How Dads Can Help Raise Strong Daughters

ROME, DEC. 25, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The way a father treats his daughter is a strong indicator of how she will relate to men for the rest of her life, says author and teen-health expert Doctor Meg Meeker.

Meeker, who has practiced pediatric and adolescent medicine, as well as teen counseling, is the author of "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know," by Regnery Publishing. The book highlights how the fundamental relationship of a girl with her father can affect all areas of her life.

In this interview with ZENIT, Meeker, who also wrote "Epidemic: How Teen Sex Is Killing Our Kids," talks about the profound role a father plays in his daughter's life, whether he knows it or not.

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Oregon Law for Same-Sex 'Domestic Partnerships' Halted

U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman granted the injunction on Friday at the request of Alliance Defense Fund, which is asking the courts to first review a petition effort seeking to overturn the law.

The Christian legal group filed a lawsuit on behalf of several Oregonians after the Secretary of State and clerks’ offices in 12 different counties ruled in October that they had failed to collect enough valid signatures for a referendum that would allow voters to decide the “civil unions” issue. Many state residents, however, showed up in person to revalidate their signatures.

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Longtime San Diego-area abortion clinic closes its doors

Hygeia, an abortion clinic in Poway, an affluent suburb of San Diego, has closed. The clinic, located inside a medical building at 15725 Pomerado Road, was operated by Dr. Michael Easter. For more than 20 years it was the site of frequent pro-life protests, public rosaries and sidewalk counseling.

While the exact date Easter’s abortion center closed is not available, a phone call to the clinic by California Catholic Daily was answered by a recording referring the caller to Easter’s email address and a post office box. No additional information was provided. Pro-lifers in San Diego said the clinic closed “sometime in the last few months.”

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Nebraska Lawmakers May Propose Trigger Law Banning Abortions Post-Roe

Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) -- Nebraska could be the next state to debate a trigger law that would ban abortions in the state when the day comes that the Supreme Court finally overturns the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Several states have either approved or considered such a law and an AP poll finds most Nebraska lawmakers would back it.

Sen. Phil Erdman of Bayard talked with the Associated Press about the measure and indicated he or another member of the state's unicameral legislature may propose a ban in the upcoming legislative session.

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Shas MK Ze'ev Re-Proposes: No Abortions After 22 Weeks

(IsraelNN.com) MK Nissim Ze'ev (Shas) has re-submitted his bill to outlaw abortions after 22 weeks with some changes, in the hope that this time, it will pass.

Ze'ev previously submitted it over a year ago, but it was voted down in its preliminary Knesset reading. He told Arutz-7 that he originally wanted to make the cut-off date 20 weeks, but now realizes that he must first have the bill passed before attempting to put it in its ideal form.

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Al-Azhar says women pregnant by rape must abort baby

Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, Sunday declared that any woman pregnant by rape must abort the baby immediately in order to maintain "social stability".

"A raped woman must terminate the pregnancy immediately upon learning of the pregnancy if a trusted doctor gives her clearance for the abortion," the Islamic Research Council of the Cairo-based institution said in a statement.

This would ensure "social stability," it said.

According to the independent Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR), two women are raped every hour in this country of 76 million.

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Wombs for Rent: Commercial Surrogacy Growing in India

ANAND, India — Every night in this quiet western Indian city, 15 pregnant women prepare for sleep in the spacious house they share, ascending the stairs in a procession of ballooned bellies, to bedrooms that become a landscape of soft hills.

A team of maids, cooks and doctors looks after the women, whose pregnancies would be unusual anywhere else but are common here. The young mothers of Anand, a place famous for its milk, are pregnant with the children of infertile couples from around the world.

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Sex education failing to halt teen pregnancy

Every year, almost 50,000 girls under 18 fall pregnant, leading critics to claim that government-led efforts to encourage safer sex are backfiring. The number who conceive is at its highest level since a multi-million-pound teenage pregnancy crackdown almost a decade ago.

Kizzy Neal was 13 when she became pregnant with her son, Kaylib. She feels she did not receive adequate sex education

As a result, Britain tops the league table of teenage mothers in western Europe, despite also having a record number of school-age abortions.

This comes despite the Government investing more than £150 million in an attempt to stem the tide of conceptions - and pledging to cut teenage pregnancy rates by half by the end of this decade.

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Couples finding success with Natural Family Planning

WHITE PLAINS - Christmas has had a good run at the Antenucci house, where the glistening tree and framed family photos with Santa went on display even before Thanksgiving.

It's mere coincidence that the red-and-green charts in the bedroom perfectly complemented the home's festive theme, but an appropriate one, considering that the White Plains couple credits the fertility-tracking diagrams for their greatest gifts: 2-year-old Matteo and 5-month-old Olivia.

"Now, we have our two angels for Christmas," said Michelle Antenucci, 33, smiling as her baby daughter grabbed at the folded spreadsheets.

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'They are all little fighters': Russian parents of quins born in Britain tell of their ordeal - and their intense gratitude

Cradling two of their five tiny babies, Dimitri and Varvara Artamkin have only one wish for the New Year - that soon all of them will be strong enough to leave their incubators and be gathered up together in their arms for the first time.

Varvara gave birth to quintuplets - all girls - in Britain last month after defying medical advice in Russia, the couple's homeland, to abort some of the babies.

Despite doctors' predictions that they could not all survive, the babies - who were born 14 weeks early ranging in weight from just 1lb 13oz to 2lb 2oz - have beaten the odds and their proud parents have dubbed them "little fighters".

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Report: British doctors oppose abortions

LONDON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A survey suggests four out of five British doctors oppose a government plan to let them perform medical abortions in their family practices.

Only 14 percent of the 2,175 doctors interviewed were willing to provide medical abortions using drugs in early pregnancy outside hospitals, The Telegraph reported.

Most of the doctors in the survey objected from a safety and workload standpoint rather than from a moral objection to abortion, which under current law can only be performed in a hospital or an approved private clinic.

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New Mexico Pro-Life Advocates Strongly Condemn Abortion Facility Attacks

Albuquerque, NM (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life advocates in New Mexico are strongly condemning the fires that have occurred at three local abortion businesses this month. A private abortion business was the target of an arson attack earlier this month and two Planned Parenthood centers were vandalized on Christmas Day, with one catching fire and the other having broken windows.

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In Missouri, vote sought on abortion

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A major campaign to strictly limit abortion -- if not effectively prohibit the procedure -- could polarize Missouri's electorate next year in this historically critical battleground state.

At issue is a measure anti-abortion groups want to put on next November's ballot.

If passed, it would stand as arguably the most restrictive abortion law in the country, requiring abortion providers to investigate each patient's background and lifestyle in order to certify that the woman was not coerced into the procedure.

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“Over 1,400 African-American babies are aborted every day”

A new organization based out of Union City has been formed to provide pro-life resources for African-American leaders, and to help curtail abortions among African-American women, which a press release announcing the founding of the organization calls “a form of genocide.”

On Dec. 19, Walter B. Hoye II, executive elder of Progressive Missionary Baptist Church of Berkeley, announced the creation of the Issues4Life Foundation, dedicated to “addressing the issues surrounding the inviolability or sanctity of human life in the African-American community.”

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Pro-lifer Seriously Injured: Clinic Receptionist Shouts: “He got what he deserved!”

Pro-lifer Seriously Injured: Clinic Receptionist Shouts: “He got what he deserved!”

When veteran pro-lifer Ed Snell was counseling women entering the Hillcrest Abortion Clinic in Harrisburg, Penn. from atop his car, he was thrown to the ground and seriously injured. He suffered internal hemorrhaging in his head, four compression fractures of vertebrae, a broken shoulder and two broken ribs. Doctors even feared he might die.

Despite these injuries, a receptionist at the abortion clinic angrily responded: “He got what he deserved!” when asked for a statement.

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No room today for the A-word

When 16-year-old kids’ TV star Jamie Lynn Spears announced her pregnancy this month, some might have wondered whether she considered all her options. But Spears is fitting right in with pop culture trends when it comes to shunning abortion.

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Getting paid to go to church

Non-Christians are to be paid £30 a time to go to church under a new research programme to find out why more people do not practise the Christian faith.

The new “mystery worshipper” scheme will be modelled on the “mystery shopper” schemes used by researchers to guage the service offered by hotels, shops and other branches of the service industry.

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Shut down the human rights commissions

The Canadian Islamic Congress has just persuaded the human rights commissions of British Columbia and the federal government to investigate complaints against Maclean's magazine and Canadian author Mark Steyn.

Proceedings have also been initiated in Ontario. At issue is an excerpt published by Maclean's last year, from Steyn's bestselling book America Alone. According to the CIC, the excerpt exposed Canadian Muslims to "hatred and Islamophobia."

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Quebec Mayor Suggests All "Organized Religion" Should be Subject to Government Control

HUNTINGDON, QC, December 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Using as his reason the pretext of a radical extremist group which professes to hate homosexuals, Huntingdon, Quebec Mayor Stephane Gendron, has called for the state control of religion. Writing on his blog yesterday, Mayor Gendron says, "A modern and intellectually free society should submit all form of organized 'religion' to the dictates of the fundamental values of our society."

"In the name of religion," writes Gendron, "one can say anything and do anything, including sex and tax evasion," which is done he says, "not only by the Catholic religion".

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6-Year-Old on Way to Sainthood

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 18, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A 6-year-old Italian girl who cheerfully endured the amputation of her leg and offered it in union with the sacrifices of Christ may become the youngest canonized non-martyr saint.

Benedict XVI approved Monday the decree recognizing the heroic virtue of Antonietta Meo, who died of bone cancer at age 6 and a half. Along with the recognition of Meo's virtue, the Pope approved six decrees recognizing miracles, and seven other decrees affirming lives of heroic virtue.

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Debate going unnoticed

The images are huge, pasted to the side of a large truck which hits Calgary streets several times a week, its sole mission to shock the public into action.

They show bloody, aborted human fetuses. A blur of red at first, but upon drawing closer, one can make out tiny fingers and toes. The truck first appeared in August, part of a campaign launched late this summer by a five-year-old pro-life organization called the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform. The group, an offshoot of a similar organization in the U.S., is also responsible for something called the Genocide Awareness Project. The traveling exhibit also uses stark pictures to compare abortion to atrocities like the Holocaust.

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Abortion a legal, moral battlefield

With the Morgentaler acquittal on Jan. 28, 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada eliminated Section 251 of the Criminal Code, because it was not equally applied across the country, thus removing all protection for unborn babies. The court also stated that it was within the purview of Parliament to enact new abortion legislation, if it so desired, providing that it met the criteria of the court.

Today, in Canada, any pregnant woman could legally have her unborn child aborted for any reason or for no particular reason, at any time during the pregnancy, right up to delivery.

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Fetus bill rekindling abortion debate

In the years since Liana White fell victim to deadly domestic violence, her neighbour Dena Gallant has become a one-woman lobby group.

"I just felt such a closeness to (Liana's) case," said Gallant, 43.

After Liana's husband, Michael White, was charged with her murder, Gallant collected 2,000 signatures on a petition to have his bail revoked in order keep him out of her northside community. Liana was pregnant when she died.

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Dutch Reject Late-Term Abortions

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - People in the Netherlands hold very strong views on pregnancy termination, according to a poll by Maurice de Hond. 64 per cent of respondents think an abortion in the first 12 weeks of gestation should be admissible in all circumstances, but only 17 per cent consent to allowing the procedure after more than 24 weeks of pregnancy.

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When you've been there before...

They are the ones most often raised and ridiculed by the anti-abortion lobby, the women who have had multiple abortions.

Surely they would learn their lessons the first time, people say. And so they are judged — not just by anti-abortionists, but by much of society — and labelled as using the procedure either as birth control or for convenience.

But like everything else about the contentious issue of a woman's right to choose, it's never that easy.

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Christian Activist "Banned for life" From Publicly Criticising Homosexuality

REGINA, Saskatchewan, December 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission's decision to impose a "lifetime" ban on a local Christian's freedom to publicly criticise homosexuality, was upheld this week in its entirety by Saskatchewan Court of Queens Bench.

Bill Whatcott, an evangelical Christian and a licensed practical nurse who lives in Saskatchewan, is a campaigner against the homosexual political movement that is sweeping the Canadian legal system. In 2006, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (SHRC) ordered Whatcott to pay $17,500 Cn. to four complainants who complained that their "feelings" and "self-respect" were "injured" by Whatcott's pamphlets denouncing the "gay lifestyle" as immoral and dangerous.

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Texas suburb sued for banning sex clubs

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A man who holds sex parties in his home sued the suburban Dallas city where he lives Wednesday, claiming that a recently approved ban on sex clubs unconstitutionally targets his lifestyle.

Duncanville city officials meets recently to outlaw sex clubs in residential areas.

Jim Trulock, whose home transforms into "The Cherry Pit" on weekends, sued the city of Duncanville.

Last month city officials passed an ordinance banning sex clubs, calling it a response to neighbor complaints about the traffic and noise Trulock's house created.

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Ireland: Two-thirds of pregnant rape victims keep baby

TWO-THIRDS of rape victims who became pregnant as a result of the crime went on to give birth and parent their child themselves — according to figures from the country’s dedicated support service.

The Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) said its 2006 statistics revealed a “startling strength of character” among women who had been sexually assaulted.

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Gardasil Adverse Event Reports Include 28 Miscarriages, yet FDA Nixes Further Safety Reviews

The Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine has been linked to miscarriages in 28 women in the US, yet Merck, the vaccine’s manufacturer and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) insist Gardasil is safe. Despite the miscarriage reports, the FDA says it has no intention of subjecting Gardasil to further safety reviews.

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Canada Pregnancy Center Withdraws From Ottawa Senators Fundraiser

Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- A Canadian pregnancy center that helps women in difficult pregnancy situations has withdrawn from a fundraiser organized by the wives of the Ottawa Senators hockey team. The move comes after Planned Parenthood officials publicly attacked First Place Pregnancy Centre and falsely accused it of misleading women.

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Teen Sex: There Are No Positives

Recently a study was released by Paige Harden, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Virginia, that claimed teenagers or pre-teens who have consensual sex are less likely than their virgin counterparts to engage in delinquent behavior later on in life. Then, last week I read about an author who was telling parents to encourage their youngsters to engage in sexual activity. And to top it off, just the other day I read about the results of a recent Associated Press poll which showed that 67 percent of American adults favor public schools providing birth control to students. All this after the nation’s teen birth rate rose 3 percent from 2005 to 2006, which was the first increase in 14 years and births to unmarried mothers hit a record high (Center For Disease Control).

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Photos of dead, dying babies give bereaved parents lasting memories

In the muted light of the maternity ward, photographer Sandy Puc' works steadily, composing portraits of David. She focuses on his tiny toes, his curled fists, his mother gently stroking his cheek.

"I think I got everything," she says at last. Then she turns with her Canon.

"If you want to put your lips right on the top of his head?" she asks David's father. "There. That's beautiful."

There is always a final kiss to capture.

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Pelosi Urged to Condemn Open-Air SF Sex Fair

(CNSNews.com) - Leaders from three pro-family groups Wednesday called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to denounce the Folsom Street Fair - which is called "the world's largest leather event" and is held each September in San Francisco - as a "grotesque affair" that violates laws prohibiting public nudity and child abuse.

"Because you frequently extol San Francisco's values to the rest of America, we are compelled to call your attention to what actually takes place" at the event, wrote Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth, in a letter he hand-delivered to Pelosi's office on Capitol Hill.

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Ottawa Senators Hockey Wives Support Pregnancy Center, Draw Pro-Abortion Fire

Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- The wives of the hockey players for the Ottawa Senators have formed a charitable group called "The Better Halves" and are soliciting donations that will go to a local pregnancy center. One-third of the money they raise will support the First Place Pregnancy Centre, which helps women in the area who are considering an abortion.

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Pro-life: What does it really mean?

Today, there seems to be a lot of debate about what it means when someone says they are pro-life. This is especially true for politicians. For clarity's sake, let's define the term. The pro-life position is that a new human life is created at the moment of fertilization and is, thus, entitled to the same legal protections as any other human being.

Given that definition, some abortion positions are pretty cut and dried. For example, someone who supports a universal human life amendment to the Constitution is pro-life, while someone who supports the Roe vs. Wade decision is not.

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Canadian Government cannot continue to ignore the cries for justice of victims' families.

TORONTO, Dec. 5 /CNW/ - Women for Women's Health was informed that the Subcommittee on the Private Members Business will decide later this afternoon whether or not the Unborn Victim of Crimes Bill (Bill C-484) introduced by the Honorable Ken Epp (Edmonton Sherwood Park), will be presented to the House of Commons for a vote. The subcommittee is to meet in Ottawa at 4:15.

"Currently, Canada is one of the only democratic country that does not have some type of protection for unborn victims of crimes incorporated into its criminal code" said Marie-Christine Houle, Executive Director of Women for Women's Health.

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US:Atheist Looks to Remove 'Under God' From Pledge of Allegiance, Currency

SAN FRANCISCO — An atheist seeking to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and U.S. currency is taking his arguments back to a federal appeals court.

Michael Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, sued the Elk Grove Unified School District in 2000 for forcing public school children to recite the pledge, saying it was unconstitutional.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Newdow's favor in 2002, but two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Newdow lacked standing to sue because he didn't have custody of the daughter on whose behalf he brought the case. He immediately filed a second lawsuit on behalf of three unidentified parents and their children.

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Slovakia Court Rules Against Abortion Ban, Prohibits Late-Term Abortions

Bratislava, Slovakia (LifeNews.com) -- The top court in this eastern European nation of Slovakia ruled on Tuesday against a request to prohibit abortions there. However, the constitutional court upheld the time limit when abortions can be done -- which makes late-term abortions illegal by stopping any done after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

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Why isn't this study on the pill heeded?

Not wanting to become known as the town quack, I am reluctant to write another politically incorrect column about breast cancer.

Four weeks ago, when I reported a study that found a statistical link between abortion and breast cancer, the hate e-mail poured in, denouncing me for being an ignorant, stupid, anti-science, anti-choice and anti-woman lunatic. But it also brought a message alerting me to yet another study, suggesting that premenopausal women (younger than 50) who used oral contraceptives prior to having their first child faced a higher risk of breast cancer. Yes, I know, this debate has been going on for years, if not decades, and judging by the last studies given wide exposure a few years ago by the media, the issue seems settled: Oral contraception does not significantly increase the risk of breast cancer.

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Des Plaines cop fired for harassing anti-abortion protesters

A veteran Des Plaines police officer was fired today for verbally and physically harassing anti-abortion protesters last year outside a clinic in the northwest suburb.

Acting on a recommendation from Des Plaines Police Chief James Prandini, the suburb's Board of Fire and Police Commissioners voted unanimously to fire Officer Dick Lalowski.

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Ireland:Woman who falsely accused her father of rape given four year sentence

A Dublin woman has been jailed for four years for falsely claiming to the Rathmines Women's Refuge that her father raped her.

The woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, was convicted in October of making the claims against her father who described her as being "bad from the day she was born".

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Female foeticide rampant among Indians in UK

New Delhi: Indian women in the UK are aborting daughters in order to have more boys, an Oxford University study has found.

The research indicates that 1,500 girls have gone 'missing' from the birth statistics in England and Wales since 1990.

Dr Sylvie Dubuc, who studies human geography and population at Oxford University, studied birth rates of different ethnic groups in England and Wales, and was surprised by what she found.

"According to my calculation, around 1,500 girls are missing. It's significant compared to the total number of births," she said.

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Israel: Bill would outlaw abortion after 22 weeks

A new bill proposal authored by MK Nissim Zeev (Shas) may dramatically change standing abortion laws in Israel. If ratified, Zeev's bill would outlaw the termination of a pregnancy after its 22nd week. Ending a pregnancy towards the end of the second trimester, Zeev said, is akin to murder. Less than a tenth of all abortions in Israel are carried out after the 22nd week.

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Keyhole surgeons save babies in womb

A PIONEERING new form of keyhole surgery will be used to save the lives of dozens of unborn babies every year, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

The remarkable technique involves a 'fetoscope' about the width of three grains of sugar which is used to internally examine babies while they are still in the womb.

The resulting images will allow Scottish doctors to perform surgical and other procedures on fetuses - many of whom would otherwise die - from as little as 24 weeks' gestation. At this point, the fetus would fit in the palm of an adult man's hand and probably only just be opening its eyes.

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What Women Want: Not Reproductive Oppression

November 30, 2007 (pop.org) - Pat McEwen was visiting the small village of Huaca, high in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. The village, not far from the Colombian border, was teeming with refugees fleeing from the ongoing battles between government forces and the drug lords. Mostly women and children, the refugees had arrived with only the possessions that they could carry. Many had lost husbands, sons and daughters to the conflict. "They had been poor even before the violence destroyed their villages," Pat recalled. "Now they had lost everything and [were] the 'poorest of the poor.'" These refugee women, in short, were perfect examples of the kind of "client" that the family planners would say needed "reproductive health services."

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Late abortion results in fine, suspension

ORLANDO - -The Florida Board of Medicine voted Friday to suspend the license of Dr. James S. Pendergraft for one year and fine him $10,000 for illegally performing a third-trimester abortion in 2005.

Pendergraft intends to appeal the decision, said a spokeswoman for the Board of Medicine, which meets again today in Orlando to take disciplinary action against doctors statewide. The board's punishment also included a three-year probation period after Pendergraft's license is reinstated.

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