Free Republic

The United Nations recently published its two-yearly update of world population projections. These suggest that Nigeria could rise to 725 million people by 2100. Western media are shrilly calling for Nigeria to put a check on her population growth. No way, sorry. We Nigerians are rejoicing. Africans love children. First for financial security. In the past children helped in the farms and the more of them the better. Today, with little or no social security, children are needed to support their parents in old age. Their contributions constitute an informal pension scheme. And having more children means a better pension....

Eight years ago, Nial Cox Ramirez stood up in a Raleigh conference room and bared her soul about the pain she endured after North Carolina forcibly sterilized her in 1965. "I tried so hard to bury this, but it just won't go away. It's like a cancer that eats you and eats you and eats you," she said on that March afternoon. On another afternoon 38 years before, in a building just a few miles away, five strangers had voted to have her sterilized. The Eugenics Board of North Carolina, a bureaucracy oblivious to the pain it caused its victims,...

Msgr. Philip Reilly leads the faithful in praying the Rosary outside Chicago's Family Planning Associates abortion facility Indomitable pro-life veteran and world renowned sidewalk counselor Monsignor Philip Reilly visited the Chicago area this past weekend for a series of events to pray with and encourage Chicago pro-lifers in the spiritual battle against abortion. Restoring a Culture of Life On Friday, April 8, Msgr. Reilly gave a powerful talk entitled “The Roots of the Culture of Death and Restoring a Culture of Life” at St. Cletus Parish in west suburban LaGrange. Philip Moore — a nephew of Msgr. Reilly who coordinated...

Victoria Webster with her husband and two children, including daughter Jessica who is alive today because of Victoria's sacrificial heroism. BIRMINGHAM, UK, February 17, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - One British cancer patient has sent a powerful message about the value of life after she refused aggressive treatment for her leukemia in an effort to save the life of her unborn daughter – who was, in fact, born perfectly healthy last April. “My doctor told me I needed to make a choice and decide whether I should keep my baby. To me, there was no decision to make,� Victoria Webster, 33, told...

Just a quick little AAR. Wow!Just got back from that Mass. I have gone to the Vigil Mass almost every year since 2000. This had to be the most crowded I have ever seen it. The seating capacity of the Shrine is 3,500 and the normal SRO capacity is 6,000. This event violated all possible fire codes, even DC's fire code. My guess is that there had to be 8,000 - 9,000 in the upper church and probably another 1,000 - 2,000 in the lower level (memorial hall + crypt church). I would not be surprised if my guesses turned...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Former President Bush's memoir will highlight influence of Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II and President George W. Bush Washington D.C., Oct 30, 2010 / 07:21 am (CNA).- An early preview of President George W. Bush's forthcoming memoir “Decision Points,” has revealed that the book will discuss the former president's relationship with Pope John Paul II—especially the Pope's influence on his decision to restrict embryonic stem cell research. The Pontiff and president met publicly in 2001, 2002 and 2004, for discussions that displayed both profound agreements and serious differences between the two men. On October 28,...

There is a near universal acclaim for the pastoral visit of the successor of Peter to the United Kingdom. The crowds, the depth of his messages in every venue, the obvious hunger of the faithful for the truth of the ancient faith, all added together to make this trip both memorable and historic. However, though Pope Benedict has physically departed and returned to Rome, the mission he elaborated in this historic four day visit has only just begun. It is the New Evangelization of the Church in the United Kingdom and then, through her, the unfolding of a new missionary...

Kim Illions says it took her four months to grasp that Cole, her unborn son, had been diagnosed with hydrocephalus—water on the brain—at 20 weeks. "I cried every single day," said the mother from Iselin, N.J. "I didn't want to have a baby shower. I didn't want to decorate the room, because I thought that I was bringing home a baby—if I was even bringing home a baby—who was going to die." Every day, parents like Illions and her husband hear dire news couched in clinical terms like "incompatible with life," "no quality of life," and "termination of pregnancy." Many...

Gone But Not Forgotten Melissa Barnhart, April 5, 2010 The Family Research Council commemorated the fifth anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo by hosting a panel discussion, “Terri Schiavo and a Culture of Life: Looking Forward on the Anniversary of Terri’s Death,� in Washington, D.C. on Monday, March 29. Terri died from dehydration at age 41, on March 31, 2005, 13 days after Judge George W. Greer of the Sixth Judicial Court in Pinellas County, Fla., ordered that her feeding tube be removed. FRC’s four-person panel included David Gibbs III, lead attorney in Terri’s case and author of the...

....Terri was not dying. She was not receiving any "extraordinary medical treatment." She was being fed and given water, as many disabled people are at this very moment, with assistance. She had trouble swallowing because she was disabled by damage to her brain. She would have lived for many, many years, bringing great joy to her family and changing the world. But she was killed by the complete abject failure of a system that has lost its soul. The Greek word for "witness" is "martyrion". In our use of the word over centuries of Christian history, we have emphasized those...

This is the time to speak the truth for life, frankly and boldly. If our nation is to endure, then those who value the gift of life must work to make certain that organizations like Ohio Right to Life (O-RTL) and Michigan Right to Life (M-RTL) are supported in their efforts to defend the life of the unborn. Members of these groups who pray, attend legislative hearings, circulate legislative updates and support candidates who will not bend to political will and pressure need your help now and should continue to support Sarah Palin and her culture of life principles. Coming...

n an interview with TPM, state Del. Bob Marshall (R-VA) disputed the full accuracy and context of a local news article that quoted him as saying that an increase of disabled children was a punishment from nature for abortion. "I don't believe that disabled kids are God's punishments, period, end of discussion," said Marshall. "I have defended disabled kids. I was almost kicked out of the Republican caucus because I forced a vote on a bill, because autism parents did not get a vote in a subcommittee." Marshall insisted that his comments had been taken out of context. (Here's the...

Next Sunday, when millions of people tune in to watch Super Bowl XLIV, they'll see a football star off the field, too. Tim Tebow, the University of Florida's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, is set to appear with his mother in a 30-second advertisement to be aired during the game. The spot, which has not been released, is said to feature Tebow, by all reports a humble young man who takes his faith seriously, and his mother telling the story of her decision 23 years ago to ignore medical advice and continue a risky pregnancy. snip... Women's and choice groups responding to...

Poll: Youngest Americans More Pro-Life on Abortion Than Baby Boomers Washington, DC -- As hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans young and old participate in the March for Life in Washington today, a new poll finds most marchers will likely be from the millennial generation or Generation X. The most recent Marist survey finds them the most pro-life on abortion. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5914.html

Bioethics: Five years after a budget-busting $3 billion was allocated to embryonic stem cell research, there have been no cures, no therapies and little progress. So supporters are embracing research they once opposed. California's Proposition 71 was intended to create a $3 billion West Coast counterpart to the National Institutes of Health, empowered to go where the NIH could not — either because of federal policy or funding restraints on biomedical research centered on human embryonic stem cells. Supporters of the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, passed in 2004, held out hopes of imminent medical miracles that were...

In March of 1993, a Gallup poll determined that about a third of respondents (32%) wanted abortion to be “legal under any circumstances.” In the same year, Mark Donald of the Dallas Observer (5/18/1995) wrote this: “On June 28, 1993, Charlotte [Taft, then director of the Routh Street Women’s Clinic in Dallas] publicly aired her evolving views about abortion. ‘We have learned a great deal from the movement that calls itself pro-life,’ Charlotte told the Dallas Morning News. ‘We (the pro-choice movement) were hiding from women some of the pieces of the truth about abortion that were threatening.... It is...

Washington, DC -- Millions of Americans will be reminded of the pro-woman, pro-life perspective when they take to the streets on Sunday, October 4. That's because thousands of pro-life advocates in cities and towns across the country will be there to share the message with them.

An exceptionally touching 9 minute video of a courageous, loving couple who show what it means to be pro-life, give life and reject the life-demeaning advise of professionals. You Tube Link

The cost of caring for patients who are near death accounts for a big piece of the government's medical spending. But a furor over a provision for government-paid counseling to plan for end-of-life care is steering lawmakers away from the issue. Tucked inside a sweeping House bill to overhaul the health system is a provision that would require Medicare to pay physicians to counsel patients once every five years. During those sessions, doctors could discuss how patients can plan for such end-of-life decisions as setting up a living will, obtaining hospice care or establishing a proxy to make their health...

Ricardo and Mayra Sadoval with Fr. John Gregory Denver, Colo., Jul 24, 2009 / 03:19 pm (CNA).- Though Mayra Sandoval died of cancer on July 8, her son Samuel is alive and healthy thanks to her insistence on choosing life, against the advice of doctors who urged her to abort. Now, Mayra’s husband and friends remember her as a powerful witness to the immeasurable value of life. In an interview with the Denver Catholic Register, Mayra’s husband, Ricardo Flores, recalled the battle of faith and trust that the couple underwent in the months leading up to her death.Both Ricardo...

ROME, JULY 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The idea that some people are genetically inferior, and need to be eliminated or prevented from reproducing, is a mentality that still persists, despite the battering it took after the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. In a revealing interview published July 12 in the New York Times Magazine Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States was asked about abortion, among other topics. Referring to the Supreme Court decision that opened the doors to abortion, Roe v. Wade and subsequent decisions about abortion funding, Ginsburg commented: "Frankly I had thought...

Nearly 50 years ago Democratic presidential hopeful John F. Kennedy went before a group of Protestant ministers in Houston to reassure them, and the rest of America, that if elected president he, as a Roman Catholic, would not set policy on orders from the Vatican. "I am not the Catholic candidate for president," the Massachusetts senator said that night in September 1960. "I am the Democratic Party's candidate for president who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters — and the church does not speak for me." Given the evolution of...

In the late afternoon of July 1o, President Obama met privately with Pope Benedict XVI for just over 30 minutes. According to official Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi, S.J., "The president explicitly expressed his commitment to reducing the numbers of abortions and to listen to the church's concern on moral issues." On July 13 in a Senate committee hearing, Sen. Barbara Mikulski was forced to admit under persistent questioning by Sen. Orrin Hatch that the new health-care bill includes abortion coverage. Planned Parenthood's Guttmacher Institute estimates government funding of abortion increases abortion by 20 to 35 percent. There were 1,206,200...

Bioethics: The former director of the National Institutes of Health, once an enthusiast for embryonic stem cells, now says their future has "dimmed." So why is the administration bailing out research into such therapies while troubled states like California have committed billions?Aside from creating or saving a few research jobs, the administration's decision to federally fund embryonic stem cell research is, as we've noted, a bailout of bad science. It throws money at an avenue of research that time and adult stem cell progress have passed by. Applauding the administration's move was Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who echoed the claims...

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that she considered Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, to be “settled law”...Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, said Roe is “anything but settled law.”“This question of Roe as settled law goes to a central point in the testimony we’ll be providing on Thursday morning: Roe is not settled law,” Yoest said in a statement

In his first week in office, President Obama issued an executive order overturning the Reagan-era Mexico City regulations, which had prohibited American foreign aid from going to organizations that finance overseas abortions. Just a few weeks later, the Gallup organization revealed that the executive order was the single most unpopular action taken by the president during his honeymoon period. At a time when American families had experienced an average 25 percent decline in their net worth, it would appear that increasing the net worth of foreign abortionists was not high on their to-do list.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI stressed the church's opposition to abortion and stem cell research in his first meeting with President Barack Obama on Friday, pressing the Vatican's case with the U.S. leader who is already under fire on those issues from some conservative Catholics and bishops back home...Afterward, the Vatican said the leaders discussed immigration, the Middle East peace process and aid to developing nations. But the Vatican's statement also underscored the pair's deep disagreement on abortion. "In the course of their cordial exchanges, the conversation turned first of all to questions which are in the interest of...

The most overturned appellate court has teed up another case for the Supreme Court to consider — and likely soon. The 9th Circuit overturned an injunction in a district court case, allowing the state of Washington to force a pharmacy to stock and dispense morning-after pills, which causes the abortion of an embryo in the early days of a pregnancy. The pharmacy owners had objected, claiming that the law violated their religious practice:

Ezekiel Emmanuel MD, Rahm Emmanuel’s brother, who is Barack Obama’s “Special Advisor for Health Policy�, is described by the [1] Huffington Post article as engaged in a very important mission: redesigning the US health care system. Emanuel and the White House are attempting to reorganize the delivery and reimbursement systems of health care, changing what the types of procedures doctors rely on, making people more aware of disease prevention, encouraging insurance companies to expand coverage, and so on. It is a process rife with sensitivities, trickeries and, of course, the potential for failure. It is not, he insists, impossible.“It...

The New Jacobin Elite | Print | Written by William F. Jasper    Wednesday, 24 June 2009 06:00 The Socialist Party of Great Britain is celebrating the reissuing of Peter Taaffe’s book, The Masses Arise: The Great French Revolution 1789 -1815. “Its republication by Socialist Publications, in time for the 220th anniversary of this great event in July 2009, is extremely timely,� says the party’s website. A different page on the party’s site promoting the same book instructs readers: “An understanding of the French Revolution remains crucial for all revolutionaries. Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky studied it intensely to gain an...

Science: The president's Council on Bioethics is summarily dismissed when it disagrees on the need for more federally funded embryonic stem cell research. The scientific method doesn't include firing those who disagree with you.Inspectors general are apparently not the only ones to pay for annoying the White House by doing their job. The 18-member council existed to provide the president with advice on the moral and ethical implications of the rapid advances in science and medical research. It exists no more. The council existed to ponder whether we should do something just because we can. Apparently President Obama wanted not...

"I feel sorrow for the Tiller family. I respect the sanctity of life and the tragedy that took place today in Kansas clearly violates respect for life. This murder also damages the positive message of life, for the unborn, and for those living. Ask yourself, 'What will those who have not yet decided personally where they stand on this issue take away from today's event in Kansas?' Regardless of my strong objection to Dr. Tiller's abortion practices, violence is never an answer in advancing the pro-life message." Governor Sarah Palin

Contact: Margaret, Priests for Life, 908-432-7387   STATEN ISLAND, New York, May 31 /Christian Newswire/ -- Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, issued the following statement upon hearing this morning of the killing of abortionist George Tiller:   "I am saddened to hear of the killing of George Tiller this morning. At this point, we do not know the motives of this act, or who is behind it, whether an angry post-abortive man or woman, or a misguided activist, or an enemy within the abortion industry, or a political enemy frustrated with the way Tiller has escaped...

America's Unsettled Conscience on Abortion Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 1:56 pm ET Here is an amazing fact -- over 35 years after the legalization of abortion this nation is still deeply divided over the issue. America has an unsettled conscience on abortion, and this most contentious of moral issues may be further from resolution than at any moment since the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down in 1973. A new Gallup poll tells the story. The headline of the report from Gallup should encourage pro-life Americans: "More Americans 'Pro-Life' Than 'Pro-Choice' for First Time." Indeed, 51% of...

Pro-Life Ad on Adoption, Abortion to Air on American Idol Finale Washington, DC -- The same pro-life organization that produced a well-received advertisement on President Barack Obama and abortion has another commercial it will air on the series finale of the popular television program American Idol. CatholicVote.org, sponsored by the pro-life Catholic group Fidelis, is behind the ad, which is part of its “Imagine the Potential” series of television commercials. The latest ad focuses on the lives of political and business leaders, sports figures, and others who all could have become victims of abortion, but, instead, were welcomed into loving...

She leaned on her husband, using his strength to hide her unsteadiness. Her steps were tentative, measured, cautious, with her gait more typical of a woman decades older than her late 20s. She could still walk, shake hands and almost smile, at least with one side of her mouth; she couldn't let the tumor take those gifts away -- not yet. She had to stay healthy another few weeks, until her baby was born.

In front of an audience of nearly 3,000 anti-abortion rights advocates in Evansville, Ind., Palin described in detail how she struggled with her fifth pregnancy last year and choked up when she spoke about Trig's birth. "It was a time when I had to ask myself was I gonna walk the walk or I was gonna talk the talk," Palin said. She said she learned she was pregnant with Trig while she was out of the state at an oil and gas conference. "There, just for a fleeting moment, I thought, I knew, nobody knows me here. Nobody would ever...

Big donors, VIPs and those who could afford to shell out for corporate sponsorships won't be the only ones who will see Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the flesh at Thursday's Vanderburgh County Right to Life spring banquet. The folks in the cheap seats will be able to see Palin in person, too.

Governor Sarah Palin today thanked state representatives for their efforts in passing House Bill 35, a bill that would require parental notice and consent before girls under the age of 17 could have an abortion. “Today, 22 members of the House of Representatives took a significant step toward protecting Alaska’s children and strengthening Alaska’s families,” Governor Palin said. “The most important thing at stake is the right of Alaska’s children to receive the support and input of their parents as they face a life-changing decision. I strongly urge Senate leaders to give this bill a committee hearing, as they did...

LONDON (AFP) — A seriously ill British baby boy died on Saturday, the day after his parents lost a legal battle to force doctors to keep him alive. The parents wanted medics to keep treating their son -- who had a rare metabolic disorder, was brain damaged and had suffered respiratory failure -- but doctors said he had no prospect of recovery and was in intolerable pain. A hearing at the Court of Appeal on Friday to resolve the dispute backed the doctors although judges voiced the "deepest sympathy" for the mother and father of the nine-month-old boy. The parents,...

So, how many of you were aware that, in one of his last official acts before stepping down as President, George W. Bush proclaimed Sunday, January 18, as "National Sanctity of Human Life Day" for 2009. "The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent," his proclamation is reported to say. What??? You didn't know??? Well, I'm sure it was just an innocent oversight on the part of NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, FOX, and about 14,000 major metropolitain newspapers around the country. After all, they're journalists—they don't have any reason to withhold news. Your PP...

- Outgoing Republican President George W. Bush has had the most pro-life record of any U.S. president in history, representatives of pro-life groups told CNSNews.com on Friday. On Thursday, in one of his last acts as president, Bush declared Jan. 18 “National Sanctity of Human Life Day,� stating that the "the most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent." Bush’s declaration was the culmination of eight years of pro-life policies that included sustained opposition to embryonic stem cell research; the appointment of two pro-life Supreme Court Justices; an executive order barring federal funds to be...

Friday January 16, 2009 FULL TEXT of President Bush Proclamation of Sanctity of Life Day - January 18 January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The following is the full text of President Bush’s proclamation of National Sanctity of Life Day:All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for...

Washington, DC -- Americans may have their dispute with President Bush on other political issues and those disputes may have led them to support pro-abortion Barack Obama for president. But top pro-life leaders say Bush will leave behind a very strong and lasting legacy as a champion of the pro-life cause. During his administration, President Bush saw abortions decline to historic lows and he made history himself by signing the first measure to ever ban a form of abortion.

In one of his final actions in the White House, President Bush on Thursday declared Jan. 18 to be “National Sanctity of Human Life Day.” “All human life is a gift from our creator that is sacred, unique and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world,” reads the presidential proclamation. “The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent. My administration has been committed to building a culture of life...

The results of our campaign so far have been disappointing, but first, let me quote John Smeaton, a board member of International Right to Life and director of Britain's Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. At the recent International Pro-Life Conference in Toronto the very first thing John felt compelled to state was, "A lot of us wouldn't be able to work so effectively if not for the extraordinarily good work of LifeSiteNews, which is the most widely read pro-life news service in the world." Editor John-Henry and I frequently hear similar comments from leaders and activists wherever we...

Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg is to be stripped of his executive power to veto laws passed by parliament after threatening to block a Bill to allow euthanasia in the tiny state. The hereditary sovereign, 53, who is the last Grand Duke in the world, caused a constitutional crisis when he gave notice that he objected to Luxembourg following its neighbours Belgium and the Netherlands in permitting euthanasia before a second-reading vote in the Chamber of Deputies next week. Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister, also opposed the Bill but decided that the Grand Duke had overstepped the mark in threatening...

In describing his conversion, Adasevic “dreamed about a beautiful field full of children and young people who were playing and laughing, from 4 to 24 years of age, but who ran away from him in fear. A man dressed in a black and white habit stared at him in silence. The dream was repeated each night and he would wake up in a cold sweat. One night he asked the man in black and white who he was. ‘My name is Thomas Aquinas,’ the man in his dream responded. Adasevic, educated in communist schools, had never heard of the Dominican...

ATLANTA, GA, November 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said today that, while the election of an African-American president is a milestone for America, because abortion continues Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of equal rights for all has not yet been fulfilled. "The election of an African American president sends a powerful and historic message that what was previously unthinkable can become reality," said Dr. King. "The battle for equal rights has reached a major milestone, but Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream of full...

Much like has happened with George W. Bush, it will be impossible for future historians to fully convey the level of white-hot hatred toward this woman. And that’s without her having enacted a single policy on the national level. She’s completely innocent of having even had the opportunity to do anything to hurt her detractors.