A beautiful video of twins just born and being bathed has gone viral.  They appear to be as peaceful and entwined as they would be in the security and warmth of their mother’s womb.

The comments on this video are quite touching:

• It took me a while to comprehend what was going on but I think I got it: The twins were born, but they haven’t realized that they’re separate yet. They are still so incredibly entwined that they cling to each other like one unit. Am I getting this right?

• Am I the only person tearing up at this? There’s something very powerful about the silence, about their calmness, that should be very encouraging to anyone about to have children, while they’re still pregnant. Who’d have thought we could witness this kind of serenity, this way? And yes, I’m now the proud but exhausted parent of two great boys, 5 and 3.

As Andrea noted in a previous post on this topic, there really is a time for judging – this is the abortion culture and it is heinous in every sense of the word.  “After Tiller” is a documentary featuring the only four “doctors” in America that legally perform third trimester abortions, and the women that come to them for the procedure.

What is evident in reading this article (not sure I could stomach the actual documentary) is that there is no life-threatening or even compelling health reason why these abortions are being performed.  (There actually never is a health reason to ever warrant deliberately killing a viable unborn baby, but abortion advocates like to use that as a justification for late term abortions.) These babies are killed for social reasons – in fact one 16-year old girl ‘gets’ her post 26-week abortion despite the fact that her boyfriend’s family want to adopt the child.

Both the abortionists and the patients “struggle” with their decisions.  In fact one of the abortionist’s actually says,

“I think the reason I’ve struggled is that I think of them as babies,” she says. “I don’t think of that as a fetus.”

The author of the article  writes that the crux of the film actually portrays the pain and anguish of the people going ahead with these abortions.

All these decisions are presented in contrast to pro-life protests being held outside the clinics. You certainly get the sense that pro-life picketers are in anguish, but it’s a completely different species of the feeling. You get the sense that no matter how much the protesters feel, it doesn’t begin to compare to the pain some of the women in these clinics face.

This is probably one of the most compelling examples of why we need a law on abortion. The law exists to protect us from ourselves, because sometimes there are just too many choices.

This article was forwarded to me in response to the post on researchers at Cambridge University who have shown scientific evidence that those in unconscious states are in fact aware of their surroundings. I much prefer the term “unconscious state”- the vegetable reference is a terribly inhumane way of referring to these people who are obviously nothing like vegetables.

Incidentally, the anecdotal evidence of those who come out of these unconscious states is plentiful and incredible, as the article describes.

Wesley Smith, an expert in end of life issues, makes the point, that was waiting to be made in my previous post, that we actually have begun to starve and dehydrate these people to death.  The most famous case being the Terry Schiavo fiasco that ended in her starvation death which took place over an agonizing 14 days.  He writes:

We dehydrate helpless people to death in this country because they have a catastrophic cognitive impairment. Advocates for dehydration say it is just medical ethics, the withdrawal of the medical treatment of tube feeding. (Now, there is even a lawsuit to compel starvation by withholding spoon feeding–not a medical treatment!)

Dehydrating helpless people to death was once unthinkable. Then, in the 80s, bioethicists began advocating withdrawing tube-supplied food and fluids. And so it came to pass.

The ‘take-home message’ I believe, is that these people need to be considered as just that, people.  We wouldn’t deliberately starve and dehydrate a dog to death let alone a person.  The research coming out of Cambridge helps to make that point.

New research out of Cambridge University has found that people in so-called “vegetative states” (a very dehumanizing term) are cognitively aware.

Researchers were able to show that words were being recognized and the patients could actually follow instructions.

They found that one of the vegetative patients was able to filter out unimportant information and home in on relevant words they were being asked to pay attention to. Using brain imaging (fMRI), the scientists also discovered that this patient could follow simple commands to imagine playing tennis.

If this ability can be developed consistently in certain patients who are vegetative, it could open the door to specialised devices in the future and enable them to interact with the outside world.

This is an oldie but a goodie.

Wendy Davis, the darling of the pro-abortion lobby who filibustered the proposed law banning late term abortion (hard to believe) is pro-life (harder to believe). Well, not really.  It is interesting that she would bother to make the claim, however funny it is.  It says something about US politics, namely that it is really quite distinct from anything Canadian.  No female MP would ever claim to be pro-life even if she was.

But the analogies in this little piece are quiet amusing.

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Andrea adds: I like it. Especially when it gets really silly: “I’m a hobbit!”

I’m in the States right now and I can attest to the major difference between politics north and south of the border–that Republicans need to be pro-life, or need to pretend they are pro-life. And Democrats need to be pro-life in certain constituencies as well. It is certainly a refreshing change from the “we won’t re-open the debate” rhetoric one gets from a certain Canadian party that may or may not be in government right now. Honestly.

Let me add this, though: I believe these Democrats and Republicans need to be pro-life because so many Americans are. The divisiveness of abortion creates interesting politics because people are engaged and demand answers. There really never has been consensus after Roe v. Wade. There’s a new book out, in fact, about how Roe v. Wade constitutes an egregious example of judicial activism. I’d like to read it.

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Natalie responds: With regard to the politics, I always say that the debate is not only NOT over, it’s never going to go away.  Sorry, Canada. The very nature of abortion will not allow it – the absolute violation of one person’s life rights versus another person’s “quality of life” rights (if there is such a thing) is just too much of an injustice, no matter which way you slice it.

And I think you should put together a PWPL reading list, Andrea.  All in favour, say “I”.  You have the most interesting book suggestions of anyone I know and are an inspiring reader, ie., you inspire me to want to read (period).

Have fun in the States.  If you are in Washington DC, I am very jealous!

It is always encouraging to be reminded of the good that can be done when we use our modern medical capabilities the right way.

Due to the rise in autism over the past few years, researcher Gary Steinman, MD, PhD, is attempting to do something about it.  He has found that depressed levels of a protein called insulin-like growth factor (IGF) could potentially serve as a biomarker that could anticipate autism occurrence, meaning that blood tests from new-borns can indicate whether these levels are low and hence whether the child has a propensity for autism.  He proposes that increasing levels of IGF can easily be done (mother’s or bovine milk) and will prevent the onset of this debilitating disease. He is suggesting that in future, we can test amniotic fluid for the same levels and supplement the baby in utero to prevent the onset of autism.

If future research were to confirm a connection between IGF and autism, Dr. Steinman recommends a new phase of research focused upon the detection of possibly depressed IGF levels in amniotic fluid during the second trimester of pregnancy. This might be followed by supplementation of the growth factor before symptoms of autism develop.

This small action by one man to another has “captivated” the world.  A Pope embracing a man covered in huge disfiguring boils – the kind that causes people to gasp and stare.  One person twittered: He Reminds me of a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth.  A punto, as the Italians say; exactly.

Both men radiate something that is distinctly human; love.  It sure gives hope for a broken world.

Melina and Bill Gates are holding yet another big population control conference co-hosted with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health.  The purpose is, of course, to promote their massive contraceptive campaign on women in developing nations.  What is so particularly galling about their attempts to push heavy drugs like Depo Provera and Norplant on these women, is not just the condescending, patriarchal way that they go about it, it’s the fact that they are actually lying to these women.

This so-called contraceptive of “choice” promoted by population control enthusiasts carries a “black-box warning” issued by the manufacturer after million dollar lawsuits were brought against Pfizer in the U.S. and Canada. It is not recommended for use over 2 years due to the complications associated with severe osteoporosis. Studies have also indicated depo users to double their risk for breast cancer and be high risk to contract or transmit HIV.

I love the beautiful, philosophical consistency of the pro-life position.  It really is a position of true reverence for all human life.  We don’t discriminate on any basis, and are often the only ones that see value in a human life, when the rest of the world scoffs, dismisses and discards.

Babies born with anencephaly is just one example.  Though their lives would appear meaningless, because they do not have a significant portion of the human brain, namely the cerebral cortex, the pro-life position is such that we would never advocate the killing of these babies as some kind of solution.  Rather, we uphold their dignity in the same manner as we would any other human being.  Most of these babies will not survive long after birth, but their short lives, when they are not aborted, are marked with profound meaning and incredible love.

I have known two couples who gave birth to babies with anencephaly.  Both couples bravely accepted their children’s fate and were dramatically changed by the experience of meeting their children, holding them and loving them for the short weeks or days that were given them.

This article, by Dr. Peter Saunders, makes that argument, that indeed, the disability does not define these babies.  Rather, it is their humanity that does.

“Benevolent sexism” (ie. gentlemanly door-opening) is identified by researcher Matthew Hammond, in this study, to be “flip side of the “hostile” sexism that would banish women to the kitchen.” He even goes so far as to suggest that woman who accept such forms of “benevolent sexism” are suffering a psychological disorder.

The study found that many women embraced benevolent sexism. Those women were also more likely to be psychologically “entitled” – a symptom of a narcissistic personality where people feel they are deserving or more special than others.

Brendan Malone comes to the rescue in this delightful rebuttal.

…when I look at women I see the feminine genius. A genius so profoundly complex, important and valuable that I adore it. I adore the feminine genius because I am a real man who has not had his masculine awareness dulled by erroneous ideologies about gender, or seriously messed up by pornography-fueled predatory attitudes towards women.