Family Research Council

“Leaders of the Stand for Marriage campaign said Friday they collected more than 100,000 signatures of registered Maine voters. Cartons containing the petitions have been turned into the secretary of state’s office to be certified.”

“If you think it’s difficult to be pro-life in a pro-choice world, or to be a disciple of Jesus in a sea of skeptics, try advocating for young marriage. Almost no one empathizes, even among the faithful. The nearly universal hostile reaction to my April 23, 2009, op-ed on early marriage in The Washington Post suggests that to esteem marriage in the public sphere today is to speak a foreign language: you invoke annoyance, confusion, or both.”

“The National Endowment for the Arts may be spending some of the money it received from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund nude simulated-sex dances, Saturday night “pervert” revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco.”

“A bipartisan group of senators announced Thursday that they plan to introduce legislation to revive the District of Columbias recently terminated D.C. Opportunity Scholarship school-voucher program.”

“University of Florida researchers were able to program bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged retinas in mice, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people.”

“The leading proponent of Vermont’s gay marriage bill spent about $294,000 on lobbying and advertising in advance of the Legislature’s vote — more than seven times as much as opponents did, according to disclosure forms filed Monday.

Through its task force and an action committee, Vermont Freedom to Marry spent $65,866 of that in the week before the April 7 vote by the Democrat-controlled Vermont house, which passed the bill in a 100-49 vote to override the veto of Republican Gov. Jim Douglas.”

“Discouraged by stubborn poll numbers and pessimistic political consultants, major financial backers of same-sex marriage are cautioning gay rights groups to delay a campaign to overturn Californias ban on such unions until at least 2012.”

“That’s why this, I believe, is going to be the biggest threat to our religious liberty in our near future,” the Christian attorney remarks. “We are facing a clash of worldviews; a collision between the same-sex agenda and a moral and religious worldview. Those two are incompatible in these kinds of conflicts. If we go down this road of same-sex unions, [it] will continue to escalate.”

“A large part of the horror of abortion lies in the monstrous presumption of liberals declaring that human life begins not at conception, but whenever they say it does. Maybe that’s six weeks, maybe six months. Maybe it’s years. Obama’s Science Czar John Holdren (the guy who wanted to put a sterilizing agent in our drinking water) gives us an idea of how slippery this slope can get. From his book Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions, via Patterico’s Pontifications:

The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being.”

“The bishops have campaigned long, loudly and clearly against same-sex marriage but the Catholic Church also offers a pervasive message of social justice, an umbrella many liberal Catholics stand under when they argue for marriage equality or life issues such as abortion, contraception and end-of-life decisions.”

“President Obama, who has vowed to find common ground on culture-war issues, finds himself in the middle of a classic Washington dispute over abortion that is further undermining support among conservative Democrats for his ambitious health-care reform efforts.”

“The Obama administration contends the urgent deadline is necessitated by the suffering of American families who have waited too long for Congress to act to address the high cost of health care. But according to the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill the president supports won’t lower health-care costs; it will increase them. And as the veteran political operatives in the Obama White House well know, the frantic timetable conveniently leaves precious little time for the American people to know what’s actually in the bill.”

“A top official with the administration of pro-abortion President Barack Obama spoke to gathering of Planned Parenthood activists last week. There, she promised leaders of the abortion business that Obama is a pro-abortion president and urged them to continue their pro-abortion lobbying efforts.”

“According to Open Doors USA, raids against Christians, carried out by the Taliban, have increased throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan. Dr. Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA, says the Taliban does not tolerate anyone who thinks or believes differently than they do. Christians are being evicted from their homes, he says, and some are being forced to convert to Islam or pay special taxes in exchange for protection.”

“Two teams of Chinese scientists have made a major advance in mice in the development of a new kind of stem cell that doesn’t involve destroying embryos.

Those cells are derived from ordinary skin cells, and when they were created two years ago from human skin and genetically reprogrammed, it was hailed as a breakthrough. But questions remained whether they could act as chameleon-like as embryonic stem cells and morph into any cell type in the body.”

“Johns Hopkins biomedical engineering students have demonstrated a practical way to embed a patients own adult stem cells in the surgical thread that doctors use to repair serious orthopedic injuries such as ruptured tendons. The goal, the students said, is to enhance healing and reduce the likelihood of re-injury without changing the surgical procedure itself.”

“A world-renowned clinic that President Obama held up as an example of good medicine said Monday that the American people would be “losers” under the House’s health care proposal, joining the growing chorus of critics the Obama administration is trying to fend off as the debate intensifies from Capitol Hill to Main Street.”

“If you look at Alzheimer’s, it’s not the plaques and tangles that correlate best with dementia; it’s the loss of synapses - connections between neurons,” Blurton-Jones said. “The neural stem cells were helping the brain form new synapses and nursing the injured neurons back to health.”

“Peter R. Orszag, the White House budget director, asked whether he was prepared to say that no taxpayer money will go to pay for abortions, answered: I am not prepared to say explicitly that right now. Its obviously a controversial issue, and its one of the questions that is playing out in this debate.

“The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia in conjunction with several other ally groups, late last week demanded that officials at the Rappahannock Regional Jail immediately cease censoring religious material sent to prisoners.”

“The bishops of the Episcopal Church agreed Wednesday to a compromise measure that stops short of developing an official rite for same-sex unions, but gives latitude to bishops who wish to go ahead and bless such unions, particularly in states that have legalized such marriages.”

“The Quebec College of Physicians is proposing Canada’s Criminal Code be revised to permit medical euthanasia in strictly controlled circumstances.

“The Christian Educators Association International (CEAI), represented by Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, has filed a motion to intervene in a religious liberty case brought by the ACLU against the Santa Rosa County School District. The case stems from allegations made by two Pace High School students that the district and specific school employees were promoting prayer and religion in school.”

“”The routine utilization of human embryonic stem cells for medicine is 20 to 30 years hence,” embryonic stem cell research advocate William Haseltine and then-chief executive officer of Human Genome Sciences ( HGSI - news - people ) told Agence France Presse in 2001. “The timeline to commercialization is so long that I simply would not invest,” he added.”

“The Obama administration’s lifting of Bush-era restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research will result in a massive step forward in the long term, a Milwaukee-based researcher said today. But the rollout of the new guidelines has harmed research in the short term, he said.”

“Several California ACLU chapters backed up the Prevailing wisdom by saying: “If we were to enter a campaign in either 2010 or 2012 with the people of California where they are now on marriage for same-sex couples, we’d have a tougher time winning than we did in 2008.”

“Lawmakers, legal experts and advocates from both sides met Tuesday to discuss a proposal that would allow West Virginians to vote for a statewide constitutional amendment banning the recognition of same-sex marriages.”

“About 70,000 Mainers are expected to sign a petition calling for a statewide vote to repeal the state’s gay marriage law, and the fight to protect it isn’t exactly raging in the southern and more liberal tip of the state.”

“A federal appeals court breathed new life into an Illinois law that requires teenage girls to notify their parents before having abortions. Lawyers said the law could take effect within weeks.

” Grekos said he and his associates draw blood from a patient in Florida and then send it to a laboratory in Israel that produces what his company calls “regenocytes.” The company defines regenocyte as “a stem cell that has been activated to become a target organ.”

“These procedures work,” he told CNN, standing inside a hospital room at the Clinica Union Medica del Norte in Santiago. “And it’s substantiated by objective data that we are collecting.”

“As the arthritis epidemic grips hold onto the baby boomer generation, new stem cell research is becoming the cutting edge way to treat osteo-arthritis of the knee, hip, ankle, and even back pain.

But this research doesn’t include the same embryonic stem cells that couldn’t be used for research during the Bush administration. Instead, the developments use adult stem cells to help treat baby boomers like Robert Wilson.”

“Evangelical Christian groups hope to convince West Virginia lawmakers to put a constitutional ban of same-sex marriage on the state ballot.

The state Family Policy Council and the national Alliance Defense Fund both plan to weigh in Tuesday at a meeting of a joint legislative committee studying the issue.”

“The Episcopal Church is opening the role of bishops to gays and lesbians — and maybe widening the gap between the U.S. church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.”

“A 2007 joint survey by the respected Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Hispanic Center shows that 65 percent of first-generation U.S. Hispanics believe abortion should be illegal. But among second-generation U.S. Hispanics like Ana, that percentage drops to 43 percent.”

“Republican Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday set a new course from her Democratic predecessor on the issue of abortion, signing a measure imposing new mandates and restrictions.

One of the bill’s provisions is a requirement that those who visit an abortion provider wait 24 hours before getting an abortion. The visit would have to include disclosures by doctors in person about the procedure, risks and alternatives, and the fetus’ probable characteristics.”

“Although many of the more than 49,000 comments received by the National Institutes of Health on their draft guidelines for embryonic stem-cell research are repetitive, some offer a poignant glimpse into the lives of Americans who don’t want to see embryos destroyed in an effort to cure diseases.

“Spain’s Socialist prime minister has irked his natural enemies on the right and in the Catholic church by legalizing gay marriage and instituting fast-track divorce. Now he has hit a raw nerve even among his supporters with a proposal to let 16-year-olds get abortions without parental consent.

The debate is harsh and emotional, showing that for all the changes Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has introduced with his trailblazing social agenda since taking power in 2004, abortion remains sensitive in a country where most people call themselves Catholic, even if few churches are full on Sundays.

“The Chinese government’s population policy requires delayed marriages and delayed births, meaning citizens have to wait for government permission to reproduce. It also advocates “fewer births”one child in most cases, but two if the first is a girl. The final plank”healthier” birthscovers a policy that Mosher said leads to sterilization and killing visibly disabled babies at birth.

“Federal funding for abstinence until marriage education was stripped from the budget today in the House subcommittee, led by Rep. David Obey (D-WI). The budget now goes to the full committee and to the full House of Representatives.”

“The Bishops of South Korea have rejected a measure that would legalize euthanasia in the country. Supporters of the measure are euphemistically labeling the proposal death with dignity.”

“Research suggests there is a link between religion and better mental health and well-being. Some spiritual practices may reduce stress. This may also ease symptoms and help offset the harmful effects of stress on the immune, endocrine and cardiovascular systems. Some studies have shown that people of faith recover faster from depression, grief and anxiety disorders.”

Five years after it became the first state to marry same-sex couples, Massachusetts is taking on the federal governments definition of marriage.

While other lawsuits have challenged the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was passed in 1996 and defined marriage as between a man and woman, Massachusetts is the first to argue that Congress overstepped its bounds and violated a states right to determine what constitutes marriage.

“Although people like science, they are not bound by what science shows,” said Alan I. Leshner, the AAAS’s CEO and executive publisher of the journal Science. “Advances in science over the course of last decade are coming into conflict with some core human values issues, whether it’s when life begins or what you believe about evolution. Only scientists are stuck with what science is showing. The public at large and policy-makers are free to deny, disagree or just disregard what the science is showing. Scientists don’t have that luxury.”

“In a six-page letter to the city, the attorney for the Madison, Wisc.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote demanding an end to the practice.

“The City Council of Tracy cannot, under current federal and state law, permit any prayers that contain references to an explicit deity,” wrote attorney Rebecca Kratz. “The prayers currently given during council meetings impermissibly advance Christianity and lead a reasonable observer to believe that the council is endorsing not only religion over non religion, but also Christianity over other faiths.”

Although the legislature passed it and Governor John Baldacci approved the same-sex marriage bill in May, the law is on hold. Maine considers the people to be a branch of the government, and they can exercise a People’s Veto. Mary Conroy of Stand for Marriage tells OneNewsNow that means gathering enough signatures to put the issue before voters.

The relationship between Obama and Catholics has been tenuous. The pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church and Obama’s pro-abortion views have been at odds since the beginning of his presidency.

Before Obama took over the White House, the nation’s Catholic bishops warned him not to aggressively promote abortion and not to include abortion in his health care restructuring proposal.

“Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage, has become the first to challenge the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, saying Congress intruded into a matter that should be left to individual states.

“This research also raises ethical issues. Josephine Quintavalle from Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Corethics) said: “This is an example of immoral madness. Perfectly viable human embryos have been destroyed in order to create sperm over which there will be huge questions of their healthiness and viability.

“It’s taking one life in order to perhaps create another. I’m very much in favour of curing infertility but I don’t think you can do whatever you like.”

“Mark Mutty from the Stand for Marriage Maine coalition says it took only four weeks to gather the more than 55,087 signatures necessary to put gay marriage to a vote. But he says signature gathering will continue to ensure theres more than enough petitions.”

“Spencer public school officials are proposing a policy that will allow students to study the Bible and pray during graduation ceremonies.

The proposal, if adopted, will have schools offer elective classes that permit arguments against evolution and discussions on the Bible in history and literature. School officials say they want to set clear rules for religious expression.”

“Dr. David Steenblock of Mission Viejo, California, a pioneer in clinical applications of stem cells, is pleased to report the results of a 16 year old girl who suffered from cerebral palsy. The patient had right side paralysis and spasticity since birth. The procedure consisted of removing 300 milliliters of bone marrow from her hip and giving it back to her intravenously.”