Life Links 2/18/08

Jill Stanek has the video and a transcript of Bill Clinton discussing abortion at a rally which prolifer were protesting at. The Hotline and FOXNews both have articles on the exchange.


Here's another advance in changing adult cells into induced pluripotent stem cells. Wesley Smith provides an explanation for us non-scientists.


Albert Harris, a professor at the University of North Carolina, told his class he believes the moral thing for older mothers to do is get amniocentesis testing and abort their child if he or she has Down Syndrom. His lecture notes say,

"In my opinion, the moral thing for older mothers to do is to have amniocentesis, as soon during pregnancy as is safe for the fetus, test whether placental cells have a third chromosome #21, and abort the fetus if it does.

Thomas Hibbs reviews 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days.

Filmmakers have been willing to depict abortion as something ugly, even as a necessary evil in the face of tragic circumstances. Despite an increasingly explicit film culture, in which it is permissible — indeed, in certain genres, mandatory — to show every manner of torture and physical brutality, the direct portrayal of an aborted fetus is rare. The way in which this film depicts the consequences of the abortion packs a chilling, emotional wallop. At four months, three weeks, and two days, a fetus is unmistakably human — small, but human. Recognizing this fact, Gabita begs Otilia to "bury" rather than simply discard the dead baby.