Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

Rome, Italy, Jan 28, 2010 / 04:28 am (CNA).- Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver followed his keynote address to the Emmanuel Community of Rome’s conference on “Priests and Laity in the Mission” with a short reflection on the “disappointing times” he is experiencing.  He also elaborated on a major theme of his talk—the reality of Satan and the importance of “spiritual combat.”

Just before launching into a question and answer session, Archbishop Chaput gave a reflection on his years as a bishop to stimulate discussion, saying, “I thought that after 20 years more of my life things would change and things would be a lot better but I don’t think they are.

“I think we live in disappointing times, in times of confusion, and in some ways that is the result of our failure to understand that we have an enemy in the Devil, but also we have enemies in the world around us.”

He pointed to a “great talk” from an American Protestant pastor he once heard which was titled “We preach as though we don’t have enemies,” and reflected that this sentiment “is true in the United States… .” (more…)

Dublin, Ireland (LifeNews.com) — Human rights apparently don’t include the right to life — at least according to the pro-abortion group Human Rights Watch. The New York-based organization released a document today entitled “A State of Isolation: Access to Abortion for Women in Ireland” attacking Ireland’s pro-life laws.

Among other things, it claims that Ireland is in breach of its international human rights obligations for not allowing legalised abortion in this country.

“Women in need of abortion services should, as a matter of international law and human decency, be able to count on support from their government as they face a difficult situation,” said Marianne Mollmann, the women’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “But in Ireland they are actively stonewalled, stigmatised, and written out.”

Dr Ruth Cullen of the Pro-Life Campaign told LifeNews.com today she is disappointed that a foreign group would attack Ireland’s desire to protect women and children. (more…)

GLENVIEW, IL (January 27, 2010) – Four challenges to marriage were addressed by the U.S. Catholic Bishops in a pastoral letter last November, and the one given the most attention was contraception.

In the letter, “Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan,” the bishops based their teaching on birth control on Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (on Human Life), which states that the unitive and procreative meanings of marriage must not be separated, as they are in contraception.

The letter also discusses Natural family planning (NFP), which can be used both to achieve and to postpone a pregnancy:

“NFP makes use of periodic abstinence from sexual intercourse based upon the observation of the woman’s natural signs of fertility, in order to space births or to limit the number of children when there is a serious reason to do so. NFP methods require that couples learn, accept, and live with the wonders of how God made them. This is essentially different from contraception. (more…)

MOBILE, Alabama, January 26, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – College football superstar Tim Tebow is standing fast behind a pro-life ad developed by Focus on the Family and set to air on CBS on Super Bowl Sunday. Although the ad has not been released, abortion advocacy groups are already demanding that it be scrapped, since it likely features the story of how Tebow’s mother chose life when doctors were urging her abort her now-famous son.

The college football superstar, who just ended his last season quarterbacking for the Florida Gators, has been an anomaly among top-tier athletes. Tebow makes no bones about his Christian faith, his pro-life convictions, and the fact that he wants to save himself for marriage.

But Tebow’s pro-life convictions spring from an unusually personal source: back in 1987, his mother contracted amoebic dysentery while pregnant with him in the Philippines, and doctors recommended abortion. Had Pam Tebow taken that advice, Tebow fans would never have seen the football phenomenon win the Heisman Trophy in 2007 and carry the Gators to victory in two major championships. (more…)

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) — A New York woman has apparently died as a result of a failed abortion done at the A-1 Women’s Care abortion center located in the Jackson Heights section of Queens. Reports indicate emergency officials responded to an emergency call from the A1 Medicine facility at 95-45 Roosevelt on Monday afternoon.

WPIX-TV indicates a woman in her 30s was reportedly undergoing heavy bleeding and was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital Center where she was later pronounced dead.

The television station indicates an investigation into the failed abortion is ongoing and that one question officials are examining is whether the center was licensed to do abortions.

Another local media outlet, 1010 WINS, indicated the abortion practitioner severed an artery during the abortion procedure.

The A-1 Women’s Care abortion business does abortions but advertises gynecology and plastic surgery on the sign located outside the building. (more…)

Researchers have found that half of all urban teenage girls will acquire at least one sexually transmitted infection (STI) within two years of becoming sexually active. It also found that 92 percent of these teens were re-infected within four years of their first infection.

According to an Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute study, researchers followed 381 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 and found that half of the girls contracted chlamydia, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis within one year of becoming sexually active. They also found that re-infection rates were also high.

“Depending on the organism, within four to six months after treatment of the previous infection, a quarter of the women were re-infected with the same organism,” said Wanzhu Tu, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute investigator. (more…)

(via TheInsider.com) In her first interview with Oprah Winfrey, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol opened up about her decision to wait until she’s married to have sex.

“I think it’s a goal to have and other women should have that goal,” Bristol said. “It’s a realistic goal for myself.”

Sarah has faith that Bristol, who is the mother to a 13-month-old son, can fulfill that vow.

“I believe her,” she says. “She’s a strong independent woman who can do this. She’s committed to this. ”

But Bristol admits being a single mother is no walk in the park, describing the day she broke down in tears when her son Tripp wouldn’t stop crying.

“I have this big supportive family, but I felt so alone,” she tells Oprah of that day. “Reality sunk in, that I have a kid, this is my life, my full-time job.”

Meanwhile, Sarah also spoke about her new TV gig for FOX news, not denying she might throw her hat back in the political race.

“I’m not closing any door that may be I find opened in the future,” she says. “Thankfully FOX has allowed me to leave that door open.”

(Source) Medicine changed forever in 1960 when the FDA approved the oral contraceptive pill. Society was quick to reap the consequences in the form of ’sexual liberation’ for women. It was, and for many people today still is, the panacea of medical science that a pill could free people from the ‘burden’ of new life.

Jump forward 50 years, what do we have today? We have a society completely obsessed with and addicted to sex, a complete breakdown of marriage, women more ‘enslaved’ than before they were ‘liberated’ and a medical field that has lost the vision of what they are here to do in the first place: heal. Janet Smith, a professor in the USA, gives a wonderful talk about the consequences of contraception titled, ‘Contraception Why Not?’. I would highly recommend you take the time to read and listen if you get the chance. (more…)

Have you ever considered the economic impact of a decision made 37 years ago?

Since 1973, 50.2 million babies have been aborted in the U.S, far exceeding all the Americans killed in all the wars combined since America began. Combine that with the children and grandchildren that will never be born because of generations being wiped out through abortion.

Because there are fewer and fewer workers supporting a growing retiree population, both Social Security and Medicare face future bankruptcy.

Lawmakers can raise taxes or cut benefits, but not make up the economic impact of 50.2 million lives lost to abortion. The loss of lives means not only the loss of their productivity and their taxes, but also new ideas, inventions, cures, industries, jobs and an increased standard of living for all.

Plus many would now be parents of future workers? (more…)

(CNA) In a literary world comprised of the works of Danielle Steele, Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks and J.K. Rowling, many people have forgotten the power or purpose of the novel. What is normally used as an escape or for a bit of entertainment once had the power to change the world. Books like The Jungle, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Lord of the Flies both captivated their audiences and caused people to think and sometimes even act.

Brian J. Gail’s book “Fatherless” is a renaissance of the serious novel, and it even creates a new genre: the serious Catholic novel. I have to admit, when I first picked up the book, I thought I was in for a nice, entertaining story about some nice, Catholic people. Creating such a story, however, was not the author’s intent. Gail’s novel delves right into the heart of American Catholicism. His Church is neither the church of the pedophiliac priests which the media tends to overemphasize, nor is it the Church that many young people know today: a Church vibrant with the truth reemphasized by Pope John Paul II, ready to march for life, interested in going to Theology on Tap, and actively reminding Catholics to live their faith in the public square. (more…)

(via WND) In April 2009, seven researchers from organizations highly respected in scientific academia published a study, “Risk factors for triple-negative breast cancer in women under the age of 45 years,” in the prestigious journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

The focus of the report was the revelatory finding that “a distinct etiology” exists between oral contraceptive use and triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly virulent form of the disease that typically strikes women under 45, many African-American.

TNBC was only first described in scientific literature in 2007. So for this study the seven researchers re-examined 897 saved cancerous breast tissue specimens from two previous studies to see if they tested positive for TNBC.

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The seven researchers concluded the risk for TNBC rose an appalling 250 to 420 percent, depending on the length of oral contraceptive use. (more…)

YOUNGSTOWN, OH (LifeSiteNews.com) – After 34 years in the abortion business, the Mahoning Women’s Center in Youngstown, Ohio, permanently closed its doors on January 12, 2010. The owner has retired and the building will be sold. The closure leaves the community of Youngstown abortion-free.

“This is such great news for the people of Ohio and all Americans. It means that lives will be saved,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We know from experience that when abortion clinics close, many women who would otherwise have opted for abortion will instead happily keep their babies or release them for adoption.”

The closure follows a well-documented national trend. In 1991, there were nearly 2,200 abortion clinics, but today there are 712. Since 1991 over two-thirds of all abortion clinics have permanently closed. That trend appears to reflect the shifting attitude of Americans toward the pro-life position. (more…)

Fox News reporter Kelly Wright's mother conceived her son following a rape, but decided against having an abortion.

January 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This past Saturday, former Fox & Friends Weekend co-anchor Kelly Wright talked with Mike Huckabee on his Fox News show about his mother’s decision to give birth to him despite having conceived him in rape.  Kelly made the appearance to promote his new book, “America’s Hope in Troubled Times.”

In his new book, Wright describes how his mother was raped when she was 16 years old, and how he was the result of that rape.

Calling the way he came into the world “very unique Wright explained that in the summer of 1954 his mother had become close friends with the young wife of a pastor. One day, Wright’s mother went to her friend’s house to go shopping. However, her friend had already left, and when Wright’s mother entered the home of the pastor, he assaulted her.

Wright explained that there was nothing his mother could have done against the pastor because, “It would be her word against a reputable member of the community.” (more…)

St. Petersburg, FL (LifeNews.com) — The family of Terri Schiavo, the disabled woman whose husband killed her by depriving her of food and water, will sponsor a benefit concert to raise funds for its foundation to help other patients like her. The show will feature popular country music recording artists Randy Travis and Collin Raye.

The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation is sponsoring the first-annual “Terri Schiavo Life and Hope” concert which will be held at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana on Sunday, April 11.

“The concert comes just days after the fifth anniversary of Terri Schiavo’s death and will benefit the Foundation established by her family,” the Schindler family told LifeNews.com today. (more…)

Maddy Curtis

Hollywood, Calif., Jan 17, 2010 / 07:10 pm (CNA).- Maddy Curtis, a sixteen-year-old from a Virginia family of twelve, is one of the contestants advancing in the American Idol singing contest. Curtis, the ninth child in the family, has an older brother and three adopted brothers with Down’s syndrome.

Speaking on a segment of American Idol, Maddy said being ninth of twelve kids was “a crazy experience, but it’s awesome.”

Describing her disabled brothers, she said “Those four boys bring out the best in every person they meet. They see the world in colors, and we need to see the world that way.”

At the American Idol try-outs in Boston in June 2009, a mildly nervous Maddy delivered a strong performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” (more…)

PARIS, January 18, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – 25,000 pro-lifers, consisting largely of families and youth, marched peacefully against abortion in Paris on Sunday in the 6th annual Paris “March for Life.” The event brought together 15 French pro-life advocacy groups against abortion on the 35th anniversary of its legalization in the country.

Cécile Edel, president of Choisir La Vie, called upon her countrymen to reflect upon “the disastrous result” of 35 years of legal abortion: the “unspeakable sufferings” of millions of women, and the “blatant injustice” towards millions of their unborn brothers and sisters.

Despite having one of the very highest contraception rates in the world, France today has the second highest abortion rate in Western Europe, second only to Sweden – a situation even the sponsor of France’s 1975 abortion legalization law, Simone Veil, has deemed “distressing.” (more…)

United States (AHN) – Florida Gator Tim Tebow and his mother Pam are going to appear in a Super Bowl ad. They will be in a :30 spot for the pro-life group Focus on the Family.

Tebow, one of the most esteemed college football players ever, has been very vocal about his Christian faith and his love for Jesus Christ.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the commercial will focus on abortion. The mother and son combo will share a personal story based on the theme “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life.”

Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, didn’t elaborate on the specifics of the message, but said it’s needed.

“Tim and Pam share our respect for life and our passion for helping families thrive,” Daly said. “They live what we see every day – that the desire for family closeness is written on the hearts of every generation. Focus on the Family is about nurturing that desire and strengthening families by empowering them with the tools they need to live lives rooted in morals and values.”

Tebow’s parents were on a mission trib to the phillippines in the late 80’s while Pam was pregnant with Tim.

Pam became ill with issues connected to her pregancy and doctors advised her to abort the pregnancy.

Of course she didn’t, and Tim was born in 1987 and went on to win a Heisman Trophy and two national championships.

Tebow is preparing for the upcoming NFL draft.

The Swiss Federation of Service to Patients (Patientenstellen der Schweiz) has called for a ban on one type of contraceptive pill after it was linked to the death of a 17-year-old German girl in a Swiss hospital last month. The girl, who died at the University Hospital of Basel, was taking a pill that includes drospirenone, a synthetic progestin compound used in newer brands such as Yaz, Yasmin and Yasminelle.

This was the third grave incident reported in Switzerland this year involving such contraceptives. In each case, the woman suffered a pulmonary embolism.

In May, one victim was left severely disabled after a three-month coma, and in September another woman died. “As no study has proven that the side effects caused by these contraceptives are not worse than in the case of other pills, they should be banned”, demanded Erika Ziltener, President of the Federation. Swissmedic, the country’s medical regulatory body, insists that the product need not be taken off the shelves, but it noted that all contraceptive pills carry dangers.

In the USA, people have filed more than 100 lawsuits against the pills’ maker, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, alleging it overstated the drugs’ benefits, downplayed their side effects, and failed to do proper research before releasing them onto the market. Parenting Freedom/Ennis & Ennis PA/LifeSite. December 24-26.

Archbishop George H. Niederauer

The Archbishop of San Francisco has responded to remarks made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an interview for NEWSWEEK’s year-end issue. He sharply rebuts Pelosi, who worships in his jurisdiction, for citing the Catholic teaching of free will to support her belief that reproductive choice for women is not at odds with what she was raised to believe as a practicing Catholic. The archbishop slaps her down, saying “Free will cannot be cited as justification for society to allow moral choices that strike at the most fundamental rights of others. Such a choice is abortion, which constitutes the taking of innocent human life, and cannot be justified by any Catholic notion of freedom.” (more…)

Rebecca St. James is adding her voice and national  media presence to those speaking out in favor of January’s recognition as “Sanctity of Life Month.”

St. James will be seen tomorrow (15th) on CBN’s flagship “700 Club,” speaking about the heartening acceptance accorded the release of her first starring role on film in “Sarah’s Choice,”  a movie with a strong pro life message.

Next week, Rebecca will be in New York for major mainstream media, including a Tuesday (19th) appearance on “Hannity,” on the Fox News Channel.  She will later next week be in Colorado Springs for radio tapings with Focus On The Family as well as the presentation of her music and message at their Sanctity of Life chapel gathering on Friday, January 22nd. (more…)

GLENVIEW, Il (MetroCatholic) – Jesse, the mother of a newborn in Bloomfield, NE, began taking the birth control pill Yasmin and never suspected it would cause problems. She had talked to her doctor about its possible side effects and he mentioned only blood clots. But after only a few months on the drug, she suffered severe stomach pains, and a medical exam revealed that she needed gall bladder surgery.

The news illustrates the wisdom of Catholic teaching on birth control.

“I thought you could only get blood clots if you were a smoker, so I wasn’t worried about taking this drug,” Jesse argues on a lawyers’ website. “I guess I trusted doctors and drugs in general…. I wasn’t worried about Yasmin.” (more…)

Every so often, the FDA has to slap the wrists of drug companies for … well, pretty much everything. On the naughty list this week were several companies that the FDA didn’t feel presented the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Among them:

– Cephalon received a nasty note for not including risks of taking cancer drug Treanda on its dosing card. According to the FDA letter, these risks include skin reactions, infection and death.

– Amylin and Eli Lilly were called out for misleading statements about the diabetes medication Byetta.

“On June 10, 2009, the Lilly representative claimed that 94% of patients in a study lost 7 to 8 pounds without diet or exercise in 30 days. On June 11, 2009, an Amylin representative claimed that 80% of patients in a study lost about 7 to 8 pounds over 30 weeks.”

Which one’s right, you ask? Neither, says the FDA.

(more…)

Wow, it can’t get any more pro-life than this, the new In Touch magazine cover…

The tease, posted on the magazine’s website today…

Bristol Palin didn’t know what she was in for when she made the life-changing and controversial choice to have a baby at the young age of 18. But after she gave birth to her son, Tripp, in December 2008 – and broke up with her boyfriend, Levi Johnston – the reality of single motherhood quickly set in.

“I remember sitting on a black recliner, just bawling my eyes out,” Bristol tells In Touch. “I was just rocking Tripp to sleep because he had been screaming for so long. I was just like, ‘What am I going to do? This is as bad as it gets.”

Though raising an infant has been challenging, Bristol has the unconditional love and support of her family – especially her mother, Sarah Palin. (more…)

(USAtoday) Being a parent can be stressful, but new research calls into question some long-held beliefs about physical and psychological effects of having kids.  A study published today in Annals of Behavioral Medicine finds that parents have better blood pressure readings than childless adults.

“Women were driving the effect,” says co-author Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychologist at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. “Women with children had the lowest blood pressure, and women without had the highest” of those studied.

Holt-Lunstad, along with researchers from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and California State University-Long Beach, monitored the blood pressure of 198 adults ages 20-68. Participants wore portable monitors, which took random readings three times an hour, multiple times a day, over 24 hours, including while they slept. (more…)

CALGARY, Alberta, January 12, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In one of a pair of recent articles by major Canadian media exploring how women are increasingly turning away from hormonal contraception, the executive director for Sexual Health Access Alberta (formerly known as Planned Parenthood Alberta), bemoans the lack of information about natural family planning.

The pill has served for decades as a symbol of the feminist push for “reproductive freedom,” but in the most recent of the two articles, published yesterday in Canwest papers across the country, the SHAA director criticized the medical establishment for its pill-focused approach to contraception.

“What I see in our communities is an absolute failure to move beyond the idea that hormonal birth control is the be-all and end-all,” said Laura Wershler. “What’s happening is we’re not developing support, programs and advocacy for women looking for non-hormonal methods.”

“There’s this lack of knowledge and understanding within my own field,” Wershler continued, referring to natural methods of birth regulation that involve awareness about the woman’s reproductive cycle. “Women are going to sexual-health clinics and being laughed off by the doctors and clinics for looking for alternatives.” (more…)

Teenage girls in Britain appear to be using abortion as a form of contraception. Statistics show teenagers are having repeat abortions, some as many as four by the age of 18. One reported case involved a teen having an eighth abortion.

“It’s just the tip of the iceberg for them because so many of those young women will suffer from what’s called ‘post-abortion stress’ and will have some serious problems emotionally and physically in their future,” says Leslee Unruh, head of the National Abstinence Clearing House.

Some of those problems include later difficulty with becoming pregnant, safely carrying the baby to term, and suffering a higher risk of breast cancer. In addition to that, the suicide rate after one abortion is high.

“These young women are involving themselves emotionally, buying the lie of sex and lust and not love, and not getting a love message,” notes Unruh. “There’s so much more than the physical, and we need to start teaching young men and woman about love versus lust.”

One of the chief criticisms of Planned Parenthood’s “safe-sex” education program is that it encourages children to become intimate, provided it is followed through responsibly. That effort deems abstinence programs ineffective, despite the fact those programs prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases altogether.

Beijing, China (LifeNews.com) — A new report indicates the one-child family planning policy in China — which has given way to sex-selection abortions and infanticides of girl babies — has created a nation of bachelors. The report says more than 24 million men may be unable to find a bride by the end of the decade.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, described as the nation’s leading think-tank, issued the report.

It describes the tremendous gender imbalance the pro-abortion policy has created as the most serious demographic problem facing China.

According to a London Times story, the new report describes the bachelors as “bare branches” because they will be unable to complete a family tree beyond themselves. (more…)

The Catholic Diocese of Metuchen will honor pro-life advocate Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Whitehouse Station, with the 2010 Pro-Vita award at its Annual Respect Life Mass to be held Sunday, Jan. 24, at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Metuchen.

Dr. Lanfranchi, a breast cancer surgeon and co-founder and current president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, is being honored for her work in educating the public about the abortion-breast cancer link. She has co-authored a booklet on breast cancer risks and prevention, and written brochures on reproductive and hormonal risk factors.

She has traveled internationally to speak at medical schools, hospitals, universities, cancer organizations, governmental bodies and the United Nations about breast cancer risks, including its association with induced abortion and hormonal contraceptives. She is collaborating with other breast cancer researchers on projects to determine the genetic changes and reproductive risk factors involved in the etiology of proliferative breast disease and cancer.

All are invited to the Pro-Vita Mass and reception which will follow in the Cathedral Community Room. For more information call the diocesan Respect for Life Office at 732-562-1990, ext. 1629 or visit diometuchen.org.