A man in West Virginia has been charged with breaking the state's Unborn Victim of Violence law after he killed his pregnant girlfriend and her 4-year-old son.
One alderman in Aurora is hoping to draft an ordinance which will require the new Planned Parenthood facility in Aurora to obtain parental consent before performing abortions on minors.
Researchers in Thailand have used adult stem cells to treat chronic foot wounds of individuals with diabetes.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
"Insurgency" wants cloning banned in Missouri, professor enraged
David Rosman is a very confused human being.
In an editorial for the Columbia Missourian, he calls individuals working to place an initiative to ban human cloning on the ballot the following names: "radical right-wing extremists," "anarchists," "radical fringe" and "an insurgency." He claim efforts (thru a ballot initiative) to change Missouri's Constitution to provide an accurate definition of human cloning are "an overt mutiny" and an "open rebellion, an insurgency, against our constitution, our government and the American legal system." The people behind it, while just short of the "American Taliban," "seek to overthrow the government."
Apparently, a ballot initiative (like the Amendment 2) which Rosman favors is alright but a group behind another ballot initiative (working through the democratic process) which attempts to change another ballot initiative is an anarchist group looking to overthrow the government. That's right. Looking to overthrow the government by using the democratic provisions to change Missouri's constitution.
Rosman calls the arguments of those hoping to put an accurate definition of human cloning into Missouri's constitution "common and perilous fallacies of logic and rhetoric" (a Carl Sagan phrase). Yet nowhere in his name-calling filled attack piece does he actually cite and refute a single argument from them.
Rosman goes on to say the Missouri Constitution already bans cloning because "Section 38(d), paragraph 2 (1) says, 'No person may clone or attempt to clone a human being.' Period!" He unfortunately never provides the intentionally deceptive and scientifically inaccurate definition of human cloning in Amendment 2. Here it is
Rosman, the people of Missouri aren't stupid but large numbers of them were fooled by a slick PR machine backed by $30 million from the Stowers family.
In an editorial for the Columbia Missourian, he calls individuals working to place an initiative to ban human cloning on the ballot the following names: "radical right-wing extremists," "anarchists," "radical fringe" and "an insurgency." He claim efforts (thru a ballot initiative) to change Missouri's Constitution to provide an accurate definition of human cloning are "an overt mutiny" and an "open rebellion, an insurgency, against our constitution, our government and the American legal system." The people behind it, while just short of the "American Taliban," "seek to overthrow the government."
Apparently, a ballot initiative (like the Amendment 2) which Rosman favors is alright but a group behind another ballot initiative (working through the democratic process) which attempts to change another ballot initiative is an anarchist group looking to overthrow the government. That's right. Looking to overthrow the government by using the democratic provisions to change Missouri's constitution.
Rosman calls the arguments of those hoping to put an accurate definition of human cloning into Missouri's constitution "common and perilous fallacies of logic and rhetoric" (a Carl Sagan phrase). Yet nowhere in his name-calling filled attack piece does he actually cite and refute a single argument from them.
Rosman goes on to say the Missouri Constitution already bans cloning because "Section 38(d), paragraph 2 (1) says, 'No person may clone or attempt to clone a human being.' Period!" He unfortunately never provides the intentionally deceptive and scientifically inaccurate definition of human cloning in Amendment 2. Here it is
(2) "Clone or attempt to clone a human being" means to implant in a uterus or attempt to implant in a uterus anything other than the product of fertilization of an egg of a human female by a sperm of a human male for the purpose of initiating a pregnancy that could result in the creation of a human fetus, or the birth of a human being.The saddest thing about all of this - Rosman's bio says he's an instructor at Columbia College. This guy should be in a mental hospital not teaching at a college. Imagine how crazy someone has to be to write and submit an editorial like this.
Rosman, the people of Missouri aren't stupid but large numbers of them were fooled by a slick PR machine backed by $30 million from the Stowers family.
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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Aurora City Council Packed with Prolifers
Jill Stanek has a slide show.
There was also an article in the Aurora Beacon News about the meeting. According to Jill, there were only two pro-choicers who spoke at the meeting in favor of Planned Parenthood moving in and more than 100 prolifers who signed in to speak against Planned Parenthood and abortion.
Guess who got a quoted for more than 75 words in the story?
There was also an article in the Aurora Beacon News about the meeting. According to Jill, there were only two pro-choicers who spoke at the meeting in favor of Planned Parenthood moving in and more than 100 prolifers who signed in to speak against Planned Parenthood and abortion.
Guess who got a quoted for more than 75 words in the story?
The Chicago Tribune needs to get a clue on cloning
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune by Monique Garcia discusses Governor Rod Blagojevich's signing of legislation to allow the public funding of all kinds of stem cell research. The article claims the legislation (SB4) also "bans human cloning."
Unfortunately, the legislation does no such thing. It allows for the public funding of the derivation (the process which kills human embryos) and research on stem cells "from any source, including somatic cell nuclear transplantation." Everyone who knows anything about this topic knows that somatic cell nuclear transplantation (or transfer) is the scientific terminology for cloning.
Here's the part where cloning is supposedly banned:
Plus, depending on what the Illinois legislature's definition of "human fetus" is, couldn't this language even allow the implantation of a human embryo as long as the purpose of that implantation wasn't to bring the cloned embryo to the stage of fetal development or birth?
Notice how the Tribune article doesn't have a single word from someone opposed to this legislation. It has one sentence about how some groups oppose the legislation.
Unfortunately, the legislation does no such thing. It allows for the public funding of the derivation (the process which kills human embryos) and research on stem cells "from any source, including somatic cell nuclear transplantation." Everyone who knows anything about this topic knows that somatic cell nuclear transplantation (or transfer) is the scientific terminology for cloning.
Here's the part where cloning is supposedly banned:
(a) No person may clone or attempt to clone a human being. For purposes of this Section, "clone or attempt to clone aIt's all in the deceptive definitions, isn't it? So cloning isn't cloning but rather it's the transfer of a human being already created by cloning into a womb for the purpose of bringing a cloned child to birth?
human being" means to transfer to a uterus or attempt to transfer to a uterus anything other than the product of fertilization of an egg of a human female by a sperm of a human male for the purpose of initiating a pregnancy that could result in the creation of a human fetus or the birth of a human being.
Plus, depending on what the Illinois legislature's definition of "human fetus" is, couldn't this language even allow the implantation of a human embryo as long as the purpose of that implantation wasn't to bring the cloned embryo to the stage of fetal development or birth?
Notice how the Tribune article doesn't have a single word from someone opposed to this legislation. It has one sentence about how some groups oppose the legislation.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
"the baby that we decided not to have will never be replaced"
See my story, hear my words is the blog of a post-abortive woman from Canada who, in various entries, discusses her abortion, her feelings after the abortion and her relationship with the father. From the entries, it appears she had the abortion in January. In one entry she writes,
In another:
I couldn't help but read the entire blog.
I am conflicted because although I know I made the right decision, more so now than ever, I believe abortion to be one of the most unnatural things a woman can do to herself. It feels inherently wrong. It contradicts our biological determinism, which might be the most powerful of our driving forces in life.
I am sad just because I am. Sometimes I miss what I barely ever had.
In another:
I will not allow my feelings to be invalidated anymore, by myself or by others. I am not wrong or out of line. I have been strong. There was life inside of me and we chose to take it away. Although a swift decision, it is not, nor should it be, an easy one. Trying to be "tough" and deal with it on my own was to my own detriment.....
Who in their right mind would ever treat abortion so callously? It is not something to be forgotten in a matter of days, weeks or even months. It is something that doesn't need to make or break you, but that will and should be with you forever. And as a man, even though it may feel far removed, or even if your romantic interests are waning, it was still you implanted inside of me. It was your genes mixing with mine to create another. Grasp that concept. Consider its magnitude. Think about it in the reality that it exists. Does it still not require your attention? Your time? How many things are more important in life than facing the consequences of terminating an extension of you?
I couldn't help but read the entire blog.
Life Links 8/28/07
Bloomberg has a story on forced abortions in China.
While news of embryonic stem cells treating rat hearts may get more headlines and articles, adult stem cells are quietly treating the hearts of human beings.
Judge Ortrie Smith has temporarily enjoined Missouri's law to regulate abortion facilities like ambulatory surgical centers. A hearing will be held on September 10th before the judge provides a further ruling.
Jin Yani was nine months pregnant on the night of Sept. 7, 2000, when, she says, six family-planning officials came to her home in northern China's Hebei province and forced her to go to a local abortion center.
They injected her fetus with a drug, she says, and two days later extracted what would have been a baby girl. While the pregnancy was illegal because Jin conceived the child five months before marrying the father, forced abortions are also against China's laws.
While news of embryonic stem cells treating rat hearts may get more headlines and articles, adult stem cells are quietly treating the hearts of human beings.
Judge Ortrie Smith has temporarily enjoined Missouri's law to regulate abortion facilities like ambulatory surgical centers. A hearing will be held on September 10th before the judge provides a further ruling.
"I'm not pregnant. It's a cyst."
That's what one woman in Livonia, Michigan supposedly said about her enlarged waist before she strangled her newborn son shortly after birth and put his body in a garbage can. Her boyfriend's threats may have played some role in this killing.
Garris said she heard the woman and her boyfriend fighting numerous times and recently heard a vicious threat.
"He (the boyfriend) threatened to kill her if she had another baby and told her she better not be pregnant or you're out of here," she said.
Monday, August 27, 2007
What's up with this headline?
"Embryonic Stem Cells Repair Human Heart"
Ummm.... No, they didn't. Unless rats are now have human hearts.
Also of note, this article in the Seattle Times states,
Ummm.... No, they didn't. Unless rats are now have human hearts.
Also of note, this article in the Seattle Times states,
To make the breakthrough, Murry and his colleagues used the so-called "presidential lines" of stem cells. Those cells are generated from a group of embryos that already had been destroyed before the Bush administration limited research on embryonic stem cells.
Aborting the "wrong" twin
In Italy:
I wonder how authorities will proceed on this case. What could the doctors who accidentally killed one fetus when they were attempting to kill another be charged with? Mistaken identity homicide? Is it really their fault unborn twins can shift positions in the womb? It seems we've reached a place in some societies where intentionally killing innocent human beings isn't wrong in and of itself, but it is wrong when you accidentally kill the wrong innocent human being.
I'm not horrified that the "wrong" twin was accidentally aborted. I'm horrified that a mother would intentionally try to have one of her twins killed because the child was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and that someone with a medical degree would agree to do it.
The San Paolo hospital in Milan yesterday confirmed a report of the blunder in the daily Corriere della Sera. A statement from the hospital said the twins had changed places inside the womb between the first ultrasound scan and a second one carried out shortly before the operation, which took place in the 18th week of the pregnancy. It said it had handed the case notes to the "competent authorities"....According to a South African newspaper, the condition in question was Down Syndrome.
Italian news agencies said the woman subsequently returned to hospital to have the remaining, deformed foetus aborted. She then reported the doctors to police.
I wonder how authorities will proceed on this case. What could the doctors who accidentally killed one fetus when they were attempting to kill another be charged with? Mistaken identity homicide? Is it really their fault unborn twins can shift positions in the womb? It seems we've reached a place in some societies where intentionally killing innocent human beings isn't wrong in and of itself, but it is wrong when you accidentally kill the wrong innocent human being.
I'm not horrified that the "wrong" twin was accidentally aborted. I'm horrified that a mother would intentionally try to have one of her twins killed because the child was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and that someone with a medical degree would agree to do it.
"Everywhere, like, such as..."
Kind of a dumb question (though pretty much all pageant questions are) but I have trouble even understanding what the answer was supposed to sound like. South Africa and Iraq also seem like two fairly random countries to throw in together.
We've all answered dumb questions with even dumber answers. Unfortunately, Miss South Carolina's was on national television.
We've all answered dumb questions with even dumber answers. Unfortunately, Miss South Carolina's was on national television.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Archbishop Hart on Abortion
Denis Hart, archbishop of Melbourne, has an editorial in the Herald Sun on whether abortion should be a crime.
UPDATE: The Herald Sun also has three other editorials on the abortion issue.
Peter Singer admits that "abortion ends a human life" but argues that since the unborn don't have the arbitrary properties Singer holds in such high regard (such as self-awareness, consciousness, the ability to feel pain, etc.), it should be legal to kill them. He also argues that birth is an arbitrary line to when we should be allowed to kill some human beings but since criminal law requires dividing lines, birth is the best we have.
One by Julian Burnside is the typical editorial where the writer assumes pregnant women haven't already reproduced, say abortion is a difficult decision (but never explains why it is so difficult) and argues that women should have more say in the abortion debate than men.
And another by Susie Allanson is the kind of editorial you'd expect from someone who works at a place where abortions are performed.
There is a link between helping women and the child within and the health of our society.
Protect suffering pregnant women and you protect society.
Offer cheap abortion options and you cheapen the society we share.
UPDATE: The Herald Sun also has three other editorials on the abortion issue.
Peter Singer admits that "abortion ends a human life" but argues that since the unborn don't have the arbitrary properties Singer holds in such high regard (such as self-awareness, consciousness, the ability to feel pain, etc.), it should be legal to kill them. He also argues that birth is an arbitrary line to when we should be allowed to kill some human beings but since criminal law requires dividing lines, birth is the best we have.
One by Julian Burnside is the typical editorial where the writer assumes pregnant women haven't already reproduced, say abortion is a difficult decision (but never explains why it is so difficult) and argues that women should have more say in the abortion debate than men.
And another by Susie Allanson is the kind of editorial you'd expect from someone who works at a place where abortions are performed.
Life Links 8/24/07
David Freddoso on human cloning in Missouri.
Missouri blogger Rodney Albert on how Missouri papers recently addressed a press conference regarding efforts to ban human cloning. Albert does make a mistake claiming Associated Press reporter David Lieb doesn't describe the cloning process but he does run down and discuss how many words were given to each side in various articles.
A district court in Ohio has ruled a Planned Parenthood in Cincinnati doesn't have to turn over the records of the abortions they performed on girls under 18 in a civil case. Planned Parenthood is being sued by the family of a teenager who was taken to an abortion by her then 21-year-old boyfriend for an abortion. According to the lawsuit, Planned Parenthood never notified the teen's parents.
A judge in Missouri has set Monday as the date he will decide to delay the enforcement of a Missouri law which requires abortion providers to meet the requirements for ambulatory medical facilities.
Missouri blogger Rodney Albert on how Missouri papers recently addressed a press conference regarding efforts to ban human cloning. Albert does make a mistake claiming Associated Press reporter David Lieb doesn't describe the cloning process but he does run down and discuss how many words were given to each side in various articles.
A district court in Ohio has ruled a Planned Parenthood in Cincinnati doesn't have to turn over the records of the abortions they performed on girls under 18 in a civil case. Planned Parenthood is being sued by the family of a teenager who was taken to an abortion by her then 21-year-old boyfriend for an abortion. According to the lawsuit, Planned Parenthood never notified the teen's parents.
A judge in Missouri has set Monday as the date he will decide to delay the enforcement of a Missouri law which requires abortion providers to meet the requirements for ambulatory medical facilities.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Probably one of the worst researched articles on stem cell research ever
This one is by Naomi Havlen and is in the Aspen Times. It's an article about a woman who was supposedly treated with human embryonic stem cells in India. Other embryonic stem cell researchers are very skeptical of Dr. Geeta Shroff's claims that she is using human embryonic stem cells (supposedly all from a single human embryo) to successfully treat patients from a variety of ailments. The mainstream pro-embryonic stem cell research community basically thinks Dr. Shroff is quack. Yet, that is never once mentioned in the article.
But the most inaccurate sentence has to be when Havlen writes,
But the most inaccurate sentence has to be when Havlen writes,
Use of embryonic stem cells is illegal in the United States, primarily because of ethical arguments about whether developing the cells means destroying human embryos.How little research do you have to put into an article to claim the use of embryonic stem cells is illegal in the United States?
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Life Links 8/23/07
Canada's the Globe and Mail has an article about umbilical cord stem cell transplants taking place in China. There are some positive testimonials but some researchers are skeptical.
The Cadillac News and reporter Matt Whetstone basically provide a press release for the Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures. They fall for every one of the MCSCRC's lies (they want to strengthen the ban on human cloning, researchers can go to jail for 10 years for conducting certain types of stem cell research, etc.) and the headline declares the "Stem Cell Debate is coming to Cadillac" when both presenters are in favor of embryonic stem cell research.
Daniel Allott: Presidents and abortion
After listing a number of things the President can do with regards to abortion, Allott concludes,
Scott Klusendorf provides Mitt Romney with some advice about speaking about his views on abortion.
The Cadillac News and reporter Matt Whetstone basically provide a press release for the Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures. They fall for every one of the MCSCRC's lies (they want to strengthen the ban on human cloning, researchers can go to jail for 10 years for conducting certain types of stem cell research, etc.) and the headline declares the "Stem Cell Debate is coming to Cadillac" when both presenters are in favor of embryonic stem cell research.
Daniel Allott: Presidents and abortion
After listing a number of things the President can do with regards to abortion, Allott concludes,
This is not an exhaustive list, but you get the picture. If Rudy Giuliani, or any other presidential candidate, believes his ability to win pro-life votes depends solely on promises about what sort of judges he would nominate, he is mistaken.
Scott Klusendorf provides Mitt Romney with some advice about speaking about his views on abortion.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Not so safe
Michelle Gress discusses how RU-486 abortions aren't quite as safe for women as the media headlines recently portrayed them to be.
RU-486 has caused a tremendously high rate of adverse events relative to the number of women who have taken the drug. As of last year, when the FDA provided information to the Subcommittee for its investigation, RU-486 had caused the deaths of at least eight women, nine life-threatening incidents, 232 hospitalizations, 116 blood transfusions, and 88 cases of infection. In total, we knew of more than 1070 adverse event cases associated with RU-486, out of only 575,000 prescriptions at most. This is even more alarming in light of the fact that adverse event reporting is notoriously low for any drug, much less a drug associated with abortion, for which reporting is expected to be even lower.
Life Links 8/22/07
Wesley Smith on cloned monkey fetal farming
A prolife group in the Show Me State is fighting back against human cloning for research. As usual, the headlines don't match the story (which actually describes the cloning technique). The story in the Kansas City Star by Kit Wagar and the descriptions ("cloning of human cells" and "research technique used to grow early stem cells") of what opponents are hoping to ban are awful. Kit has been writing this kind of garbage for a while.
More pro-choice tolerance.
A prolife group in the Show Me State is fighting back against human cloning for research. As usual, the headlines don't match the story (which actually describes the cloning technique). The story in the Kansas City Star by Kit Wagar and the descriptions ("cloning of human cells" and "research technique used to grow early stem cells") of what opponents are hoping to ban are awful. Kit has been writing this kind of garbage for a while.
More pro-choice tolerance.
Shawn R. Pawlak, 24, and Kelly L. Mahan, 27, who live on the 100 block of North Oakhurst Drive, blocks from the clinic, confronted abortion protesters early Sunday outside the construction site, police said. They shouted obscenities at protesters and kicked small white crosses that had been placed in the parkway, police said.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Watch out for those rightwing pill snatchers!!
Cristina Page has an editorial in the Baltimore Sun which borders on the delusional. Supposedly "contraception is the ultimate corruptor" in the eyes of the prolife movement and the "unspoken rule" among prolife candidates is they also must be "anti-contraception." All this because Mitt Romney told the crowd at National Right to Life's convention he vetoed a bill to make emergency contraception over-the-counter and he thinks pregnancy begins at conception not at implantation.
Cristina also uses Fred Thompson's campaign's original disavowal of his lobbying for the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and label's them a "contraception advocacy group" without ever mentioning they wanted help with abortion related issues. Toss in Brownback's effort to defund America's largest abortion provider and McCain not wanting tax dollars to pay for contraceptive programs and Cristina comes to the obvious conclusion (at least for someone not taking their meds) that it's all about contraception.
Cristina, for some reason, fails to mention any actions by National Right to Life with regards to contraception. But then again, it's a "quiet campaign" which she somehow has found all this (less than solid) evidence for.
What I'm wondering is - what does Cristina mean by "anti-contraception?" Does she mean "wanting to make the use of contraception illegal?" Does she mean "being opposed to tax-dollars being used to fund contraceptive programs?" What does "anti-contraception" mean?
Cristina also uses Fred Thompson's campaign's original disavowal of his lobbying for the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and label's them a "contraception advocacy group" without ever mentioning they wanted help with abortion related issues. Toss in Brownback's effort to defund America's largest abortion provider and McCain not wanting tax dollars to pay for contraceptive programs and Cristina comes to the obvious conclusion (at least for someone not taking their meds) that it's all about contraception.
Cristina, for some reason, fails to mention any actions by National Right to Life with regards to contraception. But then again, it's a "quiet campaign" which she somehow has found all this (less than solid) evidence for.
What I'm wondering is - what does Cristina mean by "anti-contraception?" Does she mean "wanting to make the use of contraception illegal?" Does she mean "being opposed to tax-dollars being used to fund contraceptive programs?" What does "anti-contraception" mean?
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Life Links 8/21/07
The Press of Atlantic City and reporter Michael Clark continue to look into abortion facilities in New Jersey and the lack of inspections.
A Biblical Mandate to Something about Abortion (in PDF) from Abort73.com's Michael Spielman.
Planned Parenthood is suing to prevent the implementation of a Missouri law which requires facilities "that perform more than five first-trimester abortions a month, or any second- or third-trimester abortions, to meet the licensure requirements for an "ambulatory surgical center."
But a statewide records request by The Press of Atlantic City shows the problem extends throughout the state. Inspections are sporadic at best and, when they do occur, discovering serious violations is common.I've still yet to see one pro-choice blogger or a single pro-choice organization mention the horrible conditions in the two New Jersey abortion clinics which were shut down.
A Biblical Mandate to Something about Abortion (in PDF) from Abort73.com's Michael Spielman.
Planned Parenthood is suing to prevent the implementation of a Missouri law which requires facilities "that perform more than five first-trimester abortions a month, or any second- or third-trimester abortions, to meet the licensure requirements for an "ambulatory surgical center."
Friday, August 17, 2007
Life Links 8/17/07
An Australian Health Services Commissioner is discussing her abortion in an attempt to persuade members of Australia's parliament to overturn the country's law against abortion (the law isn't currently in effect because of a court ruling). Note this part,
Anthony Powell, the judge who was set to hear the case against George Tiller has recused himself because "the statements he had made about the defendant while he was a Kansas legislator could give the appearance of a lack of objectivity."
A British man suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) is undergoing an adult stem cell transplant tomorrow in the hopes that it will help treat him. He is part of a 5-person clinical trial.
"That doesn't mean that I don't have any regrets or that it wasn't awful. Back in those days, though, because we were fighting hard for women's legal right for abortion, you weren't really allowed to admit that you had suffered any distress or trauma … because we were engaged in a social and political battle."An admission that some supporters of legal abortion didn't mention their traumatic experiences with legal abortion because they were in a political battle.
Anthony Powell, the judge who was set to hear the case against George Tiller has recused himself because "the statements he had made about the defendant while he was a Kansas legislator could give the appearance of a lack of objectivity."
A British man suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) is undergoing an adult stem cell transplant tomorrow in the hopes that it will help treat him. He is part of a 5-person clinical trial.
The hospital's MS specialists will drill into his bone marrow, extract the stem cells, which act as a repair system for the body, and re-inject them into his veins.
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