Why the Susan G. Komen Foundation Should NOT Receive Your Support!

I have expressed my concern for the Susan G. Komen foundation and their contributions to Planned Parenthood for quite some time.  Recently, I was equally disturbed to read about the millions that they have poured into embryonic stem cell research. And, yet, pink continues to be everywhere!  Friends that I know are solidly pro-life post their intentions of “Walking for the Cure” on Facebook.  I know them well enough to be convinced they would not do this unless they were ignorant of the truth.

The sad thing about this whole situation is that the Susan G. Komen Foundation is on the forefront of vital breast cancer research. Just like you, I know scores of women who are or who have struggled with this insidious conditions which maims and kills far too many. Tragically, this organization has chosen strange allies in their battle. However, as I’ve often pointed out, the whole abortion issue tends to make people who believe in it to act irrationally.

Why in the world would this foundation link themselves with Planned Parenthood? They claim it is because PP provides necessary healthcare for women, even in remote communities. The insane thing is that PP doesn’t even provide mammograms! Plus, as I wrote yesterday, there exists overwhelming evidence that abortion increases a woman’s chance of getting breast cancer! (A fact with the Susan G. Komen Foundation denies: another strike against them!)

Now the organization admits that they have contributed millions of dollars to support embryonic stem cell research. Now, in my opinion, this not only highlights their pro-abortion stance, but also makes me question their intelligence. If one is really concerned about helping women with breast cancer, why would they pour money into research which has never been used to treat even one person, versus adult stem cell research which has had countless cases of overwhelming success? It simply doesn’t make any sense!

Anyway, I was thrilled to read this morning that Catholic bishops in Ohio have banded together to encourage their parishes and schools to stop doing fundraises for the Komen Foundation. They have confirmed their desire to fund breast cancer research, but are choosing to contribute to organizations that do not fund abortion. Amen! I think that this should be the stance for all of us who support life from conception to the day the heart ceases to beat.

I would encourage everyone to continue to support breast cancer research. Some good websites to check out are: the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute at www.bcpinstitute.org, and www.abortionbreastcancer.com. Educate yourself and then spread the news to others. Women are not going to be helped if breast cancer research is held hostage by those blinded by a commitment to abortion.

Keeping it true!  Barb

 

Government Run Welfare: Destroying Families and Ensnaring Generations in Poverty!

Almost everyday I see another family trapped in generational poverty.  Men are absent from the family structure, except, perhaps, as occasional visitors. Mothers and grandmothers head up matriarchal family units in which welfare pays the rent and food stamps provide their daily meals.  Teenage mothers are raised alongside their infants and toddlers, almost more like they are siblings rather than parent and child.

Often when young women come into the Center, they mention that their other children are at daycare. However, they do not have jobs; it is the state that allows them to send their children to a daycare center everyday, at no cost to them.  I am happy for the hot meals these little ones receive at these places, but if the mothers are not working (or even looking for a job) why are they not caring for their own families during the day?

Couples trapped in poverty tend to not marry because welfare pays them more if they don’t.  In turn, children born to single mothers are doomed to a life below the poverty level. Growing up with no money and little hope, they tend to repeat the patterns of their parents. And so the spiral of poverty begins, trapping more and more victims as it goes spinning through the years.

Ever since the War on Poverty in the 1960′s, our government has poured increasingly massive amounts of money into the welfare system. As spending increased, so did the level of those living in poverty. Hand in hand with this, the rate of marriage for those on government assistance plummeted as the numbers of children born to single mothers climbed higher and higher. In short, simple terms, the more we spent, the worse it got! (Sadly, the same can be said for our system of education, with healthcare soon to follow!)

Why am I bringing all this up? Obviously, as the administrator of a faith-based non-profit, I am concerned about caring for those in poverty. All our services are free. However, we do not provide long-term care; we look at ourselves as a safe place for women to come when they first discover they are pregnant and then to guide them to the help they need to have a healthy child. Unfortunately, for many the best we can offer is to assist them in receiving government-run Medicaid.

We have been praying for the Church in Omaha to join together and open a pre-natal clinic (an STD clinic would also be excellent!) Our vast community of Christian nurses and doctors could all take their turn in staffing it, and cost would be on a sliding scale. Ideally, there would be financial counseling also available. While we’re at it, a job training center would be amazing! After all, Christ called His people to care for the poor, not the government!

It has become rather vogue these days for authors who define themselves as Christian to espouse the conviction that it is the government’s role to care for the poor; that as believers we should vote for the candidate who will commit to expanding the role of welfare in our society. One of their chief arguments is that the problem is too massive for the church to successfully handle. Therefore, we should just toss in the towel and hand our funds cheerfully over to our elected representatives to feed the poor and care for the widow and orphan.

One of my favorite books on this topic is Losing Ground by Charles Murray. Mr. Murray, a social scientist, has done a detailed examination of the trends and statistics that have taken place in the United States since the 1950′s. He has come to three conclusions in summing up the reaction of individuals as far as work ethic is concerned:

1. People respond to incentives and disincentives. Sticks and carrots work.

2. People are not inherently hard-working or moral (in other words, sinners!) In the absence of countervailing influences, people will avoid work and be amoral.

3. People must be held responsible for their actions. Whether they are responsible in some ultimate philosophical or biochemical sense cannot be the issue if society is to function.

He goes on to prove statistically that when we began to financially support people who were not working, they eventually stopped looking (especially when they were penalized for having a job which paid them too much!) If you get free daycare when you receive a government check, but have to pay exorbitant fees for childcare when you work, aren’t you a fool to do so? In our desire to help the poor, all we’ve ended up is stripping people of their desire to work, along with their dignity. Somehow, we need to learn how to give that self-respect back. Tragically, after 40 years of handouts, the system is one, huge, ugly, bloated mess!

The more money we throw at it, the worse it gets! And yet, the only answer our government ever has is to (you guessed it!) throw more money at it! Whenever cut backs or reform are suggested, there are cries of hurting the poor and the elderly; of depriving hungry children of their only source of food.

I know I am greatly simplifying the situation. However, when I read the Bible, I find exhortations that if people do not work, neither should they eat. When the widows and orphans needed help in Acts, the church formed a committee to solve the situation (with a stern warning that those who were helped be without any other source of assistance and truly in need!) Throughout the centuries, governments allowed the poor to starve in the streets. It was Christians that built hospitals, orphanages and soup kitchens!

As a leader of a non-profit, I know that we are accountable to the gracious people who give their hard-earned dollars for every penny we spend. The generosity of God’s children astounds me, yet, our budget is dwarfed by federally funded Planned Parenthood. And yet, we are the ones doing the free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds (contrary to popular belief, PP charges either the individual or Medicaid for everything!) They even send women to us when they cannot afford their ultrasound fee.

Faith-based non-profits (including churches) do not have to have multi-million dollar accounts just to handle the fraud that occurs (like you know who!) They don’t have to pander to special interest or pay their directors huge, overblown wages with super-sweet retirement deals. Unlike the government, we have a definite cap on our funds, and borrowing beyond our means is out of the question. People who give to us have many fine organizations to choose between for their donation. We constantly have to prove we are doing an excellent and responsible job.

Voting for a candidate who believes in abortion and does everything he can to undermine the Christian faith, just because he will pour more money into a bloated and evil welfare system which is destroying our society, is not only an abomination to our faith but borders on insanity! I admit that those who are truly poor need our care. We must feed the hungry and clothe the naked. The mess we are in is not an easy one to solve. However, as a community of believers, I don’t think we have even begun to try. We need to repent and seek God. If we are sincere in our commitment, He will begin to make a way.

Keeping it true!  Barb

Cord Blood Banking: Fountain of Healing for the Future?

In doing research for today’s blog, I discovered that July (among other things) is Cord Blood Awareness Month.  Since I believe that Stem Cell Research (excluding Embryonic) is the wave of exciting, life-saving developments in medicine, I thought it would be good to do a little exploration in this field!

Since the beginning of time, the umbilical cord has been detached from newborns and thrown away. However, in recent years it was discovered that the cord was a rich source of stem cells.  These can be collected at birth, frozen cryogenically (in liquid nitrogen) and kept indefinitely.

The beauty of these cells are two-fold. First, if they are used on the donor, they will be a perfect match for treating a multitude of conditions which may occur. For instance, if the child should develop cancer, stem cells taken from their cord blood can be used for life-saving bone marrow transplants. However, secondly, since the cells are taken from a newborn, it is not necessary for them to be a perfect match to be used for others who need the blood, and can be used without as great a chance for rejection.

I have written many times in this blog about the amazing new developments in adult stem cell research. Cord blood is a wonderful source for these cells! Even though they come from newborns, they do not possess the instability of embryonic cells. Of course, that makes sense: cells at the beginning of life are intended for rapid development; our bodies began with a handful of cells which transformed into complex organs and body parts. By birth, those cells have stabilized and become more specific. And yet, because they are so new, they remain wonderfully flexible as well.

Adult and cord blood stem cells are already being used successfully to treat patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, anemias, and immune deficiencies. They have also been used to grow new corneas to restore sight to legally blind patients, and even to begin repair of cardiac damage after heart attack. In animal experiments, adult and cord blood stem cells have been used successfully in experimental treatments for stroke, Parkinson’s disease, heart damage, liver damage, and to reverse diabetes in mice. The adult and cord blood stem cells are already making good on what now seem to be unstable promises of embryonic stem cell research.

Parents need to make the decision to bank their child’s cord blood before birth, since the kit for collecting the blood must be on hand at delivery. Once it is has been extracted and carefully placed in containers, it is rushed by couriers for storage at a cord blood bank. Unfortunately, at this point and time, the process of choosing the right company to go with can be confusing and expensive.

Cord blood can be donated to public blood banks at no cost to the family. However, with this option, the blood cannot be saved for the specific use of their child. Private companies provide this service, but for a cost. From what I could determine, there is a collection fee of anywhere from $500 to $2,000 for collecting the blood, and then a storage fee (up to $360 a year) on top of that.

Dr. Manny Alvarez, a consulting physician at Fox News, warns parents to be very careful in selecting the right company for storing the blood. He tells of collecting his son’s cord blood 16 years ago, only to discover that it is now unusable because of the manner in which it was treated. He cautions that many companies are not certified, and cheaper is not always better.

Hopefully as the technology improves the cost will go down. I truly believe that adult and cord blood stem cells are the wave of the future! I have written before about the hope that researchers have for even developing new organs, such as hearts and livers, for transplantation from stem cells, eliminating the need for donor organs. In fact, these cells may be the key unlocking treatments for any condition we can imagine. They are like a God-given fountain for restoration of life! And not one child has to die to sustain it!

Keeping it true!  Barb

In Breast Cancer: Political Denial Can Lead to Death

I had a mammogram done last Friday. I’m ashamed to say that I had been putting it off for quite sometime. It’s not really that I am afraid of them; my life is just cluttered with too many things.

Anyway, as always happens when you tell people you are going to get a medical procedure done, my friends had stories to tell of their own adventures in mammography. Especially interesting were the tales told by one of our ultrasound techs, who also is trained in X-Ray and does a lot of mammograms.

She told one story in particular that  grabbed my attention. She spoke of an older woman (in her 70′s) who came in, complaining that she had a lump. Upon disrobing, my friend was shocked to see a huge swelling bulging the outside of the woman’s breast. When she asked the patient how long she’d had it, the woman replied, “We don’t talk about these things in our family.” In her shame and denial, this poor lady now probably faced deadly, end-stage cancer instead early which could be treated.

Last Friday, when I entered the room to get my own procedure done, the medical technician asked me a series of questions. She wanted to know if I had any family history of breast cancer. Then she asked how many children I had and what age I was with my first. Had I ever taken the birth control pill or had hormone therapy for menopause?

Since I have done research on breast cancer for this blog, I knew exactly why each of these questions was asked. I’ve learned that the amount of estrogen that we’ve been exposed to as women can greatly affect our chances of developing deadly tumors. The shorter time between our first menstruation and our first baby, the better.  The same is true for having lots of children and breast-feeding them. Why? During those times we do not menstruate, therefore reducing the amount of estrogen in our systems.

One exception to this is during a woman’s first pregnancy. When conception occurs, estradiol ( a type of estrogen) causes both the normal and pre-cancerous cells to rapidly multiply, resulting in larger, milk-producing breasts. In the 8th week of pregnancy, the level of estradiol is 500 times greater than before conception. The cells mature and stabilize around 32 weeks.

The danger lies when this natural process is abruptly interrupted by an induced abortion. The woman’s breasts remain filled with unstable cells, which ultimately can increase her risk of breast cancer. (With a miscarriage, the body usually decreases the level of estrogen before the baby is lost. It is a more gradual process.)

So, why didn’t the technician about to do my mammogram ask me if I’d ever had an abortion? Well, it is sort of like the lady with the large tumor: in our society, we don’t talk about those kinds of things. We hide these things away under a veil of “privacy.” Even worse, most of the medical elite refuse to admit that a problem even exists!

As I have mentioned before, over two dozen studies have been conducted around the world which demonstrate this increased risk of breast cancer, particularly when a woman aborts her first child. The raw statistics show that since 1973 (the year abortion was legalized) breast cancer has increased over 40%. (There have been some slight decreases in recent years, but that can be attributed to the fact that women were warned about the dangers of hormone replacement therapy, drastically reducing its use.)

Not only is the link denied, but those who warn of the potential danger are ridiculed and accused of spreading misinformation. We discuss the potential breast cancer link with all of the women we see at the AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling. However, I know that this was one of the points of accusation when centers were under fire recently in New York and Washington State: sharing the breast cancer link was considered “mis-information”.

As a young woman, I was never informed that being on the birth control pill might increase my chances of breast cancer. Even now I doubt girls are told this fact, unless they read the fine print that accompanies their prescription. I also never realized having babies at a young age and then nursing them would increase my chances of avoiding cancer. These facts can now be found on many breast cancer websites; however, abortion is still conspicuously absent.

Many months ago, I wrote of a warning cry which Dr. Joel Brind, a leader in this field of linking breast cancer and abortion, gave to all Americans. He stated that presently there are 5,000 to 8,000 more cases of breast cancer due to early abortions. However, by the year 2020, he predicts that this number will skyrocket to 40,000 to 50,000 more cases a year!

I ask the medical community: if there is even a chance of this being true, why isn’t more American research being done to bring the debate to an end? Why is most the credible research being carried on overseas, and then being ignored? Are we really more concerned about protecting abortion than about protecting the health and well-being of women?

Keeping it true!  Barb

Deciding When Life Begins: A Crucial Question for Our Times!

As you may have heard, the Institute of Medicine made a recommendation to the president yesterday that healthcare plans should include coverage for all FDA approved drugs which have been designated as “birth control.” Of course, as you will see, that designation is political in its definition concerning which drugs actually prevent pregnancy and those which  destroy newly created life.

Some of the drugs that have been placed under the heading of “birth control” include several whose function is to prevent implantation of the human embryo in the uterine wall. These include such things as Plan B (or the Morning After Pill) and the new drug called Ella. Basically, these are medications are designed to be taken within 3-5 days after sex to prevent pregnancy. Just as with the birth control pill, one of the ways they do this is to prevent the fertilized egg from implanting itself in the uterine wall. To many (including myself) that constitutes an abortion.

We live in an age where definitions really don’t mean anything. As I mentioned yesterday, this is also an era where facts are changed if they are inconvenient, because, after all, there are no absolutes. Truth is a relative thing, open for debate.

Yesterday, Live Action (the awesome pro-life group headed up by Lila Rose and her team) highlighted an article which appeared in the magazine, Mother Jones. The author of the piece, Kate Sheppard, was quoted as saying: “Anti-abortion groups believe that (preventing implantation) constitutes abortion, even though medical organizations like the National Institutes of Health and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have been clear that this is factually incorrect; pregnancy does not begin until a fertilized egg is implanted.” Please note that no mention is made of human life, they are contesting that it is not even a pregnancy until implantation begins.  Since present law mandates that abortions cannot be paid for by our tax money, this is a vital point in their argument. However, the only basis that they are going by to make this declaration is that they decided (very conveniently I might add) that pregnancy doesn’t begin until implantation, and so, therefore, it must be true. After all, who can argue with such prestigious organizations?

So, I just wonder: are tubal pregnancies not, in reality, pregnancies? We have done ultrasounds at our Center in which we have seen well-developed babies, with beating hearts and recognizable shapes, growing in the fallopian tubes. Of course, these pregnancies are doomed, but does that mean that these babies have never been alive? And, I read recently about a woman who gave birth to a baby who grew to full development outside of her uterus. Since it never did implant in the uterine wall, was she never pregnant (or is her healthy child not a real baby?)

In order to justify abortion, researchers and scientists have been forced to re-define when life begins. Even further than that, since ultrasound technology has taken us into the world of the womb, making is so the life found there cannot be so easily dismissed, the debate has shifted to: when does life become a human being? 

In order to find justification for supporting abortion, religious groups have chimed into the debate. In one article I found, Suzanne Holland, Ph.D, a biochemist and the chairman of the Religion department for the University of Puget Sound in Washington, spelled out 4 theories for determining when life begins. She declares that each can be said to be biologically accurate (again, how can 4 differing theories all be true?)

First, there is the genetic view which holds that life begins, in her words: with the acquisition of a novel genome. In other words, when the mother’s egg and the father’s sperm combine and become a unique being. Second is the embryologic view that thinks life begins about 14 days into development when the embryo undergoes something called gastrulation.  The third stage happens at around 24-27 weeks when a distinct EKG pattern is discerned. This is the neurological view. The last is when the baby has reached a stage when it can live outside the womb, a stage which constantly changes as technology increases. (It has no fancy name!)

I have also heard people say that life begins when the heart begins to beat, which is around five weeks. Of course, the neurological view has become popular with proponents of transplantation, since if life begins with brain waves it must end when those waves cease (or greatly decrease.) Many of these theories have political motivations, which are mostly used to justify abortion. In order to persuade the public that abortion on demand is acceptable, they must also convince them that human life is not being destroyed.

It boggles my mind how a question of such vital importance can be randomly determined. The Bible never mentions stages of life, it just makes it clear that all existence, before and after birth is created and loved by God. In Psalms, it clearly states that we have all been created in our mother’s womb. John the Baptist was filled by the Spirit while still in-utero, and leapt for joy in recognition of the Messiah, who at an even earlier state in the womb, but was still clearly “God made flesh.” Life is life, and we are who we are, from the moment our first, unique cell was formed until the moment our heart stops beating. And, gloriously, it only stops then for our physical bodies: our spirits are eternal!

Just as with the Theory of Evolution, the indiscriminate designations of when life (not to mention our humanity) begins are irresponsible folly. Men decided that they did not want to worship God, so they came up with a far-fetched theory to explain their origins. Years later, we stripped the unborn of their humanity so that they could be ripped from the womb without guilt. There is no factual basis for either.

To those who call themselves Christians and attempt to use these rationales to justify abortion, shame on you! At least if you are going to expound such rhetoric, be honest about it! Admit that you know that there is human life in the womb but that you consider other things, such as tough circumstances and the inconvenience and embarrassment of an unplanned pregnancy, to be more important. Scriptural rationalizations for abortion don’t exist!

We all began life as a single, unique cell. We were survivors and made it through the stages of embryo, fetus, newborn, toddler, child, teen, and adult. Many of us are now entering the latter half of our lives. There was never a point in this continuum that we were anything other than the unique, amazing person that God created us to be. We were never in any danger of morphing into a fish or a toad, or even a flowering plant. We were either human from that first cell or we weren’t. Nothing else makes any sense.

Keeping it true!  Barb

 

The War for the Minds and Hearts of Our Children

I was reading through my usual litany of websites and articles that I sort through every morning in search of a subject for this blog. Suddenly, I found myself totally overwhelmed with the insanity of the world in which we live. I have two young grandsons (2 1/2 and 6 months) and I saw their lives stretched out before them like a huge field full of deadly landmines!

I love the stages the boys are at right now. Brayden is talking up a storm and discovering new things to learn everyday. He loves his parents (and grandparents!) and sings little songs from Sunday School. Gabriel, the baby, wakes up each day with a big grin on his face and lives his life in peaceful bliss (except for the occasional dirty diaper!) At this stage, their parents are able to keep them pretty sheltered from the angry blasts of the world.

School will be the first field of treachery which they enter upon. A not so subtle war has been declared upon Christianity in the halls of education, with the first strikes even occurring as early as Kindergarten. Sensitivity is pushed towards every lifestyle and religion except the one they are being taught; Jesus and two-parent white households are not so popular.

I certainly think that it is vital for all of us, especially Christians, to understand different cultures. We were thrilled when our children travelled to other countries to take part in outreach projects. Their lives were transformed as they were immersed in societies filled with poverty and a different way of thinking. As believers, we are called to reach out to the whole world with the good news of Christ’s love. In order to do that, it is imperative for us to understand and respect their culture and belief systems.

I also believe that, as Americans, we need to recognize both the good and the bad things about our history. In fact, if a straight, factual accounting of our history would be presented (the positive and the negative) I don’t think that even the strictest conservative would have a problem. However, that is not what is happening. History is being skewed to fit a point of view that throughout the years all America has done has been to elevate the white culture at the detriment of everyone else. Therefore, the trend of current thought is that the white Judeo-Christian tradition must now be sublimated as evil and supplanted in favor of anything else.

However, it is on the moral battlefield that I see the most danger to my grandchildren. It will be difficult to shield them from the tidal wave of media garbage that pours out of most of today’s music and entertainment. I’m not certain how music can get any worse with f-bombs and all other types of profanity coming every other word. Even worse to me is the degradation of women as sexual objects (although some of the female singers are the worst!) Sex is portrayed as an animalistic free for all, with the assumption that everyone sleeps with whomever they want whenever they want to and if you don’t there is something wrong with you.

Television and movies are getting worse all the time. I confess that shows I would have immediately turned off even ten years ago now come into my home. Why? Because unmarried couples sleeping together isthe norm and if we totally rejected it we probably wouldn’t watch anything. I’ve been desensitized and so has the majority of our culture. And, just like the shows from a decade ago seem tame today, the same will be true of today’s programming (however, I don’t think it will take ten years!)

No matter how strongly morals are taught, the things we see and hear seep into our thinking. Once we no longer think believe in the core of our being that there are moral absolutes (such as no sex before marriage or that abortion is always wrong) which cannot be compromised,  the battle is lost. And, tragically, the younger generation has a huge hang-up with absolutes of any kind. Instead, everything is seen as relative and that it is necessary to change and fluctuate with the times.

This thinking has slipped into the church. Modern Christian writers speak of the possibilities that there is no hell or that people of other religions may still get into heaven based on their own sincerity of faith; or that an essential part of being pro-life is to place emphasis on social welfare programs along with abortion. (In other words, voting for Obama was construed as a good thing in spite of his support for abortion. After all, his programs were more likely to feed the poor. Oh really? Let’s discuss that fallacy another time!)

Christian young people, who share with us their testimonies of accepting Christ, pour into our office every week. They are having sex outside of marriage and do not see the problem. Many are also considering abortion, stating that “God will forgive them,’ or that they hate to do it but it is the best choice for them at that time. There are also those who abort so they will not face the embarrassment of coming pregnant and unmarried to church, forgetting that God is the only one that matters and He knows everything!

Everyday I read about the slow and steady stream on the left, pushing their agenda for physician assisted suicide, government paid birth control and abortion, embryonic stem cell research and other policies destruction of life and morals. People of faith are attempting to put out the fires right and left, but it is like pouring little buckets of water on a blazing, slow but steady fire moving through dried grass on a huge plain. We may put it out momentarily, but the embers continue to glow only to spark into flames once again.

The thing is, we know from the Bible that things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better. Our great hope is that the story of our civilization ends victoriously when Christ returns! The challenge is to help our children and grandchildren to survive the gauntlet until then.

Keeping it true!  Barb

Combating Maternal Deaths in Africa With Respect and Loving Care (Instead of Contraceptives and Abortion)

The young woman lay struggling to give birth in her little village in Sierra Leone. She is 18-years-old, and her labor has gone on far too long. Without qualified medical care, just the assistance of some village women, no one really knows what the problem is. As night becomes day, she begins to fatally hemorrhage and pass into a coma. When the sun is full in the sky, both she and her unborn child are dead.

Since 1987, the United Nations has been attempting to solve the problem of the tragically high rate of maternal deaths in Africa. According to the latest data, there are 640 deaths per 100,000 live births in Africa compared to 14 per 100,000 births in the United States!  The UN’s “Safe Motherhood Initiative” has been pouring contraceptives and abortion drugs (such as RU-486) into several of the countries with the highest rates, but little has changed. Women continue to get pregnant and to die of the same complications which have been successfully treated here for over 100 years!

I don’t think there is anyone on either side of the abortion debate whose heart is not stirred with compassion and a desire to see change when stories such as the one above are told.  It is not a situation unique to Africa; I think most under-developed countries face the same horrible dilemma. However, I know the answer does not lie with contraception and abortion! Therefore, I was thrilled to read today about an organization based in the United States called Maternal Life International (MLI) and a program they’ve developed to target maternal health in Africa, called Safe Passages.

MLI (like me) was disturbed that the type of care being provided in Africa was “reproductive care” rather than focusing on improving the obstetrical care that women received.  So, they devised a program to address their premise that “every mother and baby should be entitled to a safe passage: to a pregnancy and birth free of death, free of serious injury, and free of the HIV virus.”

Safe Passages gathered evidence that there is a fragile “window of vulnerability” in which most women and babies die during childbirth: from the onset of labor until seven days postpartum. Lives are saved during this time by the presence of attendants who are skilled in assisting with birth. Safe Passages has been training African workers to clinically monitor labor, and recognize and treat the most common conditions (such as preeclampsia and hemorrhage) that cause death. They are also instructed how to perform a C-section, and to recognize when it is necessary.

There is a real focus in the organization on building relationships and treating their patients with respect and dignity. The Safe Passages Equation is: Respect for Persons+Safe Birth+Fertility Literacy= Healthy Mothers, Healthy Families, Healthy Nations.  The women and their unborn children are treated as a gift, not as a problem or a burden. The focus is placed on providing good, quality obstetrical care to ensure a healthy birth. And, lastly, time is spent to instruct couples to use Natural Family Planning (NFP).

Instruction on NFP includes teaching both the man and the woman in the relationship how fertility works. Both partners must be actively involved. Rather than just having the woman take a pill (which may not always be available in impoverished nations) both of them gain a greater understanding of the way their bodies work and, therefore, an increased control of their reproduction. Hopefully, it will give men a better sense of his responsibility in the process. After all, isn’t education always better than living in ignorance?

Can anyone show me any situation that has been improved with more contraception or abortion? Have the rates of unplanned pregnancies decreased in the United States? Have we reduced the STD epidemic? Are there significantly fewer children born into single parent homes? The United Nations has been attempting to lower the high maternal death rate in Africa by their same old solutions, but to no avail.

I predict that by their use of love, respect, and education that Maternal Life International will succeed where the UN has failed. MLI also brings another vital element with them: news of God’s love! They are faith-based (Catholic) and therefore carry the best kind of  hope with them. Please pray for this organization, and for the healing transformation of this suffering continent!

Keeping it true!  Barb

 

Polygamy and Gay Marriage: Ushering in Era of Anything Goes?

Okay, I have a confession to make. Occasionally I have watched the show, “Sister Wives.” I was curious to see how television was going to handle the whole subject of polygamy.  I’m not sure if the TLC channel has an agenda or not, but they couldn’t have produced a better “puff piece” to support this multiple-wife lifestyle if they tried!

Cody Brown and his four wives and their children seem to be lovely, caring people. Their show makes for innocent, G-rated entertainment.  I did get a little annoyed with the whining that went on when Cody was dating Robyn, who eventually became wife number 4. The other wives had streaks of jealousy and kept demanding that their shared husband “respect their feelings.” I had trouble being too sympathetic. (I wouldn’t like my husband dating someone new either, but, then, I don’t share him!)

The husband and father, Cody, appears to be a very kind and fair man. He spends equal time with all the wives and children. The women appear to do most of the actual parenting with their own brood. And, surprisingly, they all seem to get along (at least for the camera!) They were a very wise choice for advocates of polygamy to put as a face for their movement.

During the later half of the first season, the Brown’s discovered that the state of Utah was going to be taking action against them since they were breaking the state’s anti-polygamy laws. Until that point, the authorities had decided to take a “don’t ask, don’t tell” stance towards the more than 40,000 men, women and children who were living that lifestyle. However, I would imagine that the Browns appearing on nation-wide television to tell the world of how they were living was a kind of finger in the state’s eye. Utah wasn’t asking, but the Browns were certainly telling.

What followed were melodramatic scenes of the huge family packing up and fleeing the state, leaving their possessions behind. In tears, they spoke of polygamous families of the past in which the father was jailed and the rest split up to never see one another again. (We never saw any proof that the police were actually considering such action. Anytime the police benignly drove down their street, they were sent into a panic! However, it is a television program after all.)

The Browns are now planning to challenge the state’s laws against bigamy. The family is represented by an attorney named Jonathan Turley. One of his statements sent up a greater warning flag than I already had. He stated that the lawsuit “is a challenge designed to benefit not just polygamists but all citizens who wish to live their lives according to their own values- even if those values run counter to those of the majority in the state.”

Wow. That is quite a statement. So, should anything go? Once bigamy is allowed by law, can a man have one family in Utah and another in Arizona that the other knows nothing about? As long as he cares for both families, does it matter? Will families made up of any number or combinations be legal? Say, two wives with three husbands? Or a whole circus troupe? Who is to decide?

The thing is, we are forgetting about the polygamous families in which the male figure has not treated his family right. For example, what about men like Warren Jeffs, who forced minor girls in his family to marry their cousins, or the Kingston family, in which seven brothers incestually beget more than 600 children! Utah’s attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, says he has secured agreements from several polygamist groups to stop forcing underage girls into marriage, cease welfare fraud, and enable the women and children to report domestic violence and child abuse. However, these are not law, and all of these illegal and destructive patterns are deeply rooted in the practice.

Between the polygamists and the homosexual movement, it appears that the movement is to kick open the doors to “anything goes!”  Marriage has been eroded enough in our society. Looser divorce laws that were promoted as being in defense of women have been anything but. The result has been that men can abandon their wives and families for no reason at all, and, often, with very few resources with which to survive. If it becomes an even bigger free-for-all, it is the innocent (mostly children) who will suffer!

How have we ever benefitted by loosening our standards? What are the fruits of our “anything goes” society? Millions of abortions and children growing up in single-parent households; more children living in poverty than ever before; young lives ravaged by sexually transmitted diseases and other dysfunctional scars of a life lived only for “pleasure.”

Television and movies are systematically wearing down our sense of right and wrong. Sympathetic homosexual characters appear in almost every hit show. (I’m not saying that some people living the gay lifestyle are not kind or funny or smart; however we rarely see the darker side of this way of life!) And, now, the same is being done to promote polygamy!

This is an evil world. If the protective structure of the family (one woman and one man, living with and raising their children) is broken apart, it will also destroy the few remaining safeguards of our society. If anything goes, abuse of women and children will sky-rocket. The history of other cultures, which have crumbled into amoral piles of rubble,  prove this to be true.

We need to stand up and fight this desensitization of our society! We cannot allow those on the fringe to dictate the God-given standards and laws which are vital to the future of our culture!  We must do this no matter how nice they seem on television. If we don’t, the innocent will suffer, and we will not last long as a society.

Keeping it true!  Barb

Elder Abuse: Attack on the Vulnerable at Life’s End.

Yesterday, the city of Omaha charged a 44-year-old man with manslaughter and abuse of a vulnerable adult. He was temporary conservator for a 66-year-old woman who was found dead in her home on May 27. The coroner ruled that she died of starvation and, possibly, dehydration. Her mattress was saturated with urine and feces, and severe bed sores covered most of her body. The woman was also his mother.

Tragically, this is not an isolated case. It is estimated at 2.1 million elderly Americans a year are victims of some form of abuse or neglect. And, it is feared that for every case that is reported, there are 5 more that are not. Just like this poor victim, many do not die of diseases, but rather of the consequences of neglect. Many suffer from dementia. And, just as in this case, the great majority of the abuse occurs at the hands of either their children or spouse.

It can be very difficult to care for an aging parent. Some families do not have the financial resources to place their loved ones in a nursing facility. Plus, that is not always a safe alternative. It is reported that more than 91% of nursing homes do not have adequate staff to take proper care of all of its patients. Those who do not have family members that regularly visit and look out for their needs are particularly vulnerable.  Plus, feeling neglected, a deep depression can descend, taking away all desire to eat or to use necessary hygiene, things which often hasten death.

However, as tragic as this is, it is a far cry from the deliberate abuse which was perpetrated by this poor, demented woman’s son. For weeks, and maybe months, she lay in a bed filled with her own filth. Nasty sores consumed her body, testifying to the fact that she was rarely moved. A slow starvation reduced her weight by half, leaving her at a frail 70 pounds before she died. One can only imagine the agony in which she died!

In the meantime, her son had been collecting her Social Security check of $1200 a month for his own use. At the very least, that money, along with the help of Medicaid, could have provided health-care professionals who would have come to her home on a regular basis to bathe her and  get her out of bed; to see that she received necessary nutrition. All her son had to do was make the call. Adult Protective Services and other agencies would have done the rest.

Elder abuse has been continually on the rise. And, with the number of people aged 85 and older expected to double by the year 2030, it will most likely continue to get worse. We have developed a mindset in our society that as individuals, our happiness comes first and we should not allow anything to get in its way. For unplanned or inconvenient pregnancies, there is abortion. Child abuse and neglect are on the rise once offspring get older and get in the way. And once parents grow old and feeble,  develop dementia and soil and wet themselves, many can’t be bothered.

My friends, Denny and Claire Hartford, are a stark contrast to all of this. They have been tireless defenders of life in the womb for many years, but watching them as they cared for Denny’s ailing and dying mother showed me what it meant to not only say one is pro-life, but to live those convictions out.

For several years, Denny’s mother has faced declining health. Even when they were forced to place her in a nursing facility, the Hartford’s were continually by her side, making certain she received the care she needed. They even developed musical programs to entertain the residents of the home, transporting these wonderful senior citizens back to the era of their youth. These became so popular that they took the show on the road, often having more requests than they could fulfil.

There came a time when her memory faded and she could not remember visits from one day to the next. Dementia can often make its victims difficult to be around and there were many challenging days, but the Hartford’s never wavered in their commitment. In her final days in the hospital, they rarely left her side. Without them, her death would have been far more traumatic than it was, for she required lots of care.

Thank you, Denny and Claire, for teaching us what it really means to defend “the least of these” from conception to the grave. In a world that denigrates and abuses the vulnerable, you have been a shining example of sacrifice. If there were more like you, we would have a much greater chance of turning this whole shameful mess around.

(If you would like to read Denny’s excellent blog, go to vitalsignsblog.blogspot.com. It is an excellent source of pro-life information, as well as updates on our world from a Christian prospective. You will love it!)

Keeping it true!  Barb

 

Women Have the Right to Know Their Risks!

Two new studies have just been released pointing out the risks and dangers of abortion to women and their future children. I want to ask: did you see either of these reported anywhere? I may have seen one on the back pages of the newspaper, but I’m not positive. Actually, as is the case most of the time, I had to search pro-life websites to find my information.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, abortion is one of those topics about which anything negative is wrapped in a veil of secrecy. Any good news (good being a relative term) however, is magnified and shouted from the rooftops! The press rarely reports any stories such as I am going to share with you now.

The first report comes out of the United Kingdom. Over 1 million pregnancies in Scotland were studied over the course of 26 years. The researchers came to the conclusion that just having one abortion increases the risk of premature birth in subsequent pregnancies by 34%. One out of every five women who have four or more abortions will give birth prematurely, leaving their children at increased risk of birth defects and disabilities.  They also face a much higher chance of suffering from stillbirth or pre-eclampsia (a blood pressure disorder that can threaten both mother and child.)

To add to the credibility of this study is the fact that there have already been over a hundred other studies which confirm the same thing.  And yet, this fact is not widely known. In this day and age in which it takes a commercial longer to list the side effects than to tell about the drug, doesn’t this seem irresponsibly amazing? Is pro-choice supposed to be an educated choice or one where inconvenient truths are suppressed?

Peter Saunders, the head of the Christian Medical Fellowship, asks an intriguing question: “I wonder how long it will be before the first mother with a prior abortion brings a case against a doctor or health authority for not being told that she was at increased risk of having a premature baby in a subsequent pregnancy. Especially if that baby suffers one of the more severe and expensive complications of prematurity.” Maybe once the abortion industry is made to pay for their carelessness they will be more forthcoming with information.

The second article is entitled, “New FDA Report: Abortion Drug Kills 14 Women, Injures 2,200.” This report was released very quietly and barely made a ripple in the news world. Can you imagine any other drug being allowed to kill even one person, much less have these tragic consequences? For heaven’s sake, almost every crib in America was recalled as the result of less deaths than this (and those deaths could be attributed to neglect and poor workmanship as much as to the cribs themselves.)

Of the women that were injured, 612 required hospitalization and 339 had enough blood loss to necessitate a transfusion. Forty-eight women experienced what the FDA reports as “severe infections,” which means life-threatening conditions such as sepsis.  Some of these women may be so scared physically by their abortion that they will never be able to have another child. In addition, despite a FDA warning, RU-486 was given to at least 58 women with ectopic pregnancies (a pregnancy being carried outside the uterus in the Fallopian tubes.)

Planned Parenthood, especially with their “telemed” abortions (in which RU-486 is prescribed and dispensed via webcam, sometimes with the doctor being hours away and unavailable to assist in case of complications) make RU-486 seem so harmless and safe. Because of this, along with a refusal of the press to publish reports such as this one, abortion via medication is on the rise. Obviously, advancing the abortion agenda is more important to some people than protecting human life. Well, I guess that goes without saying, since, with abortion, at least one person always dies. However, we are talking about radical feminists whose rallying cry was to keep things “safe and legal.” Back alley butchers had a better track record than RU-486!

Are these statistics and risks being explained to women in the abortion clinic? I recently read an article which quoted Planned Parenthood as saying that RU-486 was just like taking a pill to start your period: perfectly safe and harmless! They even claimed that since beginning webcam abortions in Iowa, there had not been any complications. Isn’t that amazing? (Isn’t that a bald face lie?)

Women deserve to know the truth about the consequences they face in any type of medical procedure! The abortion industry is counting on women being too wrapped up with shame and secrecy to take them to court for wrongs done to them with an abortion, medical or surgical. I have reported in previous blogs about abortionists who stayed in practice for years in spite of one lawsuit after another. Things had to get atrociously bad before anyone would even blink an eye. (And, for all we know, these butchers may even now be actively killing babies in another state.)

At the very least, let’s drop all this pretense about the abortion movement caring about women. And I don’t want to hear anymore garbage about “choice.” The only things that are my choice are the things I fully understand in order to make a rational and educated decision. That is hardly the case with women and abortion in America today!

Keeping it true!  Barb