Free Republic

Mike Ditka has been a lot of things in life, including that man that could have possibly beaten then Illinois state senator Barack Obama when he ran for U.S. Senate in 2004. Instead Ditka chose not to run because of business obligations, Alan Keyes did the honors and we all know how that turned out. The Pittsburgh native, Republican, and accomplished former NFL player, television commentator, and coach is now being ‘drafted’ once again to run to fill the seat vacated by Obama. A seat that remains open despite Gov. Blagojevich’s perfectly legal (yet tainted) appointment of former Illinois attorney...

A group of African Americans and other community leaders gathered in Atlanta today to discuss an agenda to be presented to President Elect Barack Obama regarding his first 100 days in office. The leaders agreed that African Americans who are celebrating the upcoming inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama should carry a pro-family/pro-community agenda to Washington, DC. "African Americans, like many Americans are pro-life and uphold pro-creative marriage," said Alveda King, a spokesperson for the team. "As we see the dawn of a new year and a great milestone being passed, people across the country should let our new president know...

Washington, DC -- Barack Obama has named the lawyer who represented Terri Schiavo’s husband Michael in his efforts to kill his disabled wife as the third highest attorney in the Justice Department. Thomas Perrelli, who won an award for representing Schiavo's former husband, had severed on Obama's transition team. Full story at: http://www.LifeNews.com/bio2685.html

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A second black pro-life leader has issued comments urging incoming president Barack Obama to reverse course on abortion and oppose instead of promoting it. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is leading a group of African Americans with a pro-life message for Obama.Her comments come on the heels of Day Gardner asking Obama to oppose abortion as president.King and a group of community leaders are gathering in Atlanta today to discuss an agenda to be presented to Obama regarding his first 100 days in office.They say they appreciate that Obama is...

MILAN, January 6, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A petition has been presented to the Appeals Court of Milan to re-open the case of Eluana Englaro, the disabled young woman that the court agreed could be killed by dehydration.Epidemiologist and writer Paul Gilusano and Dr. Piero Pirovano, a journalist and president of the group Solidarity, Freedom, Justice and Peace, have asked the court to revoke its decree. They are arguing that Eluana’s case was decided without any medical determination of her condition, but on the word of her father, Beppino Englaro, alone. The Englaro case has been front-page news in Italy...

Steven and Michelle Wilson were told to expect to lose both their girls after the death of Ellie at 30 days. But Chloe has defied the odds and has gone from strength to strength in hospital. Mr Wilson, 24, of South Hetton, County Durham, said: "We have waited 16 weeks for this and it feels fantastic.

Monday January 5, 2009 Doctors Urge Puberty Blockers for Children Considering Sex Change By Kathleen GilbertCHEVY CHASE, Maryland, January 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An international medical organization has recommended that children as young as 12 who question their sexual identity should be given drugs to block the physical changes of puberty.The New Scientist reports that the injunction comes as part of a set of guidelines, the first of its kind, published last month by the Endocrine Society.  The “Guidelines For Health Organisations Commissioning Treatment Services For Trans People” call for healthcare administrators around the globe to provide full coverage...

Answers to "pro-choice" thinking 1. The "pro-choice" philosophy says, "We have the 'choice' to abort a child." It is a proven medical and scientific fact that the "choice" some people accept is the killing of a person. Defenders of slavery used this same strategy. "I'm not going to own a slave, but I don't have a right to tell you what to do." Abortion is the killing of a human being. The choice is always wrong. "Father of Modern Genetics" Dr. Jerome Lejeune told the Senate, "To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place a new human has...

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBS) ― Christ Hospital has some answering to do after a still born baby's remains disappeared before arriving at a Jersey City, N.J., area funeral home. A shocking story came out of Jersey City on Monday night: the remains of a baby were thrown out in a hospital's trash. The child's family wants to know how it happened and where the baby's remains are now. Bashire Moore was born days before Christmas with a weak heart that would kill him and when the funeral home came for the body, one tragedy was compounded by another. The funeral...

The “abortion rights” captain is a master of deception. He is the father of lies. He is the procurator of selfishness and fear. CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - I’ve been trying to figure out the how and why of the “abortion rights” mindset, now the mindset of our President-elect, because frankly, I just don’t get it. I can’t comprehend how they (he) can defend the indefensible. HOW can they rationalize and justify the act of abortion as a perfectly acceptable and reasonable “right”? WHY are they so defiant in the face of medical evidence proving the presence of life in...

Roman Catholic bishops throughout the United States are planning a massive postcard campaign days after the inauguration as part of an attempt to block the Freedom of Choice Act, known as FOCA, a reproductive health initiative supported by President-elect Barack Obama. But one Minnesota priest is breaking ranks with the national campaign, raising the ire of local and national pro-life Catholics, including some who are calling for his excommunication from the church. “Our nation and new president will be challenged by ongoing wars, an economy in severe recession, ballooning deficits, high unemployment and an environment and health care system in...

During the half-century from 1860 to 1910 in which America's rate of abortion declined sharply, The New York Times regularly reported on prominent physicians who did abortions. A story in 1884, "Two Physicians in Trouble," noted that two of the "best known physicians in Providence, R.I.," were on trial for abortion. A typical story in 1886, "DOCTOR INDICTED," detailed abortion charges against a highly regarded New Haven physician, Dr. Gallagher. A similar story about a well-connected doctor noted the abortion arrest of Philadelphia physician David Otway. The Times often contrasted the power of abortionists with the powerlessness of unborn children...

  Novena request start Jan.11 If you are apposed to abortion then there is bad news on the horizon. For those of you who do not know, the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is set to be signed if congress passes it on January 21-22 of 2009.  The FOCA is the next sick chapter in the book of abortion. If made a law then all present limitations on abortion will be lifted which will result in the following:            1) All hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, will be requiredto perform abortions upon request.  If this happens, Bishops...

NEW YORK, NY, January 5, 2009 (C-FAM) - According to a new article (see: http://www.ipas.org/Library/News/News_Items/Finding_the_root...) circulated by the abortion advocacy organization Ipas, widespread access to “safe abortion” trumps concerns over the gender imbalance stemming from “sex selective” abortion.As sex-selective abortion overwhelmingly targets unborn girls, the article by Ipas senior research and policy advisor Bela Ganatra acknowledges that the issue divides the “reproductive rights community.” Abortion advocates are “often torn between their desire to allow women to choose when and if to have children, and their own personal disagreement with the basis for that choice.” Ipas, however, comes down on...

LifeNews.com Note: Liz Townsend is a staff member with the National Right to Life Committee based in Washington and she writes for its newsletter, the NRL News. Ironman triathlons--where athletes swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles--take strength, dedication, and sacrifice. But Michael Hennessey knows that these qualities are present every day in kids with the chromosomal disorders Trisomy 13 and 18, and he runs the triathlons in their honor."So many people think that these children are 'defective,'" Hennessey told NRL News. "But if you know one of these children you can see they are just...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- To hear abortion advocates tell the story, legalizing abortion is supposed to stop the incidence of women engaging in dangerous self-abortions that could endanger their lives. A new report published Sunday in the New York Times makes it clear self-abortions continue despite abortion's legality.According to the report, women are resorting to the use of misoprostol, a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating ulcers -- but not for abortions.In fact the maker of the drug, also known as Cytotec, insists that it not be used on pregnant women or for abortions.The drug...

Dear xxxxx, Pro-Choice Lobby is One Month Away! There is still time to register to attend Virginia's largest pro-choice gathering of the year. 2009 Pro-Choice Lobby Day is Thursday, February 5! Register Now to Attend! We need YOU to help protect access to reproductive health care in Virginia. Join Planned Parenthood in Richmond to lobby your state legislators, see votes and testimony on important issues at committee hearings, and gather with hundreds of pro-choice Virginians from around the state! No experience is necessary - training provided at lobby day. Ride with us to Richmond! Planned Parenthood buses will depart from...

At the public high school where I teach, a school-sponsored student club, Sharing Our Spirit, staged a "Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity" during school hours. Students wore red armbands and did not speak. The club's faculty adviser sent an e-mail to the entire faculty, including this: "They will be standing on behalf of the one-third of their generation that have been innocent victims of abortion." Was the students' activity legitimate? The adviser's? -- Name Withheld, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. ----- If the school rightly permits students to form clubs irrespective of ideology, from protesting the Iraq war to promoting a pre-emptive...

It was late November when Angel and her boyfriend visited Silent Voices, a pro-life pregnancy resource center (PRC) in Chula Vista, Calif. Angel's menstrual cycle was also late. It wasn't the first time. The sexually active 17-year-old Latina had stopped in at Silent Voices five or six times since 2004 to take a free pregnancy test. Over the years, said Sharon Pearce, the center's executive director, Angel revealed herself bit by bit. From her perfect French manicure to her designer handbag and jeans, it was clear that her family had money. When she wanted a certain kind of car for...

“Thank you President Bush God Bless” is what 14-year-old Chrissy Doolittle’s sign read. The Leesburg resident stood holding her sign by the Washington Monument for nearly an hour and a half Saturday afternoon with her mother and grandmother to thank President George W. Bush for his eight years in office. Chrissy’s family was part of a group of around 150 people – the majority of them from Loudoun County – who wanted to make sure that their voices of gratitude were heard, even as Bush’s approval ratings hover around 30 percent and the area and nation turn their focus toward...

As we all know, this past Novembers election saw Washington States voters duped into passing the so called “Death With Dignity” initiative, making us the second state to allow “doctor assisted suicide.” The measure passed due to a massive campaign from out of state sources that see the death of others as “humane.” Or, as many refer to it, the “Culture of Death,” that group that sees suicide and abortion as peaceful and humane, but are virulently opposed to the execution of mass murderers. Fortunately for Washington’s citizens, the Washington State Medical Association reminds us that just because a patient...

To talk about the issue of physician-assisted suicide, the first thing you have to do is sort through the words and phrases used in the debate - starting with "physician-assisted suicide." The Rev. Milous "Mike" Repka doesn't care for the term. "I think of it as an assisted way of dying rather than suicide," he said. Dr. Deric Weiss, who has been with Billings Clinic since 1997 and is board-certified in internal medicine and in hospice and palliative care, also favors calling it assisted death. Writing in the Dec. 11 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Robert...

David Karnos retired last year after teaching philosophy for 31 years at Montana State University Billings. Every year, he taught a class on death and dying, exploring end-of-life subjects including euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. If we think such discussions are new, he said, it's worth remembering that the most famous philosopher in history, Socrates, killed himself by drinking hemlock in 399 B.C. "We've argued about it for 3,000 years," Karnos said. In Montana, the age-old debate over end-of-life decisions took on a new urgency early last month, when a state district judge ruled that Montanans have a right to doctor-assisted...

The Republicans in Washington can stop the hideous liberal agenda. The Legislative abomination that is FOCA needs to be stopped. With 41 Republicans in the Senate and with the chaos in the Democratic Caucus, a Republican should be able to mount a filibuster, and there should be enough Republicans to oppose a cloture motion. A filibuster would support the efforts of millions to pass significant abortion reform legislation nationwide.

Alabama State University (ASU), a historically black college, is planted near the west side of the capital city of Montgomery, a birthplace of the civil-rights movement. The campus sits at the edge of a major housing project. Or as Tijuanna Adetunji puts it: "It's in the 'hood." That made it the perfect place for Adetunji, 38, who grew up in the Montgomery projects herself, to share her message on African-Americans and the true nature of abortion. Earlier this year, an ASU professor invited Adetunji to address her students on the topic. "The professor knew some of her students had faced,...

Did you ever stop to contemplate the spiritual power of a baby? They're innocent -- fresh from Heaven -- and breathe purity. One priest recently said that he would take the power of the presence of an infant over that of an adult healer. A baby enters the world and brings people together, as Jesus was a magnet in the manger. A baby comes with angels -- as an angel appeared to the shepherds. Angels heal. A baby loves without reserve (there is healing in love) and does not judge. A baby finds joy in simplicity. From the very start...

Gaynor Purdy was warned her first child could have a fatal chromosome defect and a life threatening heart condition. But she rejected two suggestions to terminate the pregnancy and she and her husband Lee are celebrating life with their "perfect" ten-month-old son. Mrs Purdy, 28, a quality control inspector, said: "We refused to give up on him, and decided throughout the pregnancy that as long as he was fighting, we would continue fighting with him." The couple from Scunthorpe, Lincs, were delighted when they discovered they had conceived shortly before their first wedding anniversary. Four months into the pregnancy doctors...

At least two women who have had abortions say they would rather terminate a pregnancy than give the child up for adoption. The women were responding to a call recently made by several members of the church community and other anti-abortion advocates for expectant mothers contemplating abortion to take the babies to them instead. Father Gregory Ramkissoon, executive director of Mustard Seed, threw out the lifeline during a press conference recently, saying his organisation and other churches would be willing to care for children whose mothers believed they could not keep them. However, the two young professionals who spoke with...

For faithful Roman Catholics, the thought of yet another pro-choice Kennedy positioned to campaign for the unlimited right to abortion is discouraging. Yet if Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of Catholics John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, is appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton, abortion-rights advocates will have just such a champion... Caroline Kennedy knows that any Kennedy desiring higher office in the Democratic Party must now carry the torch of abortion rights throughout any race. But this was not always the case... Even Ted Kennedy, who gets a 100% pro-choice rating from the...

Whatever else it is, the pro-life movement of the last thirty-plus years is one of the most massive and sustained expressions of citizen participation in the history of the United States. Since the 1960s, citizen participation and the remoralizing of politics have been central goals of the left. Is it not odd, then, that the pro-life movement is viewed as a right-wing cause? Reinhold Niebuhr wrote about “the irony of American history” and, were he around to update his book of that title, I expect he might recognize this as one of the major ironies within the irony. These...

To become effective January 1, 2009 By the undersigned Citizens of the United States of America: A Proclamation and Pledge of Non-Cooperation with, and Perpetual Resistance to, the enablers and practitioners of abortion and euthanasia Whereas, more than three thousand innocent pre-born American children continue to be unlawfully and unconstitutionally killed every day, by cruel and unusual means, and that the evil practice of euthanasia against the elderly and the infirm grows daily, the undersigned citizens of these United States do hereby, in accordance with America’s founding principles, declare that: “Every human being, without exception, unborn and born, from the...

San Francisco, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The Walk for Life West Coast has grown since its inception and more than 25,000 people took part in the pro-life witness in one of the most pro-abortion cities in the nation. In preparation for the next walk on January 24, the group has sponsored a new billboard.The sign, advertising the Walk for Life West Coast's signature slogan "Abortion Hurts Women" is now displayed near the approach to one of the most traveled bridges in the U.S. The 20' x 60' billboard is easily visible to the more than 100,000 cars driving the freeway...

Indianapolis, IN (LifeNews.com) -- Staff at three Planned Parenthood abortion centers in two states in recent weeks have been exposed covering up cases of statutory rape. While two of the workers are no longer with the abortion business, one pro-life advocate says they could be held legally liable for their actions.As LifeNews.com has reported, staff at a Planned Parenthood in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as employees at two centers in Indiana failed to report a potential case of sexual abuse of a minor to authorities.In Indianapolis, the staff member resigned and a staffer at the Bloomington, Indiana facility...

Abortion foes in the Legislature have sown the seeds of what could develop into another battle over regulating abortion in South Carolina. Seven S.C. House lawmakers have prefiled a bill that would require women seeking abortions to be given a list of clinics and other facilities that provide free ultrasounds. That list could include pregnancy crisis centers — many run by antiabortion groups — that actively discourage abortion and encourage women to choose other alternatives. The bill expands upon the law the General Assembly passed this year that requires abortion providers to give women seeking an abortion the option of...

Your unborn baby cast in bronze ... it's the new foetal attractionSophie Goodchild, Health Editor 02.01.09 A CLINIC is offering mothers bronze models of their unborn babies.The London Ultrasound Centre, near Harley Street, is the first in the country to offer the service, which allows parents to "celebrate" their babies in the womb.A 3D printer uses ultrasound images to build a cast of the child. The models cost £1,200, take up to two-and-a-half weeks to make, and are created when the mother is at a safe stage of pregnancy at 24 weeks.Doctors say the technology could also help improve...

We have begun a New Year. These first days are a time for reflection and resolution. I have noted a deep depression in the ranks of some committed to the great human rights struggle of our age, the struggle to defend and protect the first right, the right to life from conception to natural death. Similarly, I have noted weariness among those committed to defending true marriage - and the family founded upon it - against the new cultural revolutionaries who seek to compel society to grant a legal equivalency between homosexual partnerships and marriage and enforce their new order...

A very graphic site which can give you powerful incite into the ways the left twist words and how you can use the truth to fight back.

Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) -- One of the leading groups that tried to defeat the November ballot proposal voters approved to make the state the second to legalize assisted suicide is no trying to counteract the measure. The Coalition Against Assisted Suicide is working with hospitals and doctors to create assisted suicide free zones.Katie Martin of CAAS tells LifeNews.com that she is hearing from Washington citizens who want to patronize doctors and medical centers committed to refusing to be involved in assisted suicides."We have received calls from across the state from Washington residents concerned about their hospitals, care facilities or...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new study offer more reasons for doubting the Freakonomics theory put forward by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt that claims legalizing abortion reduced crime. The study shows a large rise in homicides by black teens in recent years even though black women have the highest abortion rate.Respected criminologist James Alan Fox of Northeastern University has released a new study showing homicides by blacks between the ages of 14 and 17 have jumped 34 percent from 2000 through 2007.The number of crimes for white people in the same age range did not increase.In the book...

LifeNews.com Note: Paul Kengor is professor of political science and executive director of the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. His latest book is The Judge: William P. Clark, Ronald Reagan's Top Hand (Ignatius Press, 2007).   The common mantra of pro-choice politicians is that they do not favor abortion. Quite the contrary, they want abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare.” Pro-choicers generally hold to this position; thus, as they are quick to note, they are not “pro-abortion” but “pro-choice.”I've personally tried to respect that formulation, and typically refrain from referring to pro-choicers as “pro-abortion.” That...

<p>Two EMT workers in Britain were arrested after they were heard allegedly discussing whether they should bother to resuscitate a disabled man who had collapsed at home and subsequently died.</p> <p>Barry Baker, 59, who lived alone, dialed 911 saying that he thought he was having a heart attack. An ambulance was sent to his house while a controller kept him talking on the line.</p>

Note: Merck's separate dose for rubella, Meruvax, uses aborted fetal cell lines and taints the entire MMR II vaccine. The separate doses of Attenuvax (measles) and Mumpsvax (mumps) use chick embryo. Without these separate doses for measles and mumps, there will be no moral alternative for parents! See contact information for Merck below. snip Merck Focusing on Combination Vaccine Manufacturer Stops Sales of Monovalents for Measles, Mumps, Rubella By David Mitchell 12/24/2008 Merck & Co. Inc. has stopped production and sales of its monovalent vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella. The manufacturer instead plans to focus on its combination vaccine,...

Abortion After Obama by Joseph Bottum Copyright (c) 2009 First Things (January 2009). It happens every four years—maybe every two years: Anytime there’s an election in this country, the pundits and political experts take to their soapboxes and proclaim the death of pro-life politics. The unwashed yokels in Utah, Alabama, South Dakota, Oklahoma: They’re an embarrassment, you see, and the sooner we stop paying attention to them, the sooner the nation’s politics will regain its equilibrium. The fact that we heard exactly this after the elections in 1986 and 1990 and 1992 and 1996 and 2006 suggests it’s more a...

Reading the announcement yesterday of the Dec. 27th birth of Sarah Palin's 18-year-old unwed daughter Bristol's baby, it dredged up memories of the many triumphs but more failings of the McCain/Palin campaign. Alas, the fact that the story of the coming-into-the-world of 7 lb., 7 oz. Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston (the rad-dad's last name) was a "People exclusive!" did not make me particularly happy, as the online version of the blessed event juxtaposed the picture of the allegedly joyful couple with that of a woefully overweight 44 lb. cat. But, while Bristol and boyfriend Levi now understand that if...

Washington, DC -- A new Harris Poll finds a plurality of Americans want all or most abortions to be illegal and overwhelming majorities of Americans want more abortion limits in law. The nationwide poll showed just 9 percent said abortion should be legal for any reason at any time during pregnancy -- Barack Obama's position.

Don Batten and Jonathan Sarfati interview husband and wife Dr Stephen Grocott and Dr Dianne Grocott. Stephen is a leading international research scientist in industrial chemistry, currently with a major firm in Queensland, Australia. Dianne is a qualified medical practitioner and psychiatrist. They have spoken on several occasions for Creation Ministries International. Whether challenging secularists on creation or abortion, this dynamic duo packs a powerful punch...

Cardinal George Warns Catholic Members of Congress About FOCA by Deal W. Hudson    11/21/08 Cardinal George has warned Catholic members of Congress that voting for the Freedom of Choice Act may result in excommunication. Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, who is president of the USCCB, did not say politicians supporting FOCA would necessarily result in excommunication -- he said it would depend on whether the cooperation with evil was "material" or "formal." This is what Cardinal George said in response to the question from CNS about the process of excommunication: “The excommunication is automatic if that act is...

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown hinted at opposing a bill to legalize assisted suicide in England and, in a Tuesday interview, may that opposition solid. Brown engaged in an interview with Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, a guest host of the Today program on Radio 4.Brown said he would block and legislation to legalize assisted suicide and he said he believed British law should make “absolutely clear” that it recognizes the value of human life."I am totally against laws [allowing assisted suicide or euthanasia]," Brown said. "It is not really for us to...

Information scientist, author and evangelist, Dr Werner Gitt, a close friend of CMI, told us that on 23 October 2008 he was subjected to the most strident opposition he had ever encountered...

Roland Burris has been named by embattled pro-abortion Gov. Rod Blagojevich to serve the remainder of Barack Obama's term in the Senate. However, pro-life advocates are not happy with appointment in part because Burris watered down an anti-infanticide law that was contentious in the presidential campaign. During the presidential debate, Obama came under fire for repeatedly voted against an Illinois version of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act while he was a state legislator. The bill was necessary because Roland Burris watered the original law down a decade before.