by Kelli

30-year-old Tatiana was diagnosed with optic neuritis at age 17, causing her to lose her sight. But thanks to the gift of ultrasound and 3-D printers, she had the opportunity to “see” her son, Murilo, before birth. BuzzFeed briefly discusses the new Huggies Brazil ad:

“We have adopted a cause and took advantage of 3D technology to honor all mothers — including those who can’t see — in this very important moment of motherhood, which is the ultrasound exam,” [said] Augusto Cruz Neto, partner and president of Mood, the agency behind the short….

[youtube]https://youtu.be/KD0AC43fc_4[/youtube]

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

Good morning, and Happy Mothers Day! Here were my top five six favorite political cartoons this week. Be sure to vote for your fav in the poll at the bottom of this post! We begin with a twofer by Dana Summers at Townhall.com…

 and a twofer by Michael Ramirez at Townhall.com…

 by Steve Breen at Townhall.com…

 by Chip Bok at Townhall.com…

A large population is a king’s glory, but a shortage of people is a ruler’s ruin.

~ Proverbs 14:28, International Standard Version, a thought Christian singer Amy Grant might bear in mind as she determines to team up with the pro-abortion, pro-contraception Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to promote “family planning” around the world

by Clinton Wilcox of Life Training Institute

It is an honor to be able to contribute to Jill’s frankly devastating critique of T. Russell Hunter’s performance in his “Immediatist vs Incrementalist debate against Gregg Cunningham.

Late in the debate (timestamps 1:05:10 to 1:07:04), Hunter made the following claim: Christians are not practicing activism at abortion clinics because they don’t trust in the power of God, they trust in incremental legislation.

During cross-examination  (timestamps 1:41:32 to 1:44:56), Hunter made the same accusation, adding pastors and churches, and asked if Cunningham agreed.

Cunningham rebutted that while he agreed churches aren’t doing enough to combat abortion, it is not the fault of incremental legislation. Incremental legislation is a good thing.

Rather, Cunningham observed:

• Pastors are not being trained properly in pro-life apologetics, and they are not speaking about abortion to their parishioners.
• Pastors can be afraid of losing members, so they don’t want to engage in any sort of “offensive” speech from the pulpit.
• Christians, by and large, are not leaving the pews to engage in pro-life activism.

Not to be outdone, Hunter wrote the following as a comment on Jill’s post:

As for specific bills and laws, we do believe that cultural change is necessary to their passage and are focused on doing what we can to “get the votes,” as our anti-abolitionist pro-life opponents always tell us “are not there.” But do look for specific practical actionable bills of abolition to start appearing in 2016.

In other words, legislation is actually fine, as long as it’s AHA’s brand of legislation. And somehow Hunter’s brand will not lull Christians into complacency?

The bigger problem, though, as has been pointed out before, is all bills are necessarily incremental, as would be any bill AHA proposes. If, for instance, you pass a personhood amendment in Texas, all you have to do is go to New Mexico, “…and then you can kill the baby.”

Hunter had an answer for that in another comment on Jill’s blog:

Do I need to explain the difference? Do you see that the statewide abolition bill that bans abortion because it is the murder of human beings is different than a state Not banning abortion and not bringing humans under the protection of law but hexing a certain procedure in which they could be killed?

Of course people would drive to another state to get an abortion but that is because in their state abortion had been abolished as murder.

However, AHA opposes incremental legislation to close abortion clinics because “Shutting down clinics doesn’t halt abortion; it just makes people who choose to sacrifice their children drive further.”

Overt contradictions aside, Hunter is nevertheless playing semantics. If we must oppose all bills that could end with “…and then you can kill the baby,” we must, of necessity, oppose any personhood amendment that doesn’t abolish abortion in the United States as a whole.

But then you run into further problems, because then you could just cross the border to Canada, “…and then you can kill the baby.”

Hunter’s brand of “immediatism” should be rejected because one cannot consistently live as an immediatist as Hunter understands it. All bills we can logically support are incremental in nature; personhood bills are simply the only kind Hunter is happy with.

During the debate Hunter knocked Christian involvement in legislative endeavors as distractive from real work to stop abortion.

So, should Christians be involved in the political process?

Absolutely, if we believe in effecting change for the better. In fact, as brilliant theologian Wayne Grudem pointed out, there have been many times in Jewish history when they gave counsel to ungodly rulers, such as when Daniel counseled King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, and when Joseph advised Pharaoh in Genesis. Please read the linked article for a more in-depth discussion of Christians being involved in the political process.

It’s true many Christians can use the political process as an excuse not to engage in activism, but this isn’t a problem with the legislative process. This is a problem with education in our churches, and apathy among church-goers.

We should continue to support incremental legislation because that’s the only way we’ll affect change in our current political atmosphere.

Pro-life people want the immediate end to abortion. Incremental legislation is our strategic method for getting there. Planned Parenthood knows this. Pro-choice writers like Katha Pollitt know this (it plays a major theme in her recent book Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights). The only people who don’t seem to get that are the self-proclaimed “abolitionists.”
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Clinton Wilcox is a staff apologist for Life Training Institute. He specializes in training pro-life people to make the pro-life case more effectively and persuasively. He is also a certified speaker and mentor for Justice for All. He keeps a personal blog, and you can also follow him on Twitter.

Read previous posts:

Prologue
Part I: Let babies die today, we can save the rest later
Part II: There’s only one way to cut down a tree?
Part III: Social justice history vs TR Hunter
Part IV: Straw men and the Bible
Part V: Sacrificing children to the idol of abolitionism
Scott Klusendorf: Debate between Gregg Cunningham and T. Russell Hunter
Jonathan Van Maren: Four observations from the Cunningham vs. Hunter debate

by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

• Wesley J. Smith comments on the new California bill that would require pro-life pregnancy resource centers to refer clients for abortions. California already opts out of abortion reporting and allows abortions to be performed by non-physicians. If you thought they couldn’t get any worse, you would be wrong. From AB 775:
  

  (a) A licensed covered facility shall disseminate to clients on site the following notice in English and in the primary threshold languages for Medi-Cal beneficiaries as determined by the State Department of Health Care Services for the county in which the facility is located.

  (1) The notice shall state: “California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services (including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal care, and abortion for eligible women. To determine whether you qualify, contact the county social services office at [insert the telephone number].

• John Smeaton invites you to consider spending your summer as a pro-life intern in London:
  

  Every year SPUC offers internship places at its headquarters in London to young people seeking work experience in the pro-life movement. This year, SPUC is offering two places to applicants aged 18-25. The internship programme covers all aspects of SPUC’s work, including a substantial amount of research, writing, and campaigning, along with some administrative tasks.

• Saynsumthn’s Blog discusses the dispute between actress Sofia Vergara and her former fiance Nick Loeb over the fate of frozen embryos now that they are no longer a couple. Loeb is fighting for custody of the two female embryos. Of the situation, he says:
  

  This has to do with bigger, really moral – you know – legal or ethical concepts that are out there about lives that we’ve already created and nothing to do with anything else. It has nothing to do with whether it is her baby or a baby. Lives were already created.

  You know a lot of the question is why don’t you move on and meet somebody else and no doubt I would love to do that. But doesn’t it matter that two lives have already been created? I wouldn’t just toss them aside – no different than a child that had been born.

  Watch the full interview on Today here.

• At Priests for Life, Kevin Burke asks if Mother’s Day is the right time to talk about abortion. In his opinion, yes:
  

  As we celebrate Mother’s and in June Father’s Day, most of those that have participated in abortion decisions and procedures know the truth; abortion is anything but a simple matter of personal choice. The Shockwaves of abortion have far reaching effects beyond the mother impacting fathers, siblings, grandparents and other relatives and friends who have been part of the abortion decision and procedure.

  For moms with living children, as they are honored with those precious home-made cards and a breakfast in bed they are reminded that a child (or children) is missing from their celebration. They can feel (with varying levels of awareness) guilt, grief and shame because they participated in the death of another little one who will not share in the joy of that day. These feelings may be disconnected from the actual abortion event. But symptoms such as depression, anxiety and insomnia can surface, triggered by the special focus around this holiday on motherhood. For those who struggle with infertility (which can be directly related to a previous abortion procedure) this day can be especially painful. Mothers can be tormented by the tragic choice to abort their only opportunity to love, nurture and parent a child.

by Kelli

Mother’s Day is quickly approaching (although, really, shouldn’t every day be a day to celebrate motherhood?), and at Little Things, Emerald Pellot writes about a wonderful surprise one mom received on her special day:

Ryan is a Navy Commander who hasn’t seen his mom in two whole years. The last time they were together, his mother drove two hours out of the way just to meet him at the airport during a layover. In the emotional video below, Ryan thanks his mom for sacrificing her career as an athlete to have him, for raising him as a single mom, and for instilling him with wonderful values that he passed on to his children.

Break out the tissues for this one:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/j2zhVs1cUgU[/youtube]

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

On the heels of a second protest at Speaker Boehner’s office, the Weekly Standard announced this morning that the U.S. House will vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act around the anniversary of the May 13, 2013, conviction of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell.

A source told me midway through the 3-1/2 month process of arriving at language that satisfied all contingents, “This is the most complicated bill I’ve ever worked on.”

Farthest apart were pro-lifers who wanted the rape/incest exception removed from the bill entirely and those who wanted the reporting requirement removed from the rape/incest exception.

Ultimately the compromise reached semi-removes (for adults only) the reporting requirement, replacing it with a doctor/counseling requirement, and adds new language making the bill ultimately stronger than ever.

The new language will make committing late-term abortions with exceptions very unappealing for the slime who would commit them in the first place.

Final language isn’t available, but LifeNews.com has a decription:

According to pro-life sources who spoke with LifeNews, the rape exception language will be airtight by requiring some sort of documented medical treatment or counseling 48 hours prior to the abortion (so hopefully the mother has a further chance to weigh abortion alternatives). In addition, such treatment or counseling must be provided by physicians or counselors that are outside of the abortion industry. In cases of rape or incest of a minor, the abuse must first be reported to either social service or law enforcement.

As pro-life sources have informed LifeNews, other new provisions of the bill that strengthen in include a born-alive infant protection requirement that requires a second doctor be present and prepared to provide care to the child if he or she is born alive and that the child must receive the same level of care as would any other premature infant. The baby must then be transported and admitted to a hospital. The woman is also empowered with a right to sue if the law is not followed, and is provided with an informed consent form that notifies her of the age of her baby and the requirements under the law.

Abortionists are explicitly required to follow state mandatory reporting laws and state parental involvement laws. Finally, abortionists are required to report any late abortions done under the exceptions to the Center for Disease Control and such data will be compiled into an annual public report to ensure accountability.

by Carder

Queer and trans folks have been making babies for a long time, and it’s rarely ever easy. Even when we create biological children, we have to fight to be recognized as their parents….

What can you do? You can visit MamasDay.org for messaging and amazing visuals that reflect the vast beauty of families like the one that raised me and the one that I and many others plan to create.

~ Bianca Campbell (pictured), advocating for “non-traditional families” and the difficulties they face with assistive reproductive technology, via RH Reality Check, May 5