in this issue:
hot button issues: PRO-LIFE MEMORIAL DAY / STOP PLANNED PARENTHOOD
abortion: TURPENTINE
activism: TURNING THE TABLES
birth control: CHICAGO CONFERENCE / CONDOMS ON CAMPUS
dark side: NOVEL CHALLENGE / PARENTAL NOTIFICATION / SANGER’S PHILOSOPHY LIVES
media: ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT
personhood: RIGHT TO LIFE ACT
spin: CANCER VACCINE?
supreme court: PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION
reflection for prayer: PSALM 13:4-6
hot button issues
PRO-LIFE MEMORIAL DAY: American Life League observes Pro-life Memorial Day on Monday. In Washington, ALL is hosting a candlelight vigil at the U.S. Supreme Court in memory of the more than 47 million lives lost to surgical abortion since Roe v. Wade. Groups in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, Texas and South Carolina are among many who are also planning local events for Pro-life Memorial Day. It’s not too late to act in your own community. Many pro-lifers are simply praying in front of abortion facilities. Please make a point of stopping what you’re doing on Monday to contemplate all that has been lost.
STOP PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Jim Sedlak and David Bereit of American Life League have produced a four-CD set of talks on how Planned Parenthood is harming the nation’s communities and what active pro-lifers can do to stop the organization from achieving its objectives. The package is available online. It can also be ordered by phone at 866-LET-LIVE. The set is $29.95 plus shipping and handling.
abortion
TURPENTINE: Police in Georgia have arrested the mother and two cousins of a pregnant 16-year-old girl. The three are charged with criminal abortion and stand accused of forcing the girl – on two different occasions – to drink turpentine, which they apparently believed would induce an abortion. Police say there’s no medical evidence that drinking turpentine would have that effect.
(Reading: “Police: Teen forced to drink turpentine,” Associated Press, 9/26/06)
activism
TURNING THE TABLES: Abortion promoters have lashed out at pro-life pregnancy centers for allegedly posing as abortionists. Now, a pro-life pregnancy center in New York wants to stop an abortionist for advertising as a provider of “abortion alternatives.” Chris Slattery of Expectant Mother Care, an American Life League associate group, says “we filed a sixteen-count complaint supported by affidavits alleging deceptive acts and practices in the conduct of an abortion clinic’s business in violation of N.Y. General Business Law 349.”
(Reading: “Abortion clinic sued for posing as a pro-life crisis pregnancy center,” Life Site News, 9/21/06)
birth control
CHICAGO CONFERENCE: The Pro-Life Action League’s “Contraception is not the answer” conference got the attention of the Chicago Tribune last weekend, which noted “an increasingly vocal group of Christian conservatives is arguing that it’s time to mount a concerted attack on contraception.” The article also quotes a NARAL spokesman who said, “The public isn’t going to buy this.”
(Reading: “Abortion foes’ new rallying point,” Chicago Tribune, 9/24/06)
CONDOMS ON CAMPUS: A New York Times article examines condom promotions on college campuses, with one industry representative noting that one-third of all condom sales are made to college students. A survey on one company’s web site lists the “condom availability” scores for 100 major universities. Brigham Young ranked last, scoring “F” in every category. Yale is number one.
(Reading: “Here’s your syllabus, and your condom,” New York Times, 9/24/06; “New survey points to disparity of access to information about sexual health on college campuses nationwide,” Trojan news release, 9/19/06)
dark side
NOVEL CHALLENGE: The pro-abortion Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is attacking the federal partial-birth abortion law, purportedly on religious grounds. The group filed a friend of the court brief claiming “that many religions oppose such undue restrictions on legal abortion because of their belief that a woman’s health must be protected.”
(Reading: “RCRC challenges federal abortion ban on religious grounds,” Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice news release, 9/21/06)
PARENTAL NOTIFICATION: How does Planned Parenthood react to House passage of a bill designed to regulate teens who travel out of state for abortions to avoid parental involvement laws? Here’s the official response from Planned Parenthood: The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act “is an inappropriate federal intrusion in family decision making that would criminalize close family members who help young women to access the health care they need.”
(Reading: “House passes teen endangerment act,” Planned Parenthood news release, 9/26/06)
SANGER’S PHILOSOPHY LIVES: It’s Dr. Vanessa Cullins giving the “advice” on Planned Parenthood’s web site, but not much has changed since Margaret Sanger started the organization years ago: “Experts at Planned Parenthood suggest that by age five, children should be taught ‘the basics’ – the names of body parts…. Elementary school children should have a basic awareness of gender roles, health care, human reproduction, and sexual identity, and they should be comfortable with their own sexual thoughts and fantasies.”
(Reading: “Ask Dr. Cullins: Relationships,” Planned Parenthood, 9/28/06)
media
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT: A New York Times reporter who covers the Supreme Court spoke in favor of legal abortion in an appearance at Harvard University this summer. Linda Greenhouse, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, bemoaned a “sustained assault on women’s reproductive freedom and the hijacking of public policy by religious fundamentalism.” She was reprimanded in 1989 for participating in a pro-abortion march in Washington.
(Reading: “Times reporter rips ‘assault’ on abortion rights,” MSNBC, 9/27/06)
personhood
RIGHT TO LIFE ACT: With the addition of the 100th Congressional sponsor to the Right to Life Act, the pro-life movement has reached an important milestone in its quest to end the slaughter of innocent preborn children by abortion.
COMMENT: Are your members of Congress co-sponsors? If not, ask them to get on board.
spin
CANCER VACCINE? Headline writers are picking up on an inaccurate piece of information regarding the recently-approved HPV vaccine. Despite what is being reported, it is not a vaccine against cancer; it is a vaccine against a few types of human papilloma virus that can cause cervical cancer.
(Reading: “Lawmaker champions cancer vaccine, reveals her story,” Chicago Sun Times, 9/22/06)
supreme court
PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION: With the start of a new Supreme Court session on Monday, there’s plenty of speculation about what will happen with cases involving the federal law regulating partial birth abortion. A previous version of the law was overturned in a 5-4 vote six years ago. With Justice Samuel Alito replacing retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, some believe the court could find this new law acceptable.
(Reading: “Supreme Court faces abortion, race cases,” Reuters, 9/28/06)
reflection for prayer
PSALM 13:4-6: Look upon me; answer me, Lord, my God! Give light to my eyes lest I sleep in death; lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed”; lest my foes rejoice at my downfall. I trust in your faithfulness. Grant my heart joy in your help.