryland Aug. 12 after the school agreed to change its free speech policies. “May this put all universities on notice,” said Erik Whittington, Rock for Life’s national director. “Our message will not be silenced, nor will our First Amendment rights be abridged.” Last year, the University of Maryland twice told Rock for Life, a registered student organization, to move its display, the Genocide Awareness Project, to less and less visible locations – thus thwarting the students’ ability […]
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Forty-two Organizations Appeal to Have Canadian Supreme Court Chief Justice Removed from Office over

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

Dear Readers,   The Democrats are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of social conservative US voters. However, as our report shows, the manipulation should be easily transparent to all but those determined to vote Democrat regardless. Undoubtedly this latest smoke and mirrors will help salve some guilty consciences. On the other hand, if the Dems put forward some truly pro-life platform changes, we should all welcome the development. Pro-life is party blind.   Abortion has no negative psychological consequences says the American Psychological Association. Yea, right, and they also want to sell you some Florida swampland for […]
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Judge Rules California University Has Right to Reject Christian Courses for Admission Requirements

By Kathleen Gilbert LOS ANGELES, CA, August 13, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A federal judge ruled Friday that the University of California is permitted to reject certain Christian curricula as inadequate for meeting admission requirements.  The University of California (UC) system has decided that high school students who use certain Christian textbooks will not be considered to have taken the requisite courses necessary for admission to the University. However, the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), as well as Calvary Chapel Christian School and five Calvary students, argued that the University’s decision was not based on a rational assessment of the […]
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Brazil Begins Pro-Homosexual “Diversity” Classes for Grades 1-9

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman SAO PAULO, Brazil, August 13, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Brazilian public schools have begun programs to instruct students at the elementary/junior high school students in homosexuality-affirming “sexual diversity” and other related topics. In the State of Sao Paulo, the Secretary of Education has announced that, beginning in 2009, students will be taught “the importance of respecting the sexual choice of every individual, destroying the taboos and doubts of the students,” according to the state’s website. The initiative is a response to recommendations by Federal Ministry of Education, which counsels states to “address sexual diversity in schools.” In […]
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Abortion has no Negative Psychological Consequences: American Psychological Association

By Hilary White August 13, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A report from the American Psychological Association (APA) published this week claims that there is no meaningful connection between abortion and subsequent psychological disturbances in women. When a woman has a negative psychological consequence, says the report, it is likely only to be in cases where a “wanted” child was aborted for eugenic reasons. “Among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy the relative risk of mental health problems is no greater if they have a single elective first-trimester abortion than if they deliver that pregnancy,” the report says. The study’s conclusions […]
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Abortion, Stem Cell Research and the Family at Top of New Zealand Bishops’ Voting Issues List:

By Hilary White AUCKLAND, New Zealand, August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic bishops’ conference of New Zealand has offered voters guidance on the expected election, saying that social and economic policies must be “in the service of human dignity and a humane society, in which every person matters.” Abortion, embryo research and the family top the list of issues on which the bishops urge voters to question candidates: “This is the basis for everything the Church teaches concerning human life and human dignity, right across the spectrum of human life from conception to death.” Under New Zealand’s law, general […]
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Canadian Crossroads Update and Profile of a Crossroads Walk Leader

By John Jalsevac August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The five volunteers in the 2nd Annual Canadian Crossroads walk say that their bodies are handling the strain of the long days on the asphalt much better this week than last. By the end of last week, Crossroads Canada walk leader Tim Semlar told LifeSiteNews today, the five volunteers were sore and glad to stop walking for a few day. “Last week was pretty grueling,” he said. “We were really hurting by the end.” The walkers interrupted their trek from Toronto to Ottawa around Belleville Ontario last Friday night, and then drove […]
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How Babies Were Left to Die: Nurse Recounts Horrors of Infanticide Practice Barack Obama Protected

 By John Jalsevac August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At the same time that the National Right to Life Committee has unearthed documents proving that Barack Obama repeatedly voted against a bill that would have protected children born alive after an attempted abortion, Illuminati Pictures has released a video of an interview with a nurse who witnessed the very practice that Obama protected while in the Illinois senate (See: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081101.html  ). Jill Stanek was a nurse at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois in 1999 when she discovered that babies born alive after failed abortions purposely were being left to die […]
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No Compromises: Kansas State Bishops Declare Voting for Abortion Candidate is “Evil”

By Peter J. Smith KANSAS CITY, August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A vote cast for a politician who supports abortion and same-sex “marriage” is nothing less than casting a vote for “evil” says a state conference of Catholic bishops. In a voter’s guide released for the second time since 2006, the Kansas Catholic Bishops make it clear that Catholics would “commit moral evil” by voting for a candidate who embraces abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning, and same-sex “marriage,” when a morally acceptable candidate is available. The voter’s guide signed by Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, bishops Ronald Gilmore […]
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New Study: Oral Contraceptives Disrupt Ability to Choose Genetically Favorable Mate

By Kathleen Gilbert LIVERPOOL, United Kingdom, August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recent study by the University of Liverpool found that the contraceptive pill may adversely affect a woman’s natural ability to choose a genetically favorable mate.  The ability to choose a genetically favorable mate is ascribed in part to pheromones, chemicals that can cause behavioral changes in the opposite sex. These chemicals also contain the genes involved in immunity response.  When these genes interact with normal skin bacteria, they influence an individual’s particular body odor.  Research has indicated that women tend to be more attracted to the odors of men […]
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Criminal Charges Filed against Ecuadorian Archbishop for Opposing “Abortion” Constitution

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR, August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of Ecuadorians have filed criminal charges against the head of the country’s Catholic episcopal conference for making critical statements about the nation’s new proposed constitution. The organization “Impunidad Jamás” (Never Impunity), claims that Archbishop Antonio Arregui is violating a 1937 treaty between the Vatican and Ecuador, which requires the clergy to avoid intervening in politics.  Church officials say they are not advising the people on how to vote, but rather giving them important information necessary to make the decision as Catholics. Impunidad Jamás is said to be […]
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Human Rights Investigation against Catholic Magazine Resumes

 Pete Vere and John-Henry Westen August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canada’s human rights industry has resumed its investigation of Catholic Insight magazine, published by Father Alphonse de Valk. The Canadian Human Rights Commission had announced on July 4 that it was dropping its 16-month investigation against the publication for alleged ‘hate’. However, homosexual activist Rob Wells, the complainant in the case, was given 30 days to request a judicial review of the case. According to a federal court docket, Wells requested the judicial review on July 31. Canadian blogger ‘Blazing Cat Fur’ broke the story Thursday evening, linking to the […]
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Former Euthanasia Petitioner Receives Invitation from Indian President after Astounding Recovery

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski NEW DELHI, India, August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two years ago, Seema Sood, 37, in a letter to the President of India petitioned for “mercy killing,” because she had suffered from advanced rheumatoid arthritis for 15 years. President Pratibha Patil has now sent her a letter of a different sort, inviting Sood to “climb the steps of the majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan,” the presidential palace. “I am delighted to know that after a long period of 15 years you have triumphed over the despair of rheumatoid arthritis and are showing encouraging signs of recovery. With this resilience […]
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LifeSiteNews.com Newsbytes for August 11

* Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews.com. They are presented only for your information. US POLITICS  Bobby Jindal The Anti-Obama  https://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13668   Rebel With a Cause: Bobby Jindal’s Spiritual Journe  https://online.wsj.com/article/SB121694025422282727.html?mod=googlenews_wsj   Obama’s Views Not Consistent With Christianity, Conservative Says  https://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33721   Pelosi Backs Obama on Repeal of Defense of Marriage Act  https://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33425   Catholics Fear Obama Considering Pro-Abortion Catholic Veep  https://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/catholics-fear-obama-considering-pro-abortion/story.aspx?guid={64B99B6E-1228-4104-98CD-14F6501965EC}&dist=hppr   Democrats mum on convention plans that may include anti-abortion senator Casey  https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26066727/   A response from Bishop John M. Smith to misleading […]
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Natural Family Planning, Radical Openness to Life Gains Ground in Protestant Circles

 By Jenna Murphy August 11, 2008, (LifeSiteNews.com) – After decades of division over issues surrounding fertility and the moral issues inherent to procreation, many protestants are now turning away from the contraceptive culture and towards Natural Family Planning (NFP), a completely natural method, that allows couples to “space” children without the use of artificial contraceptives. NFP, which is based upon a thorough knowledge of the woman’s fertility cycle, is also said to be equally effective for attaining pregnancy as it is for avoiding it. In an August 10th article in the Austin Statesmen entitled, “Some Protestants Find Spiritual Appeal in […]
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Canada Conservatives Cancel Taxpayer Funding of Program Promoting “Left-wing” Ideals Abroad

 By Tim Waggoner OTTAWA, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The government funded program, PromArt, which granted millions in taxpayers’ dollars to Canadian artists to promote Canadian culture abroad, was cancelled Friday by the federal Conservative government because it was sponsoring “left-wing” and radical ideals . According to the Toronto Star, Anne Howland, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson, addressed the canned program. “Certainly we felt some of the groups were not necessarily ones we thought Canadians would agree were the best choices to be representing them internationally,” she said. Howland gave an example of one Toronto based group […]
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New Pamphlet Gives College Women the Truth about “Safe Sex”

By Kathleen Gilbert August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a culture where cold, hard science is king, one doctor is questioning whether the theory of “safe sex” can measure up. In her pamphlet “Sense and Sexuality: The College Girl’s Guide to Real Protection in a Hooked-up World,” to be released later this month, Miriam Grossman, M.D., uses her medical training and 10 years’ experience as a staff psychiatrist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to expose the physical and mental dangers of the uninhibited sexual climate that dominates the modern college campus. In the introduction, Grossman describes the tragic and […]
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Pro-life advocates in Ottawa to launch groundbreaking 40 Days for Life campaign

OTTAWA, ON, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On September 23rd, Ottawa area pro-life advocates will join together with people of faith and conscience from many other communities from coast to coast to kick off the area’s own version of the groundbreaking 40 Days for Life campaign. 40 Days for Life is an intensive pro-life initiative that focuses on 40 days of prayer and fasting, 40 days of peaceful vigil at abortion facilities, and 40 days of grassroots educational outreach. The 40-day time frame is drawn from examples throughout Biblical history where God brought about world-changing transformation in 40-day periods. “As […]
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Homosexual Lord of the Rings Star McKellen Blasts Catholic Bishop for Remarks on “Gay Lobby”

By Hilary White LONDON, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two prominent British homosexual actors have lashed out at a Catholic bishop for warning Catholic parents against the advance of the homosexualist movement. Sir Ian McKellen and Simon Callow denounced as “arrogant” and “unchristian” the efforts of Bishop Joseph Devine to warn a group of parents against the secularising aims of the homosexual movement. McKellan, the actor who has used his fame, derived in part from his role as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films, to promote the homosexualist cause, said in a speech at a dinner for Stonewall, […]
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Canadian Athlete at China 2008 Olympics Changed Mind About Abortion

By Tim Waggoner OTTAWA, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – While Canadian Olympian weightlifter Marilou Dozois-Prevost has proven her physical strength well enough to see her compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in early 2007 she proved she has another sort of strength when she made the last-minute decision not to abort her unborn child.  In January of 2007, the 22-year-old athlete from Montreal was hit with two equally unexpected and unwelcome announcements – she was told that she had missed the cut for the 2008 summer games and, on an unrelated level, that she was pregnant. Accepting the former news as unchangeable, Marilou […]
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Woman Found Guilty of Manslaughter for Killing Husband Suffered From Post-Abortion Syndrome

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski SYNDEY, Australia, August 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Danielle Stewart, who fatally stabbed her husband Chaim Kimel with an ornamental knife during a heated argument, was today found guilty of manslaughter. Stewart, who had originally been charged with murder, was  convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter, after the court heard testimony from her psychiatrist, Dr. Rosalind Foy, who said Stewart suffered from  “borderline personality disorder”, similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, which has symptoms including violence and self-harm and which left her with a “poor sense of self.” The psychiatrist testified that Stewart had been sexually and physically […]
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Legislature Passes Bill for “Gay Day” Celebrations in California Public Schools

By Peter J. Smith August 8, 2008, SACRAMENTO (LifeSiteNews.com) – California public schools soon will be planning “gay day” celebrations every May 22 unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes the legislation. Thursday the California Assembly approved AB 2567, which designates May 22 as “Harvey Milk Day.” The 43 to 26 vote occurred on party lines with Democrats for, Republicans against. Earlier this week, AB 2567 passed the California State Senate on another party line vote 22-13 – Democrats for, Republicans against. The bill will require all public schools to “conduct suitable commemorative exercises” in commemoration of the anti-religious, homosexualist agenda of the […]
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Triathlete for Trisomy: Man Defends Severely Disabled Trisomy Children through Ironman Competitions

By Hilary White SAN ANTONIO, August 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Michael Hennessey of San Antonio, Texas, has become the Triathlete for Trisomy. This year the father is competing in numerous Ironman qualifying competitions around the world, as well as the official Ironman competition itself in Hawaii, all the while speaking to local news about the challenges faced by children with Trisomy and their families. In an Ironman competition, competitors complete a swim of 2.4 miles, a 112 mile bike ride, and a full marathon (26.2 miles). While many are aware that another name for Downs Syndrome is Trisomy 21, fewer know about the devastating […]
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Adult Stem Cells Greatly Accelerate Bone Regeneration in Australian Trial

 By Hilary White MELBOURNE, August 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Adult stem cells have helped to accelerate the healing of severe leg fractures in Australian trials. The trial involved five men and four women who had suffered the worst type of compound bone fractures in serious road accidents, some of whom still could not walk up to 41 months after their accidents. One man who suffered a compound fracture and was still using crutches a year later, regained the use of his leg the day after the procedure and is now fully recovered, pain free and regularly runs and plays football. […]
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Christian Singer Steven Curtis Chapman Family’s Faith in Tragic Loss Moves Larry King

By Hilary White August 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) -Larry King, in a show aired last night on CNN, interviewed the Christian music recording star Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth who told the story of the death of Maria Sue Chapman, their youngest daughter. King was visibly moved by the story of the family coping, by means of their religious faith and close-knit family, with the loss of their youngest who was killed on May 21. Maria, who was adopted from China, was accidentally struck by an SUV that was driven by her teenage brother. King later said that although […]
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U.S. Department of Health Backing Down on Controversial Freedom of Conscience Regulation

WASHINGTON, DC, August 8, 2008(LifeSiteNews.com) – A U.S. Department Health and Human Services proposed regulation that would protect freedom of conscience for pro-life physicians and pharmacists will likely be rewritten to reflect pro-abortion demands. A widely circulated draft of the HHS proposal would have defined abortion to include the birth control pill, thus protecting pro-life pharmacists from dispensing abortion-causing drugs like the pill. The proposed regulation defined abortion as “any of the various procedures – including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action – that results in the termination […]
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Three Christian Protesters in China Arrested Again, Then Deported to U.S.

By John Jalsevac August 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Three American Christians were arrested for a second time in Beijing, China earlier this week. Rev. Pat Mahoney, Brandi Swindell, and Michael McMonagle were arrested and forcibly dragged away as they knelt in prayer outside the Mao Tse Tung Mausoleum. The group was in Beijing speaking out against China’s forced abortion policies, religious persecution, and other human rights abuses. After their first arrest the trio called a press conference in Tiananmen Square. “We have come here today to speak out against the human rights abuses of the Chinese government,” said Mahoney, while […]
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HLI Condemns Death Threats against Church and Affiliate in Ecuador

FRONT ROYAL, Virginia, Aug. 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today condemned death threats made against Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza, of Guayaquil, President of the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference, and Amparo Medina, president of Ecuador’s Pro-Life Action Foundation, the Ecuadorian affiliate of Human Life International. Euteneuer said, “A ‘warning’ was sent to our colleague, Amparo Medina: a shoebox containing a dead rat and the message ‘death to pro-lifers’ with a longer letter placed at her door threatening to kill her.” The threats result from their opposition to pro-abortion and anti-family language […]
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Canadian Crossroads Walkers Kick off Trek from Toronto to Ottawa

By John Jalsevac August 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Tuesday five young men and women began a 450 kilometer walk from Toronto to Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, in an effort to raise awareness about pro-life issues. The five walkers constituted Canada’s participation in the growing Crossroads organization, which every summer sees dozens of volunteers walk thousands of miles across the U.S. and Canada in support of the Culture of Life. This is the second year that Canada has had such a walk. Last year’s walk began in Vancouver and ended in Ottawa, clocking some 4500 kilometers. Nicole Campbell, the coordinator […]
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Abortion, Condoms Heavily Emphasized at UN AIDS Conference in Mexico City

By Piero A. Tozzi       Mexico City, MEXICO, August 7, 2008 (C-FAM) – Abortion rights advocates are using the XVII International AIDS Conference taking place this week in Mexico City to advance a pro-abortion agenda and to criticize the Catholic Church for not blessing the distribution of condoms. Known as “AIDS 2008,” the biennial conference is sponsored by the International AIDS Society and bears the supporting imprimatur of the United Nations’ UNAIDS agency and the World Health Organization.       The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), a public interest law firm that advocates for abortion, is hosting three talks during AIDS […]
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KofC Convention Adopts Resolutions Challenging Catholic Politicians on Abortion, Marriage

Quebec City, QUEBEC, August 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Delegates to the annual international convention of the Knights of Columbus today adopted a resolution opposing “any governmental action or policy that promotes abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, euthanasia, assisted suicide and other offenses against life.”    The delegates also challenged “our fellow Catholics who are elected officials to be true to the faith they claim to profess by acting bravely and publicly in defense of life, affirming with Pope Benedict XVI that ‘there can be no room for purely private religion.’”   The resolution stated that the organization reaffirms its […]
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Canada’s Abortion Militants Reiterate Condemnation of Unborn Victims of Crime Bill

By Hilary White OTTAWA, August 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canada’s most enthusiastic abortion advocate has endorsed the “alternate” bill a group of pro-abortion MPs has offered to replace the government’s Unborn Victims of Crime Bill, C-484. C-484, which would make it a separate crime to injure or kill a foetus during an attack on the mother, passed second reading in the House of Commons in March. In May, pro-abortion Liberal MP Brent St. Denis introduced C-543 as an alternative, saying the government bill would result in the law identifying an unborn child as a person with rights. C-543 would amend the […]
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BC Government Moves toward All-Day Kindergarten for 3-5 Year-Olds

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski BURNABY, BC, August 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The BC Ministry of Education and Ministry of Children and Family Development is considering implementing full-school-day pre-kindergarten for children ages three and four, and full-time kindergarten for five-year-olds. The formation of the Early Childhood Learning Agency (ECLA) was announced in the BC government Speech from the Throne in February 2008. It was given the task of exploring the feasibility of expanding early learning programs in British Columbia. In July the BC Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) issued a press release urging the government to “prove its commitment to […]
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Quebec Mayor Vows to Continue City Hall Prayer Despite Legal Threats

By Tim Waggoner SAGUENAY, Quebec, August 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The mayor of the Quebec city of Saguenay, Jean Tremblay, says those seeking to take him to court for praying before City Hall meetings are not acting democratically. Despite criticisms, including a Human Rights Commission (HRC) ruling and further possible legal action, Tremblay has expressed his intention to hold fast to his religious convictions, reaffirming that he will continue to pray before monthly City Hall meetings. He has said he will defend his position in court if called upon. “My religion has always been more important than my career. I […]
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Two Years and $100,000 Later: Ezra Levant Complaint Dismissed by Human Rights Commission

By John Jalsevac August 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After a drawn out legal battle spanning some two years, and $100,000 in legal fees later, the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has dismissed the second of two complaints filed against Canadian publisher Ezra Levant and the now-defunct Western Standard magazine. The complaint, filed by the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities (ECMC), alleged that Levant and the Western Standard were guilty of illegal “discrimination” for republishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed in 2006.   Another similar complaint against Levant and the magazine, filed by a Muslim Imam, Syed Soharwardy, was dropped earlier this […]
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Comments on August 6 LifeSiteNews Reports

Dear Readers,   The people of Ecuador need the support of the international pro-life community at this time. The courage of that nations’ real freedom fighters is exceptional. If many organizations and leaders from other countries issue formal, publicized protests to the Ecuadorian government over its efforts to force an anti-life constitution on the nation, the international furor and embarrassment might cause the government to reconsider. Such action will also strengthen the opponents of the new constitution.   Readers, it is up to you and any important persons that you may be able to influence to take immediate action on this […]
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Death Threats Received by Archbishop and Human Life International Leader in Ecuador for Opposing “Ab

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR, August 6, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The President of the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference and the leader of the nation’s Human Life International affiliate are receiving death threats due to their opposition to pro-abortion and anti-family language in the nation’s proposed new constitution. “I believe that the threats are part of an unfortunate way of doing politics in the country, threats of various kinds.  I can’t deny that they are always fearful,” said Antonio Arregui Yarza, Archbishop of Guayaquil. “One isn’t accustomed (to this) when one has a peaceful vision of the world, but it is […]
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Nation’s Only Criminal Case against Planned Parenthood Sinks with Kansas Prosecutor’s Political Fort

By Peter J. Smith WICHITA, Kansas, August 6, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Prospects for Planned Parenthood’s answering 107 criminal charges in court dimmed as pro-life Kansas prosecutor Phill Kline conceded defeat last night to his opponent Steve Howe in the hard fought Republican primary. Seeking election as District Attorney of Johnson County, Kline failed to overcome moderate Republican Steve Howe in the primary. Howe won the primary with 33,260 votes to Kline’s 22,188, or 60 percent to 40 percent, according to final unofficial returns. Although Howe has stated that he will review Kline’s case against Planned Parenthood’s (PP) Overland Park clinic […]
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Canadian Pro-Life Hero Linda Gibbons Arrested Yet Again Three Days after Release

By John-Henry Westen TORONTO, August 6, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Only three days after being released from jail Canadian pro-life hero Linda Gibbons was once again arrested outside of Scott abortuary in downtown Toronto.  Released July 28 after a judge gave her a one day sentence in addition to time served, Gibbons was arrested again on Thursday July 31. Gibbons was arrested for violating terms of a 1994 injunction which prohibits pro-life activity within 20 metres of the abortion mill doors. Rosemary Connell, the leader of Show the Truth – a pro-life group which uses graphic signs to show the reality […]
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Prominent American Pro-Life Activists Arrested and Released in China Protesting Forced Abortion

WASHINGTON, August 6, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Three American pro-life activists were arrested in Tiananmen Square and forcibly taken into custody after displaying a banner that read “Jesus Christ Is King” in both English and Chinese. They were later released. Rev. Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington DC, Brandi Swindell of Generation Life in Boise, Idaho, and Michael McMonagle, National Director of Generation Life were standing in solidarity with the victims of human rights abuses, including forced abortion, religious persecution of Christians, and other denials of fundamental civil liberties. According to news reports of the incident, they called […]
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Cardinal Speaks on Humanae Vitae and the “Civilization of Love”

By Tim Waggoner QUEBEC CITY, August 6, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday, Quebec City Cardinal Marc Ouellet gave the opening homily for the 126th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus in Quebec City, addressing the “prophetic” teachings of Humane Vitae and calling for a “civilization of love.” Promulgated in 1968 by Pope Paul VI, the Papal Encyclical Humane Vitae proclaimed the paramount necessity of protecting life and family. Most famously and controversially, it condemned all forms of artificial contraception as being intrinsically evil. “At forty years of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae and despite the cultural opposition to this Church teaching, […]
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Unearthed Footage/Documents Show Singer Rita MacNeil Speaking at Pro-Abortion Women’s Rally

August 6, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Rita MacNeil is one of Canada’s most popular country singers and is widely considered to be one of the country’s most family-friendly icons. The host of the popular “Rita and Friends” television show is a member of the Order of Canada, has recorded 22 albums, and has won numerous prestigious music awards. Recently unearthed documents and footage, however, reveal that MacNeil was heavily involved in the radical 1970s women’s liberation movement, including, at least on one occasion, speaking at a pro-abortion rally. The news broke on Monday that documents had been found that showed that the […]
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Woman Told of Fetal Abnormalities:  “I Will Not be the Killing Hand.”

By Tim Waggoner OTTAWA, August 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – 20 weeks into her pregnancy, a happily married Catholic teacher was informed her baby had holoprocencephaly – a hole in the brain stem – as well as fluid in the brain and a severe heart condition.  After being given her medical “options”, including the choice to terminate her baby’s life, she informed her doctor that she refused to be the one responsible for her child’s death, trusting that God had a plan for her son. “Termination was not an option for me, and I informed the doctor of this immediately,” said the […]
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Abortionist Arrested For Violent Attack On Pro-lifer

SANTA ANA, California, August 5th, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-life man was violently attacked by an abortionist on a public sidewalk outside a Santa Ana abortion clinic on Saturday, August 2, 2008. The man, who wants only to be known as Tim, was first shoved, then battered, punched and choked by the abortionist who objected to his attempts to photograph him. Tim sustained lacerations and muscle pain that impaired his ability to conduct his normal activities as a result of the attack.   Tim went to the clinic because he had been told there was a possibility that the abortionist […]
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Semi-Pornographic “Lad Mags” Contributing to Breakdown of Family Life: Leading British Tory MP

By Hilary White LONDON, August 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The proliferation of “lad mags,” semi-pornographic magazines marketed to young men, are a factor contributing to the breakdown of family life and the loss of fatherhood, says a Tory leader. Michael Gove, the shadow secretary of education, told a meeting this weekend that such magazines contribute to Britain’s declining social breakdown, to teenage sex, and unintended pregnancies. Speaking to the annual meeting of the Institute for Public Policy Research, Gove said that these publications celebrate a kind of “instant-hit hedonism” that “paint a picture of women as permanently, lasciviously, uncomplicatedly available.” […]
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Immodest Dress in the Church: Like Frogs in Boiling Water

Commentary by Jenna Murphy August 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In recent years what with acceptable fashion standards taking a major plunge (literally) into the realm of ‘anything goes’, young women are left to face conscious decisions in how they dress themselves, not realizing the weight that such decisions carry. Speaking to youth in Australia on July 18, Pope Benedict XVI mentioned modesty as he told of how becoming fully human means rejecting those voices that lead us into worshipping ‘false gods.’ “People sometimes treat others as objects to satisfy their own needs rather than as persons to be loved and cherished. […]
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Georgia Town Shuts Down Strip Joint Despite Court Orders Protecting the Club

By John-Henry Westen LAVONIA, August 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Town residents in Lavonia, Georgia cheered and gave a standing ovation to Mayor Ralph Owens this week as the town purchased a strip joint in order to shut it down.  The strip club, Café Risque opened in 2001 after representing itself under false pretenses to the city authorities.  Owner Jerry Sullivan presented his business as a family restaurant. The city sued Sullivan five times but the courts ruled in his favor, accepting arguments that the lewd dancing was a constitutionally protected form of expression.  After the fact, the city passed an […]
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The Trenton Times Gets It Wrong On Catholics and Voting

Commentary by Deal W. Hudson   August 5, 2008 (InsideCatholic.com) – There will be much media mischief aimed at Catholic voters between now and November 4. Perhaps the best example thus far appeared in the Trenton Times on July 30.   The headline of reporter Jeff Trently’s article tells you all you need to know about his intentions: “U.S. Bishops: Vote your conscience, Catholics urged to weigh stands on all issues.”   But Trently’s version of the erroneous conscience-is-king argument is notable for several reasons: First, his bias is more obvious than usual; secondly, he puts the worst possible spin on a controversial […]
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Labour MP Attempts to Remove Religious Freedom of Conscience after Christian Marriage Registrar Vic

By Hilary White LONDON, Aug. 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The victory of a Christian marriage registrar who had asked to be allowed to recuse herself from performing homosexual civil partnership ceremonies, has infuriated secularist and homosexual activists in the media and in Parliament. A Labour MP has tabled a motion in Parliament that would eliminate the freedom of religious conscience of public servants who oppose the homosexualist political agenda. The motion, tabled by Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, urges ministers to amend the law to ensure that public servants with “arbitrary” religious beliefs will be […]
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Canadian Same-sex “Marriage” Forces Spousal Insurance Coverage in New York

By Tim Waggoner NEW YORK, August 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canadian same-sex “marriages” are being used to deteriorate laws in the US protecting real marriage defined as the union of one man and one woman.  Last week, a New York lesbian woman won a lawsuit forcing her insurance company to provide her “spouse,” who she “married” in Canada, with insurance coverage.   According to Boston News, Jeanne Kornowicz asked the New York Civil Liberties Union to file the suit for her on July 9 against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Western New York for denying health benefits to her “spouse,” […]
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Indian Court Rejects Woman’s Request to Abort Her 25 Week Old Unborn Baby

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski MUMBAI, India, Aug, 5. 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a judgment that could have far reaching implications for the abortion debate in India, the Mumbai (Bombay) High Court, on Monday, denied permission to a woman who wanted to abort her 25 week old unborn child, saying the law does not permit such late-term abortions. Niketa and Haresh Mehta asked for a court ruling after Niketa’s gynecologist told them that the baby had a congenital heart problem and would need a pacemaker, which they could not afford. Doctors refused to abort the child citing India’s abortion law. Abortions […]
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LifeSiteNews Returns on Tuesday

LifeSiteNews staff will be taking a summer long weekend off and return on Tuesday. A respite from the culture wars and more time with family and friends is a good and necessary thing.  
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Reality Says Cohabitation a Disaster for Marriage but Poll Shows Public Believes Otherwise

By Peter J. Smith UNITED STATES, August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite increasingly high divorce rates, nearly half of the US public now clings to the belief that pre-marital cohabitation will make divorce less likely according to a recent national poll. A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 1,007 adults released for the weekend shows 49 percent believe living together reduces the chances of divorce. 13 percent said cohabitation makes no difference at all on marriage’s success. Only 31 percent held the view that shacking up before marriage increases the risk of future divorce. 7 percent had no opinion. “If you’re living […]
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Uganda First Lady Decries Increase in Risky Sexual Behavior while West Threatens to Pull Funding ove

By John Jalsevac KAMPALA, Uganda, August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At the premiere of the soon-to-be-released documentary “Miss HIV” in Kampala, the wife of Uganda’s president, Janet Museveni, lamented the rise in dangerous sexual behaviour in the country and the resultant rise in HIV-AIDS rates. According to New Vision, Musevini said that Ugandans are abandoning behavior-based solutions to HIV-AIDS in favour of methods, imported from the West, that only serve to perpetuate the disease. “It is not too late to reverse the trend,” she said. “We can adopt our own indigenous solutions, which are less expensive and are 100% sure […]
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Chaos at Canterbury: Rowan Williams Said to Have “Betrayed” Church

By Hilary White CANTERBURY, August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Things are not going well at the Lambeth Conference for the Archbishop of Canterbury. Dr. Rowan Williams is increasingly being described as a weak and vacillating character seeking to appease both sides of an irreconcilable divide. Many have observed that he is doing so in an attempt to keep a unity that has already been broken by the consecration of an active, unrepentant homosexual bishop in the US. In the meantime the divide between Anglicans adhering to traditional Christian morality, and those who have abandoned such morality in the name of “progress,” is to all […]
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D.C. State Board of Education Approves New Restrictive Homeschool Regulations

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski WASHINGTON, D.C., August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The State Board of Education in the District of Columbia has approved the State Superintendent of Education’s final draft of home education regulations that significantly increase restrictions on homeschooling families. The proposed regulations have been a controversial topic since January, when the State Superintendent’s Office created a first draft of new rules that sought to heighten restrictions and regulations on parents who choose to homeschool their children. The first draft included regulating the subjects parents must teach their children and a requirement that parents must permit home visits by D.C. […]
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Radio Hall of Fame will not Bow to Homosexual Pressure to Dump Dobson

By Hilary White CHICAGO, August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago has drawn the wrath of homosexual activists who object to the induction of Dr. James Dobson, a major figure in the US Christian pro-life and family movement. Wayne Besen, a homosexual activist, organized a campaign against the Hall of Fame that resulted in several hundred emails demanding that Dr. Dobson be removed from the list of nominees.  Dr. Dobson is the founder and head of Focus on the Family, one of the most prominent US Protestant evangelical organizations. According to homosexual activist Wayne […]
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Austrians Hold “1000 Crosses Funeral March” in Memory of the Unborn

By Jenna Murphy SALZBURG, Austria, August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last week hundreds of Austrian pro-lifers held the first annual “1000 Crosses Funeral March” for the unborn. March participants met at the Cathedral Square in Salzburg where they were given a large white cross before setting out to begin their peaceful procession through the city. When march participants reached the city’s State Bridge, dozens of roses were thrown into the river in memory of lives lost to abortion in Austria. At the end of the march, participants joined together to celebrate a special ‘Mass of Atonement’ for those who promote […]
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Court Orders University of Florida to Accept Christian Fraternity

GAINESVILLE, FL, August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ordered University of Florida officials Wednesday to stop discriminating against a Christian fraternity, Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX), while a lawsuit filed by Christian Legal Society and Alliance Defense Fund attorneys against school officials is on appeal. “The 11th Circuit seems to understand that Christian student groups cannot be singled out for discrimination. The right to associate with people of like mind and interest applies to all student groups on a public university campus,” said Litigation Counsel Timothy J. Tracey with CLS’s Center for Law […]
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