"Well, that's not just because I'm a Christian, that's because I'm an American," he said. "Our founding fathers said that we're all created equal. I think every person has intrinsic worth and value."

Told that banning abortions would have him imposing his Christian faith on others, Huckabee responded.

"It's not a faith belief. It's deeper than that. It's a human belief," Huckabee explained. "It goes to the heart of who we are as a civilization."

He continued, "If I believe that your intrinsic worth is not changed by your ancestry, your last name, by your IQ, by your abilities or disabilities, if I value your life and respect it with dignity and worth because it is human, then that's what draws me to the inescapable conclusion that I should be for the sanctity of every and each human life."

Huckabee also indicated he believed that life begins at the point of conception and .. he doesn't think there's any scientific argument about that point.

On December 22nd a 69 year-old pro-life activist who was standing atop his automobile and protesting in front of the Hillcrest Abortion Clinic in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was physically attacked by an abortion supporter and thrown to the ground with enough force to knock him unconscious. Doctors even worried for a time that the elderly man might perish from the attack. And here, nearly 7 days out from this attack, there aren't any accounts of the attack in the MSM. As I searched for the story myself, I found two and only two Internet hits for it. Why the silence from the MSM? Can you imagine the MSM swarm that would have occurred if it had been a pro-lifer that attacked an abortion supporter? The cacophony would have been deafening if a pro-lifer had been the one to get violent.

Planned Parenthood has launched a line of "multiple choice Mitt" clothing including bibs, baby onesies and T-shirts that blast GOP candidate Mitt Romney's "flip-flop" on abortion rights.

The collection, for sale online, includes $20 doggie T-shirts, $6 baby bibs, a $15 mug, as well as bags and hats, all bearing a photo of the former governor and the logo "Multiple Choice Mitt: Flip-Flopper from Massachusetts."

"This was more than just a flip-flop, this was an extreme makeover," said Angus McQuilken, spokesman for the Massachusetts chapter of Planned Parenthood, which has aggressively dogged Rommey for his reversal on abortion rights.

Bhutto was a member of an international pro-life women's movement that understood abortion causes medical, mental health and other problems for women.
When Bhutto was the prime minister of Pakistan, she helped lead a delegation to the 1994 Cairo population conference that confronted abortion advocates looking to make abortion an international right.

"I dream ...of a world where we can commit our social resources to the development of human life and not to its destruction," she told the United Nations panel at the time.

Instead of telling women in nations where population growth is an issue that they should kill their offspring, Bhutto told world leaders that the best solutions is "tackling infant mortality, by providing villages with electrification, by raising an army of women."

She hoped to "educate our mothers, sisters, daughters, in child welfare and population control, by setting up a bank run by women for women, to help women achieve economic independence, and to have the wherewithal to make independent choices."

Bhutto warned conference participants that "this conference must not be viewed by the teeming masses of the world as a universal social charter seeking to impose adultery, abortion... and other such matters on individuals, societies and religions which have their own social ethos."

Blanca Hernandez and Adriana Silveira filed the lawsuits on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court and both are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

According to a KNBC-TV news report, Silveira says Peters hired her and her husband to take care of his home and office in Malibu, California and began working for him in December 2005.

Silveira learned in June 2006, the same month the film premiered, that she was pregnant. She says in her lawsuit that Peters fired her a week later after she refused to have an abortion.

The suit also indicates that Peters tried to persuade Andrew Silveira to convince his wife to have the abortion so the couple could keep the job. He refused to cave in to the pressure and KNBC reports that the lawsuit says Peters fired the him in an email.

The lawsuit also alleges that Blanca Silveira found out from her doctor that she needed a week of bed rest because of a cornea pregnancy and a large cyst and that Peters fired her instead of agreeing to the time off.

Bishop Robert C. Morlino of the Diocese of Madison has urged opposition to a state bill that would mandate hospitals, including Catholic ones, to administer the morning after pill, "emergency contraception", upon request to women who have been raped.

In the newspaper for the Diocese of Madison, Bishop Morlino explained to readers that the bill did not protect the consciences of institutions or individuals who want to protect both women who have been raped and any babies possibly conceived in that rape.

"Women who have suffered the tragedy of rape need to be protected, but if a pre-born child has been already conceived, the future of that child also requires our protection," he said.

The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHUSA) posted a statement on its website interpreting a document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on the necessity of feeding and watering the disabled in a way contrary to its intended meaning.

CHUSA is the same organization that advised the USCCB to endorse offering the morning-after pill to victims of rape being treated in Catholic hospitals. It has now posted a letter on its website claiming to put the CDF document in its proper context. The letter is penned by John J. Hardt and Fr. Kevin D. O'Rourke, O.P., both bioethicists. O'Rourke is notorious as the priest who lobbied against the cause to keep Terri Schiavo alive. He stated that "for Christians, it is a blasphemy to keep people [like Terri Schiavo] alive."

In the current letter, the two bioethicists came to the conclusion that the CDF document errs on the side of not nourishing and hydrating patients, rather than the reverse, claiming that the document's meaning is much narrower than face value dictates.

"Many of the rules are repeated in one way or another in the present Code of Canon Law," the letter said. "Two canons of the present code are relevant for our study: Canon 18: Laws which establish a penalty or restrict free exercise of rights . . . are subject to strict interpretation. Canon 52: A singular decree has force only in respect to the matters which it decides and for the persons for whom it was given.

"Hence, the application of the CDF response, because it limits the free exercise of rights, will only apply to a restricted number of cases, specifically to patients with a firm diagnosis of PVS [persistent vegetative state]. Some commentators have sought to extend the statement to people with other pathologies, such as advanced Alzheimer's disease or acute dementia. But the response concerns only patients who are diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state, not to all patients who are unable to assimilate food and water without artificial assistance."

"This isn't an easy call," prosecutor Maria Schneider told the Sun-Sentinel. "When somebody shoots somebody in the head, it's very easy to say they wanted to kill the person. We're looking at a situation that's not that cut and dry. We need to look at all of the facts involved."

But Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua Perper told the newspaper the baby's death wasn't accidental.

"He hit her twice," Perper said. "You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know that if you hit a woman who is pregnant in the belly, that you can cause an abortion."

Chris Aubert, 50, an attorney, traced his life from days as a "very secular young guy" focused on "making money and in general becoming a yuppie" to his shocking realization during a 1994 ultrasound procedure for his wife "that that is a baby."

It flooded over him, he said, that on two occasions prior to his marriage he had concurred with pregnant girlfriends to terminate pregnancies. "I realized that I had killed two of my own kids," he said. "It was almost like the hand of God reached down and touched me."

He recalled how after the first abortion in 1985 he had left a rose and a $200 check for his then-girlfriend. "But I felt no sorrow, no pain, no nothing," he said. "I had happily agreed to the abortion."

Similarly, he described a second abortion in 1991 with a different woman. "I went to the clinic with her and sat in the waiting room reading a magazine for 20 or 30 minutes, then we went to lunch."

It did not occur to him, Aubert said, "that in the next room my child was being dismembered and killed."

"Something in the depth of my belly," he said, "kept rising higher and higher" as the realization of the loss of two children sank in. By then a convert to Catholicism, Aubert said he told his wife, "There is something I have to tell you," and he revealed the past abortions.

The researchers, based in Adelaide, will use the grant to investigate the capacity of stem cells derived from human dental pulp to transform into neuron cells. If the cells can be effectively transformed, they could be useful in treatments for victims of strokes.

United Way's board of directors voted not to support the grant Friday due to pressure and disapproval from local nonprofit agencies. The grant was for Planned Parenthood's Talk to Me program, where teen peer educators talk to parents about how to discuss sex with their children.

"I'm pretty disappointed that the community is not given a chance to support a program that could have a great impact," said Lori Lamerand, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan. "We're feeling it's wrong to connect the abortion connotation to everything we do."

Board members rejected the Planned Parenthood funding and asked a task force to submit a new proposal that does not include the organization as part of United Way's teen pregnancy prevention initiative.

The board felt that having Planned Parenthood on board "would be too controversial and cause too much conflict" said Jim Brian, United Way's manager of marketing and communications.

Dr. Anthony Atala used amniotic stem cells, found in the fluid surrounding preborn babies, to regenerate human livers and other tissues.

"After the exciting discovery that ordinary adult cells can be reprogrammed back to an embryonic-like state, this research is a good reminder that ethical research continues to move forward with adult stem cells as well,"" said Dawn Vargo, associate bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action. "Pluripotent adult stem cells - in this instance, amniotic-fluid stem cells - continue to revolutionize the world of disease treatment."

Italy's pharmaceutical watchdog in the next few months may approve sales of a pill to end a pregnancy after five to seven weeks, the Corriere della Sera reported Monday.

The French laboratory Exelgyn is seeking authorisation to sell RU 486, an emergency contraceptive with the brand name Mifegyn, in Italy, which could give a green light to the sales by February or March, the newspaper said.

"If I heard somebody's had two I think 'really?' and then I think 'oh my God!' she said. "You almost think of that person as trashy because you think of trashy, slutty girls and they don't care."

Neither time was there a question in her mind abortion would be her choice, though at 19 she felt bad about being irresponsible and experienced more guilt and shame.

"I didn't look at it as a child at all, I looked at it as this thing that happened to me," she said. "Right now I am going to have to deal with it."

Eric Phan, a 20-year-old resident of Oklahoma City, is charged with killing Lauren Barnes and her unborn baby on November 23.

Barnes, also 20, was believed to be between 22 and 26 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

Phan allegedly killed Barnes after meeting with her privately at a local park in the town of Bethany to discuss her pregnancy. According to an Associated Press report, Barnes had told Phan's current girlfriend that he was the father of her child.

Barnes told her sister in a text message earlier in the day that she was nervous about meeting her former boyfriend and and concerned about how he would react to the news.

Police learned of the possible murder when Phan's friend David Huynh reported Phan's supposed confession to authorities.

AP reported that Huynh told officials "that he choked her and that the last thing she said to him was that she would get an abortion."

Phan allegedly said he broke Barnes' neck and then dumped her body at the Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge northwest of Oklahoma City.

With a 4 – 1 vote, the St. Lucie County, FL School Board approved a graphic, explicit, risky Condom Ed Curriculum. Only Troy Ingersol had the wisdom and courage to reject this outrageous curriculum. Kathryn Hensley, Carol Hilson, John Carvelli, and Judi Miller all followed the recommendation of Planned Parenthood's Michael Panella to support the following:

For 4th Graders, the curriculum instructs teachers to: "Read students the following statement of fact: 'The AIDS virus is transmitted only through blood, semen, and vaginal fluids; people most commonly contract the virus by using needles contaminated with the blood of someone who's infected or by having sexual intercourse with someone who's infected.' Ask if anyone was surprised by the facts."

The increase of 3,058 included 2,003 abortions done on Illinois residents and 1,055 on women from out-of-state or whose residency was unknown.

William Beckman, the director of the Illinois Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews.com in an email that "the jump of over 3,000 abortions should raise some questions" given how most states are seeing a decline in the number of abortions.

Beckman says the increase could be because of a failure by the Illinois government to put a parental notification law into effect -- making it easy for teenagers from other states to go across the border for secret abortions.

The words 'My Body, My Choice' were sprayed in black paint on the side of the church, behind a memorial monument dedicated to the lives of children murdered by abortion.

Father Sam Argenziano, the church's pastor, said he plans to leave the graffiti in place until the spring as a reminder of the conflict between those who promote abortion and those who nurture the culture of life and mourn the destruction of innocent lives.

"When people see it, if they're pro-abortion, then they think it's a little victory for them. If they're anti-abortion, it reminds us of the struggle we have going on in society for those of us who don't believe in abortion," said Father Argenziano.

"We know where we stand, we know where they stand."

What really troubled me in visiting the Missionary Sisters' website was the mention that they work with the United Nations. Therefore, I wrote to them voicing my concern and asking if they condemned the coercive UN population control pro-grams. I further cited examples of the UN refusing to give food or medical help to impoverished women or their children, unless the women agreed to be sterilized.

Sister Dianne Olmstead, MSC wrote back, but wouldn't give me a straight answer. She said the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart order was a member of a nongovernmental organization (NGO) called UNANIMA, which worked for the "promotion of women," but she wouldn't say whether UNANIMA condemns UN population control programs.

According to the Brigidine Sisters of New Zealand, another member order, UNANIMA stands for United Nations and anima, which they describe as meaning "a feminine life principle." However, the word "anima" means "life" or "soul," whether female or male.

After Sister Diane's reply, I wrote to her again, asking if the nuns denounce the UN’s involvement in abortion, contraception and sterilization. She sent a vague statement of "being against all these forms of injustice," but she would never say if the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Stella Maris Province, denounce the UN programs or the trade in human fetal body parts which are used for research and cosmetic treatments in the Ukraine and Barbados. Although her order belongs to UNANIMA, she said she didn't know what the NGO actually does and that I should check the UNANIMA web site.

Eduardo says, "I decided to go to an abortion center to see if I could learn more about what women think and feel when faced with a crisis pregnancy..." That's when Eduardo met a couple seeking an abortion. He spoke with them for 45 minutes, offering them hope, help, encouragement and his phone number.

"Several months later," Eduardo continues, "I received a phone call from the man I met with the pregnant lady in front of the abortion center. He said, 'Hello Eduardo - this is Javier, and I have great news. My boy was born yesterday! I want to thank you and ask your permission - I would like to name him, Eduardo.'"

"I just put the phone down - I couldn't even talk," Eduardo says. "It's the most emotional thing I've ever done in my life. It changed my life. It was beautiful. I went to the hospital to meet them and see the baby. A few weeks later, I was holding little Eduardito in my hands. It was beautiful!"

The woman, whose name was not released, was arrested last month and brought before an investigating judge on suspicion of murder or infanticide, said Marianne de Jong of the prosecutor's office in the central city of Den Bosch.

"She is suspected of having an illegal abortion in Barcelona," said De Jong.

Like most new moms, Linda Sanchez couldn't take her eyes off her newborn daughter -- spotting the shared features, smiling as the baby sucked on a finger and marveling at her unfussy disposition.

But the biggest marvel was that Isabella Marie Sanchez came into the world at all. She is the latest baby born to a breast cancer patient who was treated with chemotherapy while pregnant. It took a pioneering Houston program to make the birth possible.

"It's so surreal. I can't believe she's mine," said Sanchez, who lived in Houston when she began treatment but has since moved to Laredo, Texas. "Everything until now was well worth the outcome."

Doctors pronounced Isabella -- 5 pounds, 2 ounces and 18 inches long -- healthy after her birth Monday, nearly a month before the due date. The delivery at Memorial Hermann Hospital was moved up to accommodate Sanchez's treatment.

Isabella became the 70th baby born under a University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center program that once was controversial, but which last year formed the basis of the first national guidelines for the treatment of pregnant women with breast cancer. Until this program, women with cancer who learned they were pregnant were told to abort.

That's what Sanchez, 27, was told last spring after she learned in a span of a few days that she was pregnant and that she had breast cancer. She found her way to the M.D. Anderson program, and then told her story to the Houston Chronicle for a story in September.

Who gets to decide whether children in the womb live or die? Not the child. They are relegated to the status of property to be disposed of when inconvenient.

Have we turned Parents into executioners?

63% of respondents think it should be legal for a woman to have an abortion if she wants it, according to a poll by YouGov

The study tracked 1,122 young women who were born at the Mater hospital in the early 1980s, finding that 21 years on, about one-third had an abortion.

Those who had an abortion were three times more likely to also abuse hard drugs, like heroin, methamphetamines and glue, than the women who had either had no pregnancy or those who had a child.

They were also twice as likely to be a binge drinker or an alcoholic, and 1.5 times more likely to suffer depression, delegates at the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) conference in Melbourne were told.