Lent for Life

ChelseaAbortion, PrayerLeave a Comment

The USCCB has some Lenten suggestions for those frustrated with the slow progress in overturning Roe v. Wade. From the National Catholic Register:

Instead of grumbling, would it not make more sense to make a Lenten commitment to light one (or hundreds) of the thousands of candles waiting to be lit? Support or undertake one of the many proven ways we can help save children’s lives now which also will help create conditions that will move the Court to topple the already decaying framework of Roe.

The U.S. Catholic bishops’ Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities provides a blueprint for pro-life activities at every level of the Church. The campaign to end abortion and promote the dignity of life at every stage involves four vital approaches: prayer, education, pastoral care and public advocacy.

Read more

While you’re praying, fasting and giving alms this Lent in preparation for the hope-filled death and Resurrection of our Lord, remember those who are at risk of not having the chance to ever celebrate the wonderful Easter season this side of eternity.

Huckabee on SNL

Chelsea2008 Election, Abortion, Humor, videoLeave a Comment

It’s time for a little humor on here. I loved this:

More on Gov. Huckabee: From the Denver Post, Huckabee: Abortion = slavery

Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, said liberty requires “moral clarity” and that equality demands a human-life amendment to the Constitution. He said that even if the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973, it wouldn’t go far enough.

“What that means is that every one of the 50 states can come up with its own definition of life,” said Huckabee, equating abortion with slavery. “That’s the logic of the Civil War. That’s the idea that morality is geographical. It’s the notion that something can be right in one state and wrong in another. Well, when it came to slavery, we finally got it right that you can’t own another human being.”

Now that’s refreshing pro-life talk we haven’t heard out of a main stream Republican’s mouth in a long time. Usually we have to rely on Dr. Alan Keyes for that kind of logic.

More from LifeNews: Mike Huckabee Compares Abortion to Slavery, Possibly Setting Up 2012 Race

“Science Friendly” = $$$$$

ChelseaMissouri, Stem Cell Research2 Comments

The pro-cloning Stowers Institute has finally decided to proceed with a $25 million expansion in south Kansas City. But they are still holding off expanding a much larger campus for the institute because they are concerned that Missouri is still not “science friendly”, despite the fact that they succeeded in buying constitutional amendment protecting any and all “stem cell research”, including cloning. So one has to wonder, what, then, does it take for a state to receive the coveted “science friendly” crown?

The answer: $$$$$. Biotech companies convince state Governments that their business will give the state a much needed economic boost in exchange for the states’ unquestioning financial support. Much of it has more to do with expanding research facilities and creating jobs than anything else. And many states, vying for the elusive “science friendly” coronation, are all too willing to comply. California raised the bar in 2004 with prop. 71 – their plan to spend $3 billion of taxpayer’s money on cloning research. Since then states have been pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the biotech industry, specifically for the purpose of “stem cell research”. Last year NJ passed a $450 million bond referendum to finance stem cell research grants (but voters rejected the measure), a few years ago KS passed an economic growth initiative expected to generate more than $580 million over more than a decade for the biosciences, NY has set aside $600 million for such research and in Mass. lawmakers are expected to vote on Governor Deval Patrick’s whopping $1 billion life sciences initiative.

What about Missouri? From this story:

A study commissioned by the life sciences institute (most likely Stowers) initially identified a site on the Missouri side of the state line as the preferred location for a new incubator facility that would provide laboratories and offices for promising young biotech companies.

In the end, however, the institute leaders identified a Kansas location as the No. 1 option, in large part because of a lack of financing options in Missouri.

Business leaders increasingly are pressing state lawmakers to recognize and respond to these types of funding challenges, said Peter Levi, president of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

The report showing that Missouri is lagging behind investments made by many other states has spawned an effort called the Grow Me State Initiative. This week, Levi said, he joined business executives from across the state in Jefferson City to talk with state leaders about closing gaps identified in the study.

As I pointed out the other day, this is about money and nothing else. Originally the Stowers Institute, who claims their business is essential to growing Missouri’s economy, said they would expand as long as a cloning ban was defeated in the Senate (in 2005), it was. Then they said all that was needed for Missouri to prove itself “science friendly” was the passage of amendment 2, it passed. Now, despite the fact that Missouri is the only state in the Nation which protects ALL forms of “stem cell research”, including that which involves the creation, use and destruction of human embryos, as a constitutional right for which “all state and local laws, regulations, rules, charters, ordinances, and other governmental actions shall be construed in favor of” (38(d) sec. 7), we are still “lagging behind” in support for life sciences. All because the taxpayers aren’t spending enough money on this life destroying research.

The intentional creation, use and destruction of human life, through cloning and ESC research violates the inherent dignity of all human life (at any stage). To go forward with such research then is not real scientific progress but a serious threat for man and the world and supporting it (financially or otherwise) should never be considered “science friendly”.

See previous post:
When Technical Progress Becomes a Threat

It’s all About the Money

ChelseaCloning, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Missouri4 Comments

Speaking of life sciences in Missouri. Recently KS and MO Governors got together for an economic development conference to discuss each state’s committment to life sciences in Kansas City. From the story:

They focused on growth opportunities and the need to address serious challenges hindering advances in the life sciences, the development of a highly skilled work force, efforts to make high-quality health care available to more people and energy practices that protect the environment…

Throughout the three-hour event, the biosciences continued to be touted as one of the region’s most promising sources of high-quality jobs and lifesaving breakthroughs. With three area medical schools, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and dozens of animal health and life sciences companies, the region boasts a substantial foundation.

This is why Gov. Blunt urged for the removal of stem-cell research politics as an obstacle for the region’s life sciences economy:

“Missourians have spoken,” Blunt said at the Governors’ Summit on Regional Economic Development at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City.

“They are supportive of responsible scientific research and allowing research that the federal government allows in our state,” Blunt said. “I am hopeful we will get to a sense of stability and it will be clear that this sort of early stem-cell research is indeed protected in our state.”

Too bad that “early stem cell research” involves the creation, use and destruction of living human embryos.

This should tell you what is largely behind the push to support the biotech industry in all of its demands, at least politically. It’s not about cures and scientific advancement, but “economic development.” Economic development that comes at the cost of human life.

This also underlines what I have been saying about Matt Blunt all along. Not only has Governor Blunt done nothing to protect us from this assault on human dignity he, in fact, has encouraged and financially supported the progression of this kind of unethical and immoral science in our state. We would have already had a ban on human cloning in this state three years ago if it wasn’t for his influence. He’s not alone, of course, he has been aided by a weak Republican majority, unwilling to stand up to him on this serious pro-life issue.

I am glad that he will not seek reelection and I will be supporting Kenny Hulshof for Governor!

A Triumph of Truth and Justice!!

Chelsea2008 Election, Cloning, Missouri5 Comments

nullThanks be to God! Just got word today that Judge Joyce upheld the Cures Without Cloning challenge to Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s inaccurate and blatantly biased ballot summary for a constitutional amendment to truly ban human cloning in Missouri. I am incredibly pleased and quite frankly surprised at the ruling. The revised ballot summary reads as follows:

    Should the Missouri Constitution be amended to change the definition of
    cloning and ban some of the research as approved by voters in
    November, 2006 by:
    • prohibiting human cloning that is conducted by creating a human
    embryo at any stage from the one-cell stage forward;
    • prohibiting expenditure of taxpayer dollars on research or
    experimentation on human cloning; and
    • allowing stem cell research for therapies and cures that complies
    with these prohibitions and the prohibitions of Section 38(d) of the
    Constitution?

That is much closer to the purpose of the actual Amendment than Carnahan’s disgraceful language.

So it looks like some hard work is ahead of us now if we are to have any hope of getting this on the ballot in November, the process has been delayed for far too long already. Of course, the opposition will likely appeal in an effort to halt any progress we hope to make in gathering signatures. No matter, for now we can at least be grateful that justice has been served.

Please keep us in your prayers as we try to finally ban all human cloning in our state and seek to focus on more ethical and effective areas of scientific research!

Read the Judge’s final judgement.

BTW: it turns out that this is the second ballot summary written by SOS Carnahan to be overturned this year.

Congratulations Bella!

ChelseaMedia, Pro Life2 Comments

nullLast week Bella received more acknowledgment for its good work when actor/producer Eduardo Verastegui won for best actor at the 16th Annual Movieguide Faith and Values Awards. The movie itself was nominated for Top Family Film of the Year, but lost to Ratatouilli. Also, according to producer Leo Severino, Bella will soon be released internationally. It will be in Canada the first week of March, in Australia beginning Feb. 21 and Mexico on April 25. It will also make its way to South Africa, Israel, Spain, Italy and on Virgin America Airlines where all of the Latin American flights will show Bella.

This is great news not just for those countries, but for the filmmakers themselves! Bella has already grossed $7.9 million so far – surpassing the film’s $3 million budget. More markets means more revenue and greater resources for advancing the mission of Metanoia Films at its inspired filmmakers, who reportedly have three projects currently in development.

I am pleased to say that Bella did make it to our humble little theater and this time it stayed for longer than a week. I tried to advertise as much as I could to our surrounding churches and organizations and I was told that the movie showed incredibly well. The day before the last showing last week I went to see it with a group of over 100 of our Jr. High youth group kids who all seemed to really enjoy it.

I never personally heard of any life changing or life saving experiences from the movie, but Leo says that they have confirmed that at least 12 mothers have changed their minds about aborting their babies after seeing the movie. So, obviously, the more people who can see this movie, the better.

Let us pray for these filmmakers and their future success in making movies that uphold the dignity of human life.

See also:
Pro-Life Group Takes Award-Winning Movie Bella to Ireland to Combat Abortion
Bella screening in UK by Knights of Columbus
The Swell Bella Fellas, on a Mission for God

“Resurrecting” Rover

ChelseaCloning2 Comments

Did you ever see the movie The 6th Day, with Arnold Schwarzenegger? You know, the one where he comes home one day to find a clone of himself living with his family, is then chased by a bunch of cloned assassins and finally traces the attacks to the creator of the clones, who is himself a clone. Well the movie starts out highlighting the popular practice of commercial animal cloning for those who have lost their pets. Here is the infomercial for “Re-pet”:

The process is quite different from what cloning actually is – somatic cell nuclear transfer – but the concept is not so far fetched – anymore. A South Korean biotech company has just taken its first order to clone a beloved pet:

A woman from the United States wants her dead pitbull terrier – called Booger – re-created.

RNL Bio is charging the woman, from California, $150,000 (£76,000) to clone the pitbull using tissue extracted from its ear before it died.

The work will be carried out by a team from Seoul National University, where the first dog was cloned in 2005.

Sadly for her this will not actually “re-create” this woman’s deceased companion as she hopes, but only bring into existence Booger’s twin, and possibly with serious birth defects. It won’t be the “same” dog.

They say that art imitates life, but here we have a disturbing case of life imitating science fiction art.

New ALL Video

ChelseaAbortion, Planned Parenthood, videoLeave a Comment

ALL is keeping an eye on all of Planned Parenthood’s shenanigans. Now their survey reveals that Planned Parenthood is streamlining its business in order to commit more abortions.:

Protesting Underage Elephant Pregnancy

ChelseaPro Life1 Comment

I guess human beings aren’t the only ones who should be offered birth control and abortion to compensate for their reckless sexual behavior. From Reuters:

Sydney’s premier zoo is celebrating the news that its 9-year-old Asian elephant is pregnant, but animal rights groups are shocked that the zoo has let a juvenile elephant fall pregnant.

Allowing such a young elephant to fall pregnant was “the equivalent of allowing your 12-year-old daughter to become pregnant”, said Erica Martin, Asia Pacific Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

“It is completely irresponsible,” Martin said in a statement on Thursday. Martin said that under captive breeding plans elephants should be at least 11-years-old before conceiving.

“Still birth, infanticide and rejection of calves are the main causes of infant mortality and Thong Dee’s age and lack of maternal and social experience make this pregnancy very risky,” Jones [Bidda Jones, chief scientist with Australia’s Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (RSCPA)] said in a statement.

    null

An ultrasound (pictured here) shows the five month old elephant fetus that measures 10 cm so far, with the beginnings of a spine, front and hind legs.

Engaging in the “Embryonic Debate”

ChelseaScienceLeave a Comment

Robert P. George & Christopher Tollefsen, who wrote the book, Embryo: A Defense of Human Life, have a column on National Review answering a review of the book by William Saletan of Slate magazine. nullHaving not read the review, I can only gather by this column that Saletan’s main point was that a human embryo is not yet a complete and separate “being” though he still thinks that human embryos “deserve our respect” and that “we should never create or destroy them lightly.” It sounds like Saletan was trying to find that frantically sought after “middle ground” in debates such as this – complimenting the other side and sympathizing with their point of view, while suggesting that some sort of ethical compromise can be made. But when it comes to the treatment and respect for human life it’s all or nothing – no compromise, no middle ground. Human beings are unique, exceptional and sacred and should always be treated as such at any stage of development.

Most of this rebuttle column is a look into scientific embryology, but I particularly enjoyed it when George and Trollefsen used Saleten’s own self against him:

Consider any adult human being—William Saletan, for example. He is the same whole living individual human organism—i.e., the same human being—that was at an earlier stage of his life an adolescent. And the adolescent Will was the same whole living individual human organism that was at earlier developmental stages a child, an infant, a fetus, and an embryo. By contrast, he was never an ovum or a sperm cell. The gametes whose felicitous union brought the embryonic Will Saletan into existence were parts of other organisms, his mother and father. But Will was once an embryo, just as he was once a fetus, an infant, a child, and an adolescent. From the embryonic stage forward, Will was a complete (though in the beginning developmentally immature) and distinct (both genetically and functionally) organism. He developed by an internally directed and gapless process from the embryonic into and through the infant, child, and adolescent stages and ultimately into adulthood with his organismic determinateness, distinctness, and unity intact.

The argument against our view being advanced by the adult Will Saletan is confounded by the fact that Will Saletan, like the rest of us, really was once an embryo. In telling the story of Will’s life, it would be a howler of a scientific mistake to say that once upon a time there was an embryo that was something distinct from the living human organism that is now Will Saletan, but that got transformed from whatever it was into the organism that is Will Saletan at some point after the embryo came into existence. The true story is that the organism that is Will Saletan is the same organism that, at an earlier stage of Will’s development, was that embryo…

When zebra embryos are experimentally transferred to horse mares, such trans-species pregnancies can proceed successfully to term, but invariably result in the birth of baby zebras, not baby horses or zebra-horse hybrids. The maternal environment supports and influences the development of the embryo, but does not control development. Similarly, no maternal or other extrinsic action changes the human embryo from a human being or into a human being; they merely enable it to continue to grow and develop as a human being.

It all just seems so obvious yet we’re still having this debate. The one question that those who deny distinguishing human embryos as actual complete living “beings” cannot answer is the one raised by George and Trollefsen here:

If a human embryo were something other than a human being in the embryonic stage of development—an embryonic human being—what could it be?

It has to be something. Indeed it is – a complete, distinct, living human organism – a human being.