Real Life Stories alum featured on WZZM

Elaina Parks, featured in one of our Real Life Stories several years ago, was on WZZM news recently in a story on a group which provides tricycles to disabled children. Doctors had given a bleak diagnosis to her parents, leading her mother Tarra to question why some cases like Ellie's aren't handled well and women are pressured into considering abortion.

Watch Ellie ride her bike.

Lawsuit against embryonic stem cell research dismissed

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that would stop taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research. The issue was over how to interpret the language in the Dickey-Wicker law that forbids using federal funds to destroy human embryos. The Obama Administration argued that research on embryos that were already destroyed could be funded with tax dollars.

The lawsuit claimed that research funded by the National Institutes of Health violated the 1996 Dickey-Wicker law that prohibits taxpayer financing for work that harms an embryo. But the administration policy allows research on embryos that were culled long ago through private funding.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, chief of the federal court in Washington, last year said the lawsuit was likely to succeed and ordered a stop to the research while the case continued. But under swift protest from the Obama administration, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals here quickly overturned Lamberth's injunction and said the case was likely to fail.

Lamberth said in his opinion Wednesday that he is bound by the higher court's analysis and ruled in favor of the administration's motion to dismiss the case.

FULL STORY

Where do the 2012 Presidential Candidates Stand on Life?

National Right to Life has produced a comparison piece which details where the current 2012 presidential candidates stand on life. It discusses their positions on taxpayer funding of abortion, Roe v. Wade, the funding of abortion providers and Obamacare.

COMPARISON PIECE

Men and abortion

The issue of abortion for a man is a paradox. While a man has no legal right in a woman's abortion decision, he does have, as studies have uncovered, significant influence regarding the life of his unborn child. Abortion creates loss not only for women, but for men, too.

Men are not alone when faced with an untimely pregnancy. Every man needs to be armed with the facts and be open to talk about real options. The following web site has information which highlights real, helpful literature and online resources.

MEN AND ABORTION

U-M creates 5 new iPS cell lines without killing human embryos

On July 25, the University of Michigan announced it had created 5 new induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines from adult cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells have the same properties as embryonic stem cells but can be created without destroying human embryos. This promising field of research shows human embryos don't need to be killed in the search for cures.

Though iPS cells have been developed during the last year or more at U-M, this is the first time the consortium has consistently sustained and coaxed the iPS cells into different cell types — a leap forward as the state positions itself in the growing field of biotechnology and stem cell research.

Three of the first five lines were derived from donors with bipolar disorder. Those lines will be used to study the condition.

FULL STORY

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT STEM CELL RESEARCH

New Gallup poll shows public support for prolife laws, ban on second-trimester abortions

Today, the Gallup Polling Company released the results of a national poll taken between July 15-17, 2011. The poll asked questions about various kinds of laws which restrict abortion. The poll found that 87% favored laws requiring doctors to tell women about the possible risks of abortion, 71% favored parental consent laws, 69% favored a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, 64% favored a ban on partial birth abortion and 50% favored a law requiring women seeking abortions to be shown an image of their ultrasound.

The poll also found that the majority of Americans oppose abortion after the first trimester, more than 2/3 of poll takers favored making abortion illegal in the second trimester and nearly 90% favored making abortion illegal in the third trimester.

POLL RESULTS

Adult stem cells take trip to space station

On its last flight, the space shuttle Atlantis carried adult stem cells into space to be studied on the International Space Station.

Alberto Sant Antonio, MD, a Weston, Florida general surgeon, was selected to obtain the tissue samples from the six adults. NASA is hopeful the Human adult stem cell experiments will lead to the reversal of the rapid aging process that zero gravity has on astronauts.

"The stem cell research being conducted now will benefit all of us in the future," said Dr. Sant Antonio. "I am confident that NASA's stem cell experiments will help astronauts stay younger and healthier in space, and this will eventually apply to people here on earth.

Dr. Sant Antonio has for the past two years submitted specimens for NASA's evaluation. Not until the final shuttle mission did the adult stem cells end up in space. "NASA came through in a huge way," said Dr. Sant Antonio. "Astronauts age much more quickly because of harmful gamma rays that bombard their bodies. Injecting future astronauts may slow the aging process in space. This is a critical step in space exploration. This is history in the making."

FULL STORY

Debate on abortion in the African-American community

Prolife activist Ryan Bomberger debates the issue of abortion in the African-American community on NPR with Rev. Carlton Veazey of Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

Pending prolife bills

Preparation is underway for a busy fall. Several key pieces of prolife legislation have been introduced in the Michigan Legislature and many more bills are planned for introduction after the summer recess. Efforts in the weeks ahead will focus on laying the foundation to increase protection for unborn babies in Michigan. It's important for prolifers to call their legislators and encourage them to support these life-saving bills and thank them when they take a stand for life.

• Pending State Legislation

• Contact your state legislator

• Not sure who your legislators are?

RLM Conference - September 24

Register today for the Right to Life of Michigan 38th Annual Conference and take advantage of $10 in savings until September 15.

This year, Right to life of Michigan is welcoming former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline and prolife mom Ellen Salter.

Click now to find out more about these speakers and this year's conference.

FDA report on abortion drug RU-486's adverse effects, 14 women dead

The Food and Drug Administration released an "adverse event summary" for the abortion drug mifepristone, also known as RU-486. The report indicates that 14 women in the United States have died after taking the abortion drug. The report also notes that there were 2,207 adverse events (or complications), 612 hospitalizations, and 339 cases of where women experienced so much blood loss, they required blood transfusions. There were also 58 cases of ectopic pregnancy. Abortionists are supposed to check for ectopic pregnancies before prescribing RU-486 because RU-486 can't end a pregnancy outside the womb.

FDA REPORT (PDF)

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RU-486

New book details consequences of sex-selection abortion

In her recently released book, Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men, reporter Mara Hvistendahl delves into the subject of sex-selection abortion, its causes and possible consequences of a world which is missing more than 160 million girls and women (which roughly equals the entire female population of America).

Hvistendahl details how pro-abortion groups who were obsessed with population control like International Planned Parenthood and Population Council used grants from the Ford Foundation and the United Nations Population Fund to export abortion to Asia. While many Asian countries have histories of preferring boys over girls, they weren’t able to seek out and abort baby girls until ultrasound technology allowed them to see inside the womb. Ultrasounds, a preference for boys, population control pressures (like China’s one-child policy) and massive amounts of funding from Western pro-choice groups combined to make something which was once unthinkable into a common occurrence.

Now instead of having a roughly equivalent number of boys and girls, countries like China, India and Vietnam all have unnatural ratios where there are 112 boys for every 100 girls in India and 121 boys for every 100 girls in China.

Sex-selection abortion has even crept its way into America where some Asian communities in the United States have imbalanced sex ratios, especially for second and third births if the first born child is a girl.

In her book, Hvistendahl notes she favors legal abortion yet is opposed to sex-selection abortion. This puts her worldview in a conundrum as she believes abortion should be a woman’s choice, but then thinks women shouldn’t be allowed to choose abortion based on the sex of their child.

If abortion advocates believe abortion is a “reproductive right” which women should be allowed to freely exercise then on what principled basis can they then claim women shouldn’t be allowed to have abortions based on the sex of their child? As columnist Mark Steyn writes, “a ‘woman's right to choose’ is the right to choose not to have any women.”

Hvistendahl can point to the possible consequences of having imbalanced sex ratios such as rises in crime, sex-trafficking, bride-buying, etc. when millions of Asian men are unable to find spouses. However, she can’t express why it would be morally wrong for women to choose to kill their daughters in-utero. Those in favor of legal abortion base their position on the idea that a woman’s choice exceeds any moral standing the unborn child has. If that’s the case, it makes no sense to claim some of those choices are wrong.

Unlike abortion advocates, prolifers can clearly articulate why they are opposed to killing female unborn children: Killing innocent unborn human beings because they aren’t the sex you desire is wrong in the same way that killing newborns who aren’t they sex you want is wrong. The born and the unborn are both valuable human beings who deserve protection.

To learn more about abortion, please visit Right to Life of Michigan’s web site at www.rtl.org.

National Right to Life president shares the truth about Planned Parenthood

National Right to Life Committee President Carol Tobias shares the real facts and figures about Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest provider and promoter of abortion. All of the figures are taken from Planned Parenthood's latest annual report.

Toledo Bishop bars Komen funding

Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair has issued a letter which instructs Catholic schools and churches in his diocese to no longer raise funds for the Komen Foundation. His decision was based on the Komen Foundation's openness to possibility of funding research using human embryonic stem cells and their contributions to Planned Parenthood, America's leading abortion provider.


READ THE BISHOP'S LETTER (PDF)

New report details case for investigating Planned Parenthood

Americans United for Life, a prolife legal organization, has published a new special report entitled, "The Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood" which details Planned Parenthood's numerous legal abuses, including their misuse of taxpayer funds, their failure to report sexual abuse, their failure to follow parental involvement laws and their willingness to provide women with misleading and inaccurate information.

FULL REPORT

Michigan prolifers protest Planned Parenthood's "comedy show"

On July 9, Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan put on a comedy show to benefit their organization. The event was protested by prolifers who found nothing funny about killing unborn children.

Starting about 4 p.m., anti-abortion groups, led by Citizens for a Pro-Life Society and the Frederick Douglass Foundation, set up shop on Saginaw and Pike streets with signs and graphic images depicting abortion. About an hour later, Planned Parenthood supporters arrived with pink balloons and signs about saving women's health care.

About 6 p.m., a group of anti-abortion teens did a flash mob, led by Bekha Smith, 17, of Sterling Heights. They danced and cheered. "Abortion is wrong. They are killing human life," she said.

FULL STORY

Adult stem cells treat chest pain

Angina is chest pain which individuals experience when parts of their heart muscle don't get enough blood. This pain restricts the mobility of more than 800,000 people in America. New research shows angina patients improved after being injected with their own adult stem cells.

Doctors injected the hearts of 167 patients with severe angina with either low or high-doses of stem cells or a placebo, for the study published in Circulation Research. What did they find? Six months following the experiment, patients treated with stem cells suffered an average of seven angina attacks per week, compared to 11 in the placebo group. After a year, the stem cell patients suffered six attacks per week compared to 11 in the placebo group, and didn't use nitroglycerin as often to quell their chest pains.

Losordo told WebMD the treatment had "life-altering" effects for the stem-cell -treated patients.

"To put it in human terms, patients who might have been able to sit and watch TV without symptoms could now walk at a normal pace without chest pain, and someone who could walk at a slow pace might be able to ride a bike."

FULL STORY

Have you been hurt by abortion?

Michigan has laws in place designed to protect both mother and child. Unfortunately, sometimes those laws are not followed in regards to abortion. Right to Life of Michigan has information to help you know your rights. The resource includes a list of current laws which may have been violated, the forms you'll need to file a complaint and commonly asked questions and answers. By filing a complaint because your rights were not respected, you may help other women.

MORE

British study finds abortion increases risk of premature birth

A new study out of Great Britain has found women who had abortions were 33% more likely to have had a premature birth in their second pregnancy compared to women who've never had an abortion.

Prof Siladitya Bhattacharya, a gynaecologist, and a team made their conclusions after comparing the second pregnancies of 170,000 women who had previously had an abortion, to 458,000 undergoing their first pregnancies.

They found those who had experienced abortions were 33 per cent more likely to subsequently deliver pre-term than those who had never had an abortion.

They were also 44 per cent more likely to give birth extremely prematurely – before 34 weeks.....

Prof Bhattacharya's wife, Dr Sohinee Bhattacharya, an epidemiologist, who gave the presentation, said the physical act of surgical abortions in particular could damage the cervix.

She explained: "When you do a dilatation of the cervix, quite heavy, thick instruments are used."

FULL STORY

Prolifers rap Detroit Free Press editorial

In response to a Detroit Free Press editorial which labeled legislative action against abortion as "stupid," "tiresome" and "a distraction," numerous prolifers wrote to the Free Press expressing their thoughts and providing reasoning for why they think prolife laws should be a priority.

Duane Lamers wrote:

A society that doesn't value human life is seriously flawed, and the bulk of anti-abortion legislation and regulation is designed to discourage abortion-on-a-whim and encourage more responsible behavior -- and to keep taxpayers from having to pay for such services.

Sharon Bannon wrote:

Your cavalier disregard for the rights of the unborn is stunning. How ironic that such a "tiresome" point of view was published on the eve of this nation's birthday -- a nation that was founded on a declaration of "certain unalienable rights," including "life."

The critical battle to secure this right for the smallest of our citizens who have no voice must continue, because I am certain that none of us, as "average Michiganders," wishes to live where murder is as unassailable as the very legislative priorities you purport to be the fish worth frying.

FULL LETTERS