Artificial Wombs for All…

Ann Bailey

Pregnancy is unethical.  Bet you didn’t know that.  Anna Smajdor, an ethicist at the UK’s University of East Anglia, believes that being pregnant for nine months  and then delivering  the child is too risky, painful and socially restrictive to subject women to it any longer.   Dr. Smajdor believes that large junks of public funding should be immediately directed towards the creation of artificial wombs.  She wonders how men and women can ever be equal if women continue to be subject to pregnancy.

Dr. Smajdor is a leading proponent of ectogensis – “the growth process of embryonic tissue placed in an artificial environment,” or an artificial womb.

 ”I suggest that there is a strong case for prioritizing research into ectogenesis as an alternative to pregnancy. I conclude by asking the reader the following: if you did not know whether you would be a man or a woman, would you prefer to be born into Society A, in which women bear all the burdens and risks of pregnancy, or Society B, in which ectogenesis has been perfected.”

In Dr. Smajdor’s world, pregnancy is a disease that medical technology must engineer away because a civilized society would not subject women to it.  “Either we view women as baby carriers who must subjugate their other interests to the well-being of their children or we acknowledge that our social values and level of medical expertise are no longer compatible with “natural” reproduction.”

I decided to talk to women and do my own little unofficial survey on this topic.   So I went straight to the top – so to speak.  I approached my boss, Carol Soelberg, President of United Families International and natural mother of 13 children.  As I explained Dr. Smajdor’s ideas and asked for her opinion, a range of emotions from dismay to disgust quickly went across her face.  Then she quietly said,

“She doesn’t speak for me.  Don’t take from me the joy and the privilege of pregnancy – the chance to give life to a child.  That woman doesn’t speak for me.”

Enough said.

Children, Porn and Smart Phones

Did you know that 38 percent of kids under 18 with a cell phone have a Smartphone?   Do you feel confident that you know what your children are viewing?  If you think that you do, you just may well be wrong.   For example, have you looked at the app stores recently for the Android phones? It is overflowing with pornographic apps.  Apple has been attempting to rid the iPhone of easy and unintentional access to porn for about three years now – with varying levels of success.  Although some of the Smartphones claim to be equipped with parental controls that allow the parent to decide what their children can or cannot download or use, there are plenty of kids who find ways to “beat the system.”

Sometimes the disgusting content comes looking for your child in the form of pop-up ads, as was the case with a young Colorado child who was using a coloring app when she accidently clicked on a porn ad and got an eyeful.  Purchasing the app maybe the only way you can protect your child from this type of assault.

What about Smartphone filters?

Net Nanny is releasing filters for the Android devices the first of Feburary  and then for the iPhone and other Apple devices in March. They have free-trials available. More info here.  There’s also the free filter for iPhone that you can get at K-9 Web Protector.  There are numerous other products available to protect your child, but do your homework.  Many of them meet with mixed reviews.

We at UFI make no claim in understanding the ins and outs of Smartphone use, but we want to remind parents that protecting our children from questionable content is something that deserves our full attention.  If you readers have ideas on good filters and other suggestions on this topic, help us all by sharing.

The Battle for LIFE

Yesterday, January 23^rd, hundreds of thousands of people traveled to our nation’s capital to protest the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.  The protest has been going on for years and has gained not only momentum, but numbers…especially among the younger crowd.

Katie Hinderer, a freelance writer and social media enthusiast writes,

 ”I think a large part of the movement’s growth is due to the use of social media and the determination of several outspoken and creative young people. Last summer I had the privilege to meet Lila Rose, the courageous and tenacious leader of Live Action. Honestly I have never met a young woman who was so well spoken, articulate and convincing. She is entirely behind ending abortion in this country and she won’t stop until she sees that day come.

Lila’s group was the first to go undercover into Planned Parenthood clinics to uncover the unsafe and illegal practices. Since then, the group, run almost entirely by young professionals and college students, has taken the internet by storm and given many like-minded young people a place to communicate and become empowered.

The group continues to investigate Planned Parenthood and, more importantly, push for an end to abortion. It offers resources so that all young people can know the facts about abortion. Its Facebook group has more than 250,000 likes and its Twitter account has about 6,100 followers. It’s YouTube videos have been viewed almost 3 million times.

And if Live Action and its followers weren’t enough proof, all you need to do today is open your Facebook page and read through the newsfeed. Mine is filled with prolife statements and links. Things like:

• ‘It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.’ – Mother Teresa
• ‘A person’s a person no matter how small.’ Let’s END Abortion.
• ‘The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.’ – Thomas Jefferson.
• Saving babies, one cheer at a time along with thousands of others!!! – at Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
• ‘He who denies that human life begins with conception does not need to contend with religion, but science. To deny this certainty of biology is not to express a lack of faith, but a lack of basic knowledge of human genetics, something that is even known by the general public.’
• ‘I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.’- Ronald Reagan
• ‘There are two victims in every abortion: a dead baby and a dead conscience.” – Mother Teresa
• I’m pro-life because I’m pro-woman.
• Attended the March for Life today with an inspiring, passionate group of men from Gonzaga. So proud to be here.

It gives me hope to see so many people, especially so many young people, standing up for life from conception to natural death. It gives me peace to see that this is a fight we are entering proudly and determinedly. And it gives me courage to speak out more often in defense of human life.”