Clearly Caring

2011Volume 31 / Number 1

Clearly CaringChristian Life Resources

Also... A Tiny Step 6

It Depends On How You Say It

4 He Came to Share Our Vulnerability

6 A Fringe Family8

HHome

Edition

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Clearly Caring – Home editionChristian Life Resources

Abortion 38 Years Later2011 Volume 31 / Number 1

In This IssueOn January 22, 2011, the United States observed the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize abortion. Think about it: 38 years of the legalized killing of unborn children – more than 52 million lives to date.

This travesty must stay before each of us as a reminder of the work we still must do to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. This issue studies

abortion from a variety of perspectives. When you are finished reading this issue, may you find cause to make your voice heard on behalf of those who have no voice.

To see previous issues of Clearly Caring go to: www.ClearlyCaring.com

Christian Life Resources, Inc., 3070 Helsan Drive, Richfield, WI 53076-9582Phone: (800) 729-9535 Email: [email protected]

Websites: www.ClearlyCaring.com and www.ChristianLifeResources.com

He Came to Share Our Vulnerability

A Fringe Family

Affiliate News | 22

Pastor Robert Fleischmann


Is It Time Yet? | 14

4Rev. Mark Braun

6 Tim Snyder8

A Tiny Step A Child Dies


Sobering Statistics10 16 18

News & Views | 20



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P E R S P E C T I V E

When the United States legalized abortion on January 22, 1973, the language changed. No longer was a little one growing and kicking in the womb referred to as a “baby.” Rather, the child was reduced to Latin and medical terminology to describe a stage in his or her biological development.Today people talk about the unborn child as a fertilized egg, a zygote, a blastocyst, an embryo and a fetus. All of these terms simply describe the developmental stages of life – something that pro-life advocates know is a baby growing in the womb! Yet, the careful use of the right terms can insulate us from harsh realities.

No one likes to talk about aborting a baby – not even abortion activists. They talk about the procedure of abortion without explaining the horrific details. When pressed they describe the expulsion of the fetus, the hindrance of the embryo from attaching to the endometrial lining, or the removal of fetal matter – anything to avoid saying that in abortion they terminate the life of a baby.

This linguistic gymnastics came to mind in early 2011 when word leaked out that actress Nicole Kidman and her country singer husband, Keith Urban, announced the birth of their baby girl. Normally the announcement might have made a small splash in the celebrity column of some magazines and papers. It is what the happy couple said that was striking:

“Our family is truly blessed, and just so thankful, to have been given the gift of baby Faith Margaret,” the family said in a statement. “No words can adequately convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier.”

We can talk about the ethics of in-vitro fertilization and surrogate parenting another time. Of particular interest here is the couple’s unique wording, that which further erodes life to its biological operative level. Biologically speaking, every pregnant woman is a “gestational carrier.” I don’t think my mother would have appreciated the term as she carried my siblings and me through a collective 36 months of pregnancy. Even in the womb she was my mother, and I was her baby.

I can see why the couple wrestled with words. What do you call a woman who carries a pregnancy to term but is not the child’s mother? As much as I cringe at the practice of surrogate parenting, I think “surrogate mother” would have been a more pleasing alternative to “gestational carrier.” “Gestational carrier” sounds like the woman was carrying a disease!

It is not surprising the world has gotten to this point. A number of years ago in my research on changing societal attitudes, I discovered that some scientists in their efforts to legalize the practice of killing of newly-born children (infanticide) described these babies as “radically defective neonates.” I can understand


by Pastor Robert Fleischmann

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the reasoning – no one wants to talk about killing an unwanted, disabled newborn baby. It is so much easier to kill a radically defective neonate. It sounds like the end of a failed experiment.

The same can be said about the changing rhetoric involving the end of life. The world used to be content with terms like “coma,” “brain damaged” or even “in a fog.” Instead, we have grown comfortable with the phrase “persistent vegetative state.” Why that phrase? “Persistent” gives the impression that the condition will go on and on with no end in sight. “Vegetative” sounds like the person is both living and edible.

This dehumanized term likely helps us feel more comfortable when we must do something dehumanizing, such as terminating the life.

A vegetative state sounds like a sarcastic slander thrown back and forth between big linemen in a football game. It is never complimentary. It is always demeaning. Yet, it is now a part of our vernacular.

So today, gestational carriers perform a biological function. If all goes well fertilization will occur, embryonic development will commence into fetal development resulting in the expulsion of

a neonate that hopefully arrives without any defects. The neonate will mature and hopefully live out an existence of productivity. The end of that existence will likely come at the termination of critical biological functioning. If complete cessation

of all biology does not occur, it may exist as a living vegetable until something happens internally or is done to it externally.

It is hard to believe all of this verbiage refers to people, created and redeemed by God. Though it sounds simplistic, I miss the days when a baby was a baby, a mother was a mother, and an ailing grandfather was still your grandfather. All other terms may help track a stage of development or a condition, but in the end it certainly cheapens life. So, be careful about what you say!

Rev. Robert Fleischmann is the National Director of Christian Life Resources. He speaks throughout North America on the Biblical approach to various life and family issues and counsels people with God’s Word in correct decision-making.

I’m a baby!

It is hard to believe all of this verbiage refers to people, created and redeemed by God. “

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A L L T H I N G S S P I R I T U A L

For centuries Christians have celebrated the miracle of the Virgin birth of Jesus in late December or early January—and it is good and right for us so to do.Yet the real miracle occurred not on the day Jesus was born in Bethlehem but nine months before, when he was “conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Without benefit of a human father, God planted the unborn life of the only Savior of the world inside the body of a poor Galilean wife-to-be.

Countless Christmas preachers have observed that this was not the way one would expect a king to make his arrival. “No garb of power or pomp he wore,/ a servant’s form, like mine, he bore,” Luther sang. “He whom the world cannot enwrap/ yonder lies in Mary’s lap.”

Jesus came to share our humanity, and so he also came to share our vulnerability. For nine months his body grew larger and took shape inside the protective yet susceptible surroundings of his mother’s womb. Babies are threatened by the same illnesses their mothers may contract. Brutal rulers and pillaging armies have especially victimized young mothers and their babies. Mary surely knew about the atrocities of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Greek ruler of Palestine a century and a half before, who in unexplainable fury tried to force Greek ways on his Jewish residents, forbidding them from practicing their ancient faith. Antiochus not only outlawed circumcision for eight-day old Jewish boys (as the mark in their flesh of God’s covenant with Israel), but his soldiers roamed the neighborhoods, finding and killing mothers who had had their sons circumcised, then hanging the murdered babies’ bodies around their mothers’ necks (1 Maccabees 1:60-61). Mary’s neighbors

– she must have known some of those young mothers – had their sons’ lives stolen away from them by the soldiers of jealous King Herod (Matthew 2:16-18).

One may point to many occasions in the Old Testament in which the foolish, willful or dangerous actions of men and women in Jesus’ family line put God’s promises at risk. Sometimes God had to intervene spectacularly, even miraculously, to bring to fulfillment His word to Abraham that “all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3).

During the nine months before the birth of the “offspring of the woman,” God entrusted His one and only Son, in all his vulnerability, to the care of a young woman and a step-father. Certainly Mary commended her life and the life of her baby in prayer to God’s keeping,

He Came to Share Our Vulnerability

by Mark Braun

They grow toward their birth-day oblivious to the dangers that may

surround them – and the persons most lethal to

their continued existence may be the very mothers in whose bodies they are

daily being nurtured.

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yet we must also assume that she was careful to eat well, get sufficient rest, and avoid unnecessary risks. The gospel writers never begin a sentence with, “And Joseph said...,” but Matthew notes that Joseph “did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary home as his wife” (Matthew 1:24). He provided a secure place for his wife-to-be and gave her baby – who, remember, was not his baby – a father’s legal protection.

It hardly surprises us to hear that God is great, powerful, and majestic. Pagans praise their gods for that. But that the Son of God should become small and vulnerable is remarkable, and it strikes a responsive chord in us.

When my oldest son was born, more than 30 years ago, I wondered briefly whether the wording of the traditional liturgical prayer at the birth of a child should still be used: “We thank thee, O Lord, that thou hast sustained this mother in her peril and pain....” How like a young, inexperienced man, to think modern medicine had removed danger from childbearing!

Unborn children are still vulnerable. They may carry the addictions of their mothers or be infected with the diseases of their parents. Their safety and nutrition may be compromised by bad habits or poor prenatal care. They grow toward their birth-day oblivious to the dangers that may surround them – and the persons most lethal to their continued existence may be the very mothers in whose bodies they are daily being nurtured.

We thank God that He continues to sustain our babies and their mothers in their peril and pain. We are grateful for the good example of Mary and Joseph, and for the efforts of parents, grandparents, godparents, siblings, friends, neighbors and fellow-believers to protect mothers and children.

And we praise our Lord Jesus for coming to share our vulnerability. “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15,16).

Rev. Mark Braun is a Professor of Theology at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, WI and a former member of the Christian Life Resources’ Board of Directors.

2011 VOLUME 31 / NUMBER 1


T H E T I E T H AT B I N D S

“The anti-choice fringe is attacking Planned Parenthood like never before.” (www.plannedparenthood.org)Are you a part of the “anti-choice fringe”? Could your Christ-centered home also be called a “fringe family”?

Among the definitions for “fringe” that the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives is this: “a group with marginal or extremist views.” The “fringe” label seems to carry a negative connotation. There are those, like Planned Parent- hood, who call you “fringe” because you have taken a stand in defense of God’s gift of life. The goal of the pro-abortion camp is to marginalize your voice.

It’s lonely on the fringe. Think of Noah and his family. What was it like to be the only God-fearing family left on the face of the earth? Certainly Noah’s “extremist” views caused him to be marginalized by a society that had no time for God.

Abraham was no stranger to such loneliness. He left his home and family at God’s command and became a stranger in a strange land. He and his wife Sarah were waiting for an heir, in spite of the fact that they were beyond their child-bearing years. Could anyone have appeared more on the

fringe than an old man waiting for the fulfillment of promises that defied all reason?

Try walking in Elijah’s sandals. God’s prophet to Israel felt so alone and marginalized that despair set in. He begged God to take him. It was no fun being the only believer left.

And, at times, you feel alone. Your home feels like the last bastion of pro-life values. It isn’t your imagination that the Church Militant feels like it is being squeezed into oblivion by a society that zealously defends the killing of over one million unborn children every year. Christ Himself referred to His Church as “the little flock” – this is exactly what you should expect.

But enough of this doom and gloom! Yes, it is a challenge to be a pro-life home in an increasingly godless society, but you will find encouragement for your family in the examples of faith demonstrated by Noah, Abraham and Elijah.

The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that it was by faith – faith in the promise of a Savior – that Noah became “heir of the

righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7). By delivering this “fringe family” from the devastating destruction of the flood, God demonstrated His faithfulness to fallen man.

God provided Abraham and Sarah with an heir. Their faith was not in vain.

A Fringe Familyby Tim Snyder

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Abraham’s descendants became “as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore” (Hebrews 11:12).

God had to remind Elijah that he was not the only believer left. There were still 7,000 faithful in Israel. Elijah may have felt like a failure but, by God’s grace, he was not. The book of Hebrews tells us that God commended prophets like Elijah for their faith and turned their weakness into strength (Hebrews 11:34).

Noah, Abraham, Elijah and all the saints who have gone before put their trust in God and relied on His promises. They are God’s “Faithful Fringe.” And you and your family are also part of the “Faithful Fringe.” You put complete trust in your crucified and risen Savior. You have the comfort of Christ’s forgiveness for your sinful failings and the

promise of His Spirit who empowers you to live for Him. Your family is given the courage to proclaim God’s will through your words and actions, just like Noah and his family. Like Abraham you and your family are

strangers in a foreign land but, also like Abraham, God enables you to “look forward to with city with foundations, whose architect

and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). In the meantime you serve God and, like Elijah, God turns your weakness to strength as your family defends His gift of life and proclaims the message of salvation through Jesus.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin That so easily

entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

If these examples of faith seem impossible to live up to, just remember the One who is faithful. The credit is God’s and the glory is His alone. Jesus promises that He will never leave or forsake His “Faithful Fringe.” And that includes your “fringe family.”

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

You have the comfort of Christ’s forgiveness for your sinful failings and the promise of His Spirit who empowers you to live for Him.

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Mr. Tim Snyder serves as the Media Services Coordinator for Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tim and his family are members at Christ the Lord congregation in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

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T H E N U M B E R S

In January, 2011, the Guttmacher Institute released its latest figures on abortion. That data combined with other available information provides great insight into the current practice of abortion. The statistics are indeed sobering. After abortions reached an annual high of 1.6 million deaths in 1990, the numbers began to drop. The 2008 statistics, however, show, at best, the number of abortions performed annually leveled off and actually indicated an

increase by about 1% as compared with the abortion numbers from 2005.

The Guttmacher Institute report provides a multi-faceted look at the statistics involving abortion. For now is left the reader to draw his or her conclusions. Regardless of trying to understand the reasons in justifying abortion, the sad reality is that human life continues to be cheapened and viewed as a commodity to be disposed of at will. As people increasingly distance themselves from God and His truths they also find it increasingly easy to terminate the defenseless. As people increasingly cloud over sin, its eternal consequences and the divine price paid for redemption, abortion will continue to haunt us as a nation and as concerned Christians.

Sobering Statistics

by Pastor Robert Fleischmann

The Number of AbortionsIn 2008, there were 1.21 million abortions.

Abortion became legal throughout the United States and its territories as the result of the January 22, 1973, U.S. Supreme Court rulings of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that between 1973 and 2008 about 50 million abortions have occurred. That is the approximate combined total current populations of Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.

Fifty percent (50%) of all abortions are performed on women who have had one or more previous abortions.


Race, Pregnancy and AbortionAccording to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2009 the U.S. population totaled about 307 million.

65.0% were white

12.4% were black

9.8% were Hispanic or Latino

12.8% were other

The percent of pregnancies in 2008 deemed unintended by race were as follows:

White women = 40%

Black women = 69%

Hispanic women = 54%

The percent of abortions in 2008 by race were as follows:

White women = 36.1%

Black women = 29.6%

Hispanic women = 24.9%

Other women = 9.4%

The Number of PregnanciesThere are about 6.4 million pregnancies in the United States every year.

About 1 million of those pregnancies end in a miscarriage.

About 22% of the sustained pregnancies end in abortion.

About half of all pregnancies (48.4%) were considered unplanned.

About 40% of the pregnancies deemed “unplanned” ended in abortion.

Guttmacher’s report estimates that by the age of 45 at least half of all American women will experience an unintended pregnancy and about one-third will have an abortion.

Birth Control, Pregnancy and AbortionFifty-four percent (54%) of the women who had abortions claimed they were using birth control (usually a condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant.When those same women were pressed on whether they had used the birth control correctly, 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users claimed they had.

Place of Birth and AbortionMore than 16 percent (16.4%) of all U.S. abortions in 2008 were performed on women who were born outside of the country.

Income and AbortionMore than four of every ten abortions in 2008 (42.4%) were performed on women who were below the poverty level in the United States.


Education and AbortionFollowing is the education level of the woman having an abortion in 2008:

Non-graduate of high school = 12.3%

High school graduate or received GED = 28.3%

Some college or associate degree = 39.5%

Post-college graduate degree = 19.9%

Marriage and AbortionFollowing is the cohabitating or marriage status of women who aborted in 2008:

Married = 179,080 abortions (14.8%)

Co-habiting (not marriage) = 353,320 abortions (29.2%)

Never married – not co-habiting = 544,500 abortions (45.0%)

Previously married – not co-habiting = 133,100 abortions (11.0%)

Religion and AbortionThose women who had abortions in 2008 listed their religious affiliation as:

Roman Catholic = 28.1%

Protestant = 37.3%

Other = 7.1%

None = 27.5%

Age and AbortionFollowing is the age breakdown of all abortions in 2008:

Under age 15 = 4,840 abortions (0.4%)

Ages 15-17 = 75,020 abortions (6.2%)

Ages 18-19 = 133,100 abortions (11%)

Ages 20-24 = 404,140 abortions (33.4%)

Ages 25-29 = 295,240 abortions (24.4%)

Ages 30-34 = 163,350 abortions (13.5%)

Ages 35-39 = 99,220 abortions (8.2%)

Ages 40+ = 35,090 abortions (2.9%)

More than 50% of all abortions (57.8%) are performed on women between the ages of 20-29.


Payment for AbortionsOf all women having abortions in 2008, payment for the procedure came as follows:

Out of Pocket = 57%

Medicaid = 20%

Financial Assistance = 13%

Private Health Insurance = 12%

Other = 2%

Note: The total exceeds 100% because some women reported more than one source of money was used to pay for the abortion.

Some states provide funds to assist in coverage of abortion costs. Over nine in ten women (92%) who had Medicaid coverage used state funds for their abortions.

Sources:

Jones, Rachel K.; Finer, Lawrence B.; Singh, Shusheela (May 4, 2010). “Characteristics of U.S. abortion patients, 2008”. New York: Guttmacher Institute. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/US-Abortion-Patients.pdf.

In Brief: Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States, January 2011, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html#6

U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates, Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009 (NC-EST2009-03), http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2009-srh.html

Abortion and InsuranceIn 2008 those receiving abortions reported their insurance coverage as:

Medicaid = 31%

Uninsured = 33%

Private = 30%

Other = 5%


I have adapted an old saying to pro-life work: being a pro-life activist is like watching a football game – with 22 men on the field in desperate need of rest, and 75,000 people in the stands in desperate need of exercise!

I became interested in this type of work, because I was shocked at the callousness of the way the world treats life. As I once held my children in my arms and now hold my grandchildren, I see their complete dependency in their care from others. Not to care for them would be cruel and would cheat them out of the close attention and love I received from my own parents.

What about you? Have you read about abortion, lamented that it is happening, or gasped at the numbers but then moved on to something else? What does it take to feel compelled to do something?

The cause to protect life is not an act of penance. If abortion was a part of your past, any work you might want to do to stop abortion today cannot change the reality of what happened. As an act of penance it is inadequate.

The cause to protect life is not something you do to get on God’s “good side.” He is not fazed by acts of chivalry and braveness. He could with a single word do anything it would take years for you to accomplish – just think about Peter after the Garden of Gethsemane ear incident!

The cause to protect life is rooted in what happened in our own lives. Scripture tells us, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Christian living involves the maturing of a vertical relationship with God. It is a growing realization in knowing what it means to be a “lost and condemned creature” because of sin and yet be redeemed by God Himself through the gift of His own Son.

There are many troubling causes in this world. Few, however, have the finality of abortion. We can repay stolen money and apologize for a harsh word. We cannot put life back together from the dismembered remains after an abortion.

We speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves: not to earn God’s favor but because of God’s favor for us in Christ. We love because He first loved us. A heightened concern for the endangered child and those involved with the abortion decision is rooted in our concern to do the things of God, show love to others, and obey His will.

If you have gone 38 years with little involvement, consider what has been done for you. Each time you speak up for those who speak for themselves, each time you walk the extra mile, support the cause of caring for life, and each time you step in to give a break to the 22 players on the field, you reflect a love that God bestows on you and all people. It is time to step

forward – now!

R E F L E C T I O N

Is It Time Yet?by Pastor Robert Fleischmann

A heightened concern for the endangered child and those involved with the abortion decision is rooted in our concern to do the things of God, show love to others, and obey His will.

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A D E C I S I O N F O R L I F E

C. Everett Koop served as the U.S. Surgeon general from 1982-1989. He also served as a main speaker at an early Christian Life Resources convention. It was a tumultuous time in the pediatric health care industry. The case of “Baby Doe” hit the headlines, and the news spread quickly about this child born with Down’s syndrome in need of a routine surgery to help him eat.The parents refused to allow the baby to have the operation after they determined the child would not grow up to lead a “quality” life. Despite numerous offers from couples to adopt the child, Baby Doe died in the hospital nursery.

Dr. Koop argued that such “quality of life” arguments should not be grounds for the deliberate starvation and dehydration of a newborn child whose life is not deemed worth living. It was during the height of this controversy that Koop spoke at our convention. His words still ring clear, “It is a small leap in logic to go from taking life in the womb to taking life outside of the womb.” Other infanticide cases came to light at that time, demonstrating the practice had already taken place.

Fast forward to today – 29 years since that infamous case: Dr. Koop’s statement seems

to still hold true. In March 2011 the United Kingdom BBC plans to broadcast a program entitled, “23 Week Babies: The Price of Life.” The promotional paragraph reads as follows:

“Babies born four months early – in the 23rd week of pregnancy – exist on the very edge of life. A few go on to become the ‘miracle babies’ of glossy magazines, but most die. Award-winning director Adam Wishart has unprecedented access to the babies born in such extreme prematurity on a Birmingham neonatal unit, and asks the difficult question: is it always right to keep them alive?”

In the United Kingdom it is legal to abort a child until the 24th week. After 24 weeks, there must be evidence of serious fetal deformity or a threat to the mother’s life to justify the abortion.

In 1987, Jason Gill became the youngest surviving premature infant who was born just after 21 weeks. Today, Gill is still a healthy young man.

So one can understand how “23 Weeks” makes for a prime medical dilemma: a child can either be aborted but can be born and possibly live.

As part of the BBC special, the UK Internet news service Mail Online reported the following comments by a leading official at the United Kingdom’s National Health Service:

A Tiny Stepby Pastor Robert Fleischmann


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A Tiny Stepby Pastor Robert Fleischmann

“Babies born after just 23 weeks of pregnancy or earlier should be left to die, a leading NHS official has said. Dr. Daphne Austin said that despite millions being spent on specialised treatments, very few of these children survive as their tiny bodies are too underdeveloped. She claimed keeping them alive is only ‘prolonging their agony’, and it would be better to invest the money in care for cancer sufferers or the disabled.

“Dr. Austin, who advises local health trusts on ways to spend their budgets, said doctors were “doing more harm than good by resuscitating 23-weekers” and that treatments have ‘very marginal benefit.’ The NHS spends around £10million (more than $16 million) a year resuscitating babies born this early and keeping them alive on incubators and ventilators. But despite round-the-clock care from teams of experienced doctors and nurses, just 9 per cent leave hospital – the rest die. And only one in 100 grows up without some form of disability. The most common include blindness, deafness and cerebral palsy.”

We read in Scripture, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). It is

not surprising, therefore, that the dollars spent in the care of such infants can become a contentious issue involving those who live and those who die. A 2000 U.S. study showed 46% of all preemies born at 23 weeks survive and return home from the hospital. Not all premature children have disabilities or severe disabilities.

In a culture in which a child’s life is expendable at the whim of a mother’s choice, the logical step in terminating life outside of the womb is small indeed.

Samuel Armas needed fetal surgery to correct spina bifida at 21 weeks of development. This photo was taken of little Samuel reaching out of his mother’s womb. Photographed by Michael Clancy on August 19, 1999 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN.

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A D E C I S I O N F O R L I F E

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the movement to legalize abortion focused on two primary arguments:

No agreement could be 1. reached on when life begins;

Women should have “control” 2. over their own bodies.

The movement’s first argument was particularly troubling as it noted no historical consistency of agreement from the medical or religious community about when life begins.

Years later, the abortion-rights community went to great lengths to dehumanize what a woman carried in her womb during a pregnancy. The terms to describe a human being were replaced with such words as:

1. Products of conception; 2. Parasite; 3. Inanimate mass of material; 4. Part of the woman’s body; 5. Blob of tissue.

Along with such dehumanizing phrases the abortion community turned to Latin or medical terminology to describe what happens in the womb. They never spoke of a “baby” in the womb but rather a blastocyst, embryo and fetus.

The late Dr. Bernard Nathanson (d. February 21, 2011), an instrumental player in the early movement to legalize abortion and an abortionist who said he presided over 75,000 abortions, later became a converted pro-life advocate. He indicated when abortion advocates first strategized on a way to make abortion more acceptable

to society, they agreed to avoid the use of the word “abortion.” Marketing experts suggested a focus on “choice,” a term accepted by and still associated with the abortion movement today.

When challenged about the “life of the child” in 1974 hearings before a committee of the House of Representatives on a proposed Human Life Amendment to the Constitution, abortion-rights leaders argued again that no universal acceptance could be reached about the beginning of the “life of the child” in the womb. The impression clearly left in the hearings was that, if an agreement could have been reached, they would have accepted that the life of the child should be given protection.

A lot has changed since then. Consider the following:

Feminist and abortion-rights advocate, Naomi Wolf1, wrote the following:

“Clinging to a rhetoric about abortion in which there is no life and no death, we entangle our beliefs in a series of self-delusions, fibs and evasions. And we risk becoming precisely what our critics charge us with being: callous, selfish and casually destructive men and women who share a cheapened view of human life…What McCorvey and other Americans want and deserve is an abortion-rights movement willing publicly to mourn the evil – necessary evil though it may be – that is abortion… the pro-life slogan, ‘Abortion stops a beating heart,’ is incontrovertibly true.”2

ChildChild Child

A Child Diesby Pastor Robert Fleischmann


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The issue surfaced again in 2008 when abortion-rights supporter Camille Paglia3 wrote the following:

“I have always frankly admitted that abortion is murder, the extermination of the powerless by the powerful. Liberals for the most part have shrunk from facing the ethical consequences of their embrace of abortion, which results in the annihilation of concrete individuals and not just clumps of insensate tissue.”4

Most recently, the reality of death through abortion came from Francis Kissling, the head of the unfortunately-named Catholics for Choice:

“We can no longer pretend the fetus is invisible. We can no longer seek to banish the state from our lives, but rather need to engage its power to improve women’s lives. We must

end the fiction that an abortion at 26 weeks is no different from one at six weeks… The fetus is more visible than ever before, and the abortion-rights movement needs to accept its existence and its value. It may not have a right to life, and its value may not be equal to that of the pregnant woman, but ending the life of a fetus is not a morally insignificant event.”5

Scripture never entitles another individual to terminate a human life – born or unborn – without God’s permission. In abortion it is not the removal of tissue or the jettisoning of an indistinct organic mass of material; in abortion, a baby dies. It is a biological fact. It is a medical fact. It is a Scriptural fact. The fact that history seems fuzzy is a testimony of the depravity of the human race that wants to supplant God’s authority over life and death with the murky concept of personal autonomy.

1 Naomi Wolf is an author who has served as a political consultant for the Bill Clinton 1996 reelection campaign and the Al Gore 2000 election campaign for president.2 Rethinking Pro-Choice Rhetoric. Our Bodies, Our Souls. Wolf, Naomi: The New Republic. October 16, 1995.3 Camille Paglia is an author, feminist and abortion-rights advocate.4 Fresh blood for the vampire. Paglia, Naomi. The Salon. September 10, 2008. 5 Abortion rights are under attack, and pro-choice advocates are caught in a time warp. Kissling, Francis. The Washington Post. February 18, 2011.

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Hawaii Senate Committee Unanimously Defeats Assisted Suicide MeasureOn February 7, the Hawaiian Senate Health Committee voted unanimously (4-0) to shelve a bill to allow physician-assisted suicide in the state. This marks the third time an assisted suicide measure, based on a model on Oregon’s law, stalled in a legislative committee. The “Death with Dignity” measure (SB 803) would have allowed a terminally-ill, competent adult to receive lethal drugs to end life.

SOUrCE: 2/8/11 – StarAdvertiser.com

request Seeks Over-the-Counter Plan B Access to MinorsTeva Pharmaceuticals filed a request seeking approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for girls of any age to obtain the Plan B morning-after pill without a prescription. The drug, marketed as an emergency contraceptive, is currently available over-the-counter to women over the age of 17 years; it currently requires a prescription for those under the minimum age. Pro-life advocates say the labeling of Plan B One-Step as another morning-after contraceptive option is misleading, because it is actually similar to the abortion pill (RU-486). It can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb – after a woman may have already conceived – which causes an early abortion.

SOUrCE: 2/17/11 – LifeSiteNews.com

Planned Parenthood Sets record on AbortionThe latest figures from Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) reveals a booming business for the abortion giant. According to documents posted online, PPFA and its affiliates performed 332,278 surgical and RU-486 chemical abortions in 2009, a record number. In contrast, PPFA showed a decline in the number of women who received prenatal services and adoption referrals: in 2009, 7,021 women received prenatal assistance (a 25% decline from 2008) and only 977 mothers were received adoption services (a 59% drop from the previous year).

SOUrCE: 2/28/11 – Wisconsin Right to Life’s News You Can Use

Pro-Abortion Advocate Says Abortion Leaders Losing groundIn an opinion piece written by a prominent leader in abortion advocacy, Frances Kissling argues abortion leaders are inflexible and use outdated, myth-based argumentation that has caused them to lose ground. She writes in the Washington Post op-ed, “[T]he opposition to legal abortion has increased dramatically. Opponents use increasingly sophisticated arguments – focusing on advances In fetal medicine, stressing the rights of parents to have a say in their minor children’s health care … and have succeeded in swinging public opinion toward their side.”

SOUrCE: 2/28/11 – ncregister.com

H A P P E N I N G N OW !

News & Views


Bernard Nathanson, Former Abortionist Turned Pro-Life Advocate, Dies at 84Dr. Bernard Nathanson, the former abortion

provider and co-founder of NARAL (now

known as NARAL Pro-Choice America),

passed away February 21 at the age of 84

years. Nathanson, who estimated he had

performed some 75,000 abortions, quit his

practice in 1979 and dedicated the rest of his

life to reversing abortion. He was best known

for producing the classic film, Silent Scream,

which included footage of a pre-born baby

trying to escape the abortionist’s deadly tool.

SOUrCE: 2/23/10 – thenewamerican.com

Judge Orders Trial for Pennsylvania Abortionist

A judge in Pennsylvania has ordered the

immediate trial for abortion practitioner

Kermit Gosnell, his wife and eight employees

on charges of murder and conspiracy. A

preliminary hearing request by the defendants’

attorney was denied. Hughes cited testimony

to a grand jury by multiple witnesses

regarding the condition of the Women’s

Medical Society. An investigation detailed

the filthy conditions and brutal practices at

the clinic where the abortionist is accused in

the deaths of a patient and seven babies.

SOUrCE: 2/10/11 – NewsWorks.org

Canadian Claims He Would Make Same Decision to End His Daughter’s LifeRobert Latimer, the Canadian father who

murdered his disabled 12-year-old daughter, said

in an exclusive interview with Radio-Canada he

would have made the same decision today to kill

his severely-disabled daughter as he did in 1993.

The Canadian father ended Tracy’s life by placing

her in the cab of his truck and filling it with

carbon monoxide. The former Saskatchewan

farmer, now 57, has always defended the

decision. Latimer was given full parole

in early December 2010 on the

condition that he receive face-to-face

counseling and make no contact in

any decision-making involving

significantly-disabled individuals.

SOUrCE: 2/17/11 –National Post

Newborns Can recall Music Played in the Womb French scientists have discovered one-month-old babies are able to remember music played to them in the third trimester of their mother’s pregnancies. In the study, the researchers played a descending piano melody twice a day to expectant moms in their 35th, 36th or 37th weeks of gestation. They tested the babies one month after they were born, playing both the descending melody and an ascending nine-note piano melody during the babies’ sleep. On average, the heart rates of the babies decreased by 12 beats a minute with the familiar descending music, compared to 5-6 beats per minute with the unfamiliar melody.

SOUrCE: 3/8/11 – LifeSiteNews.com

Pills Linked to Euthanasia Deaths in AustraliaA veterinary drug promoted by Australian euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke may have been purchased by two individuals through mail order before their deaths in late February. Police are investigating each case to determine whether the individuals purchased a veterinary euthanasia medication from overseas sources. Nitschke promotes the purchase of the barbiturate commonly known as Nembutal for his supporters to use for suicide.

SOUrCE: 3/1/11 – .adelaidenow.com.au

End-of-Life Clinic Planned in NetherlandsA Dutch pro-euthanasia group (NVVE) plans to open a clinic in 2012 to assist people to end their lives. The 8-person facility would allow death on demand for 1,000 persons each year. The clinic would welcome those with terminal illnesses, as well as people with chronic psychiatric conditions. The Dutch medical association opposes the clinic. Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands under certain conditions.

SOUrCE: 1/26/11 – BioEdge


AFFILIATE NEWSBigger, Better and More Active

On November 24, 2010, the Saginaw Valley Chapter of Christian Life Resources closed the doors of its Saginaw pregnancy resource center on Michigan Avenue to make the big move to its new center on Gratoit Avenue. After 95 days of renovations the building was ready.

On December 5, 2010, the new center opened for its clients. On January 23, 2011, a service of dedication was held at St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church in Saginaw, Michigan, followed by an open house.

The new center, which is owned by the Chapter, is three times the size of its previous rented facility. While it is open for business the chapter still is looking to tackle three major projects on the building beginning in the spring. As funds become available, it is hoped to replace the roof, repair the cement and asphalt on the property, and install air conditioning.

The new center showed an increase in clients by 10% in January and 25% in February compared to 2010. The chapter also passed another milestone by seeing its 7,000th client at the Saginaw center.

The Saginaw Valley Chapter also operates a center in Flint, MI.

In the 1990s, Christian Life Resources began an effort to promote and support parish nursing. Over the years, a number of materials were developed by CLR to help support and educate parish nurses in working together as servants of Christ in the parish setting. Beginning this year, Special Ministries of the WELS (Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod) graciously resumed responsibility for parish nursing.

The WELS Nurses Association (WELSNA) is brand new, but interest and excitement for what they want to do is quickly building. You are encouraged as WELS nurses to learn more about the organization! Information can be found at www.welsnurses.net.

Do you live in the metro-Milwaukee area? A special event will take place on Thursday, March 31, in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, for WELS nurses to discover all there is to know about parish nursing. Best of all, there is no registration fee, and dress will be casual! Register online at www.wels.nurses.net.

Parish Nursing


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The STepS Are eASy:

This ministry awareness and fundraising project has been a tremendous blessing in promoting the work of New Beginnings – A Home for Mothers.

Consider this project for your congregation or group!

IT’S ThAT eASy! Ask for your complimentary kit today to conduct this fun and easy project. Call 800-729-9535 or email us at [email protected]

Set up an easy-to-use coin box display that we provide or borrow our adorable baby bottles to set up on any table top.

Distribute the boxes/bottles to your church members and introduce them to this unique maternity home ministry.

Collect the filled coin boxes or bottles and send the proceeds to Christian Life Resources.

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rces Clearly Caring – Home Edition

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CHRISTIAN LIFE RESOURCES, INC. (Published 4 times per year)

Publisher: Christian Life Resources, Inc.3070 Helsan DriveRichfield, WI 53076-9582(800) 729-9535email: [email protected]: www.ClearlyCaring.com www.ChristianLifeResources.comISSN:1549-2508

Copyright © 2011 Christian Life Resources All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted as restricted, permission is granted to reprint articles from Clearly Caring – Home Edition with credit line indicating source, issue, and author if indicated.

To place paid advertising in Clearly Caring – Home Edition please contact the Editor or visit our website at www.ClearlyCaring.com/?advertise.php for rate information.

Directors–Christian Life resources:Rev. Aaron Mueller (Chairman) Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church, Tucson, AZ

Rev. Paul Prange (Vice Chairman) WELS Ministerial Education, Milwaukee, WI

Mr. Daniel Nommensen (Secretary) Wisconsin Lutheran Child and Family Service, Milwaukee, WI

Mr. Scott Menke (Treasurer) University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Racine, WI

Mr. James Froelker Gerald, MO

Rev. David Hein St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church, Slinger, WI

Dr. Thomas Luetzow Medical Associates, Ixonia, WI

Mr. Ronal Przybyla West Bend, WI

New Beginnings – A Home for Mothers, a separate legal entity affiliated with CLR, supports single mothers in a residential setting who have decided to carry their babies to term while teaching them how to include Jesus in their lives.

The Christians Concerned for Life Foundation is a separate legal entity affiliated with CLR, established to sponsor special life and family affirming projects that reflect Biblical principles in protecting human life and ministering to souls.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®NIV®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used in permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

OUR MISSIONThe mission of Christian Life resources (CLr) is to use life

and family issues as bridges to convey the love of god and to share the message of salvation through Christ.

ATTENTION!Instead of watching your mailbox for the next two issues of Clearly Caring – watch your computer! We are publishing them ONLINE ONLY. On May 11th and August 24th visit www.ClearlyCaring.com to read this educational resource. Next print issue will be published October 26th.

Clearly Caring

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