Survivors For LIFE

Obama To Allow Taxpayer Dollars For Experimenting On Babies

President Obama on Monday signed an order to lift restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, in a move he said rejects the "false choice" between science and morality.

As a cancer survivor, I would never support killing babies to find a cure for myself.  This president has no soul.  Read story...

Obama: It's Open Season On Experimenting On Babies

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama expected to sign an executive order on Monday reversing restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

The long-expected move is likely to stir up not only the promise of scientific breakthrough but also the controversy over where government crosses a moral line.  Read story...

Sebelius Pick A Disgrace

The pick of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services is simply a disgrace.  She is about as anti-life as a politician can be, and can hardly be trusted to run a department which is charged with overseeing the health and safety of ALL Americans.  Read story...

Must see video!

The below is an ironic video, for a variety of reasons, but especially considering that today is the 36th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade.   It's only 41 seconds long, but very worth watching!

2008 Election Endorsements

Nationally, we endorse all pro-life Republicans.  The Democrats offer nothing but more taxpayer funded embryonic stem cell research and more abortions.

For more Arizona candidate-specific endorsement information, click here.

Please Vote!!!!

A Survivor's Choice For President

With the presidential election a mere hours away, I am doing my best to step into the shoes of the Obama supporters and see what they see.  What I find is a man who is offering the illusion of hope to people who feel they have none.  I find a man who is offering a new way of life to Americans who believe that change, merely for its own sake, is good enough.  One friend told me he thought of Obama as a spiritual leader.   Whatever it is they see in him as a candidate, one thing is for sure, there is little that can sway the resolve of his supporters.  They simply believe he walks on water.

John McCain's slogan of Country First deeply resonates with me.  There are some things more important than self.  I was raised in a family where the hierarchy was always spoken about in terms of God, then country, then family.  If it was Saturday and Notre Dame was playing, Notre Dame came in third and family got bumped.  But God and country always came first, and they still do today.

As a cancer survivor I am deeply committed to seeking cures.   There are those who believe that embryonic stem cells are the answer, that experimenting on unborn children is ok if it saves the lives of others.  I cannot understand such disregard for human life, such selfishness in an effort to postpone the inevitable.  There is no situation where I would kill an innocent life for the purpose of extending my own.  God's commandments come first.

Barack Obama and John McCain have very different views on life issues.  Barack Obama supports a woman's right to choose at any time during the pregnancy.   He has voted against all reasonable measures regarding parental notification and medical care for aborted babies born alive.    He even supports federal laws repealing abortion restrictions voted upon and implemented in the individual states.    He supports unrestricted, tax payer funded experimentation on baby embryos. He will pick Supreme Court justices who also possess a callous disregard for human life.  He is an extremist like we've never seen before.

John McCain is hardly a perfect choice, but compared to Barack Obama, he is a far superior choice.  America needs, more than anything, a president who understands the preciousness of each and every life.  We need a president who will defend the unborn, the elderly, and those fighting for our freedoms.  John McCain respects life, born and unborn. 

As yourself, if Barack Obama is willing to kill an innocent baby, what is he willing to do to you? 

John McCain get my vote tomorrow.

Americans United for Life Vice President Testifying Before Oklahoma House, Available for Interviews

CHICAGO, Oct 14, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Americans United for Life (AUL) Vice President Daniel McConchie is scheduled to testify before the Oklahoma House of Representatives Health Subcommittee on Thursday, October 16 at 2:30 pm. Mr. McConchie will be addressing the moral and ethical issues surrounding stem cell research.

 

AUL President Dr. Charmaine Yoest said, "The only stem cell research that State governments should be promoting is stem cell research that upholds the dignity of every human being. Oklahomans can be proud that their state is taking a lead in pro-life stem cell research."

 

Oklahoma this year passed the Advancement in Stem Cell Cures and Therapies Act (HB 3126), which is designed to encourage and foster stem cell research using only adult stem cells. The bill was sponsored by Rep. John T. Enns, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a farming accident in 2004.

 

Mr. McConchie said, "We are seeing amazing advances from stem cell research every day. What most people don't realize is that all of these advances are from adult stem cell research, not embryonic. Oklahoma can be a leader in cutting-edge research that doesn't violate the sanctity of human life, and Representative Enns' bill leads the way."

 

The Health Subcommittee is hearing testimony as part of an interim study on the bill.

 

Mr. McConchie is available for interviews.

 

About Americans United for Life

 

Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization whose vision is a nation in which every human being is welcomed in life and protected in law. The first national pro-life organization in America, AUL has been committed to defending human life through vigorous judicial, legislative, and educational efforts at both the federal and state levels since 1971. The Wall Street Journal has profiled AUL, and PBS' Frontline program chronicled AUL's successful efforts in Mississippi.

SOURCE Americans United For Life

Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

Testicles could be new source of stem cells

13 Oct 2008

Scientists from Germany and the UK have found a new source of stem cells that could be as good as embryonic stem cells for researching and developing treatments for a range of serious diseases, but without the ethical problems of embryonic stem cells; the source is routine biopsies of men's testicles.

The discovery was the work of researchers from the Universities of Tübingen and Cologne in Germany, and King's College, London, and was published 8 October in the online issue of Nature. The lead author was Professor Thomas Skutella, who leads an experimental embryology group at Tübingen University.

Stem cells from embryos have the potential to become any cell in the body, after all, a whole person grows from a single fertilised egg. But getting stem cells from embryos is fraught with ethical problems since it involves the destruction of embryos.

For some time now scientists have been working to find alternative ways to make stem cells with the same ability to become any cell in the body as the embryonic stem cell. One such method that has been showing great promise recently is the induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPS cell. By taking a normal cell, such as a skin cell and inserting certain genes into its DNA, scientists have been able to reprogram the cell to regress to an earlier form when it still had the potential to become virtually any other cell of the body.

However, Skutella and colleagues had a hunch that there was another source of stem cells, ones that did not need to have genes inserted into their DNA to make them into cells that produce other cells, because they do that already: the sperm producing cells inside adult male testicles.

They succeeded in harvesting stable stem cells from spermatogonial (sperm producing) cells taken from routine tissue biopsies of the testes of 22 adult male humans. They showed that the cells could be coaxed into regressing to become cells from all three germ layers that form in the very early stages of a new human embryo. This was done by culturing them in the same way used to make embryonic stem cells differentiate.

The researchers concluded that:

"The generation of human adult germline stem cells from testicular biopsies may provide simple and non-controversial access to individual cell-based therapy without the ethical and immunological problems associated with human embryonic stem cells."

Stem cells are the new hope for treatment development because they carry the potential of personalized therapy – using a person's own cells to create stem cells that can then repair and replace damaged tissue, such as in Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and cancers. This way the big problem of immune system rejection is overcome because the implants have the same DNA as the host.

In this case however, using stem cells from male testes, the treatment would only work on men.

Many scientists are of the view that regardless of the alternatives that are found, embryonic stem cells are still the best, they are the "gold standard" of pluripotency, and we will need them for research and treatment development for some time to come.

(Source: Nature: University of Tübingen: October 2008)

Majority of Doctors Say Focus on Adult Stem Cells, Embryonic Concerns Valid

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll of physicians finds a majority say they favor the use of adult stem cell research only or believe it could be a way to avoid the ethical debate surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells. Another majority say they have concerns about the moral status of embryonic research or that concerns are valid.

The Jackson & Coker Industry Report conducted the survey of 550 doctors and medical professionals during September.

Of the respondents, 68 percent were medical doctors, 10 percent advanced practitioners, 3 percent hospital administrators and two percent were medical scientists. The rest were unidentified health care providers.

The poll found 66 percent indicated stem cell research should include embryonic stem cells while 24% were strongly opposed to this line of research. But, that wasn't the end of the debate.

Some 55 percent of those polled believe that there are valid concerns about embryonic stem cell research on the premise that "it's creating life to destroy life" (20 percent) or that both sides of the ethical debate deserve to be addressed (35 percent). Just 44 percent indicated there is no valid concern.

Meanwhile, 35 percent of those polled worried embryonic stem cell research has the possibility of being a "slippery slope" that can possibly lead to human cloning or some other form of extraordinary genetic manipulation.

The survey also found 26% believed relying solely on adult stem cells would be appropriate and another 26% favored sole reliance on adult stem cells as a possible way of sidestepping the heated ethical debate. That's 52 percent total who say adult stem cells should be used solely or as a method of diffusing the debate.

Jackson & Coker highlighted that majority with some of the comments from the medical professionals involved in the survey.

"Stay away from the embryonic stem cells. This eliminates the ethical debate," one person said.

Another added: "Avoid the inevitable controversy of embryonic stem cell research by focusing all funds and research on adult stem cells."

"Clarify the advantages to adult stem cell research. Also expose the financial gains that are the real issue behind the embryonic stem cell research," a third said.

Stem Cell Therapy Warning

http://www.theage.com.au/national/stem-cell-therapy-warning-20081016-52eq.html