Sunday, November 20, 2022

Christian Groups Organize “World’s Largest Baby Shower” to Help Moms in Need State | Gayle Irwin | Nov 18, 2022 | 2:53AM | Houston. Texas

Christian Groups Organize “World’s Largest Baby Shower” to Help Moms in Need

State | Gayle Irwin | Nov 18, 2022 | 2:53AM | Houston. Texas

A group of Houston Christian radio stations organized a large scale campaign to assist pregnancy help centers in their work serving pregnant women and families, resulting in a remarkable response of support for pregnancy help across the U.S.

The “World’s Largest Baby Shower” was presented by the Hope Media Group, which owns Houston Christian radio station KSBJ and others in the area. The group spent nearly a month promoting the donation drive culminating in late August, according to a Christian Music Broadcasters article.

Ultimately a nation-wide event, DJs with the various Houston radio stations and others across the country encouraged community residents to donate to pregnancy centers.

Hope Media Group’s audiences “exceeded expectations” the group said, with more than 55,000 diapers, 44,976 wipes, 200 cans of formula, and nearly $30,000 in gift cards donated to 40 pregnancy help centers in the United States during the campaign.

“It was awesome!” said Sandra Ontiveros, senior director of operations for the Houston Pregnancy Help Center, one of the centers that benefited from the baby shower.

“We got donations brought to us to the very end,” she told Pregnancy Help News. “I mean, on the last day people were still dropping donations off.”
The month-long campaign, during the reported baby formula shortages, brought numerous Amazon gift cards, diapers, and wipes, plus formula, baby blankets, bibs, onesies, and sleepers to the Houston Pregnancy Help Center. Personal care items such as baby wash and lotion, along with furniture, playpens, cribs, car seats and strollers, were also donated, she said.

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“This couldn’t have happened at better time,” Ontiveros said. “[The shower] took place right before school started, so for women it was kind of like, ‘What do I choose? Do I choose to buy back-to-school supplies, or do I choose to buy formula?’ We had what they needed at that time.”

“In the summer, our donations are kind of low anyway,” she added, “so it was perfect timing. It was amazing!”

The radio group called the event a “timely and meaningful nationwide campaign” intended to provide material assistance to moms in need across the country.

“Moms in need” are three words that should never go together, the report on the group’s website said.

“It is inspiring to see how many people caught the vision of this baby shower and helped it grow beyond anyone’s wildest dreams,” said Hope Media Group Network Promotions Director Bekah Eaker.

“No one should feel forgotten or alone, especially new moms,” Eaker said. “We’re praying that every single mom that receives diapers, wipes, or formula from this drive knows how incredibly loved she is.”

The radio group’s director of Community Relations remarked on how donors went beyond material assistance to offer moral support and expressed appreciation for pregnancy help centers in the U.S.

“The World’s Biggest Baby Shower was a beautiful portrait of God’s love through caring people around the nation,” Kim McKee said. “In addition to the generous gift cards and baby supplies, many donors took the time to include encouraging notes to the moms who desperately need these baby items.”

“We’re forever grateful for the pregnancy help centers around the nation who offer support and encouragement to families during some of their most challenging and difficult times,” she said.

Commenting on the nationwide baby shower, the head of communications for the world’s largest network of pregnancy help said that it was exciting to hear the words “pregnancy help centers” advertised.

“Women need compassionate care and support, and practical resources during an unexpected pregnancy,” said Andrea Trudden, VP of Communications and Marketing for Heartbeat International. “Pregnancy help centers provide this compassionate support and real choice.”

“Every woman deserves love and support during an unexpected pregnancy, Trudden said. “No woman should feel alone, coerced, or so hopeless that she ends her child’s life through abortion.”

LifeNews Note: Gayle Irwin writes for PregnancyHelpNews, where this originally appeared.

You Don’t Need Religion to Know Killing Babies in Abortions is Wrong Opinion | Chris kelly | Nov 18, 2022 | 11:31AM | Washington, DC

You Don’t Need Religion to Know Killing Babies in Abortions is Wrong

Opinion | Chris kelly | Nov 18, 2022 | 11:31AM | Washington, DC

In recent guest opinion, the correspondent discussed abortion and concluded that only one’s religion would lead one to oppose abortion. But science and ethics alone easily reveal reasons that abortion is the killing of an innocent human being, and killing an innocent human being is wrong.

Let’s start with the science of genetics. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes which are composed of genes, which are composed of DNA. Humans have around 20,000 genes on those 23 pairs. The genes are inherited from the parents and do not change during a person’s life. A person’s set of genes is unique, and different than those of every other person, which is why forensics can uniquely identify persons, victims or offenders, by the DNA left at crime scenes. It is also how you can trace your ancestry when you submit DNA samples to companies who provide this service.

We know from the moment of fertilization that the life in the womb is human as shown by its genetic makeup. The human life in the womb has exactly the same number of chromosomes and genes as the mother and father and other humans, but in some unique combination of the parents’ genes. The genetic makeup of that unborn life is clearly human, not a bird or a fish or a cat. Left to a normal progression, it is a human child who is born.

The unborn human is neither the mother nor the father. The unborn child is not part of the mother’s body but is a separate human being in the earliest stage of life. It is obvious it is not the mother because a woman can give birth to a male child — he has a Y chromosome which he received from his father and that the mother does not have.

In these earliest stages of life, the child needs two things from the mother: nutrition and protection. After being born, the helpless child still needs nutrition and protection, and a varying amount of care until, with maturity, the child can become independent and self-supporting. But at the very beginning, the child is protected and nourished in the mothers’ womb until it is ready to be born.

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Now let’s consider the ethics of the situation. Ethics was explored in depth by Socrates, who lived over 400 years before the Christian Era, and is considered one of the greatest thinkers ever.

To quote theclassroom.com: “Socrates equated knowledge with virtue, which ultimately leads to ethical conduct. … He looked for principles and actions that were worth living by, creating an ethical base upon which decisions should be made. Socrates firmly believed that knowledge and understanding of virtue, or ‘the good,’ was sufficient for someone to be happy. … He believed that no person could willingly choose to do something harmful or negative if they were fully aware of the value of life.”

Based on these fundamental concepts, ethical human beings should oppose the intentional death of human beings who have done no wrong. But an unborn child is innocent, being incapable of performing any culpable act. I believe that it does not take a degree in philosophy to understand this.

We properly grieve persons killed by accidents, natural disasters, or illness, and certainly deaths intentionally caused by another person. Drunken drivers who kill others are dealt with severely by our laws, and rightly so. Thoughtful humans innately know that human life is precious, and many vigorously oppose the death penalty for this reason. Even after juries have exhaustively studied the evidence and conclude that the accused party is guilty is guilty of murder, the penalty discussion seriously weighs whether the death penalty is appropriate. We naturally hesitate to allow the execution of known guilty persons because they are human beings.

In summary, genetics demonstrates these facts: The unborn child is genetically human and genetically unique, and left to a normal course will grow until birth, grow to walk, to talk and do all the things other humans can do. Abortion kills this human being at an early stage of life and should be opposed by ethical human beings. To some it may also be a religious issue, but all informed persons of good will should oppose abortion, quite aside from religious belief.

LifeNews Notge: Chris Kelly has university degrees in biology, chemistry and computer science, and has lived in Loveland since 1986. He retired in 2021 after 38 years as an R&D engineer.

New York State Trying to Shut Down Christian Adoption Agency That Favors Mother and Father State | Patty Knap | Nov 18, 2022 | 2:59AM | Albany, New York

New York State Trying to Shut Down Christian Adoption Agency That Favors Mother and Father

State | Patty Knap | Nov 18, 2022 | 2:59AM | Albany, New York

A Syracuse, N.Y., a non-profit adoption agency overcame a years-long legal threat from the state to shut its doors over its religious convictions concerning marriage, but the state continues to target the adoption provider through a different state agency.

New Hope Family Services follows the Christian belief that the best environment for children is a home with a married mother and father, in keeping with God’s plan for sexuality. The agency has been placing children with adoptive families for over 60 years.

Over the years, New Hope has placed children in over 1000 adoptive homes, including infants with disabilities or other hard to place factors. The non-profit pregnancy help organization also offers temporary foster placement, pregnancy care, a mobile ultrasound unit, and post-abortion counseling.

On the rare occasion when New Hope has received adoption inquiries from same-sex couples, they simply declined to be involved, as this would directly conflict with the organization’s mission. Meanwhile, dozens of other adoption agencies in New York state are available to place children with same-sex couples.

Despite the fact that same-sex couples have the ability to adopt elsewhere, New Hope was singled out by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) with a legal attempt to close the agency down beginning in 2020.

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New Hope prevailed finally in September with a federal district court issuing an order permanently preventing the state of New York from shuttering the faith-based adoption agency, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), attorneys from which represented the agency.

“We are overjoyed that we can continue to serve and care for children in New York,” Executive Director Kathy Jerman told Pregnancy Help News. “Christian adoption providers who help children find loving homes with married moms and dads should be protected, not shut down for their faith. Though inquiries from same sex couples seeking adoption are infrequent, the couples are always met with love and compassion about our policy and offered referrals to other agencies.”

Ironically, (OCFS) had praised the strengths of New Hope in 2018. But then, just a few months later, OCFS announced it deemed New Hope’s policy of child placement with a married mom and dad, “discriminatory and impermissible.”

The case, New Hope Family Services v. Poole, sought to shut down the adoption agency entirely, although New Hope accepts no government funding whatsoever. The Christian ministry operates through support from churches, individual donors, and private grants, as well as fees paid by adoptive parents.

“The state’s attempt to shutter New Hope did nothing other than violate core rights protected by the First Amendment—the freedom to speak what you believe and the freedom to practice the teachings of your faith,” said Roger Brooks, senior counsel for ADF.

On September 7, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Mae A. D’Agostino in Albany, New York, wrote in her decision in the New Hope v. Poole case that New Hope succeeded on the merits of its First Amendment claim against the state. This ruling permanently prevents the state of New York from shutting down a faith-based adoption provider targeted for its religious beliefs.

However, while awaiting the decision in that case, another New York State agency, the Division of Human Rights, claimed that New Hope was in violation of a law prohibiting anyone based on sexual orientation at places of “public accommodation.”

ADF attorneys filed a second lawsuit on behalf of New Hope in federal district court, New Hope Family Services v. James, after the second New York state office threatened to investigate and reprimand the adoption provider for the same beliefs and policy.

ADF Senior Counsel Mark Lippelmann criticized the second attack from another New York state agency, stating, “you can’t punch us now using a different hand. The point of the decision in the initial case was that the state shouldn’t be punching us at all.”

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court had a similar case recently involving an adoption agency, Fulton v. Philadelphia, and found that public accommodation laws include restaurants, stadiums, and hotels, but not adoption agencies.

There are limitations on who can adopt and New Hope, like other adoption agencies, performs extensive investigation, including background checks, home studies, and more before placing a child.

Jerman spoke in a statement from ADF applauding the victory in the first case, saying every child deserves a home with a “loving mother and father who are committed to each other.”

“New Hope is a ‘arm-around-the-shoulder’ ministry that walks with adoptive families and birth parents alike to place children with adoptive families,” Jerman said.

“It’s regrettable that New York ever threatened to shut down our adoption services, through which we have placed more than 1,000 children with adoptive families since we began as an adoption agency in 1965,” she said. “We live in a diverse state, and we need more adoption providers, not fewer. We’re grateful that the court’s decision allows us to keep serving children and families.”

Brooks said that closing an adoption provider over its religious beliefs “needlessly and unconstitutionally” cuts the number of agencies and benefits no one — certainly not children.

A decision in the James case isn’t expected until spring 2023.

LifeNews Note: Patty Knap is a certified pregnancy counselor, faith formation teacher, ABA therapist for autism, and freelance writer from Long Island. This originally appeared at Pregnancy Help News.

Doctors, Medical Groups Sue Biden Over Dangerous Abortion Pills Putting Women’s Lives at Risk National | Micaiah Bilger | Nov 19, 2022 | 9:18AM | Washington, DC

Doctors, Medical Groups Sue Biden Over Dangerous Abortion Pills Putting Women’s Lives at Risk

National | Micaiah Bilger | Nov 19, 2022 | 9:18AM | Washington, DC

A group of doctors and medical associations are challenging the federal government’s decision to approve dangerous abortion drugs in a new lawsuit Friday, saying authorities skirted the process and put patients’ lives at risk.

In the lawsuit from the Alliance Defending Freedom, the doctors said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “illegally” prioritized abortion politics over science and patients’ health when it approved the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol in 2000.

These drugs now are used to abort more than half of all unborn babies in the U.S. every year, or nearly half a million, according to the Guttmacher Institute. More than two dozen women also have died and thousands more have suffered serious complications, according to FDA data.

The lawsuit accuses the FDA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of continuing to ignore safety issues, including by allowing the drugs to be sold through the mail without any direct medical supervision starting in 2021.

“Pregnancy is not an illness, and chemical abortion drugs don’t provide a therapeutic benefit—they end a baby’s life and they pose serious and life-threatening complications to the mother,” ADF Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake said. “The FDA never had the authority to approve these dangerous drugs for sale.”

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Blake said the doctors know from personal experience and research how dangerous abortion drugs are, and they filed the lawsuit to protect their patients.

According to the lawsuit, the FDA never should have approved the drugs in the first place; but it did so by mischaracterizing pregnancy as an “illness” and arguing that the drugs provide a “meaningful therapeutic benefit.”

The Wall Street Journal reports more:

The lawsuit said the FDA didn’t have adequate data on mifepristone use by girls and some of the clinical studies the FDA relied on required more safeguards for patients, such as an ultrasound to confirm gestational age, than the agency later required.

The lawsuit also said rates of complications from using the drug—such as bleeding and infection, which are mentioned on the drug’s label—haven’t been adequately studied, and that emergency-room visits following use of the abortion pill are more common than following surgical abortion.

Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN who has treated many abortion pill-related complications, thanked the doctors for taking action.

“I’ve performed at least a dozen surgeries on women who experienced complications when the abortion pills failed,” Skop said. “I’ve cared for several women who took mifepristone and misoprostol and required blood transfusions or treatment for severe infections, and I’ve counseled women who experienced significant emotional distress after viewing the body of their easily identifiable child in the toilet.”

She said the lawsuit comes at “a critical time, when the mainstream media and even the White House are willfully ignoring the known risks of abortion pills in pursuit of a pro-abortion political agenda.”

An FDA spokesperson responded to the lawsuit by insisting the abortion drugs are safe and its approval process was “thorough,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

However, the lawsuit asserts that the FDA continued to ignore safety problems when the agency expanded the use of mifepristone in 2021 under President Joe Biden’s administration.

This was “in direct violation of longstanding federal law,” according to ADF. “As the lawsuit points out, this decision puts girls and women at additional risk from chemical abortion drugs since mail-order, at-home abortions skip necessary medical examinations to ensure that girls and women do not have conditions that could lead to fatal outcomes.”

Those involved in the lawsuit include Drs. Shaun Jester, Regina Frost-Clark, Tyler Johnson and George Delgado, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs, the American College of Pediatricians and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations.

Separately, the watchdog organization Judicial Watch also sued the Biden administration earlier this month for failing to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests about its 2021 decision to allow abortion drugs to be sold through the mail. The organization wants to see the research that the FDA used to determine that the abortion drug is safe.

Along with millions of unborn babies’ deaths, the FDA has linked mifepristone to at least 26 women’s deaths and 4,000 serious complications between 2000 and 2018. However, under President Barack Obama, the FDA stopped requiring that non-fatal complications from mifepristone be reported. So the numbers almost certainly are much higher.

Studies indicate the risks are more common than what abortion activists often claim, with as many as one in 17 women requiring hospital treatment. A recent study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute found that the rate of abortion-related emergency room visits by women taking the abortion drug increased more than 500 percent between 2002 and 2015.

In England, which began allowing mail-order abortion drugs around the same time as the U.S., new investigations show a huge increase in ambulance calls and reports of coercion and abuse. There also have been reports of late-term babies being born alive at home as a result of mail-order abortion drugs because their mothers did not realize how far along they were.

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Sunday, November 20, 2022