Amid Fetal Tissue Investigation, Republicans Seek Legal Action Against StemExpress

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Republicans on a special House panel are recommending that StemExpress and its CEO be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over accounting records. The company came under scrutiny after last year’s undercover videos of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s top abortion provider.

Republicans on the panel, which is investigating the market for tissue from aborted babies, see the accounting records as crucial for the investigation.

“To date, the panel has never received a single accounting record from StemExpress,” Republicans on the Select Investigative Panel said in a new staff report. “No names of key personnel have been provided by [StemExpress CEO] Ms. Dyer so that the panel might conduct interviews, and the cost estimates have been ambiguous and inadequate.”

StemExpress is a for-profit biotechnology company that procures tissue from abortion clinics such as Planned Parenthood. StemExpress then transfers that tissue to medical researchers.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, chairman of the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, will hold a procedural vote on Wednesday to hold the biotechnology company in contempt of Congress. Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, is aiming to force StemExpress and its CEO Catherine Dyer to comply with congressional subpoenas by using the force of the U.S. Justice Department in order to make the company release its full accounting records.

Before the Justice Department would take action against StemExpress, several more steps would need to occur after Wednesday’s vote. The House Energy and Commerce Committee will also need to hold a procedural vote before it can advance to the full U.S. House of Representatives. It is unclear when Republicans would schedule those votes with the House planning to recess at the end of September or earlier.

The Daily Signal reached out to StemExpress, which claimed it has already complied with congressional records requests.

“StemExpress offered to testify before the select panel, but this offer was ignored,” a spokesman for the company said. “Several House and Senate committees have reviewed our accounting records and closed their investigations. We have provided hundreds of documents to the select panel, including accounting records, both voluntarily and in response to subpoenas. All Americans should be concerned that a congressional panel can use the threat of contempt proceedings to support a narrative that flies in the face of the facts.”

Republicans claim that StemExpress has failed to provide investigators complete copies of accounting records in an attempt to slow walk or stonewall their efforts.

Instead, as they outlined in their latest staff report, StemExpress has provided investigators summary documents of the company’s financial records that “fell far short of actual accounting documents.” Throughout the investigation, StemExpress has maintained that releasing documents with personal information could put individuals at risk.

Questions about whether middleman companies such as StemExpress profit off the sale of fetal tissue were raised in a series of undercover videos produced by the pro-life group Center for Medical Progress. The videos featured employees at StemExpress and Planned Parenthood discussing the sale of fetal tissue. Both companies have denied illegal activity, and Planned Parenthood has since stopped taking reimbursements for fetal tissue donations.

Accounting documents, Republicans say, are needed to determine whether StemExpress profited from the sale of fetal tissue, which the 1993 National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act prohibits. However, it is legal to provide and accept payment to cover reasonable costs for “transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, or storage of human fetal tissue.”

The panel’s ranking member Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat from Illinois, blasted Blackburn and the select panel for attempting to hold StemExpress in criminal contempt of Congress.

“Chair Blackburn has manufactured a controversy over information that she does not need,” Schakowsky said in a press release. “Her threat to punish a small biotechnology company and its owner is particularly outrageous given the company’s compliance with her unilateral subpoena demands. The McCarthyesque threat that StemExpress ‘name names’ of all employees or face congressional contempt is disgraceful.”

Republicans sent StemExpress multiple document requests—including subpoenas—since the panel was established on Oct. 7, 2015. On Sept. 8, 2016, Blackburn “provided one last offer to Stem Express and Ms. Dyer to comply with the subpoenas.”

“Having exhausted its efforts to obtain compliance from the subpoena recipients,” the majority’s staff report reads, “Chairman Blackburn recommends that StemExpress, LLC, and Catherine Spears Dyer be held in contempt for their willful failure to fully comply with the panel’s subpoenas issued to them.” (For more from the author of “Amid Fetal Tissue Investigation, Republicans Seek Legal Action Against StemExpress” please click HERE)

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Appeals Court Reverses Ruling Banning NC County’s Prayers

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit yesterday reversed and remanded a lower court’s decision that Rowan County, North Carolina, commissioners’ prayers before public meetings violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

In a 2-1 ruling written by Judge Steven Agee, with Judge Dennis Shedd concurring, the court determined that Rowan County’s practice of an invocation before meetings was not unconstitutional, as plaintiffs, who were represented by the ACLU, had charged. Judge Wilkinson dissented.

In February of 2012, the ACLU sent a letter to the Rowan County Board of Commissioners objecting to the pre-meeting prayers. Although the Board didn’t respond formally, several commissioners stated their intent to continue to express their Christian faith through prayers. According to the majority opinion, one then-commissioner stated, “I will continue to pray in Jesus’ name. I am not perfect so I need all the help I can get, and asking for guidance for my decisions from Jesus is the best I, and Rowan County, can ever hope for.”

Plaintiffs “alleged that the prayer practice unconstitutionally affiliated the Board with one particular faith and caused them to feel excluded as ‘outsiders.’” Plaintiffs sought an injunction preventing any future prayers, and moved for a preliminary injunction on the basis that “sectarian legislative prayer was a constitutional violation.”

Judge James A. Beaty, Jr., Senior District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, ruled in May of 2015 that the Rowan County commissioners violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment since almost all of the prayers offered before public meetings invoked the Christian faith.

Yesterday’s majority opinion recalled, citing an earlier case as support, that the Founders appointed official chaplains to open sessions in prayer and it is a tradition continued today:

Observing that legislative invocations containing explicitly religious themes were accepted at the time of the first Congress and remain vibrant today, the Court concluded, “[a]n insistence on nonsectarian or ecumenical prayer as a single, fixed standard is not consistent with [our accepted] tradition of legislative prayer.”

The Court reversed and remanded the earlier ruling, stating that:

The Board’s legislative prayer practice falls within our recognized tradition and does not coerce participation by nonadherents. It is therefore constitutional. The district court erred in concluding to the contrary.

Chris Brook, Legal Director for the ACLU of North Carolina, was disappointed with the ruling and pledged to ask the Fourth Circuit to review the decision en banc, or by all 15 judges. “Today’s ruling is out of step with the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty for all, and we will ask the full appellate court to review this decision,” he said, adding that, “Rowan County residents should be able to attend local government meetings without being coerced to participate in a sectarian prayer or worry that the commissioners may discriminate against them if they do not.”

Brett Harvey, Senior Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom and co-counsel for Defendants, stated that “All Americans, including public servants, should have the freedom to pray without being censored … the First Amendment affirms the liberty of Americans to pray according to their consciences before public meetings. For that reason, the 4th Circuit rightly upheld Rowan County’s prayer policy, which is clearly constitutional.”

Rowan County Commission Chairman Greg Edds said the Board was very pleased with the court’s decision, adding that, “Our attorneys are currently working through the decision and we will know more about it in the coming days.”

Monday’s decision overrules the injunction on prayer imposed by Judge Beaty. (For more from the author of “Appeals Court Reverses Ruling Banning NC County’s Prayers” please click HERE)

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Study: Graphic Abortion Victim Images Swayed Pro-Abortion Views

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Will seeing the dismembered body of an aborted child cause people to oppose abortion? According to a new study in Canada, showing people graphic images of abortion victims convinced some to be more pro-life. And while many claim that the use of what is called “abortion victim photography” makes people react against the pro-life movement, the study found that it had the opposite effect.

Seeing pictures of the unborn victims of abortion was linked to an increase in both the pro-life worldview and pro-life political views, and made many feel more negatively about abortion and thus favor less permissive abortion laws, according to the study. This was true of everyone from those who identified themselves a completely pro-life to those who were completely pro-abortion.

Pro-abortion sentiment dropped by about seven percent, according to the study’s executive report, which also claims that the use of such images is now “scientifically established as an effective tool.”

The study, commissioned by the group Created Equal and analyzed by Jacqueline Harvey, an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, was sponsored by the Canadian Center for Bioethical Reform. Both the institute and the center are openly pro-life. Harvey also teaches political science at Tarleton State University in Texas.

A Split Movement

The study was conducted using postcards with graphic images of abortion victims distributed at mailboxes across an entire zip code and before and after phone surveys. “Most of the items were statistically significant,” Harvey told The Stream, explaining that term means that the study “rules out the possibility that the random sample interviewed the second time just ‘happened’ to be more pro-life.”

Harvey noted that the pro-life movement has long been split on whether graphic images of abortion victims sway minds in a positive way. The respondents “indicated that the change they reported was due to the images,”she said, adding that “this confirms that the images were responsible for the change.”

“The graphic images are powerful and effective,” Human Life Review’s Ifeoma Anunkor told The Stream. “I attended the National Sidewalk Counseling Symposium in August. During a training session, a leading sidewalk counselor shared that in order to make the ideal pamphlet for abortion-minded women, she asked the abortion-minded women themselves, what pictures made them change their minds about abortion. The majority of the women said the picture of an aborted fetus.”

Former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, however, was more critical. “This study does not look at the effectiveness of graphic imagery in front of abortion facilities, which is where I do not support their use,” she explained in an e-mail to The Stream.

In my experience, and the experiences of almost 300 former abortion workers, we find them to be counterproductive in front of abortion facilities. They appear threatening and only present the abortion facility as a safe haven from the protestors outside. The majority of women who have abortions have already had children. They aren’t having an abortion because they think it’s a “mass of cells.” They are having an abortion because they lack resources or support.

Graphic images have been effectively used in other human rights campaigns, such as when fighting to end slavery in the United States. However, some pro-life advocates say showing images to children is inappropriate, and that post-abortive women could face PTSD and other issues when seeing the images.

According to Johnson, “I believe we should obtain consent before ever showing any graphic material. I do not oppose people using graphic imagery in some situations, but only where the person using the images has gained consent to show them.”

Though the debate within the pro-life movement over the wisdom of using such images will continue, the study establishes that they do move people to become more pro-life and less supportive of abortion. Indeed, the study found that people who identified as “liberal” shifted more in favor of life than conservatives. (For more from the author of “Study: Graphic Abortion Victim Images Swayed Pro-Abortion Views” please click HERE)

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The Tides Are Turning in North Carolina Bathroom Fight

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The tides of North Carolina’s bathroom battle are starting to turn in favor Governor Pat McCrory’s administration, if statements made by various business owners and associations in the state are any indication.

According to a story at The Charlotte Observer, hospitality and tourism leaders, as well as the Charlotte Chamber, are urging state and local leaders to repeal the various ordinances and statutes that led to the current controversy in the first place.

“This is not about politics. This is not about who’s right and who’s wrong,” stated Vinay Patel, CEO of SREE Hotels and a board member of the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association. “We’ve been caught in a crossfire. … We’re in a crisis, and this is the time to take action.”

While the effort from liberal organizations, individuals, and corporations from both within and outside the state has focused on pressuring McCrory and the Republican legislature to repeal HB2, what N.C. business leaders are calling for in this situation would actually be on the governor’s terms.

A McCrory spokesman said last week that state lawmakers would consider repealing HB2 if the Charlotte City Council — who originally started the controversy — would drop the ordinance that provoked it in the first place.

“For the last nine months, the governor has consistently said state legislation is only needed if the Charlotte ordinance remains in place,” spokesman Josh Ellis said last week, per the Observer.

“If the Charlotte City Council totally repeals the ordinance and then we can confirm there is support to repeal among the majority of state lawmakers … the governor will call a special session,” he continued. “It is the governor’s understanding that legislative leaders … agree with that assessment.”

The idea is, of course, not a popular one with the LGBT lobby, members of which still believe that McCrory should be the one to flinch — rather than have the state return to the status quo pre bellum.

“Repealing Charlotte’s ordinance would be a step backward for equality, inclusion and fairness,” stated Simone Bell, southern regional director for the gay rights group Lambda Legal.

“Nondiscrimination policies like Charlotte’s are good and necessary measures that protect the LGBT community,” Bell said in a statement, issued Sunday.

It’s unclear whether or not Monday’s meeting of the Charlotte City Council will yield any developments toward returning North Carolina to a state of pre-transgender bathroom normalcy, but McCrory’s example presents a big, fat, teachable moment for conservative lawmakers who end up besieged by cultural cronyism.

Several concerts, business projects and sports tournaments have been pulled from North Carolina, with concerns like “equality” frequently cited. However, the NBA’s supposed human rights concerns don’t stop it from playing in China; Paypal still does business in countries that execute gays; and the NCAA doesn’t believe in the traditional sexes, but still hasn’t merged its male and female leagues. But I digress.

Pat McCrory wasn’t the first governor to fall victim to these tactics over a common-sense provision in state law. Just look at what happened in Arizona, Indiana, and Georgia when those states tried to pass basic religious freedom laws. The LGBT lobby and their big business cronies swarmed the states in an Alinsky-esque effort to get the laws repealed. And in each situation, it worked.

Jan Brewer (R) of Arizona and Nathan Deal of Georgia (R) both vetoed their respective laws, while Indiana’s governor-turned-Trump-running-mate Mike Pence eventually signed into law a “compromise” that has drawn repeated criticism and serious concern from First Amendment advocates.

McCrory and GOP legislators in Raleigh have broken this mold so far, it would seem. Despite every single boycott effort imaginable, they’ve refused to cave to the Left’s public pressure and misinformation campaign. Now voices outside the administration — the very kind of people the cronies were trying to turn against the administration — are now calling for exactly the kind of situation the governor et al. wanted in the first place.

True to his state’s nickname from the start, McCrory has provided an example of what conservative leaders are capable of accomplishing if they’re simply willing to prudently expend political capital, ignore the demonizing, and stand up to those who prefer to push their agendas with lies and mafia-like tactics.

Now it’s on the Charlotte City Council to decide whether or not they want to call off what they started, or continue to blame Pat McCrory for taking a stand for safety and common sense in response. (For more from the author of “The Tides Are Turning in North Carolina Bathroom Fight” please click HERE)

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US Senator Introduces Bill to Ban Dismemberment Abortions Nationwide

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Dismembering a child in the womb is not merely ghastly, it should be punished with potentially crippling financial damages and multiple years in prison, according to one of the nation’s foremost pro-life leaders.

Earlier this month, Sen. James Lankford, R-OK, introduced a nationwide ban on dismemberment abortions (S. 3306).

The proposed law would make it illegal for an abortionist to “knowingly dismembering a living unborn child and extracting such unborn child one piece at a time from the uterus through the use of clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors or similar instruments that, through the convergence of two rigid levers, slice, crush or grasp a portion of the unborn child’s body in order to cut or rip it off.”

Any abortionist found guilty of performing the procedure, commonly known as dilation and evacuation, or dilation and extraction (D&E) abortion, would be subject to fines and up to two years in prison.

The mother, or her parents if she is a minor, could also file a lawsuit in civil court against the abortionist, opening the door to massive fiscal settlements. (Read more from “US Senator Introduces Bill to Ban Dismemberment Abortions Nationwide” HERE)

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Trump Makes YUUUGE Pro-Life Commitment

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By Bryan Fischer. Voters who have wondered where Donald Trump stands on the abortion issue need wonder no longer.

Trump today made perhaps the most pronounced pro-life move a presidential nominee has ever made by declaring a specific pro-life platform for his presidency and putting a prominent and unapologetic pro-life leader in charge of his pro-life coalition . . .

Here are [some of] the specific things he pledges to do if elected president:

Nominating pro-life justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Signing into law the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would end painful late-term abortions nationwide.

(Read more from “Trump Makes YUUUGE Pro-Life Commitment” HERE)

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Donald Trump Calls for Permanently Banning Taxpayer Funding of Abortions

By Steven Ertelt. Donald Trump today has issued a call to make permanent the Hyde Amendment that bans almost all federal taxpayer funding of abortions and is credited with saving the lives of over 1 million Americans from abortion. Trump-‘s call comes as Hillary Clinton is campaigning in reversing Hyde and forcing Americans to fund free abortions for women with their tax dollars.

Every year, Congress is forced to fight the battle to protect Americans from being forced to pay for abortions with their tax dollars. Democrats annually fight the pro-life budget provision and hope they can eventually reverse it should they take control of both the White House and Congress.

That has led to pro-life groups calling to the adoption of a permanent law putting Hyde in place long-term and making it more difficult for pro-abortion forces to reverse. Today, Trump announced his support for such a law.

The call for banning taxpayer funding of abortions comes in a new letter from Trump. Trump commits to a new policy: “Making the Hyde Amendment permanent law to protect taxpayers from having to pay for abortions.” (Read more from “Donald Trump Calls for Permanently Banning Taxpayer Funding of Abortions” HERE)

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First Lady Campaigns for Clinton, but Audience Seems to Have a Different Preference

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First lady Michelle Obama was present Friday at a Hillary Clinton campaign event, held at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va., where she spoke to a group of college students.

After taking the stage, Obama said, “My family is almost at the end of our time in the White House.” This statment was met with groans, followed by shouts of “four more years.”

During Obama’s speech, she lauded her husband for his accomplishments and the decisions he has had to make while in office.

She also urged them to vote for Clinton, adding, “Being president isn’t anything like reality TV.”

“Hillary is one of the few people on this entire planet, and clearly the only person in this race that has any idea what this job entails,” Obama said. “Who has seen it from every angle, hear me, the staggering stakes, the brutal hours, the overwhelming stresses. And here’s the thing: She still wants to take it on.”

She suggested that Donald Trump’s actions throughout the campaign speak to how he would act should he win the election.

“A candidate is not going to suddenly change once they get into office. Just the opposite, in fact.” Obama said. “Because the minute that individual takes that oath, they are under the hottest, harshest light there is. And there is no way to hide who they really are. And at that point, it is too late.”

The first lady told the college students, “I hear folks saying they don’t feel inspired in this election. Well let me tell you, I disagree. I am inspired. Because for eight years, I’ve had the privilege to see what it takes to actually do this job, and here is what I absolutely know for sure. Listen to this: Right now we have an opportunity to elect one of the most qualified people who has ever endeavored to become president.”

The first lady told the crowd the president of the United States needed to be someone committed to taking the job seriously.

“We need someone who is steady and measured because when you’re making life or death, war and peace decisions, a president can’t just pop off,” she said, without mentioning Trump by name.

Praising Clinton, Obama told the crowd she has what it takes to be president.

“When she didn’t win the presidency in 2008, she didn’t throw in the towel. She once again answered the call to serve, keeping us safe as our secretary of state. And let me tell you, Hillary has the resilience that it takes to do this job.” Obama added, “See, because when she gets knocked down, she doesn’t complain or cry foul. No, she gets right back up and she comes back stronger for the people who need her the most.”

The first lady went on to say she has been inspired by Clinton’s “persistence and her consistency, by her heart and her guts.” (For more from the author of “First Lady Campaigns for Clinton, but Audience Seems to Have a Different Preference” please click HERE)

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Pornography: A Public Health Issue in a Digital Age

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Pornography is a widespread public health issue, according to social researchers, health experts and legal experts who spoke at an event hosted by The National Center on Sexual Exploitation at the U.S. Capitol regarding the effects of pornography on society, reported USA Today.

Ed Smart, father of Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted at age 14 from her home and held hostage for nine months while being raped and abused, spoke at the event as well about the connection between porn and sexual abuse. “Pornography provides a slippery slope to take the next step to abuse and exploitation,” he said. Each speaker in turn emphasized that “pornography is a public health issue,” citing cultural expectations and research.

The wide reach of the internet allows millions access to pornography, boasting more users than Netflix and YouTube, according to Gail Dines, founder and president of Culture Reframed, an organization dedicated to educating the public on the harmful effects of pornography. The sheer number of users demands that society treat pornography as a health issue. “You don’t solve these kinds of problems by pulling out the women from the river one at a time,” said MaryAnne Layden, Ph.D., the director of education at the Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania. “You have to go upstream and find who’s pushing them in.”

Pornography in a Digital Age

As technology progresses and it becomes easier to access information and images, pornography use has become much more frequent. A new study from Barna, commissioned by Josh McDowell Ministry, shows that technological advances have brought more viewers into the world of porn and that has made the industry much more successful. According to Barna:

Pornography is not new, but the digital age has made it more ubiquitous and accessible than ever before. The technological realities of smartphones and high-speed internet have fundamentally changed the landscape of pornography, and ushered it into the cultural mainstream where it enjoys increasingly widespread acceptance.

Youth’s Wider Acceptance of Pornography

Roxanne Stone, one of the lead analysts in the study, said that there are marked generational differences with behavior and attitudes toward porn. This means that as porn becomes more and more accessible, a moral ambiguity toward porn becomes evident — particularly for younger people.

“Teens and young adults are living in an environment where porn is more acceptable — and more ubiquitous than ever before,” she said. “As access to pornography has increased, the stigma toward it has seemingly decreased.”

The problem won’t be going away any time soon. A new report from Juniper Research says that by 2017, 250 million people will access adult content on their mobile devices as the devices become increasingly personal.

Pornography, Christians and Pastors

Covenant Eyes, an internet accountability and filtering organization, put together a report based on their research in 2015. A 2014 survey showed that 79 percent of men ages 18-30 viewed pornography once a month; 67 percent of men ages 31-49 did so; and 49 percent of men ages 50-68 watched porn at least once a month. Women who viewed pornography once per month consisted of the following: 21 percent of 18-30-year-olds; 5 percent of 31-49-year-olds; and 0 percent of 50-68-year-olds.

The problem of porn isn’t simply a secular one. Barna’s 2014 report showed that of those surveyed, 64 percent of Christian men and 15 percent of Christian women viewed pornography at least once per month, while 37 percent of Christian men and 7 percent of Christian women viewed porn multiple times per week.

What’s more, pastors are just as likely to become involved with watching pornography as laity. Thirty-three percent of pastors said they had visited a pornographic website. Of those, 53 percent said they’d viewed it a few times in the past year and 18 percent of pastors said they visited pornographic sites from between “a couple of times a month” to “more than once a week.”

A 2000 survey showed that 51 percent of pastors struggle with the temptation of pornography, while 37 percent of pastors said viewing pornography was a “current struggle.” Perhaps tellingly, 75 percent of pastors surveyed said that they “do not make themselves accountable to anyone for their Internet use.”

Effects of Pornography on the Brain

In his article, “The Effects of Porn on the Male Brain,” brain researcher Dr. William M. Struthers notes that when men view pornography, it triggers “a cascade of neurological, chemical, and hormonal events,” which he likens to the “hit” of a drug. This in turn forms a neurological memory, “that will influence future processing and response to sexual cues,” said Struthers. “As this pathway becomes activated and traveled, it becomes a preferred route — a mental journey — that is regularly trod,” setting the stage for pornography addiction.

Dr. Jeffrey Satinov, former professor at Princeton in the Department of Politics, along with his colleagues, Dr. MaryAnne Layden and Dr. Judith Reisman, presented research to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in 2004 in which he described the effects of pornography on the brain as comparable to hard street drugs. “Like any other addiction, the addiction is both to the delivery system itself — the pornography — and to the chemicals that the delivery system delivers … modern science allows us to understand that the underlying nature of an addiction to pornography is chemically nearly identical to a heroin addiction …” prompting the viewer to watch more and increasingly toxic pornography.

Reisman, president of The Institute for Media Education, reported to the Senate Committee that the effects of pornography on the human brain are far-reaching and long-term. “Thanks to the latest advances in neuroscience, we now know that emotionally arousing images imprint and alter the brain, triggering an instant, involuntary, but lasting, biochemical memory trail,” which, once established, are difficult or impossible to delete.

Damaging Effects of Pornography on the Psyche

Watching pornography goes beyond simply viewing images, or even creating new pathways in the brain, allowing addiction to take hold. Pornography harms the viewers psychologically as well, affecting not only their sexual performances but also how they view others.

Layden, in her presentation to the Committee, discussed the harmful effects of pornography on the viewer’s sexual performance:

I have … seen in my clinical experience that pornography damages the sexual performance of the viewers. Pornography viewers tend to have problems with premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction. Having spent so much time in unnatural sexual experiences with paper, celluloid and cyberspace, they seem to find it difficult to have sex with a real human being. Pornography is raising their expectation and demand for types and amounts of sexual experiences; at the same time it is reducing their ability to experience sex.

Pornography “affects not only how we form memories and make attachments but also how we understand sexuality and how we view each other,” according to Struthers. Rather than viewing each other as valuable people made in God’s image, those who watch pornography will view women as a disposable commodity. “Human beings become objects of consumption rather than individuals requiring dignity and in this process those involved in its production and its consumption are harmed,” he said. “This harm is not only sociological and psychological, but also spiritual.

Spiritual Effects of Porn

Pornography hijacks the body’s biological response that God intended to bond a man to his wife, said Struthers. The body’s reaction to sexual stimuli is intended to bind the man to the object he is focusing on, “in God’s plan, this would be his wife,” said Struthers. Watching pornography “corrupts and pollutes our brains as it attempts to make sense of humanity’s sexual nature.”

God’s directive on human sexuality is straightforward. When we follow God’s guidelines, we will begin to honor each other rather than consume one another. “By moving beyond the lie of pornography — that people are nothing more than sexual objects to be consumed — we can appreciate each other as brothers and sisters in Christ,” said Struthers. “We can begin to move beyond objectification and false intimacy to real relationships, which honor the dignity of each person.”

More than the neurological and biological responses to pornography, sin separates us from God (Romans 5:12). Everyone who sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34). But in rejecting sin, we become holy and reap eternal life (Romans 6:22).

Pornography Affects Everyone

Pornography is not only harmful to the viewer and the performer (who often has a drug or alcohol abuse problem, depression or other mental health disorder), but — perhaps not surprisingly — is also harmful to the spouses and the children of the viewer and performer. Spouses suffer from depression and low self-esteem, while children may begin to view all relationships as sexual, have a low self-esteem, have a greater likelihood of experimenting sexually at an earlier age and have an increased risk of pregnancy and STDs. The distorted beliefs about sex and sexuality are reinforced and modeled by the viewer parent.

What Now?

There is hope for those struggling with an addiction to pornography. Those who are successful in fighting the addiction are most often part of an accountability group, or have an accountability partner. Perry Noble, former pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina, struggled with an addiction to pornography for years. Then he made himself accountable to another believer — something he suggests anyone with an addiction to pornography should do. “Ask for accountability,” he said. “I am challenging you to find someone who does not struggle with the problem … and ask them to get in your face.”

Traylor Lovvorn, author of an article titled, “Beyond the Checklist: Casting a Vision for Real Accountability,” said that, to be successful, accountability groups “…must be full of real, great, and hard-boiled sinners where our sinful, broken human condition is understood and the solution is not ‘trying harder’ but deeper surrender.”

There may be other steps to take for those struggling with the addiction. For Pastor Noble, it meant getting rid of the internet. “Jesus said if your right eye causes you to sin then gouge it out so I don’t think it is a stretch to say if your computer causes you to sin then get rid of it,” he said. “…For about five years, I did not have the internet in my house because I did not trust myself.”

If you are struggling with an addiction to porn, or for more information, visit XXXChurch, or find a Celebrate Recovery program in a church near you. (For more from the author of “Pornography: A Public Health Issue in a Digital Age” please click HERE)

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Zika Funding Might Result in Raise for Planned Parenthood, Despite GOP-Controlled Congress

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Fears are mounting among some conservatives that under a Republican-controlled Congress, Planned Parenthood could soon be getting a raise.

“I hope that pro-lifers will wake up and realize that we have major issues when it comes to the U.S. Senate, when we have our ‘friends’ put us in very tough positions,” Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs for the pro-life group March for Life Action, told The Daily Signal.

McClusky said he and other pro-life groups have been involved in ongoing discussions with House and Senate leadership regarding a government spending measure that is expected to include emergency funding for the Zika crisis. The concern, McClusky said, is the possibility that Planned Parenthood will get more government funding as a result of the Zika spending bill.

Republican leadership in the House and Senate have not yet released language detailing what the spending package will include, and thus far, they maintain that Planned Parenthood will not get more funding. Democrats, however, say they refuse to agree to any spending measure that bars Planned Parenthood or any of its affiliates from receiving funding.

Backdoor negotiations, McClusky said, don’t look good for pro-life groups.

“The most current language, we’re not happy with at all,” McClusky said. “There’s a number of things that Sen. [Mitch] McConnell has given his approval to that we disagree with—Zika being the major one.”

The Daily Signal reached out to McConnell’s office, but an aide said they are not commenting until the bill’s language has been released.

Conservatives are calling for a specific prohibition against Planned Parenthood and its affiliates from receiving Zika funds, which is precisely what Democrats say they’ll reject. Anything short of that, they say, will wind up landing the nation’s largest abortion provider more money.

“Planned Parenthood is like a pig searching for truffles,” McClusky said. “If [money] is there, they’re going to go searching it out.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2,920 Americans have been infected with Zika while traveling overseas, and 43 people have been infected locally in Florida.

In Puerto Rico, Zika infections are “increasing rapidly,” according to the CDC, with 17,315 locally acquired cases.

Zika is known to cause microcephaly in as many as 13 percent of infants. Microcephaly is a severe birth defect that results in a baby’s head to be unusually small and its brain to be underdeveloped.

Conservatives argue that it makes no sense to allocate Zika funds to Planned Parenthood, which operates only two branches in Puerto Rico that are only able to provide limited services. Instead, they argue Zika health-related funds should go to federally qualified health centers that are equipped to treat the virus and its effects on patients and children, both born and unborn. In Puerto Rico, there are 20 federally qualified health centers, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

According to CQ Roll Call, McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate majority leader, is planning a procedural vote on the spending measure for Monday.

If the measure doesn’t specifically prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving funds, Rachel Bovard, director of policy services at The Heritage Foundation, said Republicans will ultimately “give Planned Parenthood a raise.”

“During this year’s reconciliation process, the Republican majority in both chambers made clear that their position was to defund Planned Parenthood entirely,” she said. “Now, in the [continuing resolution], congressional Republicans are looking to give Planned Parenthood a raise by giving them their annual appropriation in addition to money for Zika.” (For more from the author of “Zika Funding Might Result in Raise for Planned Parenthood, Despite GOP-Controlled Congress” please click HERE)

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What We Can Learn From the Gay Schoolteacher Who Allegedly Abused Boys

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It turns out that there was more to the story of a gay schoolteacher and his “husband” who were found dead August 25th as the apparent result of a murder-suicide. According to court documents, the men were under investigation for serially abusing underage boys, and with their deaths, even more boys are coming forward with reports of abuse.

According to People Magazine, “The apparent murder-suicide of a Minnesota elementary school teacher and his husband last week now seems to have masked a darker truth: Police say the couple, teacher Aric Babbitt and Matthew Deyo, are being investigated after multiple teenagers accused them of sexual abuse.”

Does this mean that all gay men, or at least, gay schoolteachers, are sexual predators, preying on underage boys? Certainly not, and to draw that conclusion would be totally unfair.

There are countless cases of heterosexual schoolteachers, both male and female, who have had inappropriate sexual relationships with underage students, and we don’t draw the conclusion that all heterosexuals, or, more specifically, all heterosexual schoolteachers, are sexual predators.

These heterosexual abusers include coaches, administrators, librarians, teachers, and others, and no one is branding all heterosexual coaches, administrators, librarians, and teachers as child abusers because of the heinous acts of a relatively few. (Note that even if the sex was consensual in some cases, it was still illegal and, because of the relationship, abusive.)

But there is something important we can learn when it comes to this gay couple and their alleged abuse of underage males, and it has to do with the unique role a gay teacher can have in our schools today.

In the case of Babbit, who since 2002 taught at Lincoln Center Elementary School in South St. Paul, Minnesota, the teenager who reported him to the police confessed to having an ongoing sexual relationship after coming out as gay.

The teen stated that Babbit was his “former elementary school teacher, volunteer work supervisor and mentor,” and that Babbit and Deyo “invited him to a jazz concert in Minneapolis soon after he turned 16, where they stayed overnight at a hotel. At the hotel, the two men allegedly plied him with alcohol and had sex with him, the teen said.

“The teen said he didn’t want ‘to do this, but felt unsure about how to say no,’ according to the Pioneer Press.

“The teen also allegedly provided police with Polaroid pictures of himself naked with Babbitt, who he said became his mentor after he came out as gay, according to CBS Minnesota.”

Again, this does not mean that all gay schoolteachers are sexual predators, but it reminds us that it is not uncommon for a gay teacher to take a student under his or her wings after that student comes out as gay (Babbit was seen as a mentor and father figure), with the parents having no knowledge of this whatsoever. The danger of such a teacher-student relationship is self-evident, and it is something that can happen with greater frequency within same-sex circles.

After all, if the parents do not affirm and celebrate their child’s coming out as gay, they are now the enemies, and the child needs to be protected from these bigots for his or her good. What better protector than a gay teacher?

Tragically, Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are found in schools throughout America, beginning in middle schools, and in these GSAs, students can come out as gay to their peers and to participating school officials, and by school policy, this information can be kept from the parents. And groups like the ACLU fight vigorously for the “right” of these groups to exist.

Yet it is in GSAs that vulnerable, impressionable, and still maturing kids can be introduced into the larger gay culture — often with the help of older “mentors” — and this includes “youth pride” events where these children can get pamphlets instructing them on “how to ‘safely’ engage in homosexual oral sex, anal sex, and other behaviors.” (The pamphlet linked here is sickeningly graphic, with references to acts that the vast majority of adults, let alone children, would consider perverse.)

Again, this situation is uniquely prevalent in LGBT circles, and it is not surprising to read that, “‘In interviews with … victims, Babbitt and Deyo would expose the teens to porn, give them access to porn subscriptions, and encourage them to communicate with them without their [parents’] knowledge, on social media,’ police allege, according to the documents.

“The couple would also give their victims gifts, according to the documents: In one instance they gave a teenage boy, who was also gay, some underwear and yoga shorts, with Babbitt telling the teen’s concerned mom that it was a ‘gay thing’ and he was helping.”

The lesson, then, for parents, is obvious: First, you need to stand against any group or organization in your school that would allow your kids to confide sexual secrets to teachers or officials without your knowledge. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Second, if your child comes out to you as gay, rather than reacting in such a way that will drive him or her away, you must show that child unconditional love (without changing your biblical convictions) and encourage complete transparency so you can be there for your children when they need you the most.

And third, if your child does come out as gay, be on the lookout for any inappropriate relationship with an adult of the same sex. This really is a danger zone, and we need to be vigilant.

The safety and well-being of our kids is at stake. (For more from the author of “What We Can Learn From the Gay Schoolteacher Who Allegedly Abused Boys” please click HERE)

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