Pro-life

Here is a good article in the National Catholic Register "Why We Quit Contraception
Two couples tell their ‘conversion’ stories"

I do think that we need to rename Natural Family Planning. To often the idea of artificial contrasted to natural gives a false idea of why contraception is wrong. As if organic contraception would be alright. I would call it Supernatural Family Planning, that is any spacing of births done for serious reasons via periodic abstinence is in response to prayer and a docility to God’s will.

As 400,000 Catholic young people from around the world prepare to make their way to Cologne for World Youth Day, a spat over condom distribution has erupted.

Church protests have halted plans to distribute condoms during next week’s Catholic World Youth Day festivities, Germany’s police union announced Wednesday.

"We don’t want to offend anyone," a GdP union spokeswoman told AFP, explaining that the decision had been a "question of sensitivity" in light of the Vatican’s objections to condom use.

The plan involved police officers deployed at the event in Cologne passing out condoms, as the union commonly does at large public gatherings the police are asked to protect.

The spokeswoman said the decision was made after the union’s representative for youth had received complaints and threats of protests from Church leaders.

Similar pressure has tied the hands of officials at a welcome center for pilgrims in Satzvey, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) southeast of Cologne, who had planned to make 200 condoms available.

A local deacon, Peter Gebhardt, welcomed the decision, saying that organizers had now "distanced themselves" from the plans.

But the US organization Condoms4Life, waving the banner "Good Catholics Use Condoms" said it would not be intimidated. [Source]

Good Catholics Use Condoms for what? These groups that try to put forth the licitness of condom without mentioning the means it entails. They never actually come out and directly support fornication and adultery. There documentation is directed mainly towards STDs and this is how they charge the Church with killing innocent people. Faithful marriages don’t need to be protected from STDs. I guess good Catholics can use condoms for balloons and in fact a good Catholic can choose to wear a condom if they want to. In fact they can wear it anytime they want except while having sex with their spouse.

Of course Condoms4Life is actually an organization created by Catholics For a Free Choice which the reporter could have figured out with just one minute of investigation (that is Google.)

Kathleen Howes, Canadian coordinator of CFFC said the condoms to be pedaled to the youth delegates would carry the message, "Don’t leave it up to your Guardian Angel." The billboards, two of which are already up in the Toronto area say, "Because the bishops ban condoms, innocent people die."

Monsignor Peter Schonenbach, general secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, was quoted in the Feb. 1 Globe and Mail as strangely responding, "It’s a free country. They can do what they want … The church is stuck with its position on this." The Globe further reported that Schonenbach "said the issue has been difficult for the global church, which embraces different social viewpoints; he likened it to Pope Paul VI’s controversial and unexpected decision to ban the birth-control pill in 1968.” [Source]

Speaking of Frances Kissling of CFFC in a surreal turn of events she actually condemned the completely false NARAL attack ad on Judge Roberts. I heard the statement on the Hugh Hewitt show last night and it was fairly tough, but have been unable to find it on their site or the web. You know you have really gone over the top when you can’t come up with ad trying to torpedo Judge Roberts that doesn’t please Francis Kissling . An ad that isn’t even supported by James Carville who thinks CNN should quietly take it off the air. You would think that an ad not supported by the usual suspects would meet the Wolf Blitzer test that they "would run any ad unless it was totally totally outrageous." Yes the doublemint version of outrageous – totally totally. If NARAL’s ad of associating Judge Roberts with endorsing abortion clinics doesn’t meet this standard than what does?

After the massive lie of NARAL’s ad can anybody really be surprised that they lied to Washington Post reporter Dan Balz that they had sold ads to both CNN and Fox. It turns out that it was only CNN they were able to sell the ad to. I know my readers will be shocked to find out that NARAL actualy lied. [Info via Captain’s Quarters]

First Dawn Eden did an expose on Planned Parenthood’s A Superhero for Choice and then today The Corner linked to PP’s piece. Now it has been removed from their servers. So I take it that their superheroes version of Kyrptonite is light and truth. Of course that is the same weakness for the pro-abortion agenda in the first place.

You can still go to Dawn’s site to see stills from the original animation.

Go read this interesting medical history of Dr. John Rock a daily communicant and a pioneer in birth control and assisted reproduction in Alicia’s post Paved with good intentions.

FactCheck.org does the analysis of NARAL’s new attack ad aimed at Judge Roberts. No surprise that NARAL resorts to lies and distortions to advance their agenda.

Via Captains Quarters which also reported that CNN agreed to run the ads. This made me feel better knowing the blatantly false ads will have a limited audience.

THE abortion rate hit a record high last year, according to government figures published yesterday that also show a sharp rise in terminations to girls aged under 14.

In 2004 the abortion rate rose by 2.1 per cent to 17.8 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, the highest recorded, according to the Department of Health. This resulted in 185,415 women resident in England and Wales having an abortion, compared with 181,600 in 2003.

The overall abortion rate among girls aged under 16 fell from 3.9 to 3.7 per 1,000, but the number of girls aged under 14 who had an abortion rose by 6 per cent last year to 157.

The findings provoked mixed reactions yesterday from people working in the family planning field. Some predicted that the rate would continue to rise as women increasingly regarded having a termination as a lifestyle choice.

Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Britain’s leading abortion provider, noted that the rate was highest for those aged 18 to 24, at 31.9 terminations per 1,000 women.

This is part of a growing trend for women in this age bracket opting to end unwanted pregnancies, she said. Most women are at least 29 before they have a child and the increase in abortion rates of women aged 20 to 24 reflects that.

“Women today want to plan their families and, when contraception fails, they are prepared to use abortion to get back in control of their lives,” Ms Furedi said. [Source]

More proof that abortion is backup contraception. They are now willing to admit that a growing abortion rate can be linked to contraceptive failure. The Fact Is reported earlier this week that even the studies done by the pro-abortion founded Alan Guttmacher Institute show this.

The Alan Guttmacher Institute is the research arm of Planned Parenthood and openly supports abortion and widespread access to contraceptives. The report placed great emphasis on the fact that 48 percent of pregnancies in the US are unplanned. Of those unplanned pregnancies, 47 percent end in abortion, 40 percent are carried to full term and 13 percent end in miscarriage. Advocates of abortion often argue that to decrease abortions, unintended pregnancies must be reduced through increased access to contraceptives. But the Guttmacher Institute’s research indicates that 53 percent of women who have unintended pregnancies used a contraceptive method during the month they got pregnant.

This of course is something that pro-lifers have argued for some time that the contraceptive mentality leads to an increase in abortions. So it is in fact those who call for more access to contraceptives are calling for us to throw gasoline on the fire to put it out.

David at Catholics in the Public Square also posted in response to the study:

The "95-10" Initiative, which the group, Democrats for Life, is promoting, includes health insurance coverage for contraception and increased federal money for pregnancy prevention education which would likely include information on the use of contraception. Will this data give them second thoughts on promoting contraception? Let us pray that it does. ]

From the Catholic League:

Senator Bill Frist formally broke today with the Bush administration’s opposition to embryonic stem cell research. Commenting on the break is Catholic League president William Donohue:

“Here is what Senator John Kerry said when running for president: ‘I believe life does begin at conception.’ Here is what Senator Bill Frist is now saying: ‘I believe human life begins at conception.’ They now agree on one more thing: They will do absolutely nothing to protect the beginning of innocent human life.

“Frist is worse than Kerry. Kerry, a lawyer, said his position on the beginning of human life was based on ‘my Catholic belief.’ Frist, a physician, says that while his Christian faith informs his position, there’s more to it: ‘But, to me, it isn’t just a matter of faith. It’s a fact of science.’

“And it’s a fact of politics that Frist is such a hypocrite. His change of heart has nothing to do with any scientific breakthrough: there is no new evidence suggesting that the human embryo does not constitute human life, nor is there any evidence that embryonic stem cell research can be performed without killing embryos. What’s changed is that Dr. Duplicity wants to be president.

“Frist still calls himself ‘strong[ly] pro-life,’ and says he gives ‘huge moral significance to the human embryo.’ Furthermore, he says the human embryo ‘is nascent human life,’ explaining that we should ‘treat that embryo with dignity, with respect.’ Which raises the question: If it’s okay to snuff out the beginning of human life, how much dignity and respect may logically be accorded the dead?

“Frist says he is not going to run for senator of Tennessee again. Now it’s up to the Republican leadership to make sure he has no future role to play in their party. Who knows, if Frist becomes increasingly Kerryesque, maybe the Dems will draft him?”

"Dr. Duplicity" is classic William Donahue. Whenever I hear a politician described as "strongly pro-life" my skepticism kicks into high gear. For example Senate Minority Leader Reid was described the same way and of course promptly worked to help to exclude any judge who might possibly diminish abortion in any way. Of course this type of hypocrisy is nothing new to the GOP either. From the President on down there have always been caveats when it comes to abortion as if a human person is less a human person if conceived via rape or incest. That the child should be executed for the crimes of the father. Rapists don’t get the death penalty but their children are eligible for it. Politicians like the majority of Americans do not have a firm grasp that personhood begins at conception. They only truly accept that political careers begin at polling. Truly all we have now is poll-iticians and in the case of Bill Frist will abandon what should inform is though as both a doctor and a Christian for a possible presidential run. It reminds me of Chesterton’s quip that is a shame how few politicians are hung.

Scrappleface has it’s own hilarious take.

(2005-07-29) — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist today announced his support for expanding federally-funded stem cell research in hopes of finding a cure for his own addiction to tax dollars.

"Although I am a conservative, my addiction drives me to steal money from average Americans and spend it on my pet projects," said Sen. Frist. "Perhaps government-owned scientists will be able to conquer this unfortunate condition by slicing up human embryos."

The Mighty Barrister also has more on Bill Frist’s pro-life record and past statements.

A reader sent along this request from the Rosary Army considering the devastation in Cuba specifically to the Archdiocese of Cienfuegos due to hurricane Dennis.

Dawn Eden earlier this week posted a story about NARAL picketing outside of a crisis-pregnancy center with signs such as "FAKE CLINIC." It reminds me of the ridiculousness of our current laws. Pro-abortion supporters can protest directly outside a pro-life clinic without breaking the law, but pro-life supporters are forced to protest at the distance of a buffer zone from an abortion clinic. The Supreme Court has certainly handed down some outrageous decisions and the though of a buffer zone is certainly on of the most outrageous. Where is the equal protection when only one form of protest is singled out for special rules against free speech.

Their carrying signs that said "FAKE CLINIC" is especially ironic. Aborturaries don’t offer medical services that perform healing. They don’t heal what is broken, rather they kill both the life of the child and as a consequence do serious damage to the psychological health of the mother and can cause other possible medical side effect. A clinic where you are worse off when you came out then when you went in is by definition a "FAKE CLINIC." The other irony is that the "health of the mother" clause has been used to keep abortion legal for all circumstances. The clause has been legally extended to the psychological health of the mother. The irony is that this extension of the clause to psychological health should result in the stopping of abortion not the extension of it. Again our laws have gotten it totally backwards.

Abortion supporters though have built up an immunization to irony. Only someone who is irony-impaired can call themselves "pro-choice" and protest against one side of the equation of choice. They dislike being called pro-abortion and want us to believe that pro-choice means that the mother can choose between continuing a pregnancy or abortion. Yet what was the last time you drove by a Planned Parenthood Maternity Ward or a NARAL sponsored crisis-pregnancy center.

When the British Medical Association met last week, Prof. Stuart Campbell had reason to be optimistic doctors would vote to change the upper limit for abortions due to social reasons from 24 to 20 weeks – after all, stunning 4-D ultrasound images created from a technique he pioneered, showing fetuses stretching, kicking and leaping at 12 weeks, had spawned that debate.

But 77 percent of BMA members voted to continue aborting babies at 24 weeks, a position Campbell believes goes "against British public opinion."

"I was particularly surprised because of the huge success of the [television] program Life Before Birth, which of course used my ultrasound images," Campbell tells the Glasgow Sunday Herald. "So many people told me that they felt very emotional about it. [Source]

Prof. Stuart Campbell is rather naive to think that the abortion debate is about facts or science. Fr. Pavone of Priests for Life mentioned before that when he would talk to doctors about science they would switch to philosophy and the topic of personhood.