by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 5/28/14 12:30 PM

Melissa Carleton, 39 is a modern-day hero. Her dreams of becoming a mother finally came true even if she wasn’t awake and aware when she gave birth to her adorable baby boy.

Carleton was so excited to be a first-time mom she could hardly contain herself. But sadly, just 10 weeks before her baby boy was due to arrive, Melissa suddenly slipped into a coma and has not been able to wake up since. Now that her son has been born, Melissa’s husband Brian Lande hopes his wife will wake up and finally be able to hold her son.

On Thursday, Melissa welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world via c-section even though she was 10 weeks into a coma.

“[Melissa]’s wanted to have a child for years,” Melissa’s father, John Farrell, toldABC News after his grandson was born. “Today, I can’t begin to tell you how happy we are. It’s indescribable.”

Carleton’s medical woes began earlier this year. She started to have unusual headaches after becoming pregnant. Doctors discovered a massive, benign tumor in her brain during her second trimester.

Carleton, a marriage and family therapist, wanted to put off brain surgery until after her son was born, but when she had a seizure in March, she was rushed into the operating room. Doctors successfully removed the mass, but the seizure left the 39-year-old in a coma. She hasn’t been fully conscious since March 11.

Help the family by going here.

From the ABC News story:

John Farrell’s pregnant daughter went into a coma 10 weeks ago, but today it’s not hard for him to be joyful. Today, he became a grandfather.

“She’s wanted to have a child for years,” he told ABC News. “Today, I can’t begin to tell you how happy we are. It’s indescribable.”

Carleton’s husband, Brian Lande, has barely left her side, according to ABC affiliate KFSN-TV.

“I know that being able to love this little guy is going to be a wonderful experience, but I also know it’s going to be very hard for me to know that I am going to be the one to hold this baby first,” Lande told KFSN-TV before the birth.

Although Carleton is in a coma, she’s able to open her eyes and squeeze her family members’ hands, Farrell said. And Thursday morning, just before surgery to give birth to her son, she was the most awake Farrell has seen her in weeks.

“In a few tender moments, she reached out to Brian, took his cheek, pulled his cheek down to her face and held it there,” Farrell said. “It was the first time she had hugged Brian since this trauma happened.”

 

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 5/26/14 12:26 PM

The government of Sudan is facing mounting international condemnation of its handling of Meriam Ibrahim and its decision to sentence the pregnant Christian woman to death for refusing to accept Islam.

An Islamic court sentenced Meriam, 27, to be flogged for adultery for marrying a Christian man and to be hanged to death for refusing to renounce her Christian faith.  Meriam is currently eight months pregnant with her second child, and has been imprisoned along with her 20-month old toddler since February. There are growing concerns about the health of her unborn baby.

Meriam is married to Daniel Wani, an American citizen who has ties to New Hampshire. Meriam was reportedly born to a Sudanese Muslim father and was raised as a Christian by her Ethiopian Orthodox mother.

For three months, the young Christian wife — now almost eight and a half months pregnant — has been shackled in a Sudanese prison on death row. Authorities, who refuse to recognize her marriage to a Christian man, have sentenced her to 100 lashes for adultery and execution for her faith.

Her frantic husband, who continues to plead with the U.S. Embassy for help, flew from New England to Khartoum to visit his wife, Meriam Ibrahim — and was beside himself to find her bound up and swollen. For now, authorities refuse to release his son to Daniel, because of his faith. Although the court gave Meriam days to recant her Christianity, she refused, saying, “I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian.”

Now, as the London Guardian newspaper reports, Sudan is facing heavy international criticism.

Governments, the UN and human rights groups have called on the Sudanese government to immediately release Meriam Yahya Ibrahim, 27, and overturn both her death sentence and sentence of 100 lashes. More than 100,000 people have backed a call by Amnesty International to release Ibrahim.

Her lawyers have lodged an appeal against the sentence, which may be heard in Khartoum this week.

Ibrahim has been told that her execution will be deferred for two years to allow her to deliver and then wean her baby.

Her husband, Daniel Wani, who left Sudan for the US in 1998, has travelled to Khartoum to try to secure the release of his wife and son. He said Ibrahim was being denied medical treatment and he had not been allowed to visit her or Martin, according to media reports.

The Sudanese authorities have reportedly refused to release the child to his father’s care because of his Christian faith.

The UK government has summoned Sudan’s chargé d’affaires in London to the Foreign Office to hear its “deep concern”.

In a statement, Foreign Office minister Mark Simmonds said: “This barbaric sentence highlights the stark divide between the practices of the Sudanese courts and the country’s international human rights obligations.” The Sudanese government must respect the right to freedom of religion or belief, he added.

US senators Kelly Ayotte and Roy Blunt have raised the case with the secretary of state, John Kerry, calling for “immediate action and full diplomatic engagement to offer Meriam political asylum and secure her and her son’s safe release”.

The department’s spokeswoman,, Jen Psaki, said on Wednesday the US was “deeply disturbed” by the case and called on Khartoum to respect the right to freedom ofreligion. The Canadian and Dutch governments have also expressed concern.

The UN has also urged Sudan to adhere to international law. “We are concerned about the physical and mental wellbeing of Ms Ibrahim, who is in her eighth month of pregnancy, and also of her 20-month-old son, who is detained with her at the Omdurman women’s prison near Khartoum, reportedly in harsh conditions,” said Rupert Colville of the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva.

Gabriel Wani, Daniel’s brother, who also lives in Manchester, New Hampshire, said Ibrahim was in poor physical shape. “Meriam is in a bad condition, she is eight months pregnant. She needs proper medical attention and she needs medical supplies. She’s bleeding and nothing is being done,” he told the Daily Mail.

“She needs to eat well but she is just getting the prison food. When she had her first son it was a very difficult birth, she lost a lot of blood. She is supposed to have check ups with the doctor but it isn’t happening. We are praying for a miracle.”

by Kristan Hawkins | Montgomery, AL | LifeNews.com | 5/22/14

Standing up for what you believe in isn’t always easy. Sometimes something unexpected happens, and it’s at that moment you will decide whether or not to change course or continue on. This Monday, our team received a phone call from one of our 17 year-old high school leaders in Alabama who faced that moment this weekend.

Ke’Ontai called us from the Emergency Room, saying he was going to be okay but he had a broken nose!

He had been out in his neighborhood park on Sunday passing out Students for Life’s Abortion is not Social Justice postcards, when one man started arguing with him about when life begins. He shouted at Ke’Ontai that his wife had just had an abortion because “that’s what they needed to do.”

And when Ke’Ontai tried to give him some post-abortion counseling material, the guy yelled that he didn’t want it, pushed Ke’Ontai down, and started punching him in the face.

After telling him to file a police report, we asked Ke’Ontai if he needed anything from our team.

His reply stunned me. Ke’Ontai said that while he had forgiven the man who assaulted him, he just wants pro-lifers across the nation to pray for the man and wife.

While our National High School Coordinator, Missy Martinez, and myself had a conversation with Ke’Ontai about handing out postcards with a buddy in the future to help protect him. I want you to know that Ke’Ontai won’t be letting this assault stop him.

He is a courageous, young man…one that I am proud to say that Students for Life has helped train and equip. And now, he is more motivated than ever to do all that he can in his school and community, especially his predominately African-American neighborhood, which, according to their own outrageous admissions, is targeted by Planned Parenthood.

While he was at home recovering from his assault, I asked Ke’Ontai to share his story… of how he become an abortion abolitionist and why he has courageously dedicated his life to restoring justice to the preborn and their mothers. This is what he had to say:

I was born in Tuscaloosa Alabama. I go to Central High School where most of the students are black.

One day on my way to a friend’s house, I passed by the abortion facility here in Tuscaloosa, and I saw a lot of people standing outside. At that time, I did not know what was going on. Some people were praying and others had signs that read, “WE ARE PRO-LIFE.” So, I turned around and stopped my car. I wanted to get out to see what was going on, but I was scared. I was just sitting in my car looking around, thinking, “What is going on?” As soon as my mom got home from work that night, I started asking her all kinds questions about abortion, which was something she know nothing about.

About a week later, I was with my brother at the University of Alabama, and I met Claire. She had all of this “Pro-Life” stuff with her and I asked her what it meant. She told me about this place where girls go and get their babies pulled out of them and thrown in the trash. I had learned the truth about abortion.

On my drive home, I was thinking about where I had first seen the word “Pro-Life” and then remembered that it those people must have been standing outside of the abortion facility. When I got home, I cried and told my mom that people were killing babies here in Tuscaloosa.

That night, I went on to Google to see for myself what was happening. When I finished my research, God said to me, “GET TO WORK.” And I did!

The next week, I went to school, and I tried to start a Students for Life group. But, I ran into a lot of roadblocks with the school administration  They would give be obstacles to get through and when I did what they asked, they would give me some more stuff to do. When I was got through all the roadblocks, the administration told me that I needed a teacher to be a club advisor. I went to every teacher at my school and none of them would do it. But, I didn’t let that stop me. Instead, I just worked with Missy at Students for Life and started a community group. Already we have hosted multiple events to educate others teens in Tuscaloosa about abortion.

This past Sunday, I was in a park handing out Students for Life’s postcards. A man stopped, and we began a conversation about abortion. He started to get upset. He yelled at me, slapped all my postcards out of my hands, and pushed me down. At that time, I did not know what to think. The guy was almost 350 pounds! Then he get over top of me and start punching my face. I was trying to get away from him, but I couldn’t get out from under him. I finally escaped and quickly drove home as fast as I could.

On Monday, I went to school and my principal sent me to the hospital because my face was beaten so badly. The doctor told me that I have a broken nose.

At first, I was mad, but then I realized that I cannot be mad at this man because I know that he did not hate me, he just did not want to hear the truth. I feel deep down inside that there was something more to his actions than what meets the eye. All I can do is forgive him and pray and love him the way God loves me.

Since Monday, many people have asked if I am going to stop doing my pro-life work because of what happened.

You want to know what I have been telling them?

When Jesus was on that cross, and they were beating him. He didn’t stop.

A federal court has blocked the Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing its birth control mandate on two Christian colleges, Dordt College in Iowa and Cornerstone University in Michigan, while their cases move forward.

The preliminary injunction was granted for three reasons, U.S. District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett wrote: 1) The plaintiffs, Dordt and Cornerstone, "may suffer irreparable harm" because "they would be forced to comply" with the birth control mandate "to the detriment of their religious exercise." 2) On balance, the plaintiffs would suffer more than the defendants. The worst that could happen if the government eventually wins the case is that the mandate would take a few extra months before going into effect. And, 3) the plaintiffs "are sufficiently likely to succeed on the merits."

The birth control mandate, issued by HHS as part of its implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare," requires most employers, even most religious employers, to cover contraceptives, sterilization and some "morning-after" contraceptives that may cause an abortion.

Bennett wrote that he is waiting to issue a decision in the case because a similar case involving two Christian-owned businesses, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Woods, is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, whichheard arguments in the case in March. The outcome of that decision, due this Summer, will likely influence how he decides the case, or could make the suit unnecessary.

Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the colleges, praised the decision, arguing that religious colleges should have the freedom to behave according to their religious convictions.

"Christian colleges should remain free to operate according to their defining beliefs," ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor said. "Under this mandate, religious employers have no real choice: they must either comply and abandon their religious freedom, or resist and be taxed for their faith. If the government can force Christian colleges to act contrary to their deeply-held religious convictions, then the government can do just about anything. The court was right to block enforcement of this unconstitutional mandate."

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 5/20/14 10:33 AM

News reports out today indicate the Christian woman sentenced to death in Sudan for rejecting Islam is being shackled by Sudanese officials despite the fact she is eight-months pregnant. The Islamic court is waiting until Meriam Ibrahim, 26, gives birth before carrying out the sentence but she is reportedly held in chains until then.

Ibrahim’s husband, U.S. citizen Daniel Wani, a Christian, tells CNN that she has been spending her days bound with shackles on her legs. He was able to visit his wife for the first time in prison yesterday.

“He originally was not allowed to see her until this week,” Tina Ramirez, executive director of Hardwired, a U.S.-based advocacy group against religious persecution, told FoxNews.com. “Once he was able to, she was shackled and her legs were swollen.”

Ramirez added that Ibrahim’s attorney is working on an appeal as international outrage over her persecution grows.

In addition, a statement from several attorneys associated with the Sudanese high court was released Monday, calling for an appeal of Ibrahim’s death sentence.

“The [Sudanese] government is afraid of the international attention,” Ramirez said. “They are paying attention and this [statement] is a sign of that.”

Ibrahim and Wani were married in a formal ceremony in 2011 and have an 18-month-old son, Martin, who is with her in jail. The couple operates several businesses, including a farm, south of Khartoum, the country’s capital.

Wani fled to the United States as a child to escape the civil war in southern Sudan, but later returned. He is not permitted to have custody of his son because the boy is considered Muslim and cannot be raised by a Christian man.

Ibrahim was convicted under the Islamist-run government of apostasy (the crime of renouncing or insulting Islam) punishable by death in some Muslim-majority countries.  According to news reports, lawyers representing her told Amnesty International that religious clerics in court had asked the 27-year-old Thursday if she would recant her faith, but she told them: “I am a Christian.”

Hours after a Sudanese court sentenced his pregnant wife to death when she refused to recant her Christian faith.

The death sentence issued to a woman who refused to renounce Christianity for Islam in Sudan is an “egregious violation of basic human rights,” Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees U.S. policy in Africa, said previously.

“This is an affront to religious freedom everywhere,” Smith said. “The refusal of the government of Sudan to allow religious freedom was one of the reasons for Sudan’s long civil war. The U.S. and the rest of the international community must demand Sudan reverse this sentence immediately.”

“Mrs. Ibrahim’s willingness to stand-up for her faith—even in the face of death—is a true mark of uncommon courage and bravery,” Smith said. “This case in Sudan mirrors a similar incident 18 months ago in Nigeria in which Boko Haram shot Habila Adamu, who refused to renounce Christianity just like Mrs. Ibrahim.”

Adamu, shot in the head and left for dead, was the only adult male Christian in his village to survive that November 2012 attack. He lived to travel to Washington to give riveting testimony before a congressional hearing Smith held in November 2013: “They asked me, ‘Are you ready to die as a Christian?’ he testified, “and I told them, ‘I am ready,’ but before I closed my mouth, they have fired.”

Smith has held a number of hearings on the Sudanese conflict, including a Feb. 26 hearing, “U.S. Policy Toward Sudan and South Sudan,” by the House Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee. It featured lead witness Donald Booth, Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan from the U.S. State Department, as well as the human rights organizations the Enough Project, Transatlantic Legislative Group on Counter Terrorism and Amnesty International USA.

by Sarah Terzo | Buffalo, NY | LifeNews.com | 5/19/14 9:39 AM

Buffalo, NY (LiveActionNews) — A teenager went through a harrowing ordeal at an abortion clinic on May 16, according to well-known pro-life activist Abby Johnson.

According to status updates posted on Facebook, Johnson, who told the story of her pro-life conversion from Planned Parenthood director to dedicated pro-lifer in her bestselling bookUnplanned, received an emergency phone call from the mother of a pregnant fifteen-year-old she had been counseling.

Johnson described how the girl, who had changed her mind about having an abortion, was held against her will in a locked room at an abortion clinic. She explains:

I have had contact with this 15 year old young woman for several weeks. I was put in touch with her by a prolifer in the Buffalo area who was hoping I could share my experiences with her. Her mother does not want her to have an abortion, but is not mentally stable. Her boyfriend is really pushing her to abort.

Please be in prayer that this young girl will feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as she navigates through this journey. Also be in prayer for the local prolifers who are working with her directly. This is a difficult situation, but we know that God is in control.

It is not unusual for the partner of a pregnant woman to pressure her into abortion – in fact, one study showed that 64% of women who have abortions feel they were pressured into them, usually by their male partners. Johnson explained:

She went to the Buffalo Women’s Services tonight for an ultrasound only. As a 15 year old girl, she is very swayed by the opinions of her boyfriend…who does not want her to have anything to do with the pregnancy center in her area. It is not uncommon for private abortion clinics to see patients late at night.

In fact, here in Austin, we have a doctor that starts his abortion procedures sometimes at 10pm. She asked to see her ultrasound and the clinic absolutely refused. She decided then that they were obviously not interested in helping her and told them that she wanted to leave. They would not allow her to leave the room she was in and locked the door. Her mom started freaking out in the waiting room demanding to see her daughter. At that point, her mother was removed from the facility.

It was at this point that she started texting me and the prolifer she has been working with. Both of us called the police and they arrived shortly. Cheryl, the local (and amazing) prolifer drove to the clinic and the young girl was released in her custody for the weekend. The clinic where this girl was being held is the same one who is opening a “birth center” inside the abortion facility.

Some people may wonder why the girl did not call the police herself. A young teenager might find it intimidating or scary to call the police in such a situation, or may not have the perspective to think of it. It might be far more likely for her to reach out to people she knows and trusts, and who, because of their ongoing encouragement, she knew would help her.

The situation ended happily. Thanks to the actions of Johnson and the other pro-lifers, and the intervention of the police, both the girl and her baby are safe.

This shocking story shows how far some abortion clinics will go to pressure women into having abortions.

Johnson has asked all her followers to pray for the pregnant teen, who has not been named.

by Katie McCann | Columbus, OH | LifeNews.com | 5/16/14 5:16 PM

About a month ago, a leader from our chapter Medina County Right to Life told me about a local couple who were told to selectively abort or “reduce” their pregnancy by two or three children. Leann Alferio, the mother, was carrying quintuplets.

Medina County Right to Life put me in touch with Leann who told me her inspirational story about resisting this recommendation, and seeing all five of her babies through to birth.

One thing was clear about her story: The pregnancy was troublesome–but mostly because of the terror that ran through Leann and her husband, Jacob, during their very first ultrasound appointment. This terror came with just a few words from the doctor: “Leann, this is bad–really bad.”

On her blog, Leann recounts:

I obviously thought the worst…there wasn’t a heartbeat, I wasn’t actually pregnant, I had miscarried…in the few seconds of silence that followed her words my mind raced with all the possibilities of what could have gone wrong.

“There are 5″ she said.

I don’t think i completely understood what she meant by that until she was several minutes into her spiel about how a woman’s body is not intended to carry five babies.  She warned us of the risks of mental retardation, cerebral palsy, premature birth, and all the other possibilities that expecting parents never want to hear. She left us with the recommendation to look into fetal reduction and take it into serious consideration.

As disheartening as this appointment was, Leann and Jacob followed through the pregnancy with both determination and faith:

Before we had even gotten to the car after leaving the appointment we had both decided-without any doubt or debate–we were keeping all five.  Although the medical field may call it fetal reduction, we saw it as abortion. God had given us five for a reason and we did not feel it was our position to choose which ones would survive and which ones would not.  If nature believes that five fetuses are too many for a woman to carry then it will take care of that problem on its own. Otherwise, we were preparing for an emotionally challenging road ahead but knew that as long as we had each other we could do it! We considered them each to be a blessing.  

Despite her determination, Leann went to each following appointment terrified. Though she changed doctors and her body handled the pregnancy well, she consistently had high blood pressure because of the stress inflicted by her first appointment.

The support of her family and friends throughout her pregnancy enabled the couple to stay positive throughout their pregnancy. Today, the quintuplets, Kensley, Brooklynn, Leighton, Giovanni, and Jade, are thriving. The Alferios can’t imagine life without any single one of them.

Leann recognizes that her doctor had a duty to tell her about the risks of carrying quintuplets. But the insistence on the down side of this pregnancy seems to have been the source of her stress throughout her pregnancy.

While we always have to have compassion for the women and physicians who are in the position of trying to preserve the life of the mother, I think that there’s something to be said for the constant struggle of the medical field to improve practices so that both the lives of the mother and the child can be saved. That’s what the history of the cesarean section is all about.

Stories like Leann’s provide hope for a better, more ethical medical history that strives to protect all life in the most difficult of circumstances.

David Limbaugh | Cape Girardeau, MO | LifeNews.com | 5/16/14 

Congratulations to pro-abortion advocates for understanding the power of language and employing the art of propaganda to dupe much of the American public into believing that their motivation is “choice” and that abortion is “reproductive care.” No mean feat.

Pro-abortionists are fit to be tied over the Missouri Legislature’s approval of a bill that requires women to wait 72 hours after first seeing a doctor before having an abortion. Gov. Jay Nixon has not yet indicated whether he’ll sign the bill.

The bill’s supporters argued that women need more time to digest information they receive from a doctor about abortion.

But opponents of the bill, in keeping with the practice of pro-abortionists never to find any argument too preposterous to assert, said the longer waiting period would push women further into pregnancy before an abortion, which could increase their risk. Just two more days (the law already requires a 24-hour waiting period)? Come on! The current law and the bill contain an exemption in instances deemed by a doctor to be a medical emergency.

One opponent said, “The idea that a woman would not have taken this time already is insulting.” Is that right? Considering how much leftists sanitize abortion, it’s not as though balanced information is readily available to every pregnant woman considering an abortion.

I ask you, wouldn’t those truly interested in promoting “choice” want to ensure that women make fully informed choices? If they had the best interests of women at heart, wouldn’t they want women considering an abortion to be apprised of all the possible ramifications, including emotional and psychological consequences that many studies say could ensue?

How about the possible link between abortion and breast cancer? Pro-abortionists savage anyone who raises that question, but bullying is no substitute for science, and until the issue is finally resolved, you would think they would err on the side of protecting women. But you would be wrong because their politics compel them to ignore such studies.

Pro-abortionists also said the waiting period would constitute an emotional and financial burden and would force women to go to abortion facilities in neighboring states. We are talking about human life here, folks, and they’re telling us they want to discourage women even from having to ponder, much less agonize over, the decision? Truly pro-choice people would not be so adamant about removing all obstacles and inconveniences to a procedure that terminates human life.

Listen to the tenor and substance of the pro-abortionists’ arguments. It is clear that they want to dehumanize not only the unborn but also the women facing this very traumatic decision. These groups have certainly demonstrated the power of propaganda to effect political and judicial action on abortion, but they’ll never be successful in using it to transform the human soul, conscience or spirit.

No matter how hard the pro-abortionists work to lull women (and men) into believing abortion is purely a mechanical medical procedure, they’ll never be able to convince most women to the depth of their souls that they are not carrying their own flesh and blood in the womb. They may help pregnant women rationalize and suppress their awareness, but they’ll never be able to eliminate it, and I dare say this is the reason so many studies demonstrate that women who have had abortions end up experiencing emotional and psychological problems at some point after an abortion. Ultimately, most people pay a price for trying to outrun their consciences.

I am not moralizing here against the women who decide to get an abortion. That’s a very complex matter. But I am critical of those who, in the name of choice, treat abortion as if it were nothing and labor to remove all impediments to it.

Before you conclude that I’m overstating the case, please listen to former abortion clinic owner Carol Everett, who says the abortion industry actively promotes abortions to make money. “I sold abortions,” she said, describing her abortion clinics as a “cash cow.” “We had a goal of three to five abortions from every girl between the ages of 13 and 18 because we all work on a straight commission inside the abortion industry.”

More chillingly, Everett revealed that in order to reach their financial goal, they first had to create a “market for abortions,” which meant persuading young people, through “sex education,” to see sexuality in an entirely different way than previous generations. From the abortion industry’s point of view, she said, the earlier sex education is started the greater the profits.

Also, when pregnant girls call an abortion clinic and reach a counselor, said Everett, they only hear about abortion, not adoption. The counselors, she explained, are actually telemarketers trained to “overcome objections” and close the deal by making an appointment for an abortion. They reassure the girls by saying such things as “we can take care of the problem” and “no one needs to know.”

Here we have evidence from inside the belly of the beast that abortion clinics hold themselves out as pro-choice when they are actually promoting abortions.

Kudos to the Missouri Legislature for passing this bill and attempting to restore value to human life.

LifeNews Note: David Limbaugh, brother of radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, is an expert in law and politics and author of new book Crimes Against Liberty, the definitive chronicle of Barack Obama’s devastating term in office so far. Reprinted with permission from TownHall.