Since 1991, 75% of Abortion Clinics Have Been Shut Down

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Photo Credit: bradbrundage

Photo Credit: bradbrundage

By Cheryl Sullenger. A new survey conducted by Operation Rescue of all abortion facilities in the United States has confirmed that the abortion clinic closure trend continued strongly in 2014. Operation Rescue is the only pro-life organization that maintains a listing of abortion facilities and tracks clinic closures and its extensive research has provided the most accurate accounting of abortion facilities known to exist.

In all, 73 abortion facilities shut down for all or part of the year. The total number of all remaining abortion clinics in the US is currently 739. Surgical abortion facilities account for 551 of that total while the number of medication-only abortion facilities stands at 188.

Out of 60 surgical abortion clinic closures, 47 were permanent. This represents a 23% decline in surgical abortion facilities over the past five years.

Thirteen surgical facilities were allowed to reopen after initially closing, primarily due to court action that enjoined abortion safety laws that had shut down the substandard facilities.

Thirteen facilities that provided only medication abortions account for the remaining closures in 2014. That more than doubles the number of medication abortion facilities that closed in 2013 when six were shuttered. (Read more about how abortion clinics have been shut down HERE)
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Misleading Prenatal Tests Often Result in Abortion

By Cortney O’Brien. Mothers are aborting their babies based on prenatal test results that reveal their children would be born with genetic defects. A new study, however, proves that these results are wrong 50 percent of the time, meaning these mothers are often aborting perfectly healthy babies. The New York Daily News reported on this tragic trend:

The New England Center for Investigative Reporting found that some women are terminating their pregnancies based on a test result for a genetic condition — even though the center’s study shows that the tests can be wrong 50% of the time. Shockingly, the group also found that the rate of false positives increased as the conditions became rarer.

This rate is devastating for women who are relying on these tests to determine whether or not to keep their unborn babies:

A recent study of 356 women by Natera, which makes the Panorama prenatal test, showed that 6.2% terminated their pregnancy based on noninvasive test results alone.

Illumina, which makes the Verifi test, told the Daily News that it “has always emphasized the need for confirmatory testing.” (Read more from this story HERE)

Healthy Quadruplets Born After Life-Saving Prenatal Surgical Operation

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mother of quadruplets[Editor’s note: The photo to your left is of the mother, Ashley Gardner, immediately after she found out that she was pregnant with quadruplets. Her husband, Tyson, took the picture]

A Utah couple whose journey through in-vitro fertilization captivated the nation welcomed quadruplets — two sets of identical twins — Sunday.

Ashley and Tyson Gardner said they are “overwhelmed with joy” after the birth of Indie, Esme, Scarlett and Evangeline by Caesarean section at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo. Three of the newborns weighed a little more than 2 pounds at delivery. The fourth weighed slightly less than 2 pounds, according to the hospital.

The Gardners announced the news on the Facebook page where they share news about the pregnancy.

“Mom and babies are doing incredible!!! We are so happy with how everything turned out today! The doctors, nurses, and staff were incredible!! More updates to follow soon!!”

The Pleasant Grove couple conceived two sets of identical twins this summer with the help of in-vitro fertilization. In October, Ashley Gardner had emergency laser surgery in California to save one set suffering from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, the hospital. (Read more about the life-saving prenatal surgical operation HERE)

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Elijah’s Story: A Life Saved Before Birth

By Josh Siegel. If not for this rare operation, done before Elijah’s birth to stop the tumor from smothering his heart and right lung, Elijah never would have walked the earth.

“He would have died,” says Elijah’s primary surgeon, Dr. Scott Adzick of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “No question. He would have died if the operation were not done before birth.”

But today Elijah lives—cautiously—as if at 2 years old, he already understands the fragility of life.

“He walks through life making sure he is going to be OK,” says April Leffingwell, Elijah’s mother, describing her son — a model of a boy with golden hair, pink cheeks and soft features who keeps strong eye contact with people near him, as if he has a lifetime of experiences and can relate to what they’re saying.

Last week, as part of a series on fetal surgery, The Daily Signal visited the Leffingwells’ apartment in this suburb of Green Bay. (Read more about the life saved before birth HERE)

2014 World Cup Soccer Star Says Faith in Christ is the Key (+video)

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Tim HowardAmerican soccer goalie Tim Howard pointed beyond practice and talent to describe his success on the field. The 2014 World Cup star opened up about his faith yesterday on ABC News’ “This Week” to call his “relationship with Jesus Christ” a key to his life. (Read more about the 2014 World Cup soccer star HERE)

Wall Street Journal: Science is Proving God's Existence

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sun solarIn 1966 Time magazine ran a cover story asking: Is God Dead? Many have accepted the cultural narrative that he’s obsolete—that as science progresses, there is less need for a “God” to explain the universe. Yet it turns out that the rumors of God’s death were premature. More amazing is that the relatively recent case for his existence comes from a surprising place—science itself.

Here’s the story: The same year Time featured the now-famous headline, the astronomer Carl Sagan announced that there were two important criteria for a planet to support life: The right kind of star, and a planet the right distance from that star. Given the roughly octillion—1 followed by 24 zeros—planets in the universe, there should have been about septillion—1 followed by 21 zeros—planets capable of supporting life.

With such spectacular odds, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a large, expensive collection of private and publicly funded projects launched in the 1960s, was sure to turn up something soon. Scientists listened with a vast radio telescopic network for signals that resembled coded intelligence and were not merely random. But as years passed, the silence from the rest of the universe was deafening. Congress defunded SETI in 1993, but the search continues with private funds. As of 2014, researches have discovered precisely bubkis—0 followed by nothing.

What happened? As our knowledge of the universe increased, it became clear that there were far more factors necessary for life than Sagan supposed. His two parameters grew to 10 and then 20 and then 50, and so the number of potentially life-supporting planets decreased accordingly. The number dropped to a few thousand planets and kept on plummeting. (Read more on how science is proving God’s existence HERE)

David Barton Wins Million-Dollar Defamation Suit

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photo credit: dctim1

photo credit: dctim1

David Barton critics beware: There’s now a price to pay if you want to defame the popular historian, author and speaker with false and outlandish charges.

Barton won a $1 million defamation judgment in August against two left-leaning candidates for the Texas State Board of Education. The pair, Rebecca Bell-Metereau and Judy Jennings, charged in a 2010 campaign video that Barton, a consultant to the Board, was “known for speaking at white-supremacist rallies.”

That highly charged claim stems from two 1991 speeches Barton gave to groups linked to the racist and anti-Semitic “Christian Identity” movement. Barton, recognized as a strong friend of Israel, acknowledges speaking to the groups but said in court filings he did not know in advance about the racist ideology of his hosts.

Barton, the founder of WallBuilders, a group “dedicated to presenting America’s forgotten history and heroes,” later established a vetting system to avoid repeat engagements and has not addressed similar gatherings since. He told the court that he has given some 8,000 speeches in the two decades following his two 1991 speeches and that addressing “white-supremacist rallies” is not what he is known for.

After nearly three years of pre-trial wrangling, including a trip to the Texas Supreme Court, where Bell-Metereau and Jennings failed in their bid to have the suit dismissed, the two settled with Barton just before the case was to go to trial in July 2014.

Read more from this story HERE.

13 Year Old Boy Saves Sister from Kidnapping

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KidnappingA 13-year-old boy rescued his sister from a man attempting to kidnap her from their Lancaster home Saturday morning.

A preliminary investigation revealed the suspected kidnapper was seen pacing near the home where the girl lived in the 300 block of West Kildare Street before noon.

He allegedly entered the fenced yard, asked the girl her name, before grabbing her and attempting to walk away with her, Lancaster sheriff’s deputies said. The victim’s older brother grabbed the victim’s arm and yelled for someone to call 911.

“He was definitely quick on his feet. He’s very responsible for his family and obviously his 4-year-old sister. So at this point, he is our hero for today,” Los Angeles County sheriff deputy Mighuel Ruiz said.

Lancaster deputies patrolling the area were flagged down by neighbors, who directed them to the suspect, later identified as 61-year-old Earl Williams.

Read more from this story HERE.

Elderly Orthodox Christian Nun Describes ISIS Atrocities as a Repeat of Early 1900's Armenian Slaughter

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Sister DoganBy Leo Hohmann. Today’s political climate draws [this Orthodox nun] back to 1915 and her native Turkey, when her family experienced the cruelty of the Ottoman caliphate, which slaughtered 3 million Christians and reduced others to second-class status under subjugation, or “dhimmitude.”

ISIS is nothing new, [Sister Hatune Dogan] said, just the re-emergence of Islam’s dark side.

“ISIS is not fanatic. ISIS is not more terrible. ISIS is real Muslim believers who like to follow the Quran and Muhammad,” said the founder of Warburg, Germany-based Sister Hatune Foundation, a worldwide relief organization that has been honored by the German government for its dedication to human rights. “Others say they are Muslim. They say they believe Quran, but they don’t follow it.”

Armenian Christians accounted for about half of the 3 million victims in Turkey, but the other half were Christians of various ethnic backgrounds – Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox and Protestants. All felt the boot of jihad against their heads. . .

She believes Christians in the West should learn what is written in the Muslim holy book. If they did, they would realize that the Islamic State, also called ISIS, is not doing anything that hasn’t been done in the past by devout Muslims who have conquered a people they see as “infidels.” Read more from this story HERE.
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Multiple Terrorist Attacks Reported Across Europe

By Oliver Lane. French authorities have ruled out terrorism as a motive for [yesterday’s] van attack, despite reports the driver shouted “Allahu akbar” as he piloted the white Fiat van into crowds of people doing last minute Christmas shopping. Hours later police arrested a man reportedly “armed to the teeth” on Tuesday morning.

Despite the similarities to an almost identical motor-attack that occurred less than 24-hours before in the French city of Dijon, the local prosecutor speaking in the wake of this latest event said “We cannot speak of a terrorist act”, saying evidence suggests it was an “isolated case”.

British newspaper The Times reports a number of reliable sources, including a police officer, witnessed the driver of the white van attack in Nantes shouting “Allahu akbar” as he drove into people. The phrase is Arabic and translates as ‘God is Great’.

It is reported the ram-attack specifically targeted a chalet serving mulled wine. After his vehicle came to a rest and he had injured eleven bystanders, five seriously, the driver began to stab himself repeatedly in an apparent, unsuccessful, suicide bid. He is now in police custody.

The two motor attacks followed a knife attack in a French police station, which left one officer fighting for his life. A French-Burundian Muslim convert reportedly walked into the station on Saturday and shouted the now familiar phrase “Allahu akbar” as he started his attack. He was shot dead after injuring three. Read more from this story HERE.

UNBROKEN Film Gets My Dad’s Faith Right

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Townhall.com

Townhall.com

By Luke Zamperini

It’s not uncommon to hear someone say, “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this or that story to be made into a movie.”I can’t say that about UNBROKEN, though. I’ve only been waiting 57 years.

I was 4 when the movie rights to my father’s life story were acquired by Hollywood –and finally, on Christmas Day, it will reach the big screen in the new movie directed by Angelina Jolie and starring Jack O’Connell as my Dad, Louis Zamperini.

To say I’m thrilled is an understatement. To say Dad, who passed away over the summer at 97, was thrilled is a bigger understatement.

He got to see the film before he died –Angelina showed it to him on her laptop in his hospital bed –and he was ecstatic at how it portrays his triumphs and tragedies, up till now most famously told in Laura Hillenbrand’s New York Times best-seller also titled UNBROKEN. The remarkable beats of his life are all there: the troubled and troublesome kid who turned to running for a sense of purpose and wound up representing the U.S. in the 1936 Olympics. The World War II bombardier whose plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 1943 and who survived for an excruciating 47 days adrift in a life raft with two fellow servicemen; and the prisoner of war who endured unspeakable psychological and physical abuse at the hands of his unusually cruel Japanese captors.

Read more from this story HERE.

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‘Unbroken’ Hero Found Christ at Billy Graham Crusade

By Fox News

The much-anticipated movie “Unbroken” tells the story Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who became a World War II hero after his plane was shot down over the Pacific Ocean.

The film covers Zamperini’s brutal internment in a Japanese POW camp, but it doesn’t chronicle the years after the war, when Zamperini found Christianity after attending a Billy Graham crusade.

In fact, there is a only brief mention of Zamperini’s Christian faith at the very end of the film.

Billy Graham’s son, Franklin Graham, the president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, appeared on “America’s Newsroom” today to react to the decision not to feature Zamperini’s faith more prominently in the film.

Graham said director Angelina Jolie did an amazing job adapting the book, but she only covered 33 chapters out of 39.

Read more from this story HERE.

High School: Islamic Vocabulary Lesson Part Of Common Core Standards

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

Parents in Farmville, North Carolina want to know why their children were given a Common Core vocabulary assignment in an English class that promoted the Prophet Muhammad and the Islamic faith.

“It really caught me off guard,” a Farmville Central High School student who was in the class told me. “If we are not allowed to talk about any other religions in school – how is this appropriate?”

The Islamic vocabulary worksheet was assigned to seniors.

“I was reading it and it caught me off guard,” the student told me. “I just looked at it and knew something was not right – so I emailed the pages to my mom.”

I asked the school district to provide me with a copy of vocabulary worksheets that promoted the Jewish, Hindu and Christian faiths. The school district did not reply.

Read more from this story HERE.

How 'Grey's Anatomy' Just Elevated the Value of Life

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Photo: Bob D’Amico/ABC

Photo: Bob D’Amico/ABC

It’s one of the longest-running, popular dramatic televisions shows of all time.

“Grey’s Anatomy” has been a cultural staple in the lives of millennials for the past 10 years. Many of us feel like we’ve grown up with Meredith Grey, McDreamy and friends—and the show has had some truly unbelievable story lines over the years.

And now, the show’s writers took on a real-life emerging medical procedure—fetal surgery.

It’s a rare but increasing practice that is saving the lives of babies with birth defects such as spina bifida and brain tumors—while still inside their mother’s womb.

There is an underlying message in any conversation about human life before birth. That is the intrinsic value of life at all stages, including the tiniest of humans just trying to make it through pregnancy.

In a country where it’s legal to end that life without consequence, fetal surgery raises an uncomfortable reality for supporters of abortion.

Read more from this story HERE.