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 Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Gay rights activist Tim Gill has spent millions trying to defeat state constitutional amendments that protect traditional marriage while supporting state and federal candidates who favor gay marriage.  Opponents of traditional marriage must resort to such massive outside funding because the American people, for the most part, oppose tampering with marriage.

Sources: Denver Post, Baptist Press

For more information on protecting traditional marriage click here.

posted on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 8:39:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

AdvanceUSA staff had the opportunity last night to attend a reception for an exciting pro-life organization.

Students for Life of America is doing excellent work across the country recruiting and training the next generation of pro-lifers.  Here’s an excerpt from their website:

A pro-life, student-run, non-profit organization since 1987, Students for Life of America is the nation's oldest pro-life organization wholly devoted to educating college students about the medical and ethical issues of abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide.


Formerly known as American Collegians for Life, SFL's commitment to facilitating the pro-life movement on American college campuses has remained strong since its founding. SFL has worked to develop a nationwide network of prolife students. Now connecting hundreds of college campuses in the largest national directory of its kind, Students for Life will continue to serve pro-life champions in every college and university in America.

At last night’s reception pro-life activists were introduced to the Students for Life regional recruiters who after this week’s training will fan out across the country working with college students and groups for the cause of life.

For more information on Students for Life, check their website.

posted on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 8:37:54 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

Terence Jeffrey writes at TownHall about the recent movement in Britain to allow researchers to create chimeras, organisms that are part human and part animal.

posted on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 8:34:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Tuesday, August 14, 2007

The Boston Globe reports that, in order to get around the partial-birth abortion ban recently upheld by the Supreme Court, some doctors are resorting to lethal injection to abort unborn children during the later stages of pregnancy.

posted on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 7:14:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

Much has been made of the tragic story of Matthew Shepherd.  The Senate hate (thought) crimes bill in Congress has even been named after him.  But a recent article by Peter Sprigg from FRC explains how Shepherd’s murder, citing an ABC news investigation, probably had nothing to do with his homosexuality at all.  Sprigg also compares the Shepherd case to a similar one in the same town just three months later in which a woman was sexually abused and left to die in the cold while her killer was only given a few years in prison rather than the life-sentences given to Shepherd’s killers.

For more information on hate crimes check the AdvanceUSA pro-religious freedom page.

posted on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 6:26:31 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

This excerpt from a Newsday article says it all:

“A New Jersey church group is suing the state over whether the organization should be required to allow a lesbian couple to hold a civil union ceremony at a beachfront pavilion owned by the group.”

Stories like this clearly demonstrate how the gay agenda can often clash with religious liberty.

posted on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 6:24:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Monday, August 13, 2007
The Democrat contenders for President in 2008 recently sat down with HRC to discuss Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) issues. Here they are in their own words: (Disclaimer: the following video clips are found on a homosexual political website.)

 

Candidate highlights:

 

Hillary Clinton

John Edwards

 

Mike Gravel

 

Dennis Kucinich

 

Barack Obama

 

Bill Richardson

 

 

Topical highlights:

 

Gay Marriage

 

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

 

 

Hat Tip: C

UPDATE: In a recent TownHall column Austin Hill asks “is the ‘M’ word the same as the ‘C’ word” referring to the fact that homosexual “civil unions” are in many ways just another term for “gay marriage.”

posted on Monday, August 13, 2007 8:05:08 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

A bill in the House of Representatives could determine just that.  H.R. 733 would grant “home rule” to the District of Columbia allowing the district to directly manage the funds received from Congress (via American tax-payers), but unless the bill is amended, it would also allow the District to fund abortions with tax-payer dollars.  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has proposed an amendment to fix this huge pro-life loophole, but the amendment was not considered before Congresses recessed.  This will no doubt be an important pro-life issue when Congress returns in September.

posted on Monday, August 13, 2007 6:43:32 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

George Will’s recent article reveals some troubling statements by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) on the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick.  As a presidential candidate for 2008, his statements on judicial nominations are noteworthy.

posted on Monday, August 13, 2007 6:42:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

Justice Stephen Breyer found the last Supreme Court term “difficult” it has been reported.  This could be due to the fact that he was part of the dissenting (losing) opinion on some of the higher profile cases, but it could also relate to a perceived shift in judicial philosophy on the high court.

posted on Monday, August 13, 2007 6:41:19 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
The LA Times reports that many disability rights organizations led the fight to oppose assisted suicide in California recently.

posted on Monday, August 13, 2007 3:35:23 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Oklahoma’s law prohibiting gay adoption is unconstitutional.  The court said that Oklahoma violated the “full faith and credit” clause of the U.S. Constitution by not recognizing the laws of other states.  This is the same argument that has and will be used to force “gay marriage” on states that do not recognize it unless a federal constitutional amendment defending traditional marriage is ratified.

For more information on defending traditional marriage click here.  For more information on pro-family issues click here.

posted on Monday, August 13, 2007 3:33:50 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Friday, August 10, 2007

The New York Times reports that despite a deceptive cloning amendment narrowly approved last November, the environment for unethical stem cell research in Missouri is far from welcoming.  Our friends at Missourians Against Human Cloning are keeping up the good fight in Missouri.



posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 7:37:43 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) writes an op-ed in support of Judge Leslie Southwick (President Bush’s nominee for the 5th Circuit Court) and praises Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) for crossing party lines and giving Southwick the opportunity for a fair up-or-down vote in the full Senate. 

For more information on Southwick check the AdvanceUSA home page or recent Southwick blog posts.

posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 7:33:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
FoxNews reports on the Democrat’s debate last night which focused exclusively on homosexual issues.  Additionally, TownHall prepared some video highlights of this first ever ‘gay’ debate which you can view below.  We will post a transcript when one becomes available.




UPDATE: In a recent TownHall column Austin Hill asks “is the ‘M’ word the same as the ‘C’ word” referring to the fact that homosexual “civil unions” are in many ways just another term for “gay marriage.”

posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 4:05:07 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

Some San Diego firefighters have filed a sexual harassment complaint against a superior who gave them a direct order to participate in the city’s gay pride parade.

posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 4:02:59 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

Apparently “separation of church and state” doesn’t apply across the board.  The New York Times reports on the trend among universities to install footbaths in order to better accommodate Islamic students.

posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 4:01:54 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Thursday, August 09, 2007

CitizenLink reports on a storage facility in San Francisco that offers to remove the embryonic stem cells from the “leftover” embryos of parents for future medical use.  StemLifeLine Partners exploits health fears to entice parents into sacrificing the lives of their unborn embryos for unproven and unethical science.

“StemLifeLine is a life sciences company offering a novel service for individuals who have undergone in vitro fertilization, fulfilled their childbearing needs and now have to decide what to do with their remaining stored embryos. We can help transform these embryos into individual stem cell lines that our clients may one day use to create personalized therapies for themselves and their families.”

                             -StemLifeLine website

They conveniently forget to mention that embryos must be destroyed in order to “transform” them into stem cell lines.  Dr. Zanga emphasizes the main argument against such practices in this quote:

“We should never be trying to or intending to take someone else’s life to make our own better”

-Dr. Joseph Zanga, professor of pediatrics at the Brody School of Medicine

The Senate will soon vote on whether our tax dollars should be used to support this kind of unethical research that destroys human embryos.  For more information check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page.

posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 8:51:25 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Wednesday, August 08, 2007
posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 7:21:46 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

The Washington Post reports on the dire vacancy problems at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Yet another reminder of the need to appoint qualified, originalist judges to the federal bench.

posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 7:18:06 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 7:17:22 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

Several high ranking officers at the Pentagon are facing criticism for appearing in a fundraising video for an evangelistic/discipleship ministry called “Christian Embassy.”  Some people just won’t rest until all religious influence on government is removed.

posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 7:15:54 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Pro-life Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) has reintroduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (H.R. 3442) in the House of Representatives.  The bill would require mothers seeking abortion to be notified of the excruciating pain their unborn child (if it has reached the 20th week of development) is likely to suffer during the abortion process.  Laws like this highlight the humanity of the unborn and are small but important steps toward fostering a “culture of life” in this country.

Pro-life Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) introduced this bill (S. 356) in the Senate in January of this year.

For more pro-life news check the AdvanceUSA pro-life page.

posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 9:26:04 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

This article contemplates whether the Republican Party will remain pro-life.  The fact that many activists will work hard to keep a pro-life plank in the party platform is encouraging, but there are other causes of concern for pro-lifers. 

Will the Republican Party stay pro-life?  It seems that only the Republican primary voters can tell us that.


2008 Republican Presidential Candidates (from left to right): Tommy Thompson, Sam Brownback, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter (Tom Tancredo, not pictured)


UPDATE: David Limbaugh has an article at TownHall about whether a social liberal has a chance at the GOP nomination and whether that would be good for conservatism.

posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 9:20:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

A court in Georgia has dismissed charges against Frederic Baumann who was arrested for passing out religious literature on public property.

“Christians have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in America and cannot be treated as second-class citizens. The government should not force them to get special permission before practicing their constitutional right to free speech.  The fact that the court dismissed the charges against Mr. Baumann is not just significant for him but for all citizens who cherish their First Amendment rights.”

-  David Cortman, ADF Senior Legal Counsel

AdvanceUSA last reported on this story on July 17.

posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 6:27:43 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Monday, August 06, 2007

AdvanceUSA applauds the efforts of groups like Citizens for Community Values for investigating companies that provide pornography for hotel chains and reporting violations of the law to authorities.  As the LodgeNet case shows, many objectionable businesses and materials could be eradicated by simply enforcing current obscenity laws.

For more information on fighting pornography in society and in individual lives visit the AdvanceUSA pro-morality page.

posted on Monday, August 06, 2007 8:38:21 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   

Pharmacist Ethan Vandersand was fired from Wal-Mart for refusing to dispense Plan B (the “morning after pill”) to a Planned Parenthood employee.  LifeNews reports that Vandersand has won a court ruling which upheld his right to refuse to dispense a drug which can sometimes result in abortion and dismissed Wal-Mart’s attempt to have the case dismissed.

Pharmacists should have the right to follow their conscience in regard to important life issues.  For more information on Plan B visit the AdvanceUSA pro-life page.

posted on Monday, August 06, 2007 8:36:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #