October 2010 Newsletter
Posted By cmbuuck on December 23, 2010
The Frozen-Chosen—“Snowflake Babies”—Several weeks ago, a great-grandmother had tears in her eyes, a smile on her face and joy in her heart. Her granddaughter had just given birth to a healthy, beautiful baby girl. The mother and father called her a miracle and an answer to prayer. What made this birth so special and different? It was a frozen embryo implanted in a mother’s womb resulting in a “snowflake baby“.
When couples choose in-vitro fertilization to create embryos to help build their families, the unused embryos are frozen for future attempts at pregnancy. Most couples are unprepared for what to do with remaining embryos once their family is complete. There are over 500,000 embryos currently frozen at American clinics.
In 2009, a public opinion survey asked what should be done with remaining embryos. Most respondents said that the embryos should be donated to other infertile couples (68.8 percent) rather than being destroyed (5.9 percent) or being donated for research (which also destroys them).
What should be done with remaining embryos? From a Christian perspective, we must first understand what an embryo is. Unlike an egg or sperm cell, an embryo is a complete pre-born human being with a full set of chromosomes and DNA. Just like you and me, it is a unique human unlike any other on earth. Science tells us that life begins when a sperm and egg unite. From that point forward, the embryo needs only nutrients and a safe place to grow to develop into a child.
There are four choices: donate the embryos to another couple, donate the embryos for research, destroy the embryos, or keep the embryos in frozen storage. For those who believe that life begins at conception and is worthy of protection and a chance to impact the world as God intended, only one choice remains: birth.
The granddaughter and her husband had gone through infertility treatments and placed their name with several adoption agencies. A friend told the granddaughter of the possibility of adopting a frozen embryo. There was a couple with six frozen embryos who wanted to keep three and destroy the remaining three. After much consideration and prayer, one of the two embryos implanted survived and the result was a beautiful baby girl, a “snowflake baby” and a miracle.
God Loves Life! For more information on this program call Lutherans for Life (Carolyn Beitz) at 260/492-9189.
Melissa Ohden, An Abortion Survivor—Bradley Mattes, Executive Director, Life Issues Institute, September 10, 2010—No one came to visit Melissa Ohden. After all, she wasn’t supposed to be in the hospital nursery with the other babies. When her mother entered the Sioux City abortion facility, she had asked for an abortion, not a birth. But after a barrage of poisonous saline injections, little Melissa came out very much alive, proving – then and now – that she’s a fighter for life.
Now a wife and a mother to a baby girl of her own, 33 year-old Melissa travels the country sharing her story of survival, adoption and even the search to reunite with her biological parents. We recently captured the story on file, and the two-part episode of Facing Life Head-On is one of our best yet. Viewers flooded our email box and social media pages with touching responses. One man told us he once supported abortion, but especially after seeing the show, is now proud to be totally pro-life! Another marveled at God’s protection over Melissa’s life. (Saline abortions are truly horrible, essentially scalding babies to death).
These episodes certainly are a powerful reminder that Melissa is part of a far too exclusive club. She is the reality of abortion, the face of what could have been for so many lost lives. If you haven’t seen the programs yet, you won’t want to miss Part One and Part Two.
Looking at Melissa, it’s hard for anyone to deny that abortion ends a life. Please share the links (facing life.TV) with others. This may be just the story someone needs to hear today.
Pennsylvania Court: Guardians Can’t Pull the Plug on Mentally Disabled People—Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor, Harrisburg, PA—In a ruling involving a mentally disabled man whose legal guardians sought the power to end his medical care, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has determined that state law requires life-preserving treatment for people who are not near death and have not refused treatment.
The Alliance Defense Fund and allied prolife attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 53-year-old David Hockenberry, who has had acute mental disabilities since birth, arguing that his legal guardians should not be allowed to deny him life-preserving treatment while he is not terminal or unconscious.
Hockenberry’s guardians unsuccessfully attempted to deny him temporary life-preserving medical treatment for pneumonia.
“Having a disability shouldn’t be a death sentence when treatable medical complications arise,” said Independence Law Center Chief Counsel, Randall L. Wegner, one of the allied attorneys.
“The court made the right decision to protect Mr. Hockenberry’s right to live. He is not dying or unconscious, and his life isn’t worthless just because he has a disability that may lead others to view his life as less worthy to live,” he added.
“A person’s value isn’t based on his or her physical or mental abilities,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “No one should be allowed to decide that a person’s life is not worth saving just because he or she has a disability or medical condition.”