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When no more women cry, when no more babies die . . . |
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Today another young woman cried, and another sweet innocent baby died. Was it her “choice”? No. Did she come under intense pressure? Yes. And within hours of having the abortion she started telling herself that she would “make it up to her baby” by “deserving every bad thing that would happen to her for the rest of her life”. This young lady I met just a few short weeks ago as she started the rollercoaster ride of emotions that come with finding yourself unexpectedly pregnant and with no support. What is so tragic is that the one putting the pressure on her to abort was her own mother, the very woman who should have cradled her in her arms and held her safe and tried to help her on a more positive life path. This scenario is not new – it happens day in, day out, here in Queensland and all around the world.
One key step to slowing and eventually stopping abortion is to educate young people about their worth and their value, because only then can they appreciate the worth and value of the little life they have created.
What can you do to help stop abortion before it becomes an issue due mainly to physical relationships outside of marriage? Become an educator with one of the wonderful values-based educational courses available to schools such as Choices, Decisions, Outcomes (www.cdo.net.au) run by the Priceless Life Centre (www.pricelesslifecentre.org.au, ph 07 3219 4288).
Recently we received some media attention to comment on a website (thehormonefactory.com) approved by the Education Department as suitable for children in the 10-12 year old age range. One page on the website states that ‘abortion may make you feel sad’ but ‘you can always have another baby’. One is a gross understatement, the other, a scenario that is not true for every female.
A woman I know in her 40’s underwent an abortion at the age of 18 after pressure from her parents — she has not found a husband and at her age, it is highly unlikely she will ever have a child. Another young woman in her 20’s aborted her first and most likely, only child. She is still with the man who fathered the baby but due to a trail bike accident he had not long after the abortion, he is now a quadriplegic. So this was the only baby she would ever have — with him.
These two experiences are the very real consequences of abortion, and we in the pro-life movement have a lot of work ahead of us. We all need to do ‘just that little bit more’ to raise awareness about the issue of abortion.
Many people took up the challenge to highlight abortion as an election issue recently, in particular the views held by Bonny Barry, previous Member for Aspley. Thanks to the good work of some RTLA members and Family First supporters (see p3) letterboxing her electorate prior to the election, and many of our CLQ members helping hand out for an opposing candidate, Barry lost her seat. This shows what can be achieved — everyone doing something is very effective.
Even though the elections are over, we hope you will continue to be active and contact the newly elected politicians and ask them their views on pro-life issues. Let them know there are many people “like us” in their electorate ie people who vote prolife. We have approximately 3 years to build on what has been achieved in this election. Let’s go to it with gusto!
Teresa Martin
State President
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Grapefruit, Pill interaction spurred dangerous clot, doctors say
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/03/grapefruit-clot.html
Excerpt from CBC news 3 April 2009 and related sources
A combination of factors — including a grapefruit diet, birth control pills and a genetic mutation — nearly cost a U.S. woman her leg, doctors say (published in the April 2009 issue of the Lancet medical journal).
In November 2008, a 42-year-old woman went to an emergency department in Olympia, Wash., with a badly swollen and purple left leg, breathing difficulties and light-headedness. An ultrasound revealed she had a large clot blocking the vein in her left leg. She was administered clot-busting drugs directly into the blockage to dissolve it and a stent was placed in the vein to widen it. Dr Lucinda Grande advised the woman to stop taking her oral contraceptive, because estrogen in the Pill causes a small increased risk of blood clots. That, combined with the grapefruits swhe had eaten, which inhibit the breakdown of medications within the body and her having a genetic variant, called the factor V Leiden mutation which is linked to blood-clot disorder, was the recipe for her near life-ending experience.
Grapefruit juice is known to block the action of an enzyme called CYP3A4 which breaks down the contraceptive hormone oestrogen. This in turn boosts levels of coagulability — the tendency of blood to clot.
Grapefruit juice is broken down only very slowly, which means that it has a cumulative effect if taken daily. Thus, on the third day of her diet, the patient’s oestrogen levels would have been many times above normal, helping the clot to form.
Doctor Mehmet Oz Tells Oprah’s Audience Embryonic Stem Cell Research Debate is Dead
Excerpt from LifeNews.com 8 April 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A recent appearance by Dr Mehmet Oz, a cardiovascular surgeon at Columbia University and a regular on Oprah Winfrey’s popular eponymous television program, is generating buzz within pro-life circles. During the program, Oz told Americans the truth about embryonic stem cell research. Oz made it clear that the “stem cell debate is dead” mostly in part because embryonic stem cells have yet to catch up to their adult stem cell and iPS cell counterparts. The comments are drawing interest because Oz made them in front of the iconic television personality and embryonic stem cell research advocate Michael J Fox.
(Comment: We hope Obama was watching this show.)
Ohio Law to Stop Pressuring Women Into Having Abortion Goes Into Effect Today
Excerpt from LifeNews.com 8 April 2009
Columbus, OH (LifeNews.com) — A new Ohio law that will help stop women from being pressured or forced into a decision to have an abortion goes into effect today. The Protecting Pregnant Women from Coercion & Violence Bill received lopsided bipartisan support in the state legislature. The measure would require abortion facilities to display a poster in their waiting areas making it clear to women that no one can coerce or pressure them into having an abortion they really don’t want. This notice would indicate that, under Ohio law, an abortion can only be performed if the woman signs a consent form indicating she is consenting voluntarily and without coercion. It would also inform the woman that, if she is coerced into having an abortion, she should not sign a consent form and should inform abortion centre employees.
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UN Commission Ends with Delegations Saying No to Abortion |
By Samantha Singson — excerpted from C-FAM
As the sun rose on the last day of negotiations at the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) at the United Nations (UN) today, delegations were still embroiled in a contentious debate over language concerning “sexual and reproductive health and rights,” which some radical NGOs and UN committees have interpreted and used to promote abortion. As UN member states came together at the closing meeting to adopt the document, delegations took the floor to define abortion out of the document.
Up until the eleventh hour, the contentious term “sexual and reproductive health and rights” remained in the draft document. Just prior to adoption, Iran took the floor to object to the phrase which has never before been included in any negotiated UN document. Iran stressed that the term remained problematic for a number of delegations and urged the Commission to revert back to previously agreed upon and carefully negotiated language from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Program of Action, which is understood not to create any right to abortion.
In an attempt to get consensus, the chairwoman from Mexico suspended the meeting and after twenty minutes, returned to the room and announced that Iran’s proposal would be accepted and that the term “sexual and reproductive health and rights” would be removed from the text. The document was then adopted by consensus.
Several delegations, however, went further and made statements to explicitly define abortion out of the CPD document and to reiterate that the document created no new rights. Comoros, Peru, Poland, Ireland, Chile, the Holy See, Malta, and Saint Lucia spoke out against the other remaining reproductive health-related terms such as “reproductive rights,” “reproductive health services” and “sexual and reproductive health” and emphasized that these could not be construed to “support, endorse or promote” abortion.
Malta’s ambassador stated that his delegation was finding it more difficult in accepting the resolutions of UN bodies like the CPD where there were consistent attempts to expand “reproductive health” to include abortion.
Saint Lucia made an explicit objection to the term “safe abortion” because the term could “give the impression that abortion was a procedure completely free of medical and psychological risks.” Saint Lucia also highlighted a provision in the CPD document which called on states where abortion was legal to “train and equip health service providers and should take such measures to ensure that such abortion is safe and accessible.” The Saint Lucian representative stressed that her delegation understood this provision did not impact the right of healthcare providers to refuse to perform or be complicit in abortions as a matter of conscience, stating, “Again, no new rights are created or acknowledged in this document, and the universal right to conscience can in no way be overridden or weakened.”
Only the representative of Norway expressed regret that the term “sexual and reproductive rights” was not accepted in the text, saying that his country had widespread access to abortion and virtually no negative effects on women.
The CPD will next meet in April 2010. |
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Oakland, CA, USA: America’s Oldest Abortion Business closes after doing abortions for 36 years |
BREAKING NEWS!!!
Excerpt from LifeNews.com 8 April 2009
“Due to MediCal not reimbursing the business for abortions on poor women due to the global economic crisis, we are no longer able to meet our rent,” said Linci Comy, Women’s Choice Clinic’s Executive Director.
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Bonny Barry's defeat means no increase in Emily's List MPs |
The most outspoken Labor MP pushing for a private member’s bill to decriminalise abortion, Bonny Barry, was defeated in her seat of Aspley in the state election on March 21.
The main reason for her defeat was a pro-life campaign against her. Two separate flyers, one produced by Family First and the other by Right to Life Australia, were letterboxed into every home (around 10,000) in the electorate in the week before the election.
Many churches in the Aspley area also campaigned heavily against Ms Barry because of her promotion of legalised abortion.
She lost her seat with a swing of 7.5% against her, far greater than the average two-party preferred swing across the state of 4.15%.
Of the six new ALP candidates endorsed by Emily’s List (a pro-abortion lobby group supporting Labor women candidates), only one, Mary-Anne O’Neill was elected winning the very safe Labor seat of Kallangur (11% margin) despite a swing of 8.7% against her.
Another Emily’s List candidate, Leeanne Enoch, failed to win the apparently safe Labor seat of Coomera (8.7% margin), due to a 10.7% swing to the LNP.
Of the seven sitting members endorsed by Emily’s List, six retained their seats. Bonny Barry’s loss and Mary-Anne O’Neill’s win leaves Emily’s List with seven publicly identified members in the new Parliament, including Premier Anna Bligh.
The average two party preferred swing against Emily’s List candidates was 5.25% compared to an average two party preferred swing across all electorates (excluding the four retained by independents) of 4.15%.
The message we must get across to state MPs is that taking a stand in favour of abortion does not win votes — it costs votes. |
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Private member’s bill to decriminalise abortion, possible early in term of new Qld parliament |
While a good proportion of the new MPs elected on 21 March are pro-life, the numbers in the Queensland Parliament if a private member’s bill to decriminalise abortion was moved are very tight. If the pro-abortion ideologues in the Labor Party think that they have the support, it is likely that a bill will be moved early in the term of the new Parliament. This is because the LNP is now within striking distance of winning office at the next state election and the pro-abortion lobby fears that this will be their last chance to act.
Every pro-life supporter needs to ACT NOW to lobby their MP and the Premier Anna Bligh.
Write, fax, email, phone, or best of all, visit your MP. Ask your pro-life friends to do the same. Ask your MP and the Premier for a response to your concerns and send a copy of the reply to the Cherish Life Queensland office. Someone from the Cherish Life state committee is available to accompany you to an appointment with your MP should you wish.
Electorate office details are at http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/legislativeAssembly/members.asp or you could write to your MP and the Premier Anna Bligh at Parliament House, cnr Alice & George Streets, Brisbane 4000.
Some points to make:
- Decriminalisation of abortion would mean abortion would be legal in Queensland for any or no reason at all, effectively until birth. Only 6% of Australians support such an extreme ideological view. 85% of Australians are opposed to late-term abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, while 51% are opposed to abortion performed for non-medical, that is financial or social, reasons (What Australians Really Think About Abortion, Market Facts, February 2006).
- Overwhelming evidence shows the serious physical and emotional effects of abortion on women, yet decriminalisation would inevitably increase the number of abortions - which 87% of Australians already think is too high (“Give Women Choice: Australia Speaks on Abortion”, Sexton Marketing Group, 2005).
- The current Queensland laws against abortion stand as a safeguard for women against being pressured by their partners.
- These laws are an essential defence for doctors and nurses who refuse to co-operate in the killing of unborn children.
Ask your MP and the Premier for a response to your concerns and send a copy of the reply to the Cherish Life Queensland office. |
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The story of the ‘Foetal Hand Grasp’ photograph taken by Michael Clancy |
Many of you will have seen the photo below over the years but may not know the story behind it. It is available on this website — http://www.michaelclancy.com/story.html — but for those without internet access, read on.
“As a veteran photojournalist in Nashville, Tennessee, I was hired by USA Today newspaper to photograph a spina bifida corrective surgical procedure. It was to be performed on a twenty-one week old foetus in utero at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre. At that time, in 1999, twenty-one weeks in utero was the earliest that the surgical team would consider for surgery. The worst possible outcome would be that the surgery would cause premature delivery, and no child born earlier than twenty-three weeks had survived.
The tension could be felt in the operating room as the surgery began. A typical C-section incision was made to access the uterus, which was then lifted out and laid at the junction of the mother’s thighs. The entire procedure would take place within the uterus, and no part of the child was to breach the surgical opening. During the procedure, the position of the foetus was adjusted by gently manipulating the outside of the uterus. The entire surgical procedure on the child was completed in 1 hour and thirteen minutes. When it was over, the surgical team breathed a sigh of relief, as did I.
As a doctor asked me what speed of film I was using, out of the corner of my eye I saw the uterus shake, but no one’s hands were near it. It was shaking from within. Suddenly, an entire arm thrust out of the opening, then pulled back until just a little hand was showing. The doctor reached over and lifted the hand, which reacted and squeezed the doctor’s finger. As if testing for strength, the doctor shook the tiny fist. Samuel held firm. I took the picture! Wow!
It happened so fast that the nurse standing next to me asked, “What happened?” “The child reached out,” I said. “Oh. They do that all the time,” she responded.
The surgical opening to the uterus was closed and the uterus was then put back into the mother and the C-section opening was closed. It was ten days before I knew if the picture was even in focus. To ensure no digital manipulation of images before they see them, USA Today requires that film be submitted unprocessed. When the photo editor finally phoned me he said, “It’s the most incredible picture I’ve ever seen.” |
Walk for Little Feet - Saturday 9th May
Starts 11am outside Planned Parenthood abortion place, 8 Campbell St, Bowen Hills.
BYO lunch at 12:30-1:15 cnr River Tce and Walmsley St Kangaroo Pt and finish at Parliament House at 3:15. Contact Liz & Graham Preston of RTLA for details on 3892 5349
Pram Push - Saturday 9th May
This event is to raise money for Lily House on the Sunshine Coast which is a home for pregnant homeless young women. Starts at Mooloolaba State Primary School, Meta St, Mooloolaba. Gates open 12 noon, Pram Push to commence at 2pm and finish at 3pm. Call Deeann on 0418 986 141 or email
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for further information.
Cherish Life AGM/Conference - Saturday 27th June
Undumbi Room, Parliament House, Alice St, Brisbane
Speakers to include Dr Janet Gross, Victorian doctor who erected a sign outside her practice saying she would not refer for abortion, Anne Webster who won an award for her talk on the personhood of the foetus, Dr Kevin Rosengren, engineer and Father of the Year.
PROJECT RACHEL Brisbane: 17-19 July, 23-25 October 2009
If you have contacts in Rockhampton and/or Townsville who may be interested in starting Rachel's Vineyard Retreats there, please call ph 3376 7078 or email
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Website: www.rachelsvineyard.org
Further retreat dates are on the website www.projectrachel.org.au
ANNUAL CHERISH LIFE FUNDRAISING DINNER -
6 NOVEMBER 2009
Indooroopilly Golf Club – wonderful venue for a great event. |
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