Monthly Archives: March 2015

Thirteen Million “Hidden” Children due to China’s One-Child Policy

Genevieve Plaster, M.A. | March 31, 2015.

In 1968, Dick van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes starred in a children’s fantasy movie based on a book written by James Bond creator Ian Fleming. While Chitty Chitty Bang Bang celebrates whimsy embodied in a flying (and water-compatible) English racing car, it also features a rather dark storyline: In the faraway land of Vulgaria, children are banned from the country by the baron and baroness, resulting in a sizable subpopulation of illegal minors hiding underground or locked in prison.

When the children are freed by Van Dyke’s crew, they storm the castle and a shocked Baron Bomburst exclaims, “Where are all these children coming from? I thought we passed a law against children!” Eerie, the parallel between fiction and reality.

In 2010, China conducted its latest census, which revealed that the country had 13 million undocumented children…

World Down Syndrome Day & How One Family’s Mission Brightens Futures

Genevieve Plaster, M.A. | March 20, 2015.

This March 21st marks the 10th year of a worldwide campaign to celebrate and advocate for people with Down syndrome (DS). World Down Syndrome Day always falls on the 21st day of the third month, a meaningful selection representing the third copy of the 21st chromosome, the characteristic possessed by all individuals with Down syndrome.

This year, World Down Syndrome Day will highlight the positive contributions that families make for their loved ones and others in the DS community. The theme, “‘My Opportunities, My Choices’ – Enjoying Full and Equal Rights and the Role of Families,” was appropriately chosen because 2015 is also the 21st anniversary of the International Year of the Family as declared by the United Nations.

Ethical Adult Stem Cell Treatments Result in “Profound Improvement” for MS Patients

Eugene C. Tarne | March 19, 2015.

British media are reporting a significant development in the use of ethical, non-embryonic stem cells to treat patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and, perhaps, other auto-immune diseases.

Auto-immune diseases are caused by an abnormal immune response which causes the immune system to attack and destroy healthy tissues in a person’s own body. Such diseases include Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and lupus, among many others. While the exact cause is not known, many researchers believe multiple sclerosis occurs when a person’s immune system attacks tissue of the brain and spinal cord, resulting in severe pain, impaired movement and in the most extreme cases, death.

The Drop Box: Rescuing Hundreds of Babies in South Korea

Genevieve Plaster, M.A. | March 13, 2015.

“This is a facility for the protection of life. If you can’t take care of your disabled babies, don’t throw them away or leave them on the street. Bring them here.” – A sign on the Drop Box.
It’s 1987 in Seoul, South Korea. A baby is born with cerebral palsy and a massive cyst on his left cheek that is cutting off blood flow to his brain, causing permanent damage. Without surgery, he will die, say the doctors, and with it, he will still be deformed. Fast forward to 2013: Eun-man is 26 years old. Though he has been bedridden his entire life with limbs bent in impossible positions and a vacuum that constantly suctions out saliva through a hole in his trachea, Eun-man has been instrumental in inspiring a mission that has saved the lives of hundreds of babies.

Faith-Based Charities Serving Vulnerable Children Should Not Be Required to Facilitate Abortion

Thomas M. Messner, J.D. | March 12, 2015.

Federal regulations issued by the Obama Administration have raised concerns that Christian charities operating federally funded care provider facilities housing unaccompanied alien children could be required to facilitate access to abortion.

Virginia to Compensate Victims of Its Forced Sterilization Program

Nora Sullivan, M.P.A | March 9, 2015.

In February, Virginia became the second state in the union to legislate in favor of compensating victims of the state’s infamous eugenic sterilization program. The living victims of state sponsored forced sterilization are set to be awarded $25,000 following a protracted battle in the legislature. In 2013, North Carolina was the first state to compensate surviving victims, at $50,000 each.

This news of the decision has been welcome relief for Virginia survivors of this program, most of whom are quite elderly and were only teenagers when they were forced to undergo these procedures. “I couldn’t have a family like everybody else does,” stated 87-year-old Lewis Reynolds. “They took my rights away.”

PRESS RELEASE: “Incompatible with Life” Is Medically Inaccurate

Charlotte Lozier Institute | March 9, 2015.

“Incompatible with Life” Is Medically Inaccurate

Charlotte Lozier Institute Joins International Effort to Increase Respect for Life

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), the education and research arm of the Susan B. Anthony List, endorsed the Geneva Declaration on Perinatal Care. The Declaration is a global statement of medical practitioners calling for an end to use of the term “incompatible with life” to describe unborn children who may have a life-limiting condition. This global initiative will be launched Wednesday, March 11, at the United Nations in Geneva.

Removing Choice in Washington State: Mandating Abortion in Health Insurance

Genevieve Plaster, M.A. | March 2, 2015.

On February 10, the Washington state House of Representatives held a public hearing on a bill that would mandate coverage of elective abortion in health insurance plans for 2016. House Bill 1647 states that any plan in the state that covers maternity services must also provide “substantially equivalent coverage to permit the voluntary termination of pregnancy.”

The bill asserts that it seeks to “improve access to reproductive health,” yet there is no evidence of statewide lack of access to a health plan covering elective abortion. The mandate would affect plans sold on the state exchange or privately from insurance companies and through employers, meaning that most, if not all, insurance consumers in the state would subsidize abortion on demand. According to the CDC’s latest figures, Washington state’s abortion rate has fallen more than 20% from 2006 to 2011.