2005 Archives

Loving life has the pleasure to interview Jill Stanek every third monday of each month.

Biography by Jill Stanek:
"I was a registered nurse in the Labor & Delivery Department at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, in 1999 when discovering babies were being aborted alive and shelved to die in the soiled utility room.
Went public when hospital leaders said that they would not stop. The disclosure immediately grabbed the attention of legislators and media.



Was asked to testify before a U.S. House committee in 2000 and 2001 for the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

Was fired in August 2001 by Christ Hospital for reasons related to my public outspokenness to its abortion practices.

Was invited by President George W. Bush for his August 2002 signing of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which will protect live aborted children from infanticide.

Was also asked to his signing of invitation when he signed the signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban in November 2003, which will protect partially delivered babies from being killed by abortion (if the Supreme Court lets it stand).

Was named by World Magazine in January 2003 as one of 30 prominent pro-life leaders over the past 30 years, an honor more deserved by innumerable others, but appreciated nonetheless.
I am now a weekly columnist for WorldNetDaily.com and a public speaker on the pro-life issue."

http://www.jillstanek.com/

Loving life had the pleasure to interview Fr. Damien Cook of St. Peter Catholic Church.

Ordained in June 5th 1999, Fr. Damien Cook has been the Pastor of St. Peter's Catholic Church since June 2004.
As of January of 2206, he will be the new Leader of the Bishop's Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities.

Biography provided by Fr. Damien Cook:

Fr. Damien Cook is the son of Helen Cook and the late William Cook. He was born in August in 1973 in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.

At the age of seven, he and his family moved to Omaha where he attended grade school at St. Robert Bellarmine.

Fr. graduated from Creighton Prep and Creighton University where he majored in Philosophy, Theology, and Latin.

After graduation, Fr. began his studies as a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Omaha at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD.

Fr. graduated from the Mount with Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees and was ordained a priest on June 5th, 1999. Fr. was assigned as parochial vicar to St. Cecilia Cathedral and St. Patrick in Fremont before being appointed pastor of St. Peter in the summer of 2004.

Fr. serves on the Archdiocesan Priest Council and assists in various youth, pro-life, and prison ministries in the Archdiocese and was recently appointed Archdiocesan Director of the Bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities.

http://stpeterchurch.net/

Dr. Pia de Solenni is Director of Life and Women's Issues - Government Affairs at Family Research Council. Her expertise covers issues relating to women's health, life issues and bioethics, the new feminism, and culture. Her work has appeared in various publications including The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Washington Post, National Catholic Reporter, Our Sunday Visitor, and National Review Online.


As an ethicist and moral theologian, Dr. de Solenni has participated in many news talk shows and discussions on various topics, including debates with Kate Michelman, then President of NARAL Pro-Choice America. Dr. de Solenni has been quoted in various newspapers nationwide, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Associated Press and has testified on cloning before the Massachusetts State Legislature. She has appeared on MSNBC, The O'Reilly Show, CNN, ABC News Now, Scarborough Country, as well as other shows.

She is an adjunct professor at the Notre Dame Graduate School in Virginia. She serves on various advisory boards including the academic journal Nova et Vetera and the North American Youth Alliance.

Dr. de Solenni received her doctorate in sacred theology summa cum laude from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome. Her dissertation was published in the university series Dissertationes.
On November 8, 2001, she received the 2001 Award of the Pontifical Academies for her doctoral work. The award was presented by John Paul II.

In addition to the doctorate, Dr. de Solenni holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts-Great Books from Thomas Aquinas College, California; a Sacred Theology Baccalaureate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome; and a Sacred Theology Licentiate from Holy Cross, Rome. Biography provided by theFamily Research Council
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Read two of the most recent articles by Dr. Pia de Solenni:

# 07/19/05 : Egg Harvesting, Embryonic Stem Cell Research Threatens Women's Health
# 07/27/05 : Dangerous Human Egg Harvesting Targeted at Poor Women Is Costing Lives

Both articles published by http://www.humaneventsonline.com/



Egg Harvesting, Embryonic Stem Cell Research Threatens Women's Health

by Dr. Pia de Solenni Posted Jul 19, 2005

The U.S. Congress is poised to pour unlimited funds into embryonic stem cell research that not only destroys innocent human life, but it has shown no substantial promise as a curative and threatens the health of women worldwide. So much for "progress and advancement."

After more than 20 years, embryonic stem cell research has not yielded a single cure. During this same time, adult stem cells have been used to treat people with heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries and at least 50 other documented conditions.

The focus on therapeutic cloning has been aimed at our heartstrings, prophesying cures for our loved ones, friends, and even movie stars. But scientists, politicians, and academics have all turned a blind eye to the women who will be affected. After all, embryonic stem cell research depends upon millions of embryos. Whether created through in vitro fertilization or somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning), each embryo requires a woman’s egg in order to be created. Theoretically, embryonic stem cell research would allow each patient to receive specialized treatment to avoid rejection complications similar to those caused by organ transplants.

Let’s take the example of just one disease. In the U.S., there are 17 million diabetes patients. In a report on therapeutic cloning in mice published in the 2003 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, scientist Peter Membaerts found that, based on cloning experiment done in mice, if the same model could be developed for human cloning, each cure for each patient would require 10-100 human eggs. Membaerts puts the cost at $100,000-200,000 per patient. To treat the 17 million American diabetes patients, we would need 170 million-1.7 billion human eggs.

On average, a woman undergoing hyper ovarian stimulation releases 10-12 eggs per treatment. In other words, somewhere between 17 million and 170 million women would be required to donate their eggs. According to the 2000 census, there are about 60 million American women of reproductive age. We can hardly assume that all 60 million American women would be willing to donate their eggs; so, mathematically speaking, there would have to be donors from outside of the US to make up for the additional eggs required to treat the disease just among Americans.

The 2004 South Korean cloning of a human being required 242 eggs for one stem cell line. For 17 million patients, that means 4,114,000,000 human eggs, about 400 million women donors.

Dr. David Prentice, Professor of Life Sciences, at Indiana State University, now at the Family Research Council, cites a 2005 South Korean report in which the average stem cell line required 17 eggs. For diabetes, that means 289 million eggs. If we follow Dr. Prentice’s model, we would need about 29 million women donors.

Regardless of which model we follow, the reality is that millions of women will be required to provide eggs. Women whose eggs are harvested undergo a long, uncomfortable, painful and potentially dangerous process called ovarian hyperstimulation. Some of the drugs used have never been approved for this use by the FDA. Complications from the procedure include a potential link to ovarian cysts and cancers, severe pelvic pain, rupture of the ovaries, stroke, possible negative effects on future fertility, and even death.

In clinical studies using Pergonal for ovarian hyperstimulation, 2.4-5.5 percent of women developed complications. If we’re talking about 29 million women, that means at least 696,000 of them would develop complications. Over 100,000 would be classified as severe cases.

Women have also died from egg harvesting. Knowing this, most women would not consent to egg harvesting unless they felt they had no choice. These women could be described as those needing money, typically poor women, students, and/or women from developing countries. Such women are not in a position to give informed consent because their financial need impairs their ability to adequately weigh the risks involved.

Endorsing any form of legislation supporting embryonic stem cell research means putting thousands of women at risk of serious illness, disability, or even death. One would hope that an advanced and progressive country would treat its women better than that. Dr. Pia de Solenni is the director of life and women’s issues at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C.

Article published by http://www.humaneventsonline.com/

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Dangerous Human Egg Harvesting Targeted at Poor Women Is Costing Lives

by Dr. Pia de Solenni Posted Jul 27, 2005

Sometimes conservatives too quickly resign women’s issues to the liberals without realizing that there can be real common ground.

Recently, I wrote about the effects on women of cloning and embryonic stem cell research. While scientists, ethicists, and activists have all been going back and forth, little attention has been brought to the facts surrounding the extremely painful and risky egg harvesting procedure called ovarian hyperstimulation [OHS] that millions of women will be required to undergo for embryonic stem cell research to be widely used.

As in most cases, it often helps to put a face on the people who will be involved. The process of ovarian hyperstimulation is not one that normally attracts women. OHS is an intense regimen of hormone shots followed by an extremely uncomfortable egg harvesting procedure and poses the risk of impaired future fertility, stroke and even death.

The question remains, how is it that women will be enticed to part with their eggs? Naturally, when you want someone to do something that’s not at all pleasant, you find someone who really doesn’t have a say in the matter, someone without a voice or an alternative option. Egg harvesting would be targeted at women with financial difficulties, typically ethnic minorities, students, and the like.

There’s no need to guess about how the procedure affects the women who choose it. The real life stories already exist.

Calla Papademus was 22 and a Stanford University student when she answered an ad in the fall of 2000 offering $50,000 for egg donation to be used in in vitro fertilization [IVF]. She ultimately agreed to $15,000. She needed the money for school. Her academic background made her a valued candidate for couples looking for a donor egg so that they might have a child through IVF. During the process of ovarian hyperstimulation, Calla developed ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome [OHSS] and suffered a stroke as a result. For eight weeks, she slipped in and out of a coma. Eventually, she recovered only to regret her decision.

Jacqueline Rushton, a 32-year old Irish woman died in February 2003 from ovarian hyper-stimulation. She had hoped to conceive a child through IVF because she and her husband could not have children and desperately wanted children. Instead, she developed OHSS and suffered a painful, drawn out death.

An unnamed British woman was awarded a settlement this past June after undergoing ovarian hyperstimulation as part of an IVF treatment in 2000. OHSS caused her to have a stroke, which in turn caused her to miscarry. She has since had several strokes which have left the 34 year old woman brain damaged, in need of constant care. Her marriage has also ended.

Little is known about Temilola Akinbolagne, a south London woman who died from OHSS in April of this year. She collapsed at a bus stop while undergoing OHS.

In May 2005, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for a ban on trade in human eggs and stricter regulation of egg donation procedures. The resolution was announced as stories broke about mail-order eggs that British couples were buying from a company in Romania.

Raluca Tatu, a single mother and a nearly illiterate employee at a mattress factory in Bucharest, agreed to have her eggs harvested three times since 2004 and apparently developed OHSS after each procedure. She received no help from the clinic where she donated, but she continued to harvest her eggs because she needed the money.

Eventually, she took her co-worker Alina Netedu to the same clinic. Alina, coming from a similar socio economic background as Raluca, agreed to OHS as a way to harvest and sell her eggs because she needed money for her upcoming wedding. In January 2005, 20 of her eggs were harvested for which she received $250. Soon after the extraction, she developed OHSS and was hospitalized for 14 days. The clinic where the original procedure took place offered no assistance. Her attending doctor in the hospital made it clear that she would have died had she not sought immediate treatment.

According to the World Health Organization, these deaths are rare and occur about one in 50,000 treatment cycles. But if we return to the lowest number of women required in order to use embryonic stem cell treatments for diabetes in the US, just one disease, 29 million women, that would translate into 580 deaths.

Some women might accept the risks of OHS as suitable if they are using it as a means to conceive a child through IVF and, even then, it could be argued that the risk outweighs the advantage. But women who only need money and will receive no such personal gain as a child are women who aren’t in a position to give informed consent. Their financial need impairs their ability to adequately judge the risks involved.

Women may undergo OHS for different reasons, but the dangers and results are the same. Endorsing any type of cloning or embryonic stem cell legislation means that we willingly endanger the lives of some of the world’s most desperate women. This hardly can be called progress or pro-woman.

Interestingly, the only people who seem to understand this are solid pro-lifers and some feminists like Judy Norsigian, Executive Director of the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective. Her organization has articulated its position in a statement supported by 100 signatories, most of whom are considered staunch abortion advocates. They oppose embryonic stem cell research and cloning because they understand that this so-called scientific advance will cost the lives of women. Is that so hard to figure out?

Do the math. Do the science. It will cost women’s lives.

Dr. Pia de Solenni is the director of life and women’s issues at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C.

Article published by http://www.humaneventsonline.com/

Loving life will have the pleasure to interview Daniel McConchie, Director of Public Relations and Public Policy of Americans United for Life Chicago.

Americans United for Life incorporated in 1971 as the first national pro-life organization to counter, through national education, the growing threat of disrespect for human life.

Americans United for Life (AUL) defends human life through vigorous legislative, judicial, and educational efforts, state by state.

As a non-profit, public-interest bioethics law firm, AUL attorneys work tirelessly across the country to pass common-sense laws to:

# Mandate standards for abortion clinics to protect the health and safety of women and correct often substandard conditions.
# Protect the rights of conscience of all healthcare professionals.
# Protect parental rights, ensuring parents and guardians are involved in medical decisions of children.
# Protect unborn victims from criminal violence, including homicide.
# Ban all forms of human cloning.
# Promote adult stem cell, cord blood and other forms of life-affirming stem cell research.
# Prevent euthanasia and assisted suicide.
# Inform women of the health risks of abortion including the link between abortion and breast cancer.

You may contact Americans United for Life via mail at 310 S. Peoria Street, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60607-3534. Or contact Daniel McConchie, Director of Public Relations and Public Policy of Americans United for Life, at (312) 492-7234.

http://www.aul.org/

Rev. Dr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk: Guest Speaker at the Rebuilding the Culture of Life 2005 Conference.

Rev. Dr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, Mass. As an undergraduate he earned degrees in philosophy, biochemistry, molecular cell biology, and chemistry, and did laboratory research on hormonal regulation of the immune response.

He later earned a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Yale University, where he focused on cloning genes for neurotransmitter transporters which are expressed in the brain.


He also worked for several years as a molecular biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Fr. Tad studied for five years in Rome where he did advanced work in dogmatic theology and in bioethics, examining the question of delayed ensoulment of the human embryo. He has testified before members of the Massachusetts and Wisconsin State Legislatures during deliberations over a bill to ban human cloning. He has given presentations and participated in roundtables on stem cells, cloning, and other biotechnologies around the country. He is parochial vicar at St. Patrick's Church in Falmouth, Mass.

# The Slippery Slope of Biotechnology by Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk
http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/guests/tadeuszpacholczyk/biotechnology.asp


# Priest Discusses Ethics of Embryo Research and Cloning
http://www.massnews.com/2002_editions/12_Dec/121002_mn_priest_cloning.shtml

# Stem Cell Research, Cloning and Human Embryos
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=BC04C01

The articles contained here do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of Nebraskans United for Life or its affiliates.
They are a sampling of what the media is saying in relation to Life Issues and for informational purposes only.

Loving life will have the pleasure to have YOU on the show.

Call Loving Life on 11/14/05 at 402-571-0200 and ask for extension #16.

You will reach our Producer, T. Scott and he will put you through us.

We will be talking about life issues such as abortion, post-abortion, stem cell research, euthanasia, home for mothers in-waiting or any other pro-life topic.

We will be waiting for you!

Loving life will have the pleasure to interview Greg Schleppenbach of the Nebraska Catholic Conference.

Loving Life and Greg Schleppenbach will discuss their upcoming event: "Rebuilding the Culture of Life 2005," which will take place on November 11th and 12th in Lincoln. For more information visit our Events Calendar HERE or visit the Nebraska Catholic Conference site here.

The Nebraska Catholic Conference is an activity carried on jointly and cooperatively by the three dioceses of the Catholic Church located in Nebraska. Its primary focus is on public policy. Through the Conference, the Church, on a statewide basis, officially interacts and communicates with government agencies and officials, and with other organizations and groups, both religious and secular.

The Nebraska Catholic Conference is operated pursuant to the authority and direction of three Diocesan Bishops. The Bishops are the principal administrators and leaders of the Church in Nebraska, but first and foremost they are teachers. They exercise their teaching role by defining moral principles and applying them within specific contexts, one of which is public policy. The Conference is the mechanism by which the Bishops speak with one voice relative to public policy.

The Nebraska Catholic Conference is a federation. A written constitution is its organizational document. The members of the federation are the Archdiocese of Omaha, the Diocese of Lincoln, and the Diocese of Grand Island. Each diocese is under the authority of a Diocesan Bishop. The Bishops serve as the officers of the Conference.

In addition to its officers, the Conference is composed of one representative from each of the three dioceses in each of the following categories: Education, Social Services, Health, Public Affairs and Pastoral Ministry. Also, each diocese may have two representatives of the laity. All positions are appointed by the respective Diocesan Bishop. The appointees include priests, women religious and laity.

Policies and positions of the Nebraska Catholic Conference are determined, after study and discussion, by a majority vote of the members. However, no policy or position is adopted unless it has an affirmative vote from each Diocesan Bishop. Thus, the Conference, as a state-level agency, acts form a position of unity and coordination. When the Nebraska Catholic Conference does not hold or act upon a position on a certain issue, each Diocesan Bishop is free to speak out publicly or act upon that issue as he sees fit, either on his own behalf or on behalf of his diocese.

The day-to-day operation of the Conference is the responsibility of an executive director and assisting staff employed by the Conference. To facilitate its interaction with state government, the Nebraska Catholic Conference maintains its office in the capital city, Lincoln.

The Conference also operates the Bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro Life Activities and the Nebraska Federation of Catholic School Parents

You may contact the Nebraska Catholic Conference via mail at 215 Centennial Mall South, Suite 410, Lincoln, NE 68508-1813. Or (402) 477-7517; FAX: (402) 477-1503. Cick HERE to go to their site.

nebrcc@alltel.net

http://www.nebcathcon.org/

NUFL Judicial Updates
Quickcourse on Harriet Miers.


Harriet Ellan Miers
Born:August 10, 1945
Current position: White House Counsel
White House Bio: Currently, Harriet Miers serves as Counsel to the President. Most recently, she served as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff, and prior to that she was Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary.
Harriet Miers' Resignation Letter

Oct. 27, 2005
Dear Mr. President:

I write to withdraw as a nominee to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. I have been greatly honored and humbled by the confidence that you have shown in me, and have appreciated immensely your support and the support of many others. However, I am concerned that the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interest of the country.

As you know, members of the Senate have indicated their intention to seek documents about my service in the White House in order to judge whether to support me. I have been informed repeatedly that in lieu of records, I would be expected to testify about my service in the White House to demonstrate my experience and judicial philosophy. While I believe that my lengthy career provides sufficient evidence for consideration of my nomination, I am convinced the efforts to obtain Executive Branch materials and information will continue.

As I stated in my acceptance remarks in the Oval Office, the strength and independence of our three branches of government are critical to the continued success of this great Nation. Repeatedly in the course of the process of confirmation for nominees for other positions, I have steadfastly maintained that the independence of the Executive Branch be preserved and its confidential documents and information not be released to further a confirmation process. I feel compelled to adhere to this position, especially related to my own nomination. Protection of the prerogatives of the Executive Branch and continued pursuit of my confirmation are in tension. I have decided that seeking my confirmation should yield.

I share your commitment to appointing judges with a conservative judicial philosophy, and I look forward to continuing to support your efforts to provide the American people judges who will interpret the law, not make it. I am most grateful for the opportunity to have served your Administration and this country.

Most respectfully,
Harriet Ellan Miers

Before joining the President’s staff, she was Co-Managing Partner at Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP from 1998-2000. She had worked at the Locke Purnell, Rain & Harrell firm, or its predecessor, from 1972 until its merger with the Liddell Sapp firm. From 1995 until 2000, she was chair of the Texas Lottery Commission. In 1992, Harriet became the first woman president of the Texas State Bar, and in 1985 she became the first woman president of the Dallas Bar Association. She also served as a Member-At-Large on the Dallas City Council.

Harriet received both her undergraduate and law degrees from Southern Methodist University.

Views from the Internet

Father Frank Pavone (priestsforlife.org):

Our prayers are with Harriet Miers this morning as she begins this important process. We trust the President’s judgment and his determination to fulfill his promises about the kind of Justices he wants to see on the Court.

It is the judgment of certain liberal Senators, however, that gives us more concern. The demand that some make for preserving the current ideological balance on the Court, or for more mainstream nominees, is ridiculous. Do we have a more mainstream Constitution in some generations but not in others? Or do they think it is up to the Justices to re-write the Constitution? In short, there is no Constitutional requirement that Justice O’Connor’s replacement should be a clone of Justice O’Connor.

The place for arguments about ideology and mainstream positions is in political races. For the purposes of confirming nominees to the Court, the focus should be on qualifications to be a Justice, not on personal views on controversial issues.

Ann Coulter (anncoulter.com): I eagerly await the announcement of President Bush's real nominee to the Supreme Court. If the president meant Harriet Miers seriously, I have to assume Bush wants to go back to Crawford and let Dick Cheney run the country.

Unfortunately for Bush, he could nominate his Scottish terrier Barney, and some conservatives would rush to defend him, claiming to be in possession of secret information convincing them that the pooch is a true conservative and listing Barney's many virtues — loyalty, courage, never jumps on the furniture ...

Harriet Miers went to Southern Methodist University Law School, which is not ranked at all by the serious law school reports and ranked No. 52 by US News and World Report. Her greatest legal accomplishment is being the first woman commissioner of the Texas Lottery.

Harriet Miers NEWS!

# Miers to Face Questions on Abortion Views:
WASHINGTON - As doubts grow about her abortion views, Harriet Miers will face vigorous questioning on privacy rights and her qualifications for the Supreme Court, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Sunday.

# Some conservatives not thrilled by Miers:
Bush has picked a woman who for years has served as his personal attorney and as a White House official. She is the first Supreme Court nominee since William Rehnquist in 1971 to never have served as a judge.
This nomination is an historic gamble by a president whom his Democratic adversaries see as gravely weakened. The nomination risks alienating the conservative base to whom Bush has long promised a genuinely conservative nominee, along the lines of Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.

Loving life had the pleasure to interview Mark Crutcher from Life Dynamics on 10/31/05.

"We're not here just to put up a good fight. We're here to win, because winning is how the killing stops."
-LifeDynamics.com

As an anti-abortion pro-life organization, they fight to change the abortion picture - to end legal abortion and return the right to life to unborn babies from the moment of conception. Their motto is, "Pro-Life: without compromise, without exception, without apology."

Life Dynamics was founded as a non-profit pro-life organization in 1992 by pro-life activist Mark Crutcher. They have gained a reputation among pro-life groups for their abortion research, their respected Abortion Malpractice Litigation campaign against abortion providers and their aggressive anti abortion Direct Mail Program that helps other pro-life organizations target Planned Parenthood, National Abortion Federation or other abortion clinics in their area.

In the pro-life movement their particular pro-life organization is also known for undercover investigations against abortion providers such as our baby body parts investigation. They have exposed the sale of baby body parts, and most recently they exposed a cover-up of child sex abuse by America's two largest abortion providers, Planned Parenthood & the National Abortion Federation (NAF).

Mark Crutcher

Mark Crutcher is the founder and president of Life Dynamics Incorporated. Under Mark's direction, Life Dynamics has done groundbreaking research on the abortion industry and has conducted several unique undercover investigations that have exposed scandalous and even illegal activities at abortion clinics. From documenting how Planned Parenthood and NAF clinics are concealing child rape, to exposing the practice of abortion clinics selling the body parts of aborted babies,
Life Dynamics leaves no stone unturned in it's fight to return full legal protection to every child - born and pre-born.

Mark has been a recognized leader in the pro-life movement for many years and was the winner of both the Cardinal Von Galen Award presented by Human Life International and the Cardinal O'Connor Pro-Life Hall of Fame Award presented by Letatus. In 1987, Mark developed the Life Activist Seminar. In teaching this seminar across the country, he personally trained more than 15,000 prolife activists. Mark has spoken before numerous right to life groups, prolife events, and he is frequently asked to appear on TV and radio programs to comment on the pro-life, pro-choice debate or to defend the right to life position.

You may contact Life Dynamics, Inc. via mail at PO Box 2226, Denton, TX 76202. Their phone number is (940) 380-8800 and their fax number is (940) 380-8700.
To visite the official LifeDynamics site, CLICK HERE.

Mark Crutcher is also the Author for On Message: The Pro-Life Handbook. Understanding and Communicating the Pro-Life Position.
Over 90 pro-choice abortion arguments totally destroyed! This new book takes on the toughest issues in the abortion controversy and gives you the answers to the most difficult abortion questions.

http://lifedynamics.com/

NUFL Judicial Updates
Quickcourse on Judge John Roberts
Who is John Roberts?

Comments Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts has made regarding abortion: Taken from AP News

"We continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled." Roberts, in a 1991 Supreme Court brief he co-wrote for the first Bush administration, while he was principal deputy solicitor general.

"The statement in the brief was my position as an advocate for a client." Roberts, explaining the brief during his 2003 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to a federal appeals court.

" Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. It's a little more than settled. It was reaffirmed in the face of a challenge that it should be overruled in the Casey decision. Accordingly, it's the settled law of the land. There's nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent, as well as Casey." Roberts, during the confirmation hearing, when asked for his own views on Roe v. Wade.

"I don't think it's appropriate for me to criticize it as judicial activism. ... My definition of judicial activism is when the court departs from applying the rule of law and undertakes legislative or executive decisions." Roberts, during the confirmation hearing, on whether Roe v. Wade was judicial activism.

A small sampling of what's being said on the Internet

Father Frank Pavone Father Frank Pavone from Preists for Life

"Thankfully, President Bush has selected Judge John Roberts, a highly qualified nominee, to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Judge Roberts understands the difference between applying laws and rewriting them. He understands that he cannot rewrite the Constitution to fit his own personal political opinions, but that instead he must faithfully adhere to it."

Quotes From NOW on Roberts Nomination Taken from the NOW site "Once again, George Bush has chosen partisan politics and paybacks over uniting the country," (NOW) President Kim Gandy.

"George Bush could have chosen a moderate conservative who would be a voice of reason on the Court. Instead he chose, characteristically, to pick a fight. We intend to give him one." (NOW) President Kim Gandy.

A small sampling from anncoulter.com: From Conservative Ann Coulter

It means absolutely nothing that NARAL and Planned Parenthood attack him: They also attacked Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy and David Hackett Souter.

The only way a supreme court nominee could win the approval of NARAL and Planned Parenthood would be to actually perform an abortion during his confirmation hearing, live, on camera, and preferably a partial birth one.

It means nothing that Roberts wrote briefs arguing for the repeal of Roe v. Wade when he worked for Republican administrations. He was arguing on behalf of his client, the United States of America. Roberts has specifically disassociated himself from those cases, dropping a footnote to a 1994 law review article that said:

In the interest of full disclosure, the author would like to point out that as Deputy Solicitor General for a portion of the 1992-93 Term, he was involved in many of the cases discussed below. In the interest of even fuller disclosure, he would also like to point out that his views as a commentator on those cases do not necessarily reflect his views as an advocate for his former client, the United States.

This would have been the legal equivalent, after O.J.'s acquittal, of Johnnie Cochran saying, "hey, I never said the guy was innocent. I was just doing my job."

"The Constitution doesn't mean whatever you blessed want it to mean. It has a text, it has a meaning. Unless we can abide by it, it falls apart."
-Antonin Scalia


The articles contained here do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of Nebraskans United for Life or its affiliates.
Nebraskans United for Life does not guarantee the accuracy of this information as it is taken from multiple sources both public and credited.



Alberto R. Gonzales

Date of Birth: August 4, 1955
Political Party: Republican
Current position: Attorney General of the United States
Assumed political stance: Political Moderate on issues such as abortion.
Bio in brief (from whitehouse.gov)
Gonzales was born in San Antonio, Texas and raised in Houston. He is a graduate of Texas public schools, Rice University, and Harvard Law School. Gonzales served in the United States Air Force between 1973 and 1975, and attended the United States Air Force Academy between 1975 and 1977. He and his wife, Rebecca Turner Gonzales, have three sons.

Quote:

"I would respectfully disagree with your statement that we're becoming more like our enemy. We are nothing like our enemy, Senator. While we are struggling, mightily, trying to find out what happened at Abu Ghraib, they are beheading people like Danny Pearl and Nick Berg. We are nothing like our enemies, Senator." During confirmation hearings.

Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

Date of Birth: April 1, 1950
Political Party: Republican
Current position: Judge w/ United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Assumed political stance: Constitutional Conservative
Bio in brief:

Graduated from Yale Law School, Deputy Assistant Attorney General under Reagan. Often compared to Scalia both in position and way of performing his duties. Has been strong on abortion restriction but not always on the pro-life side with his decisions (agreed with denying application for asylum for woman from China who cited Chinas forced abortion policy(Xue-Jie Chen v. Ashcroft, 2004)).
[No photo available]

Emilio M. Garza

Date of Birth: Exact date unknown/1947
Political Party: Republican
Current position: Judge w/ United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Assumed political stance: Constitution Conservative
Bio in brief (Partially from wikipedia.org): graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1969, receiving an MA there in 1970. He then joined the U.S. Marine Corps, in which he was an officer from 1970-1973. Garza earned his Juris Doctorate at the University of Texas School of Law in 1976.

On February 2, 1988, President Ronald Reagan appointed Garza to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, to fill the seat vacated by William S. Sessions. The U.S. Senate confirmed Garza's appointment on April 19 of that year. On April 11, 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Garza to the Court of Appeals, and he was confirmed by the Senate on May 24, 1991.

Unapologetic in his opinion Roe v Wade should be overturned.
[No photo available]

Edith Jones

Date of Birth: April 7, 1949
Political Party: Republican
Current position: Judge w/ United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Assumed political stance: Conservative (Not pro-life: Anti Abortion/Pro Death Penalty)
Bio in brief (source wikipedia.org):
Jones graduated from Cornell University in 1971. She received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1974. She was in private practice in Houston, Texas from 1974 until 1985, working for the firm of Andrews, Kurth, Campbell & Jones, where she became the firm's first female partner. She specialized in bankruptcy law. She also served as General Counsel for the Republican Party of Texas from 1982-83.

She was nominated to the Fifth Circuit by President Ronald Reagan on February 27, 1985, and confirmed by the United States Senate on April 3, 1985. She received her commission on April 4, 1985, at the age of 36.

She sits on the board of directors of the Boy Scouts of America, the Garland Walker American Inns of Court, and is a member of several American Bar Association committees.

Jones has been mentioned frequently as being on the list of potential nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chicago Sun-Times and several other newspapers reported on July 1, 2005 that she had also been considered for nomination to the Supreme Court during the presidency of George H.W. Bush.

Quote:
"That the court's constitutional decisionmaking leaves our nation in a position of willful blindness to evolving knowledge should trouble any dispassionate observer not only about the abortion decisions, but about a number of other areas in which the court unhesitatingly steps into the realm of social policy under the guise of constitutional adjudication," (McCorvey v. Hill)
[No photo available]

Edith B Clement

Date of Birth: April 29, 1948
Political Party: Republican
Current position: Louisiana Representative on the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council
Assumed political stance: Conservative but considered more moderate than other nominees.
Brief Bio (source www.usdoj.gov):

Judge Clement was sworn in as a United States District Judge in 1991 and is presently serving as Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Louisiana. She was a maritime attorney in the New Orleans firm of Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre from 1975 - 1991.

Judge Clement received her undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama in 1969 and her J.D. from Tulane Law School in 1973, and served as law clerk to the late U.S. District Judge Herbert W. Christenberry. She is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, the Federal Bar Association, the American Law Institute, the Federalist Society, the Tulane Law School's Inn of Court, the Committee on the Administrative Office of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and she serves as the Eastern District of Louisiana Representative on the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council.

She is married and has two children.

Loving life had the pleasure to interview Sherry Collie Sisters in Christ on 10/24/05.

Sisters In Christ, Inc. is a non-profit Christian ministry that provides healing, freedom and hope in Christ for women who have had an abortion(s).

Their mission is to provide healing, freedom and hope in Christ to post-abortive women through the study and application of the Bible. They believe all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:1) They recognize that through Jesus Christ there is salvation. They share and teach that Jesus Christ is the way for healing, freedom, and hope.
Sherry Collie founder of Sisters In Christ
Their greatest desire is to provide their complete program to every pregnancy resource center, organization and group desiring to reach out and help post abortive women heal. Although they strongly agree that bible study groups are the best method of providing their program, they are so excited that they will also offer their program and resources through their website.

Sisters In Christ is committed in providing the following services and resources:

# Post Abortion Program, packaged with a comprehensive leaders guide and kit, will help facilitators offer their in-depth, life changing Bible Study.
# Instructive videos/DVD’s will accompany their bible study. It will feature post-abortive men sharing their experiences, the steps to healing and the application of their Bible Study.
# Website offers information, help and answers for post abortion questions and needs. Their Bible Study, videos and resources will be offered online soon.
# Workshops provide education, information and instruction for pregnancy resource centers, organizations and groups desiring to help post abortive women.
# Speakers are available for fundraisers, church services, women’s retreats and conferences desiring personal post abortion testimonies and information.

You may contact Sisters in Christ Inc. via mail at P. O. Box 231663, Montgomery, AL 36123-1663. Or contact Sherry Collie (Executive Director) directly by phone at (334) 396-9993 and/or Cellular (334) 220-1940.
Click HERE to go to their site.
http://www.sistersinchristinc.org/

Loving life had the pleasure to interview Marie Larson from the Human Life Alliance.

Founded in 1977 by dedicated pro-life volunteers, HLA operates out of a small office in Saint Paul, Minnesota employing only three full-time staff members. HLA keeps administrative and overhead costs to a minimum by relying on faithful volunteers and a student internship program as a vital part of the operational team.

HLA seeks to educate all people on life issues by:

# Raising awareness of the humanity of the unborn child and exposing the gruesome realities of abortion.

# Opposing euthanasia in all its forms, both active and passive, and fighting for the protection of all human life including the terminally ill, elderly, disabled and medically vulnerable.

# Promoting chastity, abstinence until marriage and educating on the errors and health risks of "safe-sex" promotion.

HLA's priority project is to publish and distribute advertising supplements, focusing on abortion, euthanasia and chastity, through mainstream media and college newspapers. Reaching a combined circulation of nearly 30,000,000 copies over the past twelve years, these extremely powerful and creative advertising supplements are the cause of vigorous debate on high school and college campuses across the nation receiving widespread acclaim.

Human Life Alliance distributes over 1 million copies of its publications every year.

You may contact the Human Life Alliance via mail at 3570 Lexington Ave. N., Suite 205, St. Paul, MN 55125. Or by Phone: 651-484-1040 Fax: 651-484-2264.
Visit their web page http://humanlife.org/.

Loving life had the pleasure to interview Mother Patricia from Friends of the child Jesus and Divine Innocence on 10/03/05.

Patricia De Menezes is the author of "Way of Divine Innocence."

FOLLOWING THE WAY OF DIVINE INNOCENCE
Spiritual and practical instruction from Our Lord, Our Lady and St Joseph through the Inspiration of Divine Innocence, Surbiton England
A teaching to help us regain our innocence and strive for perfection within the One Holy Family of God

The charism of Divine Innocence, Surbiton, Surrey, England has come through inspired messages given to the instrument, Patricia de Menezes beginning in 1979 and this inspiration continues to be given. This instruction given by Our Lord, Our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph is to help us live the life of the Holy Family and to walk in the Way of God’s Divine Innocence. It consists of a spiritual and practical training rooted in the sacramental and devotional life of the Church, to help us regain our lost innocence and to help restore peace to the family of mankind.

Patricia de Menezes was born Patricia Warburton Adamson in Bristol England during the War years on the 4th of March 1940, the youngest in a family of four boys and two girls. After the family house was destroyed during a bombing raid the children had to be evacuated to safer areas in the country. Many places refused accommodation to those with children so Patricia’s mother was obliged to separate the children because six children were difficult to place together. Patricia as a baby was sent to different families and eventually to the orphanage and nursery of the writer and broadcaster J.B. Priestly. Towards the end of the war the family were again re-united in the northern seaside town of Blackpool where Patricia grew up and went to school.

Her religious background was Protestant. She was sent as a young child to the Salvation Army services. Later at different schools she was required to attend the Methodist, Baptist and later the Anglican Communions. Prejudice against Catholics was very much part of her background. She attended the Protestant Sunday School, heard the Bible stories and learnt hymns of praise and thanksgiving. It was while singing the Hymn; "There is a green hill far away behind a city wall, where Our dear Lord was Crucified he died to save us all" that Patricia as a child saw a vision of the Crucified Saviour. She remembers feeling deep sorrow for Jesus on the Cross.

At the local Catholic School she saw a procession of First Communion children, the girls dressed in their white dresses, veils, white gloves and carrying white prayer books. Patricia remembered longing to be like them. Warned that if she ever entered a Catholic Church there would be dire consequences, only made her more interested in seeing inside a Catholic Church. One day after school she achieved this and remembered standing beneath a large statue of the Sacred Heart, wondering why the Heart of Jesus was shown outside his body. She told no one she had entered this forbidden territory.

When she was 16 years old she left England for Canada to join her eldest brother and his wife and children. She worked as an au-pair for two years and then joined an insurance company and did general office work. Being artistic and dyslexic she found this difficult and boring. Her real interest was art and she studied commercial illustration moving to New York in 1962 at the age of twenty one, first to work and later to study Art and Fashion Illustration. During her stay in New York she met a Catholic man from Goa and both returned to England . She agreed before marriage to allow the children to be brought up as Catholics. The couple were married at the Church of Our Lady of Victories, Kensington, England in 1965. Their first child, a boy was baptised although his mother had not yet received the Sacrament.

She continued her studies at the Maidenhead College of Art in Berkshire, where she received the Southern Region Diploma in Art and Design with first class honours specialising in both Fashion and Jewellery Design. She received the ‘Licentiate of the Society of Designer Craftsmen’. When offered a placement at the Royal Collage of Art, she had to decline because a second child was on the way. She had to make the decision between a career or motherhood. She felt the children needed their mother at home. In due time a third child was born, a girl. Patricia worked from home as a freelance designer.

Having promised a priest to raise the children as Catholics, she felt obliged to take instruction in order to fulfil that promise. Having been warned as a child that Catholics were heretics who worshipped statues, she inquired if Catholics were Christians! The surprised priest assured her they were. She had no intention of becoming a Catholic herself, although during this time she felt an overwhelming desire to be baptised. Those giving her instruction mistook this desire to be an understanding of the Faith and a desire to become a Catholic, Patricia simply wanted to be baptised. She arrived at the Church of the English Martyrs, in Reading, Berkshire, for her Baptism and was asked what Saint’s name she had chosen. Patricia stated that she did not know any saints, so she was given Our Lady’s name, Mary. Without understanding the full significance of what was happening she was baptised into the Catholic Church and felt an overwhelming sense of love and forgiveness. Patricia had not understood the instruction in the Faith because she had never before come across the Catholic vocabulary and was too shy to ask what it all meant. She did not know that Christ was really present when she received Holy Communion.

One day Patricia was riding her bicycle through the countryside and as she passed a field of ripe corn blowing in the wind, she heard a loud voice say: "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE." She knew that the voice was from God and she felt a great desire to find this Bread of Life and eat it and wondered for a long time where it could be found. Only later did she realise that Jesus is the Bread of Life and Catholic’s have the opportunity receive this wonderful Bread of Life every day. She came to understand that Christ’s Real Presence, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity is in the Blessed Sacrament we receive in Holy Communion.

Having accepted that Catholics were Christians, she thought they were just another Christian denomination. She received further brief instruction, which again she did not really understand and one year after her Baptism she was Confirmed. All instruction then stopped. However, she did not forget her promise to the Priest to bring her children up as Catholics, which she understood as bringing them to Church on Sunday but she did not know that Sunday is a holy day of obligation and a picnic in the country or other family outings could take precedence. During Mass she would copy what everyone else was doing. She avoided Confession, there being no way she could copy those attending private confessions and she had no idea what she was expected to do in the Confessional. She was not aware of the full significance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the other Sacraments. It was through reading the Catholic Truth Society books at the back of the Church that she came to know the lives of some of the Saints. Patricia had no devotion to the Mother of God and never said the Rosary.

In 1984 Patricia met a Priest who helped her to make a General Confession. The same Priest suggested that she join a Rosary group and make an Act of Consecration to Our Lady; he told her that Our Lady would take care of her. This Priest invited her to a Rosary group in a private house but Patricia had never heard the Rosary said before and was very suspicious of giving any honour to anyone but to God. When the leader of the Rosary group asked for Patricia’s coat, Patricia replied "No thank you I might not be staying!" She was afraid and had decided to stay at the back of the room so that she could leave promptly if necessary. Her plan did not work and she was invited to the front and given a leaflet on which there was an act of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Not understanding the act of Consecration at the time, which she now knows was simply placing oneself in the motherly care of the Mother of Jesus, she prayed that if this Consecration was pleasing to God she assented to it but if not, that He would protect her from it!

A little later Patricia came across the devotion of the Divine Mercy and she placed herself between the two rays of Mercy and Love coming from the Heart of Jesus as recommended in the devotion. Soon after this Our Lord and Our Lady began appearing to Patricia. They began to teach her the Faith and to give her the Message of Divine Innocence in the form of regular messages. These messages took the form of visions and interior locutions. Many of the visions are a vivid visual Catechism. Some of the messages are of a universal character for the Church while others are of an individual nature for Patricia’s own spiritual life, but Jesus told Patricia that what he gave to her he gave to everyone personally.

As Patricia’s knowledge of the faith deepened so did her understanding of the theological and doctrinal content of the messages. Our Lord followed a particular teaching programme and grace gave her a hunger for the Bread of Life. She was drawn to the Sacraments; Confession, Mass and Catholic devotions. A Jesuit Priest encouraged her to read one page of the Penny Catechism each day. Our Lord asked her to begin saying the Rosary and Divine Office, to study her Catechism more diligently. Later she studied theology in a formal way and with others in the community of Divine Innocence she received her B.A. Divinity Degree and has completed the Masters Degree course in Religious Education and Catechesis. Our Lord encourages all the faithful to undertake a life long study of the faith.

The messages given to Patricia show that Our Lord is the Source and Sustenance of the Way of Divine Innocence, Our Lady is the Mother Foundress of the Divine Innocence Family, the Holy Family and St. Joseph is the Protector and Guardian of this Family. We are all invited to become committed members of the Holy Family, to be one Holy Family and People of God. The Way of Divine Innocence helps all men and women to understand and carry out their motherly and fatherly roles according to gender and vocation, according to God’s divine order of things. As mother foundress of the movement of Divine Innocence, Our Lord and Our Lady have asked Patricia to carry out her motherly role and responsibility in this community which now has members in 43 countries world-wide.

For more information about the Way of Divine Innocence please contact Divine Innocence Box no. 676a, Surbiton, Surrey, KT5 8WR. Telephone no. +44(0) 208 399 9057.

Visit the Family of Divine Innocence's web page!
http://divine-innocence.org/

Loving life had the pleasure to interview Jennifer Oliver, Life Chain coordinator on 09/19/05.

On the first Sunday in October (2nd), Life Chain invites the churches in each city and town across North America to stand on a designated local sidewalk and pray for one hour, while holding one of several Life Chain pro-life messages.

During this peaceful and prayerful public witness, participants pray for our nation and to end abortion. It is a visual statement of solidarity by the Christian community that abortion kills children, that the Church supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception, and that abortion is contrary to the nature of God (Psalms 139, Leviticus 18:21).

# The Life Chain will be held in the following locations: Omaha:
From 46th to 90th on Dodge and Blondo to Hickory Street, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m..
Jennifer Oliver will have signs available to pick up on September 29th (Thursday before the Life Chain) at Glad Tidings Church, located at 78th & Hickory. At 7:00pm they will hold a prayer meeting, then, the signs will be distributed. "I really encourage everyone to come for prayer together," says Jennifer Oliver.
You may contact Jennifer Oliver via e-mail or by phone at 402-315-9127.

# Lincoln: "O" Street at 27th, 33rd, 48th, 56th, 70th, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.. For more information call Pam McCabe at (402) 489-7968.

For a COMPLETE list of Cities in Nebraska and their contact names and phone numbers, please, CLICK HERE.

http://lifechain.net/NatList_V2.html#NEBRASKA