Charlie Gard Dies in Hospice Care

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The parents of 11-month-old British baby Charlie Gard said Friday their terminally ill son has died after being moved to a hospice.

Gard had become the subject of a bitter legal fight between his parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London over whether he could be taken to the United States to receive experimental treatment.

Gard’s parents dropped their legal fight after the doctor who had originally offered the treatment said it was too late for it to work.

“Our beautiful little boy has gone, we are so proud of you Charlie,” Yates said in a statement.

Gard was diagnosed with a mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, an extremely rare condition that causes a loss of motor skills due to muscle weakness. As the disease progressed, Gard was left with extensive brain damage and no hope of recovery.

The London hospital caring for Gard contended that the baby’s condition had deteriorated beyond the point of treatment, and said he should be removed from life support so he could die with dignity.

British and European courts sided with the hospital, denying Gard’s parents from taking him to the U.S. for treatment.

His parents announced Monday they had dropped their efforts to bring Gard to the U.S. for experimental treatment.

“Poor Charlie. It is too late. The damage has been done. Sadly time has run out,” the lawyer for Gard’s parents said Monday. “Sadly the window of opportunity no longer exists. The parents have taken an extremely hard decision.”

On Tuesday, Gard’s parents asked to bring their son home to die, but that request too was blocked by the hospital, which said the infant’s ventilator would not fit through the door of his parents home.

“We promised Charlie every day we would take him home. It seems really upsetting, after everything we’ve been through, to deny us this,” his mother said Tuesday.

Gard’s parents instead asked that their son be sent to a hospice for a few days of “tranquility” before his life support was removed.

Many on social media expressed their condolences over Gard’s passing.

The baby died one week before his first birthday. (For more from the author of “Charlie Gard Dies in Hospice Care” please click HERE)

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Halal Chief Says White Women Need to Be Fertilized by Muslim Men

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Mohamed Elmouelhy, the head of Australia’s Halal Certification Authority, publicly commented on Facebook to state that white Australian women need Muslim men to fertilize them and “keep them surrounded by Muslim babies.”

Elmouelhy’s intolerant views led him to declare that the “white race will be extinct” in 40 years.

The certification chief, who immigrated to Australia in 1975 and became a citizen in 1981, made his comments in response to a study in Human Reproduction Update from Israeli researchers in Hebrew University, which revealed declining fertility rates among men in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand . . .

“According to the Hebrew University, Australian men sperm count has declined by 52 per cent over the last 40 years so your men are a dying breed, Australian women need us to fertilise them and keep them surrounded by Muslim babies while beer swilling, cigarette smoking, drug injecting can only dream of what Muslim men are capable of,” wrote Elmouelhy in a comment on Facebook that was first reported by the Daily Mail.

“If the country is left to the bigots the white race will be extinct in another 40 years,” he continued. “Muslims have a duty to make your women happy because you are declining, better go chose a plot for yourself at your local cemetery. If you can’t afford it, commit suicide it is a cheaper alternative for bigots.” (Read more from “Halal Chief Says White Women Need to Be Fertilized by Muslim Men” HERE)

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Transblind: Woman ‘Identifies’ as Blind, Uses Chemicals to Blind Herself Forever

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Did you hear that? It was the dying wail of common sense! After seeing this video, I think I am done with the internet for today.

A woman with perfect sight claims she identified as a blind person, and felt like that was just who she was supposed to be. She labeled herself as transblind, and began living her life as if she was without sight.

We can’t make this stuff up!

At what point can we call this “Trans” issue a mental disorder? Is “TransBlind” crazy enough? This North Carolina woman blinded herself on purpose with the help of a Psychologist! Instead of calling her insane, some call her a Hero.

The North Carolina woman says, “When there’s nobody around you that feels the same way, you start to feel like you’re very crazy.” She continued, “I don’t think I’m crazy. I think I have a disorder.” (Read more from “Transblind: Woman ‘Identifies’ as Blind, Uses Chemicals to Blind Herself Forever” HERE)

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In Video, Planned Parenthood Medical Chief Tells How to Get Around Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion

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A new undercover video shows a top physician at a Planned Parenthood affiliate discussing how her organization routinely circumvents federal law regulating certain late-term abortions.

In the latest hidden-camera video from the Center for Medical Progress, Dr. Suzie Prabhakaran, vice president of medical affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, talks about using a “checkbox” to get around the 2003 law banning partial-birth abortion.

In the video, released Thursday as the Senate again debates defunding the nation’s largest abortion provider, Prabhakaran speaks with investigators from the pro-life group posing as buyers of fetal tissue from a biotech company.

Prabhakaran is seen explaining that to circumvent federal law against partial-birth abortions—in which the unborn baby is extracted partway and then killed—Planned Parenthood doctors document their intent either to perform a dismemberment abortion or to use a feticide such as digoxin, which kills the baby beforehand.

“Every time you do a procedure, that’s how you document,” Prabhakaran says at 4:02 on the video. “So, like, there’s like a checkbox … So before the procedure, you do your evaluation, you write: ‘I intend to utilize dismemberment techniques for this procedure.’”

The video was shot at a Planned Parenthood conference in Orlando, Florida, according to the Center for Medical Progress, a nonprofit that has released a series of undercover videos targeting the organization’s ethics and morality in the past two years.

In it, Prabhakaran explains that her affiliate is merging with a Planned Parenthood clinic in Orlando that performs abortions up to 22 weeks and six days into a pregnancy. She says the clinic does a high volume of procedures, with “18 abortions at 18 weeks and above scheduled for the next week,” according to a Center for Medical Progress press release.

By marking a box showing intent to perform a dismemberment abortion, in which the baby is removed in pieces, and not use the deadly digoxin, Parabhakaran says at 5:52 in the video, “I’m not doing digoxin, and we’re just gonna document and there’s never been a problem.”

In a clip from an earlier video, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, senior director of medical services for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, is seen saying at 3:12 that “laws are up to interpretation.”

“So there are some people who interpret [the partial-birth abortion ban] as, it’s intent,” Nucatola says. “So if I say on Day One I do not intend to do this, what ultimately happens doesn’t matter.”

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which issued a press release attacking Republicans’ “skinny repeal” of Obamacare, did not respond to The Daily Signal’s requests for comment on the video.

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., tweeted:

David Daleiden, head of the Center for Medical Progress, said in a press release that “the fact that Planned Parenthood has a ‘dismemberment checkbox’ on their abortion forms should tell the public and policymakers everything they need to know about this barbaric abortion business.”

In response to the group’s latest hidden-camera video, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said in a press release that the nation’s “forced complicity in this atrocity must end.”

Dannenfelser added:

We urge our pro-life allies in the Senate to watch this video today and refresh their resolve to ensure that any health care reform legislation includes provisions to redirect Planned Parenthood’s tax dollars to community health centers and also rolls back Obamacare’s abortion expansion.

Abortion is not health care, and pro-life grassroots elected a pro-life House, Senate, and White House in 2016 expecting these victories. Congress must send a bill defunding Planned Parenthood and undoing the damage of Obamacare to President Trump’s desk for his signature.

(For more from the author of “In Video, Planned Parenthood Medical Chief Tells How to Get Around Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion” please click HERE)

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Doctor’s Offer to Euthanize Young Woman Leaves Her Mother ‘Dumbfounded’

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A Newfoundland mother wants an apology from the hospital where, she says, a doctor suggested her daughter should be euthanized.

Sheila Elson says she’s particularly upset because her 25-year-old daughter, Candice Lewis, overheard the conversation and has been traumatized, reports the Northern Pen.

Lewis has suffered since birth from a number of medical conditions, including spina bifida, cerebral palsy and chronic seizure disorder . . .

Elson alleged that Dr. Aaron Heroux told her at that time assisted suicide was legal and her daughter qualified.

“This left me dumbfounded and I told him it was something I did not want to consider,” Elson told the Northern Pen. (Read more from “Doctor’s Offer to Euthanize Young Woman Leaves Her Mother ‘Dumbfounded'” HERE)

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Ban on Mentioning Jesus, Christmas Cards on Campus

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Talking about Jesus, exchanging Christmas cards and encouraging Christianity have been targeted under an unofficial policy from education bureaucrats that takes aim at junior evangelists in Queensland primary school yards.

Queensland education officials have moved to ban refer­ences to Jesus in the primary school yard, with an unofficial policy that takes aim at junior evangelists.

Christian groups and free-speech advocates have expressed alarm at the recent edict from the Queensland Department of Education and Training contained within its latest review into religious instruction materials and warning that principals were expected to take action against students caught evangelising to their peers. (Read more from “Ban on Mentioning Jesus, Christmas Cards on Campus” HERE)

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New Report Shows Increase in ‘Religious Freedom Violations’ in Recent Years

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Hostility toward religion is on the rise in the United States, according to a new report.

The report, which was recently released by the Family Research Council, shows an increase in the number of incidents involving “religious freedom violations” since the first report was released in July 2014. The original report spanned over a decade and contained 90 incidents. In the last three years, 69 new incidents have been added.

“The recent spike in government driven religious hostility is sadly not surprising, especially considering the Obama administration’s antagonism toward biblical Christianity,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, in a statement. “The report underscores the legitimacy of the actions taken by the Trump administration to end the policies and practices in federal agencies that fan the flames of this religious intolerance.”

Perkins added the report’s findings also show “ the growing courage of Christians, especially young Christians, to defend both their faith and their freedoms.”

The report found that antagonism toward religious beliefs on sexuality was fueling much of the increase:

Hostility to religious beliefs on natural marriage and human sexuality … [included] 42 incidents in the report’s first edition. In the time since then, 48 new incidents have been added to these sections. Thus, the number of these religious freedom violations more than doubled …

In the introduction to the report, the Family Research Council writes that the attacks on religious teaching on marriage and sexuality “is the product of more insidious forces which ultimately will erode civil liberties for all Americans, even if they hold a different viewpoint than our own.”

Included in the religious liberty violations listed in the report was one about a survey distributed by a major financial firm.

In 2014, JPMorgan Chase, a vocal advocate of LGBT rights, sent out a survey to its employees asking a number of questions. The survey asked if the employee was “disabled, had family members that were disabled, if they were LGBT, or if they were allies of the LGBT movement.” Employees that answered negatively the final question could be interpreted as being at odds with the beliefs of the firm.

In February 2016, Edie and David Delorme received death threats after declining to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. The Delormes, who are devout Baptists, have previously refused to create cakes that go against their religious convictions, including those “that support alcohol, tobacco, gambling, or convey sexually inappropriate images,” according to the report.

Rather than accepting a list of nearby bakeries that would create the same-sex wedding cake instead, the couple complained to the media, bringing on harsh attacks against the Delormes.

“The bakery received threats of violence on social media and Yelp,” the Family Research Council wrote. “Though the bakery was never threatened with a lawsuit, they remain a target of criticism by LGBT activists.”

Another area of extreme hostility concerns Catholic churches, schools, and hospitals who have been operating in accordance with the Catholic Church’s teaching.

One example occurred in September 2016 when Kate Drumgoole, a guidance counselor and coach at a Catholic high school in New Jersey, was fired when the administration learned that she was in a same-sex relationship.

Drumgoole, citing discrimination, sued the archdiocese and Paramus Catholic High School despite having previously signed the archdiocese’s “Policies on Professional and Ministerial Conduct.” By signing it, teachers acknowledge the requirement that they “act in accordance with the ‘discipline, norms and teachings of the Catholic Church.’”

“Religious liberty is the exercise of our inherent, natural rights. It is not limited to freedom to worship, rather, it means that we are free to live consistently with our beliefs in the public square,” says Melanie Israel, a research associate in the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation.

“Individuals and organizations should be able to maintain their ability to abide by their religious convictions when they carry out their work, including serving the poor, educating the next generation, or running a business.” (For more from the author of “New Report Shows Increase in ‘Religious Freedom Violations’ in Recent Years” please click HERE)

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Female Senator Rips ‘Fat’ Male Colleague

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Following a Senate Committee of Appropriations Meeting Tuesday, Senator Susan Collins was caught talking with Senator Jack Reed about Rep. Blake Farenthold, calling him “so unattractive.”

Senator Collins delivered a statement in the hearing before sitting down next Reed, where they start talking to each other about budget and healthcare. The conversation turns towards Farenthold when Collins says, “Did you see the one that challenged me to a duel?”

The senator responded, “Trust me, do you know why he challenged you to a duel? Because you could beat the sh*t out of him.”

The audio gets fuzzy here, but Collins is heard saying “fat guy,” “he’s huge,” and “he is so unattractive it’s unbelievable.” (Read more from “Female Senator Rips ‘Fat’ Male Colleague” HERE)

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Minnesota Is Pushing Gender Identity Debate on Kindergartners

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It would seem to be common sense that schoolchildren fresh off of learning the alphabet should not have to learn the alphabet soup of growing gender pronouns sprung from the laboratories of college campuses.

But that is exactly what is happening in Minnesota.

On Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Education advisory council voted to implement an LGBT “toolkit” for public and charter schools in the state.

Nor are these guidelines just intended for older students. Instead, they were created for children as young as those entering kindergarten.

The toolkit says the language surrounding gender identity issues is “evolving” and that “any student, including transgender and gender nonconforming students, may be heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual.”

“Gender identity does not correlate with sexual orientation,” the report says.

Therefore, the toolkit offers a litany of suggestions for how teachers should address LGBT issues and be more “inclusive.”

One recommendation is to allow children to use the bathroom of their preferred gender identity.

And it doesn’t stop there. According to The Washington Free Beacon, the guidelines state that, in addition to using the child’s pronoun of choice, “teachers must call students by whatever name they choose to ensure that bullying does not occur.”

The students don’t even have to provide legal documentation or verification that their names have changed.

But what happens to a teacher who doesn’t use the correct name and pronoun to identify a student?

The guidelines say that the offending teacher could be found in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

This is just a small part of the long list of recommendations.

They also suggest not using the term “boys and girls” in reference to the children, and instead using the gender-neutral “students” or “scholars.”

Homecoming and prom can also become problematic under the toolkit’s rubric, as gendered terms like “homecoming king” could be deemed offensive. The guidelines suggest using more neutral terms and phrases like “prom ambassadors” instead.

The report also urges students to adhere to these standards and for teachers to correct those who don’t use the advised language.

The toolkit is backed by a number of LGBT rights organizations, according to the Free Beacon, including “the Human Rights Campaign, the ACLU, the National Education Association, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.”

But not everyone is happy about the ruling.

State Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, said that no one from his district supports the toolkit, according to the Star Tribune, a Minneapolis newspaper.

“I do not see sensitivities to a 13-year-old Christian girl or a kindergarten boy who cannot possibly have a sexual orientation,” Miller said.

Though battlegrounds over gender identity have been all the rage on college campuses for quite some time, and have now hit the political mainstream, it is still shocking to apply them to children who are just beginning to understand the world around them.

Yet parents who don’t wish their children to be exposed to the standards have little choice in the matter. This is perhaps a perfect example of why school choice is such a pressing issue so that families have greater freedom to opt in or opt out of policies and belief systems that are right for them. (For more from the author of “Minnesota Is Pushing Gender Identity Debate on Kindergartners” please click HERE)

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Christie Signs Bill Requiring NJ Schools Use Preferred Pronouns for Transgender Kids

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Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill requiring New Jersey schools use the preferred pronouns of transgender students, according to a Saturday report.

The legislation (S3067/A4652) compels New Jersey to mandate that state schools call transgender students by their preferred pronouns and prohibits them from making transgender students use bathrooms opposing their gender identity, according to NJ.com.

“This is a huge victory for equality in New Jersey, and we want to send a big thank you to Gov. Christie for standing on the right side of history on this one,” Garden State Equality, a civil rights organization, said Friday in a statement.

Transgender students will be “addressed at school by the name and pronoun preferred by the student that corresponds to the student’s gender identity, regardless of whether a legal name change or change in official school records has occurred,” says the law.

Furthermore, New Jersey schools cannot force “a transgender student to use a restroom or locker room that conflicts with the student’s gender identity, and [must provide] reasonable alternative arrangements if needed to ensure a student’s safety and comfort.” (Read more from “Christie Signs Bill Requiring NJ Schools Use Preferred Pronouns for Transgender Kids” HERE)

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