More Government-Funded Embryonic Stem Cell Research Approved

Abortion,

NIH Director Francis Collins has approved four more human embryonic stem cell lines as eligible for federal taxpayer funding. Embryonic stem cell research is controversial because human embryos (which many of us consider unborn children) are used. Their stem cells are harvested, causing the embryo to die, and those cells are then used for medical research.

The theory is that embryonic stem cells can be used to replicate other cells in the human body, and could lead to cures for diseases and disabilities. However, the actual results produced by embryonic stem cell research have been sketchy at best–especially compared to adult stem cell research, which does not involve killing any embryos.

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Paragould Nativity Scene Still Making Headlines

Christmas, Current Events

Last December, school administrators in Greene County faced controversy over a Nativity Scene one employee put on a bulletin board. We wrote about that story rather extensively here.

It seems the bulletin board is still stirring controversy. Americans United for Separation of Church and State has written letters to the school, and is threatening further legal action if the school does not bar the bulletin board display in the future.

Here’s the bottom line: We stand with the school’s decision to keep the Nativity Scene bulletin board display. In our opinion, those bulletin boards constitute a limited public forum on which school officials can place approved material. School administrators approved the Nativity display. It would be an infringement of their freedom of speech for the courts to say the school doesn’t have the right to let teachers put up Christmas decorations like the Nativity–especially given the fact that Christmas is a federal holiday observed at every level of our government.

Read the latest news on the Nativity bulletin board display here.

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“Selective Reduction Abortions” On the Rise

Abortion

What happens when a woman discovers she’s expecting twins, but doesn’t want more than one baby? According to new research, she could abort one of them.

In 2010, 85 women chose to have “selective reduction” abortions–meaning they were expecting multiple births, but chose to limit the number of births by aborting one or more of the children.

The rising use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) is partly to blame. IVF generally involves attempting to implant multiple embryos inside a woman in hopes that one of them will actually implant, leading to a pregnancy. However, it is not uncommon for more than one embryo to implant, which means that the mother could give birth to twins or triplets.

It goes without saying that we believe that “selective reduction” abortion is absolutely abhorrent. The Department of Health reports that 78% of these abortions were based on the belief that “there is substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.” In other words, the decision was not made based on life or health of the mother. It was simply based on a perceived risk that the child might be a burden.

This is a very dangerous slippery slope. We’ve posted articles in the past about the popularity of sex-selective abortions in other countries. If these trends continue, one has to ask “Where does it all stop?”

Click here to read the full article.

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