Free Republic

PALMDALE - While "Everybody Loves Raymond" character Debra Barone will live on in television reruns, a generous gift from actress Patricia Heaton will live on in the lives of babies born to Antelope Valley women who were considering having abortions. Heaton, who has won two Emmy awards for her role in the hit sitcom, was honored Tuesday for donating a $25,000 high-tech ultrasound machine to the AV Pregnancy Counseling Center, which was renamed Women's Clinic of the Antelope Valley. Ultrasound machines offer pregnant women a detailed view of their unborn children, even at only a couple of months along, and...

CLEVELAND -- A lawsuit was filed Wednesday challenging Ohio's offer of license plates with the anti-abortion message "Choose Life." The American Civil Liberties Union sued in Cleveland federal court to block the license plate sales due to begin next month. < snip >

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley. It was a strange coincidence that Terri Schiavo’s ordeal took place during Holy Week. What she went through, and the nation’s reaction to it, taught us a sobering lesson about suffering and redemption. The things that ordinary, sensible Americans were saying about Terri’s case were shocking and upsetting. “Let the poor woman die” was one of them. But Terri was not dying before her food and water were taken away. She simply needed to eat and drink, just like the rest of us. Then there were the various media...

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? (James 2:15-16) When you sit down for dinner tonight and enjoy a nice meal with your family, please remember that Terri Schiavo, though hanging onto life by a thread, is still starving to death. Please remember that, at this precise moment, her body hungers terribly, and she is suffering from gross dehydration. Remember that she...

Posted: March 29, 2005 11:44 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com The Florida state constitution declares unequivocally that in the state of Florida "the supreme executive power shall be vested in a governor … ." The word supreme means highest in authority. There can be no executive authority in the state of Florida higher than the governor. No state law can create an executive authority higher than highest in the Florida constitution. Therefore no court order based upon such a law can constitutionally create such an authority. If the governor tells the local police in Pinellas County to step aside, they...

There are good people on both sides of the Terri Schiavo tragedy, but chances are that if you affirm Judeo-Christian values, you have opposed pulling the feeding tube from the severely brain damaged woman's body. Why? Because if there is anything that Judeo-Christian values stand for, it is choosing life and rejecting death. As the Torah puts it, "I have put before you today life and death, and you shall choose life." Even believing Jews and Christians are not fully aware of how much the rejection of death-oriented Egypt underlies the values and practices of the Torah, the first five...

On Wednesday of last week, my friend and I just couldn’t stand it any more. The frustration, the anger, the sorrow overwhelmed us to point that we needed to do something. We had called the POTUS, the Governor, the Florida Senators and DCF numerous times. The responses to those calls ranged from “we’re doing everything we can.”…to…interrupting our message with a rude, disinterested “thank you for calling”. There was no place we would rather be on Good Friday that supporting Terri’s fight and Terri’s family. We took Friday off of work, loaded up the truck Thursday night and drove from...

DAY 1: FR_Addict and husband After driving 11 hours, we arrived about 12:30am on Thursday morning. We were able to park very close to the vigil. Perhaps 30 people were there. We went around and met some of the people there. The police told us to move behind the barricade, which we did. It felt surreal to be there after all this time. I decided to talk to the police to find out what they were thinking, so half-joking and half-serious; I asked why don’t you guys go on a “sick out”. One of the police said they couldn’t. I...

Please join us for prayer and protest at 44th Street in Times Square on Monday, March 28, at 5:30 p.m.Bring a sign and bring a friend.This rally is bigger than Free Republic. I have already received the e-mail from several non-FR people.Thank you.

My position on the Schiavo matter has vascilated back and forth over the past few days as I've agonized over the matter.Should she be given a chance at life? If so, what kind of life are we talking about? Is there a chance at rehabilitation? Is Michael Schiavo an evil S.O.B., or is he simply a heart-broken man?Conversely, is she truly in a vegetative state? A virtual zombie with eyes open, and nothing inside? Are her parents and family in denial about her pain and suffering? Are the evangelicals coming to her aid getting so worked up that they are...

Pinellas Park police Lt. Kevin Riley, standing upper right, prepares to arrest members of the Keys family as they were attempting to bring Terri Schiavo water Wednesday morning, March 23, 2005 outside the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla. The Keys family, of Burnet, Tex., kneeling, from left, Josie, 14, Gabriel, 10, Chris, the children's father, and Cameron 12, were all taken into custody. Galen Keys, upper left, the children's mother looks on, but was not arrested.The mother insists it was the children's idea: "I am proud of them," said the boys' mother Geilen Keys from Texas, who was not...

Honey, I never thought I'd be writing to tell you my final wishes if I'm ever in a persistent vegetative state. I can imagine what that feels like because I watch Tom DeLay on television every day, hawking his phony right-to-life politics as if they were the word of God. But we both know that clutching at every last breath in this world negates a much deeper spiritual belief. I believe that God is merciful enough and great enough to remember those who served him well and to resurrect them after death. Not to a life in heaven where we'd...

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Most Common Questions and Answers If Terri hasn't recovered after all these years of therapy, why not let go?Terri hasn't had meaningful therapy since 1991, but many credible physicians say she can benefit from it.Why can't Terri just divorce?Terri's husband/guardian speaks for her. She cannot divorce without his permissionDoes Terri have an advanced directive or any wishes about her healthcare?Terri never signed any directive or living will and there is no evidence that she foresaw her present situation.Why do Terri's family fight to keep her alive? Shouldn't they let her husband decide?Terri's husband has started another family and probably has...

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay pledged Friday to hold Florida state judge George Greer in contempt of Congress for ignoring a congressional subpoena for Terri Schiavo's testimony, saying, "No little judge sitting in a state district court in Florida is going to usurp the authority of Congress." "The Congress will pursue this, if we have to hold him in contempt of Congress," DeLay told radio host Sean Hannity. Pressed on whether he intended to hold Judge Greer in contempt, the top Republican told Hannity: "Absolutely, absolutely." "We will do everything to enforce the power and authority of the Congress and...

"Basically we are going to fight tooth and nail to save Terri from starvation," Terry said. "Part of this has to do with who has the will to save her and who has the will to kill her and whose will is stronger."

WILL HILLARY CLINTON OK “CHOOSE LIFE” LICENSE PLATE?  The following letter was sent today to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton by Catholic League president William Donohue:   Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton U.S. Senate 476 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510   Dear Senator Clinton:   Your remarks of January 24 on the subject of abortion are quite welcome.  In particular, I welcome your quest for a “common ground” and your strong support for programs that promote adoption.    In light of your position on this subject, I am requesting that you formally endorse the effort by the Children First Foundation...

Jackson, MS (LifeNews.com) -- Mississippi's “Choose Life" license plates could face a legal challenge, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday. The High Court refused to consider whether states may offer license tags with pro-life messages. The ruling involved “Choose Life" license plates in South Carolina. Lower courts are divided about whether such plates restrict speech in a manner that is unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union in Mississippi has not ruled out a challenge to a state law that authorized “Choose Life" license plates in 2002. “It is something that's on our radar," an ACLU executive told the Associated...

High Court Defers on 'Choose Life' Plates By HOPE YEN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court declined Monday to consider whether states may offer license plates with anti-abortion messages, leaving lower courts divided over whether the programs in a dozen states unconstitutionally restrict dissenting views. Without comment, justices let stand a lower court ruling that said South Carolina's license plates, which bear the slogan "Choose Life," violate the First Amendment because abortion rights supporters weren't given a similar forum to express their beliefs. The high court's move means that South Carolina will either have to eliminate the...

The Supreme Court declined to consider Monday whether South Carolina's anti-abortion license plates are unconstitutional, a free-speech question that could have resulted in the elimination of similar programs in a dozen states. Without comment, justices rejected a challenge to a lower court ruling that said the plates, which bear the slogan "Choose Life," violate the First Amendment because abortion rights supporters weren't given a similar forum to express their beliefs. Under the program begun in 2001, South Carolina drivers may pay a $70 fee to purchase the anti-abortion plates, with the revenue going toward local crisis pregnancy programs. Specialty plates...