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WA surrogacy laws not in best interests of the child

26/06 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter |

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is urging WA Upper House politicians to vote against the WA Surrogacy Bill 2007 because it is not in the best interests of children.

ACL’s WA Director Michelle Pearse said that ACL is opposed to the bill which is likely to be voted on in the Upper House today.

“While we sympathise with the deep pain felt by childless couples, we believe on balance that it is wrong to create a situation where numerous adults could have a biological stake in a child,” Mrs Pearse said.

 “I don’t think the public understands that a child could potentially have five parents under this new legislation including a genetic mother, genetic father, adopted mother, adopted father, and birth mother.

Mourners gather to farewell Jane McGrath

25/06 ABC.net.au | MARK COLVIN: Cricketers, politicians and cancer campaigners gathered in a Sydney church today for the funeral of Jane McGrath, who died at the weekend. Mourners remembered the wife of the former test bowler Glenn McGrath as a warm and courageous person, whose work with the cancer foundation she established gave many fellow sufferers hope and inspiration. In a eulogy, a close friend of Jane McGrath's also provided light-hearted insights into the life of a cricketer's wife ..."

BARBARA MILLER: Jane McGrath knew she was dieing and specified the hymns to be played at her funeral, and the words she wished read out.

KELLIE HAYDEN (reads message from Jane McGrath): The time is here for me to leave this life. I have fought the good fight to the end. I have done my best in this race. I have run the full distance and I have kept the faith.

BARBARA MILLER: Alan Jones delivered one of two eulogies at the service. The broadcaster said Jane McGrath had been a selfless and tireless campaigner for cancer patients, who would also be greatly missed by the cricketing world.

NOW WE HAVE ANOTHER NAIL

25/06 Saltshakers Media Release | We have believed for some time that Muslims in Australia were living in ‘religious’ polygamy, marrying more than one wife according to Sharia (Islamic law), but not declaring them to Australian authorities. An Imam (the current Mufti) was featured on ABC Compass a few years ago stating that they were marrying more than one wife in the Mosque but only registering one with the authorities.

To claim that polygamy protects women is the most male chauvinistic comment I have heard in a long time!
The question now is – will prudence or principle direct the way this debate goes in Australia.

Principle states that Australian Marriage Law will only recognise one wife at a time. That is best for women and children. That is the ‘western' model based on Biblical principle.

2008 - A YEAR OF REPENTANCE - NO 11 IN A SERIES - DIVORCE

24/06 Australian Prayer Network | Marriage is a covenant commitment made by a man and a woman to remain joined together in marriage until "death us do part".  Divorce is a breaking of that covenant made before God.  It is a sin and until acknowledged as such, God cannot extend forgiveness and healing cannot begin."

(Brian Pickering speaking at the National Solemn Assembly).

Pedophile witch wins parole review

23/06 News.com.au | A MALE witch who enslaved teenage girls has won leave to have his extended supervision order reviewed. Convicted sex offender Robin Fletcher was jailed in 1998 for using hypnotism and mind-altering techniques to entice two 15-year-old girls into prostitution, sado-masochism and black magic.

After finishing an eight-year prison term in June 2006, Fletcher began living in a unit within Ararat prison in western Victoria under an extended supervision order imposed by the Adult Parole Board. Today, Victorian Supreme Court Justice David Harper granted Fletcher leave to apply for the court to review his extended supervision order. Fletcher challenged the conditions of the order - imposed under the Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act - in 2006 and won.

21/06 Virtue Media Advertising Campaign | “Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff “Jane Roe” in the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, will appear in her first-ever television commercial to lament her role in the case.

Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, documented abortions have killed more than 50 million unborn babies in the U.S.

In the new commercial McCorvey says, “back in 1973 I was a very confused twenty-one year old with one child and facing an unplanned pregnancy. At the time I fought to obtain a legal abortion, but truth be told, I have three daughters and never had an abortion." 

“Upon knowing God,” she continues, “I realize that my case, which legalized abortion on demand, was the biggest mistake of my life.

“You read about me in history books, but now I am dedicated to spreading the truth about preserving the dignity of all human life from natural conception to natural death."

WATCH THE ADVERT ON THE VIRTUE MEDIA WEBSITE

Jihad was 'religious duty' for terror accused, court hears

21/06 The Age | Members of an alleged terrorist organisation felt compelled to pursue violent jihad because Australia was a land at war, a court has heard. Crown prosecutor Richard Maidment, SC, told a Supreme Court jury Abdul Nacer Benbrika taught his alleged followers bloody jihad was their religious duty.

Benbrika, 48, of Dallas, is accused of being the leader of an organisation plotting a terrorist act against "kuffars," translated as unbelievers, to avenge the killing of Muslims overseas."That teaching and philosophy underpins this organisation," Mr Maidment said. ... He said the men had planned to buy weapons for "Allah's cause" and used car parts stripped from stolen vehicles to raise funds.

Mr Maidment said when one of the accused, Ezzit Raad, raised concerns about stealing he was told it was lawful to take the blood and money of a "kuffar". "Imagine going to prison for Allah, every second you are there you get a reward," Ahmed Raad allegedly told his older brother. ... The trial before Justice Bernard Bongiorno continues

Read Also: Phone taps 'proved' 12 men were in terror group - 21/06 Canberra Times "... Covert recordings of Melbourne men saying jail would be a ''reward'' for carrying out ''Allah's cause'' showed they were knowingly part of a terrorist group, a Supreme Court jury has heard..."

Senate to vote on Medicare funding for abortion

21/06 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Abortion is promoted as a conscience issue but Federal laws force everyone to pay for it through the compulsory Medicare levy.

The issue was thrust back on the national agenda this week when Tasmanian Senator Guy Barnett moved a motion to disallow the continued public funding of abortions beyond 14 weeks. With premature babies – some as young as 21 weeks - being saved regularly in our neonatal units, Senator Barnett asks “how can it be right to use Medicare funding to intentionally end the lives of babies old enough to survive outside the womb?”

His motion also seeks to ban Medicare funding for the horrific practice of partial birth abortion, a procedure the US Congress has banned and which has been upheld by the US Supreme Court. Unfortunately hundreds of Australian late term babies are brutally aborted in this manner each year with the help of public money. Click here to read Senator Barnett’s excellent briefing paper in support of his motion.

The motion is likely to be debated in the September sitting of Parliament, after Senators elected at last year’s election take their seats from July. It is not yet known whether or not Senator Barnett’s motion will have enough votes to succeed but ACL will be encouraging supporters to contact their Senators in the lead-up.

One of the features of the abortion debate in recent years has been the admission by pro-abortion politicians that 90,000 abortions in Australia is too many. This new consensus was repeated by Health Minsiter Nicola Roxon this week.

The Latest @ UQ...

21/06 PULSE EZine. | Where does free speech begin? Does it start with pro-feminist movements pushing for continued support of 90,000 terminated pregnancies a year? Or is free speech the ability to advertise counselling services for women suffering depression? Once again, the debate has hit the fan with the University of Queensland banning a Catholic student group (Newman Society) for 12 months for advertising support for women in strife.

The union-affiliated stall covered in yellow butterflies, was promoting help for women suffering post-traumatic stress as a result of abortion. Union President Mr. Joshua Young said the University of ‘free choice’ voted 15 years ago to support women in their rights to choose abortion. “I know the Newman Society thinks the union is being heavy handed, but the student union voted in 1993 for free, safe abortion on demand.” All I can say is they’re just lucky their parents weren’t ‘pro-choice’.

It’s been proven (although not agreed by some) that the nightmares and post-traumatic stress of an abortion takes a tremendous toll on a would-have-been mother.

The story has made national & international news. One women from the US, a former student of UQ,  wrote on an online forum... "I am a woman who had an abortion — 38 years ago this past April. I am the mother, therefore, of a dead child.

"If I had seen any literature about support during my pregnancy, I would be the mother of a child that would have been born alive, versus being... ripped from my womb.

"In the spirit of free speech, I would think that the Student Union body would see fit for all information on pregnancy to be not only welcomed, but encouraged. I pray that you will rethink your decision on banning supportive information.

"After all, isn't that what an institution of higher learning does — educates?"

She concluded, "Give the women of the University of Queensland a genuine choice, Mr Young, do not deny them the right to have all the information they need to make a good decision regarding the life of the child they carry within them."

Until then, it looks like onward Christian soldier for the rest of us. But hey… there’s a whole lot of trees to be saved before we could even start thinking about babies. (The university of ‘free thinkers’ - - Josh Bavas)

NOTE: If you would like to encourage Joshua Young - President of UQ Union, to allow us to continue offering support to women, his details are: Joshua Young, PRESIDENT, UQ Union, Level 4, Union Building, University of Queensland, St. Lucia QLD 4072
 
PH: (07) 3377 2293       FAX: (07) 3377 2200  EMAIL: president.union@uq.edu.au

Researchers sniff out Parkinson's breakthrough

16/06 Sophie Scott for ABC News | Australian scientists have discovered that stem cells found in the back of a patient's nose can produce the chemical which is missing in people with Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease occurs when the brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine stop working. Without dopamine, nerve cells cannot function, leading to muscle problems.

Researchers from Griffith University and the University of Queensland harvested adult stem cells from the noses of Parkinson's disease patients. They found that once the nose cells were cultured and infused into animals with Parkinson's disease, the cells began to produce dopamine.

Gippsland by-election candidates front ACL forum

16/06 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | More than 70 people turned out in Sale, Victoria, last Monday night to hear candidates in next week's Gippsland by-election make their pitch for the Christian vote. All five candidates presented with many commenting it was one of the best organised political meetings they had attended.

13 year old girls are TOO YOUNG to be photographed in the nude but 12 is NOT TOO YOUNG to be allowed to start SEX CHANGE ‘TREATMENT’ according to today’s ‘experts’.

11/06 Saltshakers Media Release | This would have to be one of the most appalling decisions we have encountered in 14 years of running Salt Shakers.

My first impression when reading this story yesterday was that if a 12 year old girl is so convinced she is a boy there has been some serious psychological damage done to this girl.

Yesterday it was obvious there had been a split between her mum and dad and today we are told of a mother so obsessed with wanting a boy that she was dressing her baby girl in BOYS clothes.

Aussies joining new stem cell research

10/06 The Age | Australian scientists have joined growing international efforts to develop ethically-acceptable stem cell technologies to revolutionise the treatment of many diseases. Researchers at the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC) in Melbourne have begun to cultivate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), a more ethical alternative to controversial embryonic stem cell research. Unlike embryonic stem cells which are created from human embryos that are later destroyed, iPS cells are created from skin cells or adult cells and can be reprogrammed by using viruses to insert four genes into the cell to make it pluripotent, or capable of turning into different cell types.

... "What's different about these cells from the human embryonic stem cell is that they are created not from embryos but from skin cells or adult cells from the human body," Dr Laslett said. "What you then have the capacity to do with this type of cell or this technology is to make both patient-specific and disease-specific stem cell lines. "Probably, in the longer term, a patient-specific stem cell line means you can get a skin cell from a patient with a specific disease, add the four genes and turn it into pluripotent cell to then potentially be able to grow that cell up to the specific cell type required to treat a disease or injury."

Abortion aid ban reconsidered

08/06 AAP | THE Rudd Government will face fierce backlash from Christian groups if it lifts a ban which prevents international aid being used for abortion services, Nationals Senator Ron Boswell has warned. The Labor caucus has been asked to debate the issue and recommend whether the ban, put in place by the previous Howard government, should be lifted. Senator Boswell said there was no need for Australia to lift the ban and warned the Government would face backlash from the Christian community if it did.

"I don't want this to happen and there has been no country that has come to us and specifically said we want aid to fund abortions," Senator Boswell said on ABC radio. "As far as (Prime Minister Kevin) Rudd is concerned, he cuddled up to the churches for the last election if he does this to him then they'll turn upon him."

West Australian Liberal MP Mal Washer said scrapping the ban would save the lives of disadvantaged women overseas and Senator Boswell should "grow up". "If at the end of the day we let people die because of people's bigotry, I find that repugnant.
"People who disagree with that, I don't want them voting for me, quite frankly."

How the Same Sex Bill was Lost

05/06 Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C. | Well, the worst happened. Last Tuesday, on the day the Budget was delivered and everybody was busy with the Budget details, the Government pushed this Bill into the Upper House for approval. The Labor Party refused its own members the right to a conscience vote and many Christian Labor members were restrained to vote against their beliefs. The National Party spoke in support and voted unanimously to support these disastrous consequences as outlined .... The Liberal Party allowed their "right wing religious" members the opportunity to vote and speak against it, but the Greens and Shooters Party supported it. The Greens even tried to make it worse with amendments to remove the current exemptions covering Christian Schools, churches, retirement homes and so on matters of employment of homosexuals.  The debate went from early afternoon to close to midnight.

NO OVERSEAS DEMAND FOR AUSAID ABORTION PLAN

04/06 QLD Senator Ron Boswell | "Department officials confirmed in Estimates today that Australia has not been approached by overseas countries to fund abortion related activities," said The Nationals' Senator Ron Boswell today.
"I asked whether overseas countries had come to us and asked us for help in funding abortion services. The Department responded that they were not aware of any particular requests to fund abortion related activities."
"Why is the Rudd government even considering funding abortion in its overseas aid programs when Australia has never done so in the past and has not been approached by other countries to do so?"

[Link to Our Election Focus Column]

Freedom to show the truth

05/06 Roslyn Philips, Festival of Light Australia . | My plea for prayer at this time is about the extraordinary free speech ban by the University of Queensland (UQ). 

Some of you may have read the news in The Australian (15/5/08, p 2) – that the UQ student union has prohibited the display of a poster showing an unborn baby, eight weeks after conception.  The university’s Newman Society – a Catholic student group – had placed the poster outside a student café (see attached photo). 

Not only has the poster been banned, but the student union has threatened the Newman Society with disaffiliation on the ground that the society has breached a union policy of supporting abortion on demand.  Newman Society members pointed out that the poster does not even mention the word “abortion” – but the ban remains.

The latest news is that the UQ administration (not just the student union) has refused to allow the Newman Society to set up a pro-life stall in the university’s “free space” – an area used regularly by student political groups, socialists, campaigners against uranium mining and others to promote their ideas.

I find it hard to understand how university authorities – once considered as champions of free speech – could act in such a tyrannical manner.  Why do they feel so threatened by the idea of protecting babies in the womb?

You may like to email Professor Paul Greenfield, Vice Chancellor of the University of Queensland (vc@uq.edu.au) to politely express their concern at the university’s undemocratic policy.  (His PA is cheryl.byrnes@uq.edu.au).

For those who have sent adoption stories – the resource paper has been published in May (send me your details if you have not received it).  The book containing all the stories, most of them inspiring, is still a work in progress and continues to grow.

God bless!

ROS

Mrs Roslyn Phillips, B Sc Dip Ed
National Research Officer, Festival of Light Australia
4th Floor, 68 Grenfell Street, Adelaide  SA  5000

Phone 1300 365 965 / Email rhp@fol.org.au / Website www.fol.org.au

Euthanasia in Victoria (or is that 'dying with dignity?")

05/06 Saltshakers Media Release | The killing of the very young (the pre-born) and the old and ill are both on the agenda in Victoria.

The government has already said it wants to pass legislation to legalise abortion - to kill babies. Now a private member's bill to allow doctors to help people kill themselves is being put to the Victorian Parliament. We have reported previously that the Bill was initially proposed by Legislative Assembly member Liberal Ken Smith - the Bill is now being put into the Legislative Council by the Greens MP Colleen Hartland. The Bill was to have been presented to parliament, with the Second Reading Speech on 28 May. Greens MP Colleen Hartland attempted to table the Bill on WED 28 May in the Legislative Council - however Democratic Labor Party MP Peter Kavanagh managed to have the Second reading Speech delayed. Hartland says that will occur in two weeks - probably 11 June 2008.

Art and Pornography

04/06 Cardinel Pell - Media Release | The human body can make for beautiful works of art, and physical beauty has always fascinated artists. This is partly because it is not given to everyone and passes quickly with age.... Police in Sydney recently seized a series of photographs of children, produced by artist Bill Henson. I don’t know Henson’s work, and I have not seen the photos in question. It is always difficult to talk about a particular incident when it might end up in the courts. But it is possible to offer a few generalised thoughts.

The sexualisation of children is currently the subject of a Senate inquiry. It is part of what some critics call “the pornification of culture”. It’s impossible to miss. It’s on billboards and posters in main streets advertising everything from clothes and underwear to brothels, condoms, and treatments for impotence.

‘Living wills’ bill puts vulnerable patients at risk

0406 Australian Christian Lobby | Living wills’ legislation passed through the West Australian Parliament on Tuesday night despite ACL’s concerns that it does not contain enough safeguards and could put vulnerable patients at risk.

Read previous Media ACL Media release -

Mixed reaction to living wills laws - Adam Haynes for ABC News | There has been a mixed reaction to new laws which will allow people to refuse medical treatment if they become terminally ill. The so-called living wills legislation, which allows people to specify how they wish to be treated in the event of terminal illness, passed the Upper House of State Parliament last night. The WA Director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Michelle Pearse, says the legislation is flawed because it takes power away from doctors.

Art or not, it's still exploitation

04/06 Steve Biddulph for The AGE | The real issue is exploitation. That is also the issue in pedophilia. Children's bodies are not always harmed by pedophiles, their minds almost always are. We are repulsed by pedophiles because they impose adult sexuality onto children who become depersonalised objects for gratification. Pedophiles, like some artists, tend to be narcissistic, immature individuals who are endlessly self-justifying. So in both domains, the question has to be: does this exploit? Art is part of society, and however it serves to provoke, it has to do so within moral limits.

Despite three decades of uncovering child sexual abuse, and its enormous harm being well-documented, some writers seem not able to understand the problem. Teenage children are developmentally fragile. They try on any number of selves, and have to be free to do so, without adult predation on their bodies or minds. What might seem cool and exciting one day to a teenager, they would regard with horror and embarrassment on another day and at another time. That's why consent is not a justification, as it is almost impossible for a young person to separate their own feelings from those around them, and they depend on adults to both affirm them, and yet give them space to unfold who they are, a process taking many years.

The term "corporate pedophile" has gained wide currency in recognising that harm comes at children from many angles, and the business world is increasingly one of these. The makers and sellers of alcopops, for example, simply see a ready market — girls who otherwise would not drink because of the taste — and show a sociopathic lack of concern for the outcomes

Teachers ignoring child abuse

02/06 Bruce McDougall for The Daily Telegraph | EDUCATION chiefs have launched investigations into dozens of New South Wales school teachers accused of failing to report child abuse or neglect. They include at least 19 cases of sexual assault against school students - usually by another student - which teachers are alleged to have failed to notify to child protection authorities. Teachers who have a legal responsibility to report cases of child abuse and neglect are accused of breaching their duty in 44 cases in the past three years.

.... The action against teachers comes as frustrated school principals say they have given up reporting many cases of neglected children because they cannot get the Department of Community Services to act. Principals have claimed DOCS officers are so snowed under with work that seriously abused children are not getting help and continue to show up at school with physical injuries and severe emotional scarring. Instead, some school heads and teachers are taking direct action by calling in charities to feed and clothe children at risk.

NSW Government Dismiss Dads

'Father' Taken from Birth Certificate'

01/06 Fatherhood Foundation Media Release | The Miscellaneous Acts Amendment (Same Sex Relationships) Bill 2008 is due to be debated and voted on this Tuesday. The Fatherhood Foundation is convening a Dads4kids Forum at the Parliamentary Theatrette, Tuesday 3rd June 2008, 10 am to 1.30 pm.

Key leaders from within the men and family-friendly fatherhood movement will be speaking such as: Barry Williams, Lone Fathers Association; Tony Miller, Dads in Distress; John Flanagan, Equal Parenting Party; Richard Egan, FOL; Wayne Butler, Shared Parenting Council; Chris Meney, Marriage & Family Office; Mary-Louise Fowler, Australian Family Association.

The convenor of the Dads4kids Forum, Warwick Marsh, said, "The Same Sex Relationship Bill 2008 will radically alter 57 pieces of important legislation in a calculated attempt by the NSW Labor Government to discriminate against men, derogate fathers, fragment families and break the hearts of our children.

USA: Heinz ad pushes gay marriage and family, features homosexuals kissing

24/06 Don Wildman for American Family Association | I thought you might be interested in seeing the Heinz ad featuring a homosexual family and two homosexuals kissing. The ad features a "homosexual family," referring to one of the men as "Mum." ... This ad is currently running in England, but no doubt can be expected in the U.S. soon. It is the kind of ad which we can expect to see in California as they prepare to vote on homosexual marriage. Homosexual marriage is illegal in England.

Consider making a phone call to Heinz

USA: Homosexuality takes Congress by storm

13/06 Maxim Institute | The two openly homosexual members of the U.S. House of Representatives have recruited 50 of their colleagues to officially join them in promoting the homosexual agenda in Congress.  Democrats Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin are the only open homosexuals serving in Congress. They have joined with Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and 50 other Democrats to create the House Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says it is a sad day when Congress enshrines official promotion of sexual immorality.

"How interesting that we now have a homosexuality, transsexual caucus – I guess you could call it – at the congressional level. It's just unbelievable that there are this many congressmen who are promoting homosexuality and transsexual perversion," LaBarbera laments ... I think what this shows is that the hard-core Democratic Left is extremely pro-homosexual," he states. "Big city populations have many homosexual activists, and they're disproportionately powerful compared to the rest of the people in the district. Do I think that the average person in the district knows that these members are promoting homosexuality in this way? No way! But there are probably powerful homosexual constituencies in each one of these districts," LaBarbera explains.

NZ: Abortion Supervisory Committee criticised by High Court

12/06 Maxim Institute | A telling judgement from the High Court was delivered this week, finding that the Abortion Supervisory Committee (ASC) has "misinterpreted its functions and powers under the abortion law," and that "there is reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions" in New Zealand.

The ASC was established to oversee abortions in New Zealand, to "review all the provisions of the abortion law, and the operation and effect of those provisions in practice." Right to Life, a pro-life charity, has taken the ASC to Court alleging they have been failing to fulfil their duties and to ensure the law is being interpreted as intended. Under New Zealand law an abortion is illegal unless it takes place with the authorisation of two certifying consultants, who have a limited number of grounds on which to grant approval.

• Read Justice Miller's judgement

Disney's annual pro-homosexual bash

03/06 One News Now | The Florida Family Association is alerting the public that Disney's annual "gay day" at Orlando's Magic Kingdom is coming up soon." June 7 is the day when thousands of homosexuals and lesbians [and] transgenders will converge on the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, to basically demonstrate their passions, their lifestyles in front of a captive audience of tens of thousands of children and unsuspecting parents and families who will go to that theme park and have no idea what they're going to experience that day."

BRITAIN ALLOWS MIXED ANIMAL-HUMAN EMBRYOS

02/06 Australian Prayer Network Newsletter | The British Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of radical stem cell research which will allow the creation of mixed animal-human embryos. In an emotional and rare show of cross-party unity, the embattled British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the Conservative Leader, David Cameron - both parents of young children with disabilities - joined forces to forge the way for the controversial research techniques. After a heated and often passionate conscience debate in the House of Commons, MPs who argued for greater freedoms in the name of science outnumbered their conservative colleagues by a dramatic 336 votes to 176. Britain has been in the grip of a massive counter attack from religious leaders, including the Catholic Church, over the last few weeks, who have argued that the mixing of human and animal genetic material crosses an ultimate boundary that fundamentally breaches the sanctity of human life.

The dramatic changes will allow scientists to boost stocks of embryos by creating what are known as 'admixed embryos', created from both human and animal genetic materials - mainly from cows and rabbits - to make hybrids known as "cytoplasmic hybrids" or "cybrids". These effectively allow the movement of a human nucleus into an empty animal egg - which makes a genetically 99.9 per cent human. The legislation means that what are known as chimeras can also be created, using a combination of human and animal cells.
The use of embryo screening to create siblings that could save the lives of sick family members through the donation of umbilical blood was also poised to be passed by the Parliament . The Prime Minister, has argued publicly for some weeks that embryonic research is a moral and pioneering pursuit that has the potential to save lives and improve the quality of life for millions of human beings. His Conservative counterpart, David Cameron, said that current laws are outdated and that medical science must be helped in their quest to understand genetic diseases.

USA: Unmasking The “Gay” Agenda     

01/06 j. Matt Barber is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law and serves as policy director for Concerned Women of America's cultural issues. | Americans who self-identify as “gay” or lesbian comprise roughly one to three percent of the population. Yet the homosexual movement — led by extremist homosexual pressure groups like the so-called Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — represent, per capita, one of America’s most powerful and well-funded political lobbies. Consider that HRC and the HRC foundation alone have an annual budget in excess of 50 million. Through a carefully crafted, decades-old propaganda campaign, homosexual activists have successfully cast homosexuals — many of whom enjoy positions of influence and affluence — as a disadvantaged minority.

As with every major political movement, the homosexual lobby is pushing a specific agenda. It is often called the “gay agenda.” At its core is a concerted effort to remove from society all traditional notions of sexual morality and replace them with the post-modern concept of sexual relativism. That is to say, when it comes to sex, there is never right or wrong. All sexual appetites are “equal.” If it feels good, do it. Ultimately, the homosexual lobby’s primary objective is to radically redefine our foundational institutions of legitimate marriage and the nuclear family by unraveling God’s natural design for human sexuality. In so doing, they hope to elevate their own spiritual and biological counterfeit and establish a sexually androgynous society wherein natural distinctions between male and female are dissolved.

This creates cultural and moral anarchy. . 

USA: Born Alive Infant Protection Needs to be Protected

01/06 Concerned Women of America | Until a whistle-blower blew the lid off a little-known practice, babies that survived abortions lacked clear legal rights and protection. Jill Stanek, once a nurse at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL, entered the abortion battle in 1999 when she discovered that babies that “accidentally” survived abortions were placed in a closet and left to die. 

USA: Parent sues Planned Parenthood

01/06 One News Now | Washington, DC-area resident Emma Jean Butler and her daughter are suing a local Planned Parenthood clinic. The girl became pregnant due to a rape at age 13, and had an abortion at the facility after she turned 14.The next day, she was rushed to an emergency room where doctors had to repair damage from severe abdominal bleeding, severe injury to the cervix, significant uterine perforation, and a small bowel tear. In addition, parts of the baby were found in the girl's abdomen.

It was tragedy on top of tragedy, says Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America, in what she describes as a "poster case for abortion." "This is what the pro-abortion movement has demanded, that we have legalized abortion in all nine months," notes Hawkins. " ... [T]his is a poster case, and they almost killed this young girl." The victim will never be able to have children. She and her mother are asking for $50 million in damages.

Colorado to decide personhood

01/06 One News Now | Colorado voters will have a chance in November to define what it means to be a person. Kristi Burton of Colorado for Equal Rights spearheaded the petition drive to get the definition on the ballot. Voters will be asked to amend the state constitution to define a person as being "any human from the time of fertilization." Pro-life advocates hope the amendment will aid in the fight against abortion.

USA: Colorado governor okays open bathrooms

01/06 One News Now | Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has signed a bill that has shocked many of the state's residents. The bill adds transgendered people to the list included in the state's non-discrimination law. That means businesses will be required to hire transgendered people, even if they are owned and operated by Christians who oppose the lifestyle on moral grounds. Focus on the Family spokesman Bruce Hausknecht was asked what impact that will have on churches and ministries such as his.  "One of our state legislators demanded and got an amendment that would exempt from the definition of public accommodation a church, a synagogue, a mosque, or any other facility that is primarily used for religious purposes," he explains.

But he says it is not certain ministries other than churches would be left untouched. Hausknecht also notes that the bill creates an opportunity for sexual predators to visit the restroom of their choice to find a victim. "What this bill now does do is allow men to go into women's restrooms and locker rooms and vice versa because we are told that we cannot discriminate against someone with a transgender status," he warns.

Family under discussion at ACT election issues forum

The Natural Family and its place in public policy will be addressed at the first of ACL's ACT election issues forums.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Mark Coleridge, will talk about the importance of family in the light of moves to shift the definitions of marriage and parenting.

PRAYER, NATIONS AND GOVERNMENT CONFERENCE 2088

Sunday 22nd - Tuesday 24th June 2008

Great Hall
Parliament House
CANBERRA

Speaker: Rev Mosy Madugba

Rev Madugba (M. Div. Bradenton) is the International Director of Spiritual Life Outreach, a multi-national indigenous missionary agency and evangelistic ministry headquartered in Port Harcourt, Nigeria and focused on Nigeria and the nations of Africa. He is also the International Coordinator of Ministers Prayer Network (MPN), a prayer and leadership network of Christian leaders across the nations of the world. MPN hosts the annual International Ministers & Christian Leaders Prayer and Leadership Conference (Global Prayerquake) that is attended by 10,000-15,000 Christian leaders. He was formerly Travelling Secretary of the Scripture Union for approximately ten years.

Sunday 22nd June   7.30PM  Worship Service
Monday 23rd June  7.30AM  Breakfast followed by 2 Day Sessions and 1 Evening Session
Tuesday 24th June 11.00AM  Leadership Forum 

Cost $195.00 per person which includes all sessions, breakfast, lunch on Day 2 and tea & coffee
Sunday evening worship service is open to all. Offering will be taken

Registrations:  For registration forms contact Parliamentary Prayer Network on ppn@ppn.org.au 

For further information:  www.ppn.org.au or ring 02 6287.3558

Organised by The Parliamentary Prayer Network 

Supported by The Australian Prayer Network
Source: Parliamentary Prayer Network

St. Stephen’s Uniting Church

197 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Telephone: (02) 9221 1688
Facsimile: (02) 9230 0316
E-mail: office@ssms.org.au

MEDIA RELEASE

“All People That on Earth do Dwell"

A PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION/EXHIBITION

25th September-5th October, 2008
To be held at:
St Stephen's Uniting Church

$300 prize for winner
In each of the following sections:
Senior Amateur
Junior Amateur
People’s Choice

For
Entry forms and competition rules
Phone: (02) 9221 1688
Email: office@ssms.org.au

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES:  18th August, 2008

Training tomorrow's leaders

There is a great need in this nation to assist those students and recent graduates who demonstrate a high potential to become influential leaders for Christ across strategic areas of our nation including politics, law, media, science, education, arts and philosophy.
The Compass program, an eight-day course in Christian worldview, aims to address this need.

The inaugural program kicks off this Sunday with 40 students at the University of Queensland. For more information and to register interest for 2009, please go to www.compass.org.au .

Lyle Shelton
National Chief of Staff , Australian Christian Lobby