Pro-life advocate accuses politicians of using faith for political means

From Rusty Pugh and One News Now.

“Pro-life advocate Judie Brown says many politicians — including the two leading Democratic presidential contenders — claim to be Christian, while supporting things that are clearly contrary to Christian beliefs. During an election year, politicians frequently appear in the pulpits of churches, professing to be believers. Such was the case recently when Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York) spoke to a Baptist church in Memphis, and Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) appeared at a United Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia. Both Democrats openly support abortion — and the former first lady even argued earlier this month in a campaign mailing that she is more pro-abortion than her opponent. American Life League president Judie Brown says there is a disconnect in the public mind with regard to what God teaches about the sanctity of human life versus what has become the political rhetoric of Christianity. “It is one thing to profess to be a believing Christian, and another to, by your actions, either confirm that you are indeed a believing Christian, or that you are using your so-called Christianity for the purpose of political gain,” says Brown. Brown says that in many cases — such as Obama’s and Clinton’s — she sees politicians “using their professed Christianity for political ends, without even recognizing what it means to be a Christian, and I find that rather sad.”

Heisman Winner Makes Forward Progress on Life

From the Family Research Council.

“According to his mom, football sensation Tim Tebow came very close to missing his run at the Heisman Trophy. Pam Tebow says it wasn’t because of his performance, but because her doctors had advised the couple to abort him. Back in the ’80s, when she and her husband Bob were in the mission field, Pam was diagnosed with a medical condition that could only be treated with drugs that risked harming her unborn child. To avoid “irreparable damage” to her baby, doctors suggested that she abort the future Heisman winner. She refused. Today, Pam, Bob, and the entire University of Florida football team are glad she didn’t. Despite the doctor’s prediction, Tim was born completely healthy–and remains so. In his acceptance speech for the Heisman, Tim said, “I just (want) to first start off by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave me the ability to play football, gave me a great family and support group…” Sadly, not every unborn child is as fortunate as Tim. For every baby like him, whose parents embrace the gift of life, there are countless others whose lives are ended before they begin, all in the name of “choice.” Of the 49 million who never lived to realize their potential, imagine the number of future leaders, inventors, doctors–and, yes, even Heisman trophy winners–among them. We are grateful to the Tebow family for sharing their testimony and pray that it helps persuade other women of the inherent value of their unborn children and the great promise that lies within.”

Survivor: The Womb Edition

From the Family Research Council.

“Having just witnessed the miracle of new life, I was amazed at the story of the Lord’s protection over an unborn baby that doctors in the U.K. tried–unsuccessfully–to abort. The child, who physicians claimed suffered from an enlarged heart that would likely be fatal in the womb, was a twin. Heeding their doctors’ advice, which was to put the child out of his misery, Rebecca and Mark Jones reluctantly agreed to abort the baby in hopes of saving his brother. Gabriel, as he is now known, had other ideas. When the medical team tried to sever his umbilical cord to cut off the blood supply, the cord was too strong. Next they tried to divide the placenta in half “so that when Gabriel died, it wouldn’t affect his twin brother.” To everyone’s amazement, Gabriel survived for another five weeks–long enough for Rebecca to deliver him. She and her husband now marvel that their babies are both alive and completely healthy. “No one could quite believe it,” Rebecca says, seven months later. In fact, the procedure that doctors thought would end Gabriel’s life was later credited with saving it. The distribution of nutrients through the separate placentas helped give him the strength he needed to keep fighting. As moving as this story is, it does underscore just how vital it is for families to have pro-life doctors who share their worldview. Like the Joneses, we’re often at the mercy of the medical community’s opinion, and surely we all want their advice to be illuminated through a pro-life lens. “

$3 Billion To Kill Unborn Children

From Dr. Rick Scarborough and Vision America.

“Please read this important announcement regarding Texas–and forward
to anyone you know who shares our values and who can vote in Texas.

http://www.visionamerica.us/site/R?i=IIijT6-bfQyOTkRTk3yljg..

I have lived in Texas my whole life, and I was discouraged to learn
that our state leaders are advancing an amendment to the state
constitution that will provide $3 billion for cancer research, with no
prohibitions that would prevent embryonic stem cell research–other
than their verbal assurances that it will not happen. History has
tragically proven, when it comes to evil, verbal assurances are never
enough.

We must rally citizens of Texas who honor the sanctity of life to vote
NO on Prop 15 next Tuesday. This means an all out effort as few people
even realize there is a vote being held next week, and I assure you
those who will be receiving the $3,000,000,000.00 will certainly
mobilize their troops to ratify the proposal.

I have many friends who are ardently pro-life in the Texas
legislature. I am surprised they have allowed Prop. 15 to proceed this
far without inserting safeguards to protect innocent life.

I am all for research for cancer cures and in fact would favor Texas
being the first state to assist in researching cures using adult stem
cell lines. But I will never favor the use of embryos for such
research. God values every life regardless of how young. And this
nation was founded upon the conviction, “…that all men are
CREATED…..and endowed by their CREATOR….”

Prop 15 is a bad idea. We must not let it pass. Together, we can send
a strong message to our leaders and our nation that in Texas we
don’t mess with innocent human life!

If you live in Texas, join me in voting AGAINST Proposition 15 on
Tuesday.”

Mainstream Media Covers Planned Parenthood Abortion Abuses

From Gary Randall and Faith and Freedom Network and Foundation.

“We have pointed out several irregularities with Planned Parenthood, including the botched abortion in Cape Cod, Mass. that resulted in the death of the mother. This again pointed out the reluctance of the media to even cover the story. Not only are these situations unacceptable but there is an element of hypocrisy about this whole matter that is equally unacceptable.

People are on to the fact that Planned Parenthood, America’s foremost abortion company, is undergoing an extreme image make over, thanks to the care and nurture of the press.

No one covers these kinds of things better and more accurately than the people at Media Research Center. Brent Bozell is the founder and president of the organization.

In a recent article Bozell said, “This is one corporation the media holds in the highest regard.” He points out that according to the press they are not “merchants of death;” that would be the tobacco companies, gun manufacturers and hamburger joints. Rather, Planned Parenthood is the heroic provider of a woman’s right to choose. He also says they are sleazy in their business practices.

The remainder of this column is his article. I strongly encourage you to take a moment and read it.

________________________
Poor Planned Parenthood?
by L. Brent Bozell IIIOctober 24, 2007

As much as liberals decry major corporations that act as if they’re above the law, there’s always quiet when the subject is Planned Parenthood, America’s number one corporate provider of abortions. During its 2005-2006 fiscal year, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America performed a record 264,943 abortions, reported a tidy profit of $55.8 million – and received a record high in taxpayer funding of $305.3 million.

This is one corporation the media hold in the highest regard. They’re not “merchants of death.” That would be the tobacco companies, or gun manufacturers, or hamburger joints. These are the heroic “providers” of “a woman’s right to choose.”

They’re also sleazy in their business practices. In Aurora, Illinois, Planned Parenthood planned to build the biggest abortion clinic in the country, but they lied by omission to the city. Throughout the construction process, the McDonald’s of the abortion industry applied for permits by listing the owner as “Gemini Office Development,” not as Planned Parenthood.

ABC News to the rescue! Barbara Pinto filed a report on the September 19 “World News,” suggesting black was white. “Planned Parenthood denies they’ve deceived anyone,” she stated, adding that their spokesman in Chicago said they were “entirely truthful.” Pinto proceeded to blame Aurora’s officials for being dimwitted: “None of the city officials or elected officials were aware that Planned Parenthood would be the tenant in this building. That, despite the fact plans they approved included a surgical center, bulletproof glass and numerous security cameras.” ABC ended by quoting the clinic’s neighbors wishing the pro-lifers would stop protesting: “I just wish that they’d go home. I’m tired of seeing their signs.”

Down the highway in Kansas, Johnson County District Attorney Phil Kline just filed 107 charges against Planned Parenthood, charging that its clinic in Overland Park, Kansas performed unlawful late-term abortions. Kansas state law holds that abortion is legal only when a doctor affirms that the baby is not viable to live outside the mother’s womb. If the baby can live, then two doctors must attest the abortion is necessary for the woman’s physical or mental health. That’s why clinic records are an issue.

The 23 felony counts allege that Planned Parenthood submitted false “pregnancy termination reports” to a court on August 21 in response to a subpoena. District Court Judge James S. Vano agreed there was probable cause to think crimes had been committed and set a November 16 court date. Planned Parenthood faces more than $2.5 million in potential fines.

But you’ll not see a story virtually anywhere on this budding scandal because the press studiously avoids scrutiny of its liberal sacred cows – or focuses its guns on that person who would dare to get in their way. They’d lionize a state official attacking crisis-pregnancy centers that try to talk women out of abortions. But investigate the abortion industry, and you’re a national disgrace.

In 2005 Kline was demonized by glossy national magazines like GQ as the man “who will do anything to stop abortion.” In that GQ article, his local Planned Parenthood adversary, Peter Brownlie, was allowed to make the ridiculous claim that, “Planned Parenthood, by its efforts to prevent unintended pregnancies, has prevented more abortions than any anti-abortion group that has ever existed. They talk. We do.”

So pro-lifers should applaud Planned Parenthood – for not killing every baby it encounters.
Now comes another ABC News story on its website, with a fresh liberal tilt. ABC’s Emily Friedman began by suggesting Kline was “either an agenda-driven prosecutor operating outside the law or one of the best friends the anti-abortion rights movement has ever had.”

Not only are pro-lifers not “pro-life,” they’re not even “abortion foes.” They’re now – in a news report, remember — “anti-rights.” Friedman unloaded the critical comments of liberals: not just Planned Parenthood’s Brownlie, but Kansas professor Burdett Loomis (whom even she noted was a strategist for the Democratic governor of Kansas in 2004), and Kim Gandy, the boss of the National Organization for Women, who lionized Dr. George Tiller, the champion of hideous third-trimester abortions, as “one of the very few who has the courage to do this kind of work.”

A Kline spokesman tried to rebut the claims of “critics,” but it was hopeless. The overall tone of the piece was how Kline is not only ruining the “choice” of third-trimester abortions for desperate women, his pro-life agenda is ruining the Republican Party on the plains. ABC’s expert analyst? Professor Loomis the Democrat, who concluded the article: “I think even within the Republican Party, this is a guy who has probably outlived his welcome.”

Planned Parenthood is a formidable force in national (and state) politics. One major reason is networks like ABC, news outlets that don’t really care whether this corporation plays by the rules, as long as the abortion assembly line keeps running.”

To read more click here.

Bella: Movie Embraces the Sanctity of Life

From Gary Randall and Faith and Freedom Network and Foundation.

“The film Bella, winner of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival’s “People’s Choice Award” has opened in the U.S. and it is pro-life.

Some are calling it a miracle that a film would take such a pro-life position.

The promotions say in one irreversible moment, a simple act of kindness brings two people together and turns an ordinary day into an unforgettable experience. The film’s production notes say, “before the day is through, Jose must confront his own haunting past to show Nina how the healing power of love can help her embrace the future.

People who have screened the movie, love it. It is the story of a Mexican soccer star, Jose (played by Eduardo Verastequi) who endures tragedy and later works quietly as a chef in a New York restaurant. There he meets Nina (Emmy Award winning actress Tammy Blanchard), a waitress who is fired just as she learns she is pregnant and is considering abortion.

However, the story behind the movie may be even more compelling.

This movie is also a step in the personal, spiritual development of the leading man, Eduardo Verastequi.

Verastequi is well-known in Mexico as a member of the pop music group Kairo and a star of telenovelas (soap operas). A couple of years ago, he moved to Los Angeles to continue his career in America.

I heard him tell Neil Cavauto on Fox Business channel a few days ago that after moving to America, he had a dynamic, spiritual encounter with God. He said, “I realized that instead of using my talents to serve and contribute to this world, so we can make this world a better place, I was poisoning our society by the projects that I was involved in.” He has now committed himself to only meaningful projects that will make a difference for God.

While researching his role in Bella by observing the activity at an abortion clinic, he had another moment of truth. He was shocked at all the young teenagers arriving for abortions. He tells how he stood near pro-lifers who were ministering to the kids as they were going into the abortion clinic. He ended up translating for a young couple who only spoke Spanish and in doing so, was able to help them decide not to go into the abortion factory.

Many months later, he received a call from the young father, Javier. He said, “I have good news. My baby boy was born yesterday. I want permission to name him Eduardo after you.”

Verastequi later said that was the “most noble thing I’ve ever done in my life. It was beautiful — by the grace of God I was able to save this baby.”

This spirit is translated into the movie.

Beginning last week, the movie is showing on a limited basis in only 31 markets around the U.S. With success, it will be expanded to all markets.”

Bella and the Golden Compass

I wanted to make everyone aware of a very special award winning movie that hit local movie theatres this past weekend.  It is called Bella.  The reason this movie is so special is captured in the quote below from a prominent pro-Christian group promoting the movie. 

“Bella” is an amazing film that entertains, inspires and celebrates the dignity of human life. It is a rare gem that defies the norms of Hollywood and profoundly illustrates how true, sacrificial love can change someone’s life forever.  

It is important to support “Bella” in an effort to help send a clear and powerful message to Hollywood that there is a huge audience for positive films that embrace family values.” 

The movie was made by a producer of the Passion of the Christ and has received an Appreciation Award from Focus on the Family for its celebration of faith, family and life. 

Co-writer and co-producer Leo Severino has shared publicly that he’s aware of at least two instances where babies are alive today because of Bella’s message of truth and love. I watched it last night and was deeply moved by it. 

It is very powerful.  I highly recommend it.  

Also, I wanted to make everyone aware of a movie starring Nicole Kidman that is set for release on December 7th. The movie is called the Golden Compass and it is based on a trilogy of children’s books that are extremely anti-Christian and written by an avowed atheist.  Evidently, the movie has had a lot of the anti-Christian elements removed in order to make it more palatable to a US audience but the author’s hope is that children will enjoy the movie so much they purchase his books.   

You can read more about it in the articles at the links below.  

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/blogger.html  

http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp  

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58341

WHY DO THEY CALL PLANNED PARENTHOOD A NONPROFIT?

During its 2005-2006 fiscal year, the non-profit Planned Parenthood Federation of America performed a record 264,943 abortions, attained a huge profit of $55.8 million and received record taxpayer funding of $305.3 million. (CNSNews.com, 6/15/07)  For the year July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, Planned Parenthood received $345.1 million in clinic income, $305 million in taxpayer funding and $212.2 million in donations.  Total income reached $902.8 million while total expenses came to $847.0 million, leaving a profit of $55.8 million.  Why are we allowing Congress to take our tax dollars to fund Planned Parenthood? Please contact your representatives in Congress to demand that they de-fund Planned Parenthood!

CONFESSION OF AN EX-ABORTIONIST

By Dr. Bernard Nathanson and www.allaboutabortions.com 

“I am personally responsible for 75,000 abortions.  This legitimizes my credentials to speak  to you  with some authority  on the issue.  I was one of the founders of the National Association for the Repeal of the Abortion Laws (NARAL) in the U.S. in 1968. A truthful poll of opinion then would have found that most Americans were against permissive abortion.  Yet within five years we had convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to issue the decision which legalized abortion throughout America in 1973 and produced virtual abortion on demand up to birth. How did we do this? It is important to understand the tactics involved because these tactics have been used throughout the western world with one permutation or another, in order to change abortion law.                         

THE FIRST KEY TACTIC WAS TO CAPTURE THE MEDIA 

We persuaded the media that the cause of permissive abortion was a liberal enlightened, sophisticated one.  Knowing that if a true poll were taken, we would be soundly defeated, we simply fabricated the results of fictional polls.  We announced to the media that we had taken polls and that 60% of Americans were in favor of permissive abortion.  This is the tactic of the self-fulfilling lie.  Few people care to be in the minority. We aroused enough sympathy to sell our program of permissive abortion by fabricating the number of illegal abortions done annually in the U.S. The actual figure was approaching 100,000 but the figure we gave to the media repeatedly was 1,000,000.  Repeating the big lie often enough convinces the public.  The number of women dying from illegal abortions was around 200-250 annually.  The figure we constantly fed to the media was 10,000.  These false figures took root in the consciousness of Americans convincing many that we needed to crack the abortion law.  Another myth we fed to the public through the media was that legalizing abortion would only mean that the abortions taking place illegally would then be done legally.  In fact, of course, abortion is now being used as a primary method of birth control in the U.S. and the annual number of abortions has increased by 1500% since legalization.                                                                             

THE SECOND KEY TACTIC WAS TO PLAY THE CATHOLIC CARD 

We systematically vilified the Catholic Church and its  “socially backward ideas” and picked on the Catholic hierarchy  as the villain  in opposing abortion.  This theme wasplayed endlessly.  We fed the media such lies as “we all know that opposition to abortion comes from the hierarchy  and not  from  most Catholics” and “Polls prove time and again that most Catholics want abortion law reform”. And the media drum-fired all this into the American people, persuading them that anyone opposing permissive abortion must be under the influence of the Catholic hierarchy and that Catholics in favor of abortion are enlightened and forward-looking.  An inference of this tactic was that there were no non- Catholic groups opposing abortion. The fact that other Christian as well as non-Christian religions were {and still are) monolithically opposed to abortion was  constantly suppressed, along with pro-life atheists’ opinions.                                       

THE THIRD KEY TACTIC WAS THE DENIGRATION AND SUPPRESSION OF ALL SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE THAT LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION 

I am often asked what made me change my mind. How did I change from prominent abortionist to pro-life advocate? In 1973, I became director of obstetrics of a large hospital in New York City and had to set up a prenatal research unit, just at the start of a great new technology which we now use every day to study the fetus in the womb. A favorite pro- abortion tactic is to insist that the definition of when life begins is impossible; that the question is a theological or moral or philosophical one, anything but a scientific one.  Foetology makes it undeniably evident that life begins at conception and requires all the protection and safeguards that any of us enjoy.  Why, you may well ask, do some American doctors who are privy to the findings of foetology, discredit themselves by carrying out abortions? Simple arithmetic at $300 a time, 1.55 million abortions means an industry generating $500,000,000 annually, of which most goes into the pocket of the physician doing  the  abortion.  It is clear  that  permissive  abortion  is  purposeful destruction  of  what  is  undeniably  human life.  It is an impermissible act of deadly violence.  One  must concede that unplanned pregnancy is a wrenchingly difficult dilemma, but  to look  for its solution  in a deliberate act  of destruction  is to trash the vast resourcefulness  of human  ingenuity,  and to  surrender  the public weal  to the classic utilitarian answer to social problems.    

AS A SCIENTIST I KNOW, NOT BELIEVE, KNOW THAT HUMAN LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION 

Although I am not a formal religionist,  I believe with all my heart  that there is a divinity of existence which commands us to declare a final and irreversible halt to this infinitely sad and shameful crime against humanity.”                                     

[Dr. Nathanson has since converted to Catholicism, being baptized in 1996.]

How Now Shall We Live? By Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey

This is a MUST read for all Christians.  It is an incredibly powerful book that I highly recommend.  There is also a study guide for this book that I recommend as well.  This book examines the great spiritual battle today that is a cosmic struggle between competing worldviews.  The authors utilize true stories and compelling teaching to demonstrate the following:

– Expose false views and values of modern culture

– Live a more fulfilling life the way God created us to live

– Contend for the faith by understanding how nonbelievers think

– Build a society that reflects biblical principles

I ran across a review on amazon.com that I thought really did a great job of capturing the core of the book.  It is below.   

5 out of 5 Stars – The Way We See The World Can Change The World, June 21, 2006

“Centuries ago, when the Jews were in exile and despair, they cried out to God, “How should we then live?” The same question rings down through the ages. How shall we live today? Pearcey and Colson’s primary observation is that “the way we see the world can change the world.” (pg. 13) This is because our choices are shaped by what we believe is real and true, right and wrong, or good and beautiful. In short, our choices are shaped by what Pearcey and Colson call our “worldview.”Every worldview attempts to answer three basic questions: (1) Where did we come from and who are we? (2) What has gone wrong with the world? And (3) What can we do to fix it? According to Colson and Pearcey, the culture wars are not about extraneous issues like abortion or public education. Fundamentally, they are about worldviews–between competing secular and spiritual answers to those three basic questions.

The demise of objective truth, profoundly expressed in the halls of academia, also extends into the popular press and culture. The result has been a postmodern worldview which embraces relativism and reduces all ideas to social constructions shaped by class, gender, and ethnicity. Under this view, the world is just a power struggle for meaningless prizes. Their one absolute is that morality is not absolute. Other existing worldviews include “traditionalism,” found in many small towns filled with churches; and modernism, found among pragmatic social and business leaders interested in personal material gain, but less interested in philosophical questions and social issues. Against this backdrop, Christians are challenged to provide answers to those three basic questions in a compelling manner.

C. S. Lewis observed, “The Christian and the materialist hold different beliefs about the universe. They both can’t be right. The one who is wrong will act in a way which simply doesn’t fit the real universe.” Thus Colson and Pearcy observe that choices are not without consequences. The Christian worldview says we were created by God. Compelling evidence that life does not have a random origin can be found in the current arguments for intelligent design. Christianity claims that God created the universe with a material order and a moral order. If we live contrary to that order, we sin against God. Thus, what has gone wrong with the universe is human sin.

The way to redeem our culture is to help people realize which universe they’re living in. If it’s a materialist’s universe, then the answers don’t revolve around taking moral principles seriously. But if the real universe was made with a moral law (as Colson and Pearcey argue), then it stands to reason that the solutions to our problems begin with recognizing that fact, and taking steps to educate people in ways that will help them live lives that are not inimical to the way we were designed to live. This, Colson and Pearcey argue, is how we should live.”

For more information on Charles Colson visit his website at www.breakpoint.org and for more information on Nancy Pearcey visit her website at www.pearceyreport.com.