Pope Francis encouraged Catholics in Africa to reject abortion and treat children as a blessing on Thursday in Kenya.

“We are also called to resist practices which foster arrogance in men, hurt or demean women, and threaten the life of the innocent unborn,” the pontiff said during a Mass at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, according to the BBC.

He encouraged young people to stand up for the sanctity of every human life by shaping “a society which is ever more just, inclusive and respectful of human dignity.” He added that they “should reject everything that leads to prejudice and discrimination.”

Pope Francis told the crowd: “Our faith in God’s word calls us to support families in their mission in society, to accept children as a blessing for our world, and to defend the dignity of each man and woman, for all of us are brothers and sisters in the one human family.”

The pope’s words came to a country that has been targeted by abortion advocates in recent years. Though its ambassador to the United Nations strongly denounced abortion earlier this year, Kenya has been pushed to expand abortion by the UN and the Obama Administration.

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Pope Francis has been emphasizing the sanctity of human consistently during his visits across the world. When he came to the U.S. in September, the pope admonished members of Congress to “defend life at every stage of development.”

“The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development,” he told U.S. Congress. “I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity.”

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/11/27/pope-francis-condemns-abortion-resist-practices-that-threaten-the-innocent-unborn/

Los Angeles (AFP) - A social media campaign launched by three US activists to denounce the stigma surrounding abortion has gone viral as women have shared their experiences, though pro-life campaigners have hit back.

The hashtag "#ShoutYourAbortion" was started on Twitter over the weekend after the US House of Representatives voted to cut funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest women's health care ser vices provider, as Republicans pushed for a probe of the organization.

Lindy West, Amelia Bonow and Kimberly Morrison said they began the campaign in a bid to encourage women to reclaim the conversation about abortion.

Bonow shared her own story on Facebook along with the hashtag and since then thousands of women across the globe have detailed their experience.

"I had an abortion at Planned Parenthood last year and it was a great experience," Bonow, who lives in Seattle, told AFP. "Not only am I not ashamed, but I know I'm incredibly lucky to have access to this choice and we need to keep it that way."

West also recounted her abortion experience on Facebook, saying she had no regrets.

"I set up #ShoutYourAbortion because I am not sorry and I will not whisper," she wrote on Twitter.

Tens of thousands of women were thought to have shared similar stories with the hashtag, based on web analytics sites.

But some, who believe abortion is tantamount to murder, have lashed out at the women.

"I'm sure the babies would love to participate in the #ShoutYourAbortion campaign, but they've been murdered and sold for parts," wrote blogger Matt Walsh on Twitter.

Abortion is a hot-button issue in the United States and the latest debate comes as Pope Francis begins a historic visit to the country, during which he will address Congress.

The pontiff tackled the prickly issue ahead of his visit telling priests that they could forgive women the "sin of abortion" if they express remorse.

Just hours before his arrival to Washington, Republican senators tried and failed to break a filibuster on legislation banning late-term abortions.

The controversy over Planned Parenthood erupted after a series of secretly recorded videos were released showing top members of the organization discussing in graphic detail the use of fetal tissue for research.

The House of Representatives stripped the group of federal funding for one year pending a congressional probe.

http://news.yahoo.com/shoutyourabortion-campaign-explodes-social-media-2...

NFL fullback Evan Rodriguez and his wife Olivia are expecting a little girl in December, who has a rare birth defect,anencephaly. The couple has been speaking out about the diagnosis and their decision to keep their baby girl despite the fact that she will not survive long after birth due to the condition.

Doctors informed the couple early in the pregnancy that the baby will be born missing parts of her brain and skull and would live only for a few days, maybe only a few hours.

Evan Rodriguez told ABCAction News that the doctor told him and his wife that they could “either terminate it or move forward with the process.”

The couple said they relied on their faith to help decide how they were going to proceed.

“I prayed to God like I wanted to make the right decision,” Evan said.

Olivia Rodriguez said she asked God, “Show me what it is that you want to do through all of this. What’s the good to come out of it?”

“We decided to continue with the process because we felt like, who are we to determine a baby’s life? So, we are going to leave it in God’s hands,” Evan said.

Olivia added that they would do “anything we can do to be able to make the best out of her life.”

They’ve named their little girl Layla Sky because, Evan says, “I always zone out and look at the sky and wonder what else is out there.”

Evan told ABC Action News that he knows he will see Layla Sky again someday too.

“She’ll be waiting up there saying ‘daddy,’” he said.  “So, there’s a time and place for everything.”

The couple has been working to raise awareness of anencephaly. Evan donned a Layla Sky towel at every practice while he was still playing with the Buccaneers.

“It felt like it was our job to let other people know about this,” Evan said.

The hashtag Fight for Layla Sky is spreading on Facebook and Twitter. They are celebrating Layla’s life and raising awareness of things pregnant women can do to prevent anencephaly such as taking a daily multivitamin with folic acid.

“Most [of] the time we plan on teaching our child about the world, never expecting you have to teach the world about your child,” Olivia recently posted on Facebook.

According to the CDC, about 1 in every 4,859 babies in the United States will be born with anencephaly.

h/t ABC Action News

http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/lauretta-brown/former-nfl-player-wife-keeping-unborn-baby-despite-birth-defect-who-are-we

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/07/28/3rd-shock-shock-video-catches-planned-parenthood-vice-president-selling-body-parts-of-aborted-babies/

By Rosa Nguyen Globe Correspondent June 29, 2015
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/06/28/pro-life-activists-rally-bo...

Cori Connor-Morse stood among the white columns of Parkman Bandstand, voice quavering as she recounted the loss of her unborn child.

“My baby should not be in heaven. My baby should be all grown up and living his life here, with us, as it was intended by our creator,” Connor-Morse said, recalling the abortion she had and the regret she later felt.

A crowd of about 600 abortion opponents rallied around her Sunday, huddling under umbrellas as they shouted their support. The rally and subsequent Massachusetts March For Life, sponsored by walkers’ family and friends, raised money for 16 pregnancy resource centers across the state, including Operation Rescue in Boston and New Women’s Center Inc., in Springfield.

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston, was among several speakers who addressed the crowd.

Waving signs and tambourines as they were pelted by rain, the activists looped 2 miles around the Boston Common and the Public Garden, pausing for a moment of silence at the State House.

Anne Fox, president of Massachusetts Citizens For Life, said, “1.2 million babies have been aborted in Massachusetts since Roe v. Wade in 1973. That’s a lot of deaths.”

State Representative James Lyons of Andover, who attended the march, said the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion 40 years ago, was a mistake.

“We have a responsibility to protect human life,” Lyons said.

Four bills addressing abortion are being considered by state legislators, march organizers said. Their policies include more health regulations in abortion clinics, they said, options that allow taxpayers to fund Baby Safe Havens instead of abortion clinics, banning abortions of fetuses who can feel pain 20 weeks after conception, and banning partial-birth abortions, which occur while the fetus is being born.

The Rev. Matt Williams, director of Faith Formation in the Archdiocese of Boston, said the law classifies the murder of a pregnant woman as a double murder but doesn’t classify abortion as a criminal act.

“All men are created equal. All life is sacred and deserves to be protected under the Constitution,” Williams said. “There are 7 billion people, but no one has your fingerprints. You are unique.”

Kelley McCormick, who emceed the rally, also emphasized unborn children’s constitutional rights.

“The Constitution promises life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” she said. “If you don’t get a chance at life, then you don’t get an opportunity for liberty and happiness.”

Standing in front of the State House, children, parents, and Franciscan nuns prayed, chanting, “I believe that we vote life.”

Kimberlyn Santana, 13, wore a trash bag over her clothes as she marched, a star-speckled tapestry of the Lady of Guadalupe draped, cape-like, across her shoulders.

“Life before you’re out of the womb is important,” Kimberlyn said. “The child that was in your womb could have been an amazing person.”

NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood officials could not be reached for comment.

Sarah Zagorski Jun 26, 2015 | 9:25AM Washington

A 26-year-old woman who wants to remain anonymous has shared online that she is seven-weeks-pregnant and plans to have an abortion on July 10th. However, if pro-lifers can raise one million dollars in 72-hours she says she will not have the abortion and place the baby for adoption. She selected 72-hours intentionally because she wanted to draw attention to the laws that recently passed requiring women to wait 72-hours prior to an abortion.

The 26-year-old who is demanding money to save the life of her child believes these laws are intended to control women’s rights rather than to help women and save unborn children. She said, “The backward direction this country is headed in terms of its treatment of women I feel is due in large part to the influence of the religious right disguised as the pro-life movement. The pro-life movement cares very little about saving lives and far more about controlling women by minimizing their choices in a wide variety of ways not the least of which is readily available reproductive health care.”

She concluded, “I hope to give the American public a concrete example that the conservative right in America doesn’t actually care about the life of a child, they care about controlling the lives and choices of women. We have to acknowledge this and we have to stop it.” Additionally, the woman said that if the funds are raised she will put the money in a trust fund for her baby that he or she will have access to on their 21st birthday.

Lila Rose, the President of Live Action, went on the HLN TV show Dr. Drew to explain why this woman’s request is upsetting. She said, “This website that this woman’s putting up about killing a child in 72-hours disturbs us because we know it’s a child, it’s a baby.”

As LifeNews previously reported, in the United States, South Dakota, Utah, Missouri and North Carolina all have three-day waiting periods while 26-states require women to wait 24 or 48 hours. Pro-life lawmakers believe these laws are critical because sometimes abortion involves coercion and women feel they have no other choice than to kill their unborn child. The new laws can give these women time to reconsider their options and potentially pursue other sources for help.

After the pro-life law was enacted in North Carolina, Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life said the following about waiting periods: “As pastoral director of the world’s largest ministries for healing after abortion — Rachel’s Vineyard and the Silent No More Awareness Campaign — I know that many mothers weep for their aborted children years, even decades later. A three-day wait cannot compare to a lifetime of emotional pain. Making sure that abortion clinics meet the minimum health and safety standards is just common sense, except to the abortion industry, which is wildly unregulated, and to its advocates, who think that keeping women safe and doctors accountable is somehow antithetical to women’s rights and health.”

Steven Ertelt Jun 24, 2015 | 11:07AM Washington, DC
http://www.lifenews.com/2015/06/24/ohio-senate-committee-passes-pro-life...

Today, the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services heard additional testimony for and against the legislation and ultimate voted for the bill to move out of committee and on to the Senate floor.

The legislation is sponsored by Senators Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering) and Jay Hottinger (R-Newark). Between the House and Senate, thirty-three legislators signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation.

“In Ohio, I was fortunate enough to work with Ohio Right to Life for the enactment of our post-viability abortion ban in 2011,” said Senator Peggy Lehner in her testimony. “Since passage of that legislation, abortions after 19 weeks gestation have decreased by 40%. While we are encouraged by this trend, there is more to be done and frankly I see no reason why we cant do it together, setting aside our hardened positions on abortion rights and seeking a law that more clearly reflects our understanding of fetal development.”

“The Hippocratic Oath says, First do no harm,” said Representative Roegner, another bill supporter. “I would think everyone could agree to err on the side of caution, in light of the overwhelming scientific evidence, when it comes to the question of whether a five month pre-born baby can feel pain.”

Ohio Right to Life strongly supports the bill and says public opinion is solidly on the side of protecting unborn babies from abortions.

“With Kermit Gosnell’s House of Horrors marked indelibly on the collective American conscience, it’s no wonder there’s a groundswell of support for legislation that protects 5-month pre-born babies from the pain of being dismembered,” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, executive director of Ohio Right to Life. “The passage of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act will chronicle the end of late-term abortion-on-demand in Ohio, bringing us in line with the rest of the developed world.”

Krider said the legislation challenges the viability limit on abortion restrictions, commonly triggered at 24 weeks, that the U.S. Supreme Court imposed in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. As of 2011, abortions in Ohio are prohibited at 24 weeks or the point of viability, which must be tested for at 20 weeks gestation.

Supporters of the bill say it is important to help keep the focus on how abortion victimizes unborn children.

“Human growth in the womb is truly amazing,” said Dr. Dennis Sullivan, director of the Center for Bioethics at Cedarville University. “Most fetal organs are fully formed by the end of the first three months of development. We also know that unborn babies react to external stimuli very early on, and pull away from probes and operating instruments when procedures are done late in pregnancy. I am so thankful that society is finally recognizing the need to protect its most vulnerable members from unnecessary and horrific pain and suffering. It is our solemn duty to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”

A national poll by The Polling Company found that, after being informed that there is scientific evidence that unborn children are capable of feeling pain at least by 20 weeks, 64% would support a law banning abortion after 20 weeks, unless the mother’s life was in danger. Only 30% said they would oppose such a law.

A November 2014 poll from Quinnipiac found that 60 percent of Americans support legislation limiting abortions after 20 weeks, including 56 percent of Independents and 46 percent of Democrats.

During a Congressional hearing on the federal bill, former abortion practitioner Anthony Levatino told members of the committee the gruesome details of his former abortion practice and how he became pro-life following the tragic automobile accident of his child.

Another bombshell dropped during the hearing came from Dr. Maureen Condic, who is Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She testified that the unborn child is capable of reacting to pain as early as 8-10 weeks. This is when most abortions in America take place.

The bill relies on the science of fetal pain to establish a Constitutional reason for Congress to ban abortions late in pregnancy. The science behind the concept of fetal pain is fully established and Dr. Steven Zielinski, an internal medicine physician from Oregon, is one of the leading researchers into it. He first published reports in the 1980s to validate research showing evidence for it.

He has testified before Congress that an unborn child could feel pain at “eight-and-a-half weeks and possibly earlier” and that a baby before birth “under the right circumstances, is capable of crying.”

He and his colleagues Dr. Vincent J. Collins and Thomas J. Marzen were the top researchers to point to fetal pain decades ago. Collins, before his death, was Professor of Anesthesiology at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois and author of Principles of Anesthesiology, one of the leading medical texts on the control of pain.

“The functioning neurological structures necessary to suffer pain are developed early in a child’s development in the womb,” they wrote.

“Functioning neurological structures necessary for pain sensation are in place as early as 8 weeks, but certainly by 13 1/2 weeks of gestation. Sensory nerves, including nociceptors, reach the skin of the fetus before the 9th week of gestation. The first detectable brain activity occurs in the thalamus between the 8th and 10th weeks. The movement of electrical impulses through the neural fibers and spinal column takes place between 8 and 9 weeks gestation. By 13 1/2 weeks, the entire sensory nervous system functions as a whole in all parts of the body,” they continued.

With Zielinski and his colleagues the first to provide the scientific basis for the concept of fetal pain, Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand has provided further research to substantiate their work.

One leading expert in the field of fetal pain, Dr. Kanwaljeet S. Anand at the University of Tennessee, stated in his expert report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, “It is my opinion that the human fetus possesses the ability to experience pain from 20 weeks of gestation, if not earlier, and the pain perceived by a fetus is possibly more intense than that perceived by term newborns or older children.”

“The neural pathways are present for pain to be experienced quite early by unborn babies,” explains Steven Calvin, M.D., perinatologist, chair of the Program in Human Rights Medicine, University of Minnesota, where he teaches obstetrics.

Dr. Colleen A. Malloy, Assistant Professor, Division of Neonatology at Northwestern University in her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in May 2012 said, “[w]hen we speak of infants at 22 weeks LMP [Note: this is 20 weeks post fertilization], for example, we no longer have to rely solely on inferences or ultrasound imagery, because such premature patients are kicking, moving, reacting, and developing right before our eyes in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.”

“In today’s medical arena, we resuscitate patients at this age and are able to witness their ex-utero growth and development. Medical advancement and technology have enabled us to improve our ability to care for these infants…In fact, standard of care for neonatal intensive care units requires attention to and treatment of neonatal pain,” Dr. Malloy testified. She continued, “[t]hus, the difference between fetal and neonatal pain is simply the locale in which the pain occurs. The receiver’s experience of the pain is the same. I could never imagine subjecting my tiny patients to horrific procedures such as those that involve limb detachment or cardiac injection.”

by Marie Smith | LifeNews.com | 6/23/15 12:13 PM

The United Nations’ treaty monitoring body for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) ignored the pro-life laws of four countries under review during its recent 55^th session and strongly urged the countries to change their laws or policies on abortion, despite the fact that the treaty does not mention abortion.

Ireland’s constitutional protection of life from conception was targeted for elimination as the Committee told Ireland: “The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary steps, including a referendum on abortion, to revise its legislation on abortion, including the Constitution and the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, in line with international human rights standards; adopt guidelines to clarify what constitutes a real substantive risk to the life of a pregnant woman; publicize information on crisis pregnancy options through effective channels of communication; and ensure the accessibility and availability of information on sexual and reproductive health.”

The term “human rights standards” comes straight from the pro-abortion legal toolkit. No international human rights treaty includes abortion as a human right and no matter how many times the claim may be repeated, the destruction of an unborn child in abortion is a reproductive wrong, not a human right. There is no universally recognized “right to abortion”.

Chile is considering a new law to allow abortion for limited exceptions but the Committee expressed its dissatisfaction and told the pro-life country with the lowest maternal mortality rate in Latin American that it wanted the legislation to go further saying it was concerned about “a strict ban on abortion.”

Uganda was told that abortion in its country is “too restrictive” and was instructed to “…revise its abortion legislation, including by considering decriminalizing abortion and providing for exceptions to the general prohibition on abortion in certain cases.”

Venezuela’s law restricting abortion was also irrelevant to the Committee which instructed it to: “Review its legislation regarding the prohibition of abortion to make it compatible with other fundamental rights such as health and life of women and their dignity.”

Kyrgyzstan which allows abortion on demand was told that the Committee was concerned that despite abortion being legal; it was not covered by public health insurance. It was recommended that the country “…increase financial resources allocated to the health sector” and “Provide confidential access for everyone, including adolescents, to contraceptives and safe abortion services, which are fully covered by health insurance.”

The actions of the CESCR Committee, a UN entity disrespecting sovereign laws against abortion while promoting increased access to the violence of abortion and claiming it is a “human right”, comes as countries are in final negotiations of the Zero Draft on the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) with targets on access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. Target 5.6 includes “Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development…”

Countries with laws against abortion have felt a level of protection for their national abortion policies by inclusion of references to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)-known as the ICPD caveat- where the Programme of Action stated that laws on abortion were to be decided at the local or national level according to the national legislative process.

However, as demonstrated by the CESCR Committee, certain treaty monitoring bodies treat national laws with contempt as they issue instructions to countries under review to change their laws and policies on abortion, regardless of what is stated in the ICPD Programme of Action. While the observations and recommendations issued by members of treaty bodies are mere “interpretations” of the respective treaty, they are increasingly used to advance support for abortion and other issues related to the broad agenda of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) which are not universally recognized human rights but which SRHR activists claim reflect so-called “human rights standards”.

PNCI expresses its deep concern for the ongoing distortion of international treaties to promote the killing of preborn babies and advises countries with laws restricting abortion to defend their sovereign laws and reject the recommendations from treaty bodies, acting as SRHR agents, to change their laws and policies to allow easy access to the violence of abortion.

PNCI notes that as the process to finalize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets nears completion in September, proposals to allow treaty bodies to act as monitors of country progress for the targets, especially those on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, must be opposed.