162 Reasons to Marry

Just in time to celebrate National Marriage Week, Patrick Fagan of Family Research Council offers “162 Reasons to Marry.”  National Marriage week began on Feb. 7 and ends, predictably, on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14).  Fagan’s report gives a run-down of some of the more commonly known advantages of marriage, but it mentions a few that you’ve probably never heard before.  Take a look at some of them; they’re listed below.

The report is well-documented and broken out by categories such as:  physical and mental health, parenting, sexual satisfaction, poverty, longevity, financial benefits, etc.  It is compact and easy to read.  You’ll want to keep this as a list for future reference.  Become an ambassador for marriage!

• The longer a person’s marriage, the lower is their mortality risk.
• Married persons’ responses to cancer treatment are better and are comparable to those of people 10 years younger.
• Married men and women report the most sexual pleasure and fulfillment.
• Men’s productivity increases by 27 percent as a result of marrying.
• Men raised in married families have more open, affectionate, and cooperative relationships with the women to whom they are attracted than do those from divorced families.
• The marriage premium produces an annual income increase of approximately .9 percent.
• Five percent of children from married families receive public assistance, compared to 25 percent of children from cohabiting families.

UFI Reader Poll: “Are you supportive of IVF technology for helping infertile couples knowing that it often involved the destruction of human embryos?”

Here’s the question we asked our UFI readers:

“Are you supportive of invitro fertilization (IVF) technology for helping infertile couples become pregnant knowing that it often involves the destruction of human embryos?”

Here is how our readers responded:

53 Percent           No

41 Percent           Yes

 6 Percent            Don’t know

Although infertility is a painful experience for millions of married couples and technology that ends suffering is always welcome, we still have to take a long hard look at the perhaps unintended consequences that arise from IVF.  Here’s a quick overview of some of those issues:

1.  Human embryos are human life at its earliest stages of development and should be accorded respect as such.  Treatment for infertility often leads to the creation of more embryos than the couple may need.  Many of these human embryos are destroyed during the actual IVF treatment, others are frozen, discarded, used for experimentation, or given to other couples.

2.  The children that are born as a result of the embryos that are “given away” then struggle with their origins and identities.  These “donor-conceived” children have lifelong outcomes that are worse than children raised by their biological parents.  Children then begin to be treated as a commodity.  At what point are we selling human beings?

3.  The women who provide the eggs for fertilization have to endure a medically invasive process that has the potential for serious health risks.  Worse yet, no study has ever been done on the risks associated with women going through the process – the medications or the egg harvesting procedures.  These women are being drawn to submit to the procedure because of the potential to make substantial sums of money without any real knowledge as to its consequences.

You Know Adult Stem Cell Research is the “Real Deal” When the NY Times Reports on It!

“Adult Stem Cell Research Far Ahead of Embryonic” is the title from the August 2 New York Times.  They’re right and we’re happy to acknowledge that.  “For all the emotional debate that began about a decade ago on allowing the use of embryonic stem cells, it’s adult stem cells that are in human testing today. An extensive review of stem cell projects and interviews with two dozen experts reveal a wide range of potential treatments,” states the lengthy article.

“[T]ransplants of adult stem cells have become a standard lifesaving therapy for perhaps hundreds of thousands of people with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases,” they continue.  The article goes on to marvel at the transforming therapies for blindness,  heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes.

But heck…  why don’t you read it yourself.  We’ve waited a long time for an acknowledgement of the healing power of adult stem cells by a liberal paper like the NY Times and we want you to relish it too.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/08/02/health/AP-US-MED-Stem-Cells.html?pagewanted=1

Enter to Win Free Cord Blood Banking

This is a first for us at UFI–promoting a contest.  Let us state at the outset that we are not connected in anyway to the sponsor nor can we vouch for the company, but this is something we believe to be important and want to pass it on to you.   We caution you to do your own homework on the organization if you choose to do something other than enter their drawing for free cord blood banking.

We primarily would like you to go here and learn more.  If you follow through the steps of the contest entry, you will receive a great education on the topic.  We have written on the importance of stem cells and cord blood banking in past blogs and feel strongly that this is a technology that can save many lives–your baby’s, your other children, possibly your own life.

Who knows, you might even win the contest!

The video below tells how this technology changed the life of a young boy.

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research is Obsolete

Ahhh…the irony is rich.  James Thomson, the first scientist to isolate and culture human embryonic stem cells; the man who, back in 2005, told President Bush he was wrong about not allowing federal tax dollars to go towards embryonic stem cell research, the man who founded a biotech start-up called Cellular Dynamics International with the aim of taking cells from human embryos and turning them into human heart cells; has just purchased the first licensing agreement to use iPS cell technology.   Mr. Thomson and his company are moving away from human embryonic stem cell research.

That’s right; the man who insisted that human embryonic stem cells were the future –not adult stem cells—has come to understand what those in the pro-life world have insisted all along.  There is absolutely no reason to cannibalize human embryos when it is adult stem cells that have already been and still are producing positive results and cures.  Now with the iPS technology, no one can claim that there is any reason to destroy human embryos to “advance science.”   Go here if you’d like more details.

Actually, I’m a little surprised that the pro-embryonic stem cell world seems to becoming to its senses this quickly.   It was just three years ago that a scientist at Japan’s Kyoto University introduced the science of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells).  These remarkable iPS cells behave like embryonic stems cells, but do not require the destruction of new human life.  With iPS technology, you add new genes and protein factors to an ordinary cell (skin, bone marrow, etc.) and you duplicate the qualities of the so highly-revered embryonic stem cell.

Just last year, President Obama lifted former President Bush’s  ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research claiming it possessed “the most remarkable potential of any scientific discovery ever made with respect to human health.”  Did you catch that?  Obama was talking about embryonic stem cells.  Makes you wonder what Pres. Obama has to say now.  Somehow I doubt it will be “I was wrong.”

Roe vs. Wade’s 37th Anniversary…a Time for Regretful Reflection

70 percent of women who under go an abortion say they wouldn’t do it again if they faced another unwanted pregnancy, about 60 percent experience emotional distress, and 16 percent suffer from severe distress warranting professional psychiatric attention*.

That story is rarely told.

Last Friday, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, that story was told–over and over again–by hundreds of experienced parents who know the emotional toll of abortion. Heart-rending tales of regret took the stage as these parents spoke out in pro-life rallies across the country–watch some here.

Legislators and every day citizens need to know the facts, not just their political preference.

For more facts, read United Families International Issues Guide found here.

*(Emotional distress following induced abortion: A study of its incidence and determinants among abortees in Malmo, Sweden. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology (1998): 173-178)

March for Life…From Your Own Home

The 2010 March for Life will be held Friday January 22^nd in Washington D.C. The theme is “Stand Up Now! Unite for the Life Principles–No Exception! No Compromise!”

Americans United for Life is hosting the first free Virtual March for Life. There’s a new feature now that will allow you to create a personal “avatar” and show your support for the pro-life movement, even if you can’t make it to D.C. Thousands have already joined to show their support.

The first March for Life was held January 22, 1974 organized by grassroots pro-life leaders to memorialize the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision and to peacefully petition Congress to make amends. The first March in 1974 boasted 20,000 participants while the 2009 March had over 200,000 marchers.

Visit their website for further details.

If you are in the Western United States, Walk for Life West Coast is hosting their Sixth Annual event on Saturday January 23, 2009 in San Francisco. Over 30,000 walkers attended the peaceful rally in 2009.

Check out their website for more details.

Be sure to check with your local pro-life groups for events coming up in the next week. Many groups are hosting marches or rallies in cities throughout the United States.

Video: Adult Stem Cells Are Saving Lives

Last week in a post on renewed U.S. funding for embryonic stem cell research, we claimed that embryonic stem cell research was not necessary as most medical advances were coming from adult stem cell research. In support of that claim, here are two inspiring videos about lives that were saved by adult stem cell research.

This first video is particularly moving as two parents describe how the birth of their second son provided the adult stem cells necessary to cure their oldest son of sickle cell anemia. Through adult stem cells, the creation of life was able to save another life. Embryonic stem cells always begin with the destruction of life.

For more information on the miracles of adult stem cells visit the website Stem Cell Research Facts.

N.I.H. Begins Federally Funded Embryonic Stem Cell Research

The National Institutes of Health, the federal government’s chief medical facilities, announced last week that it has approved 13 new lines of human embryonic stem cells for federally financed research. There are currently 96 other lines under review for similar research.

Approval of the new lines comes after President Obama overturned a previous Bush policy last March that limited federally funded human embryonic stem cell research to lines already available as of August 9, 2001. Bush’s policy permitted the use of embryonic stem cells in privately funded research but banned the use of taxpayer money to support this research as it terminates the life of a fertilized embryo.

President Obama’s new policy removes this ban and provides $21 million for the new studies, while continuing to ban employees of the National Institutes of Health from deriving new cells themselves.

Although the bio-ethical issues surrounding embryonic stem cell research are highly complex, both from a moral and scientific perspective, here is a brief overview of some of the myths and facts relating to embryonic stem cell research:

Myth:  An embryo is not a human being.

Fact:  Although a human embryo is smaller than the point of a pen, it is still a human being. “The morally relevant consideration is not appearance,” the Family Research Council explains, “rather, it is the fact that from the beginning the embryo possesses the epigenetic primordia for self-directed growth and maturation through the stages of human development from the embryonic, through the fetal, infant, child, and adolescent stages, and into adulthood with its distinctness and identity fully intact. As such, the embryo is a whole, living member of the species homo sapiens which is already–and not merely potentially–developing itself (actually himself or herself since sex is already determined) to the next more mature stage along the continuum of development of a determinate and enduring human life.”

Myth:  Embryonic stem cells posses a unique promise for medical breakthroughs that cannot be duplicated in non-embryonic stem cell research.

Fact:  Non-embryonic stem cells, specifically adult stem cells, can be safely obtained from adults, children and other human sources without harm to any human being. They have already been successfully used in treating Parkinson’s disease, autoimmune diseases, stroke, anemia, cancer, immunodeficiency, corneal damage, blood and liver diseases, heart attack, and diabetes. Embryonic stem cell research, on the other hand, has had very little clinical success. According to The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity,  “scientists conducting research on embryonic stem cells have encountered significant obstacles—including tumor formation, unstable gene expression, and an inability to stimulate the cells to form the desired type of tissue.”

Myth:  The number of lives that could be saved or improved through embryonic stem cell research ethically outweighs the destruction of already existing embryos.

Fact:  First of all, as stated above, embryonic stem cell research has not even begun to fulfill the medical breakthroughs promised by its advocates, despite years of research. But more importantly, allowing the medical profession to begin taking a life in order to save another moves into an ethical and logical realm our society is not prepared to enter. At no point should the medical or scientific profession move be allowed to judge the value of one human life against another. And at the point at which the humanity of a life becomes complex and hazy, an ethical and moral society should always err on the side of protecting life.

Genetically Engineered to be a “Donor Child”

A newly released movie, “My Sister’s Keeper” has brought the controversial topics of parental rights and designer families to the box office. In this thought provoking movie Anna, the main character, was created to be a “donor child” for her older sister Kate who has leukemia. The parents choose to conceive Anna through genetic engineering to ensure that she was perfect genetic match with Kate. Thus, Anna can donate blood, bone marrow and whatever else is necessary to keep her elder sister alive.

Anna loves her sister and never complains. Then, 11 years later, Kate’s kidneys begin to fail and she’ll need one of Anna’s. Anna finally says no. She hires a big-shot lawyer and takes her parents to court seeking “medical emancipation.”

This movie is very timely on the current issues with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and generations of designer families. “Designer families” are becoming more and more popular with European and American couples. Using today’s technology to “design” the number, type and sex of their families has geneticists, ethicists, pro-life and pro-family experts alarmed over the potential harm this practice will have on children, families and society as a whole, and especially on women.

We want to hear from our readers, Do you think it is ok for a family to genetically engineer a child in hopes of saving another?