NEWS ALERT! Pastor Saeed Moved; Condition worsens; http://aclj.org/iran/american-pastor-saeed-abedini-moved-political-prisoner-ward-in-deadliest-prison-iran-health-concerns-grow
SIGN A PETITION TO THE UN FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS :" The church in Syria has shone brightly for 2,000 years. But today violence and persecution threatens its survival. Thanks to an incredible response, Open Doors is helping 8,000 families in Syria survive each month. We believe the signatures and prayers of 500,000 people will encourage the UN to act and protect the rights and lives of all Syrians, especially the vulnerable Christian community." Go to: http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/emails/nov-13-action/save-syria.html?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=november
WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:
NEWS ALERT: Oct. 23: "Christians Fleeing IRAQ Area Once Considered Safe," - CBNNews.com, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/October/Christians-Fleeing-Iraq-Area-Once-Considered-Safe/ PRAY that believers in Iraq will know God's protection and provision; that believers will know[ whether they are called to flee or remain and persevere; and that their persecutors may come to hear the gospel and come to faith in Christ. - Stan]
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
Update on Kenneth Bae: "US Ready to Bargain with N. Korea for Bae's Release,"- CBNNews.com, Aug 14, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/S-Ready-to-Bargain-with-N-Korea-for-Baes-Release/ - The United States is willing to engage North Korea to secure the release of imprisoned American Christian Kenneth Bae. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the United States is "willing to consider a number of different options" to bring him home.In a video recently released by a North Korean newspaper, Bae requested the United States send a high-ranking official to North Korea to seek his pardon. It is unclear if he spoke of his own volition in the video. Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for sharing his faith. He suffers health problems such as diabetes and is currently hospitalized.[PRAY for 1) God's healing of and presence with Pastor Bae, 2) His earliest release by the North Korean government, and 3) God's comfort for his family and friends.]
NEWS ALERT: Monday, November 04, 2013 - Saeed's Life in [Greater] Jeopardy After Prison Transfer - CBNNews.com, ; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/November/Saeeds-Life-in-Jeopardy-after-Prison-Transfer/ IRAN - Vigils Mark One Year Imprisonment of Pastor Saeed - CBNNews.com, Thursday, September 26, 2013 - Today marks one-year that American pastor Saeed Abedini has been held in an Iranian prison. He is serving an eight-year sentence because of his Christian faith. It has been a year of torment as he has suffered beatings, physical pain from untreated medical conditions, and separation from his wife and two children... The suffering has not dampened his passion for Jesus. Pastor Abedini has led more than 30 prisoners to Christ during his time in prison. This afternoon, thousands of Americans from coast to coast will pray for his release. Events will be held in 40 states at capitols, city halls, parks and churches. Thousands more will join from 15 nations around the world
PRAY: - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.\
- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him
- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ
- BOLDly (Beside Our Leaders Daily) for leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans
- GO TO SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release
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Obviously no one against abortion likes Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that made abortion on demand the law of the land, and has led to fifty-five million legal abortions in the forty-one years since.But listen to a few lines from those who call themselves “pro-choice.” Harry Blackmun, the Supreme Court justice who actually wrote it, called the court’s decision to even hear Roe a “serious mistake.” And before joining the court, current Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Roe was not “measured” because it “invited no dialogue with legislators.”
In his new book, “Abuse of Discretion,” Clark Forsythe digs into the nuts and bolts of the decision like no book I’ve ever encountered. Forsythe, the former president and current senior counsel of Americans United for Life, is well versed in the ugly causes and even uglier consequences of Roe v. Wade, and he joined me to talk about it on the current edition of “BreakPoint This Week.” [see link below]
In “Abuse of Discretion,” Forsythe shows that Roe v. Wade and the companion case, Doe v. Bolton, really were the result of a perfect storm. Did you know these two landmark cases were only initially supposed to resolve limited, technical questions that did not require a trial or evidence? Yet with a simple majority of the justices, America suddenly had the most liberal abortion law in the world, with virtually no evidentiary consideration.
Blackmun himself wanted a narrow, temporary ruling, but Justice William O. Douglas threatened a scathing dissenting opinion. So Blackmun capitulated, creating a new radical right for reasons that had little to do with the law, morality, or even science. One can almost picture Blackmun, like Pilate, washing his hands of the matter after Roe was handed down.
Further, the decision hinged on the arbitrary concept of “viability,” the point after which the state could restrict abortion. Forsythe argues, in the words of "Journal" reviewer Jeffrey Rosen, “that the justices and law clerks, essentially pulled the viability standard out of a hat.”
This history undermines the Court’s later claim in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld Roe, that the court’s adoption of the viability standard was “a reasoned statement, handled with great care.”
Forsythe argues that Roe v. Wade, rather than promoting women’s health as advocates of legal abortion always claim, instead stripped women of vital health protections. The horrific happenings at Kermit Gosnell’s unregulated abortion mill are just one grisly example of this. Studies have also shown a link between abortion availability and domestic violence. Even Janet Yellen, just named by President Obama to head the Federal Reserve, has said that “the legalization of abortion reduced women’s ability to withhold premarital sexual favors from men.”
There have been other horrific results of Roe, of course. “The United States is one of approximately ten nations that allow abortion after fourteen weeks of gestation.” Forsythe writes. “… When it comes to allowing abortion for any reason after viability, however, the United States is joined only by Canada, North Korea, and China.” We and Canada should be ashamed of the company we keep.
Yet the pro-life movement, galvanized by this foolish and unjust decision, has gained momentum. Since 1990, the number of abortion clinics has fallen by seventy-three percent, while the abortion rate has declined as well. The number of Americans who identify as pro-life is now a majority, and state restrictions on abortion are multiplying.
So the cultural battle is far from over. With outstanding books such as “Abuse of Discretion” on our side, we can win more hearts and minds. You’ll find info about this book, as well as my interview with Clark Forsythe, at BreakPoint.org.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
RESOURCES:
Book Review: Abuse of Discretion - Jeffrey Rosen | Wall Street Journal | October 11, 2013; http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303918804579107123006997760
Book Review: Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade - Zac Crippen | Mere Orthodoxy | November 13, 2013; http://mereorthodoxy.com/book-review-abuse-of-discretion-the-inside-story-of-roe-v-wade/
"Abortion Nation" - Jonathan Last | Wall Street Journal [book review of "Abuse of Discretion"] | September 20, 2013; http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/abortion-nation_756510.html
"#Winning, Like Never Before" - Kristan Hawkins | Townhall.com | January 9, 2014 [see my post #758]
BOOKNOTES: Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade - Kathryn Jean Lopez | The Human Life Review | Fall 2013; http://www.humanlifereview.com/index.php/component/content/article/80-2013-fall/279-booknotes-the-inside-story-of-roe-v-wade
Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade - Clark Forsythe | Encounter Books | September 2013
"Roe v. Wade's Days Are Numbered" - Timothy Morgan | Christianity Today | January 13, 2014; http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/january-web-only/roe-v-wade-prolife-abortion-court.html?utm_source=ctdirect-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=10006349&utm_content=239671872&utm_campaign=2013#bmb=1
"How Abortion Hurts Women (and Men) fact sheet" - John Stonestreet interview with Clark Forsythe
BreakPoint This Week | January 18, 2014; http://www.breakpoint.org/images/content/breakpoint/Document_Links/How_Abortion_Hurts_Women_fact_sheet_final.pdf
John Stonestreet interview with Clark Forsythe - BreakPoint This Week | January 18, 2014, https://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/discourse/entry/15/24330?spMailingID=7799688&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=116387585&spReportId=MTE2Mzg3NTg1S0
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