Ethical Concerns with the Covid-19 Vaccine – some links

I read on Facebook recently about how ‘The’ Vaccine had questionable ethics. By questionable I mean using aborted foetal tissue. Since the pressure is going to be on to take the vaccine whatever its ethical implications I thought it might be a good idea to find out if the claim made on Facebook is true or not. Well, I am no scientist, so I decided to look at the website of someone that I know is.

John regularly writes on ethical issues and more importantly is a scientist. John posts updates on these things so his website was my first port of call. His latest update was in October and he assures me there will be further updates. If you go to John Ling’s Updates page (click on the yellow marquee in the top left-hand corner) it will help with the other links that I’ll give.

Next I visited the CMDA (Christian Medical & Dental Associations) website and read the article Ethical Science at Warp Speed  by David Prentice. This in turn led to the following helpful charts – which, as I say, make more sense if you read John’s October update first.

This CHART from the Charlotte Lozier Institute goes through the current vaccine research and shows origins and testing. I thought it was helpful. Last updated, at the time I post this, was November 11th.

Finally this Fact Sheet, again, from the Charlotte Lozier Institute.

These issues aren’t always quite as straightforward as we’d like them to be and we still need to know more. As John says Christians will inevitably disagree over some of these things. The vaccine is being rolled out soon, so whether we (Christians) decide to take the vaccine or not, we should try to be informed about our decision.

I also read that, apparently, atheists are praising the god of science for the vaccine. We aren’t anti-science and we should remind ourselves that if God had not created the world with order science wouldn’t even be possible. So we might want to thank the scientists, but we also thank The Lord of all creation for giving the gift of science at all.

8th Amendment – Report from the Republic of Ireland

The following is a report from Len, a church worker closely involved with the 8th Amendment issues and who regularly speaks with people. So this isn’t a second-hand report but from someone directly involved in the 8th Amendment ‘NO’ campaign and with life issues. There’s also a video at the bottom of the page he sent me. This is of interviews with local Pastors and local church members – one in particular that speaks specifically of her experience of a ‘Hard Case’.

Currently, the Irish Constitution contains an article numbered 40 in the third subsection of section 3. It states:

‘’The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”

The Irish people voted in a majority to amend our constitution for the eighth time in 1983 to include that article. And because of its presence, elective termination of the unborn has been illegal on our shores for 35 years.

But on Friday, May 25th of 2018, the Irish people are going to the poles once more, but this time we are being asked whether the 8th Amendment should be removed. Yes, or No. If yes, Article 40.3.3 of the constitution will read,

“Provision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancy”.

If you are following, the removal of the 8th amendment will mean Abortion will no longer be illegal, but allowed in the state. The Government has draft legislation ready to go, which includes:

-The provision of Terminations up to 12 weeks “without specific indication” ie. without any reason given.
-Provision of Termination up until “viability” (currently around 24 weeks) based on health grounds
Gestational limits will not apply in cases of a foetal condition or on grounds of risk to health.

Anyone with any knowledge of recent Irish history will understand this proposed new direction as being a serious liberalisation of Ireland’s Abortion laws. And it seems, from my perspective, exactly one week away from polling day, that the Yes side is winning. When you listen to anyone who is pro-repeal of the 8th, they will be keen to highlight the rights of the woman.
-How she is being forced to carry her pregnancy.
-How we already have abortion in Ireland in that 12 women and girls every day will either travel to the UK for a termination, or obtain illegal abortion pills online – therefore we must show compassion to our own.

That is the arguments they have when they spin the truth. And they come from the top down. From our Prime Minister/ Taoiseach (Tee-shock), our very own minister for Health, and our minister for Children. Yes, our minister for Children.

But they are also armed with false truths.

The public are being deluded in thinking that the 8th Amendment is responsible for taking the lives of some women in the past 35 years. That the doctors hands are tied when it comes to treating the most ill women who are also pregnant, because it might harm the baby.

I recently met a woman on the doors whose “friend” was denied cancer treatment because she was pregnant.
This type of scenario is just not created by the 8th amendment, Irish doctors are free to do all they can to save the mother, and if the foetus passes away as a result, that is not illegal, as they weren’t electing to target the life of the baby.
But this is what people are believing, and the Yes side are happy in peddling that lie.
Unfortunately too, radio presenters, therefore the populous, are fixated on the “hard cases”.
“What about the 11 year old girl who was violated by a family relation, should she be forced to carry the DNA of her rapist?” Pat Kenny, a Veteran Irish broadcaster of 41 years asked Dr. Jean Engela of the ICBR (Irish Centre of Bioethical Reform) this week.
All Dr. Jean had to do was highlight the humanity of the unborn child, that no matter who anyone’s father or mother was, they had a right to exist in and of themselves. That life doesn’t have a right to exist merely because of the 8th amendment, all the 8th amendment does is recognise the pre-existing right to life anyone has – because they are human! There are difficult and tragic cases that we must be ready to show much support and compassion to, but Ireland is not being asked to legislate for the tough cases.

Ireland is being asked whether we want to introduce Abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks, and for the vague and unspecified “health grounds” up to 6 months.

This is what I try to leave people thinking when I encounter them on the doors.

There are encouragements that I draw from:

  • The Yes side has lost support in the most recent polls (though still hold a majority). We hope that will continue up until polling.
  • If “Brexit” and “Trump” have taught us all anything, it ain’t over until it’s over!
  • Right now, People’s opinion of the health service has dropped due to a Cervical Smear Test scandal, in which a number of women were given misdiagnoses, leading to a number of preventable deaths. Do the Irish people trust the same politicians to bring in and oversee Abortion “Health Care”? Hopefully not.
  • Urban/Rural Divide. I live in the City, which is traditionally more liberal than the more rural places in the country, so perhaps my perception is skewed.
  • Jesus is still on the throne!

So please pray that the people will vote “No” on May 25th.

-Pray that the truth of what takes place in Abortion not be avoided in the debates on the radio and TV over the next few weeks. The statistics for Ireland’s radio listening habit’s floor me every time I read them, it has been shown that “82% of ALL adults in the Republic (that’s more than 3.1 million ) listen to on average 4 hours of radio, every day”. This is how people’s minds are being made up, so pray that the bias the media have will be evident, and that strong pro-life arguments will prevail.
-Pray that the Christians will be bold to speak up for the unborn to their friends, family and colleagues.
-Pray that regardless of the outcome, Christians will be reminded that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the LORD Jesus Christ”.

In Christ,
Len


Abortion – Holding Down The Truth

At the end of this section is a letter I sent to the Welsh Assembly back in February to oppose the funding of Abortions from Northern Ireland. But I’d like to set the letter in the broader context. Events have followed on from the letter showing how utterly absurd it is to deny what’s real – that is, we are aborting babies not lumps of cell tissue. This denial can only be described as the deliberate holding down (or suppressing) of the truth in unrighteousness.

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

The suppression spoken of in the verse is of a continued effort exerted to keep the truth from rising to the surface. it’s been described as akin to holding a beach ball under water. Very difficult to do. To keep it under water takes a lot of effort! But every now and then it pops up to the surface as you will see in the videos.

Just the other day I happened to watch a feature on BBC breakfast about infertility and the anguish for couples that cannot have children. Yes, we call them children. The time, research, cost and pain couples go through to have children is quite extraordinary. But the results are beautiful and amazing! I know this to be true.

And then a ‘royal’ baby is born. Yes, it’s incredible, a little boy for the world to Coo over. I wonder when the happy couple, grandparents and indeed the public and even Parliament starting calling that little life a baby. I would think fairly early on, as soon as she knew she was expecting, while the baby was still in the womb. The Royal Fetus somehow doesn’t sound quite right.

In the letter below I mention the trauma of (a real) miscarriage where all hopes for that little life are dashed. Yes, a life all the same, and treated as such. I also mention the joy of a safe arrival.

It’s quite clear then, at least it seems very clear to me, that if the child is wanted it’s a baby, a little life with a future and a hope, but if that same little life with all its future and hope is not wanted, it’s called a fetus and can be terminated. That’s how we treat a product, a commodity to be discarded at will, not a baby. We treat animals better than that! I know the decision to terminate is not always easy, maybe rarely easy. But we should ask why it isn’t easy. Could it be that suppressing the truth takes an awful lot of effort? Going against what is known deep down to be an egregious crime is actually very difficult to do. But many millions have done exactly that all the same. 

All the above is very recent but shortly after I’d written the letter Jenny Rathbone AM (Assembly Member – A Welsh MP) was interviewed. It was a few weeks ago now but please watch the two videos as they demonstrate very clearly the deliberate suppression of the truth – never mind the ethics of truthful unbiased reporting.

Num 32:20  So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war,

Num 32:21  and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him

Num 32:22  and the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.

Num 32:23  But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.

I first watched the report – about completing a Medical Abortion – I happened to be at home watching the BBC Regional (Wales) news at lunchtime. My thought at the time was ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s never shown again’. I remember quickly rewinding the live TV so I could play it back to record it on my phone. I wasn’t 100% sure what I’d heard so listened really carefully when I played it back. So I listened ‘drop-jawed’ to what Jenny Rathbone AM calls the woman. To my surprise, the interview was aired again in the evening – with a difference.

This time the offending word MOTHER had been edited out. Exactly as I thought. There’s your honest unbiased reporting for you from the BBC. I couldn’t say if it was edited out at the request of Jenny Rathbone (most likely as a supporter of Abortion) or if the BBC took it upon themselves to edit Mother out. Either way, the BBC have a responsibility to be truthful to reality. They could have refused to edit it but they obviously didn’t. The reason I recorded both before and after was because I thought that’s what they would do. The editing is really obvious and badly done (deliberately I hope). Like everyone, Jenny Rathbone knows the truth. She expressed it in the original interview. The edited version is the deliberate suppression of the truth. This isn’t to single her out but it serves as an example of how suppressed truth ‘pops up’ unconsciously to the surface. Colloquially we might call it a Freudian-slip’ but it’s much more than that.

You may have heard the expression ‘be sure your sin will find you out’. You might not realise that saying is from The Bible. Although the original context is said to the Israelites it holds true as a principle. Your sin will find you out. Not everyone gets found out in this life. Some fear they will be found out and exposed and then sadly commit suicide to escape the shame of discovery. But there’s another day coming when there will be no escape.

Rev 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,

Rev 6:16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,

Rev 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?

 


Women and Children’s Health Branch
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

6th February 2018

RE: Funding / Enabling NI Abortions

Dear Assembly Members,

A few months ago a lady I know had a miscarriage at around 11 weeks. This was as you might imagine quite devastating for her, and her husband. In fact, as many do, they held a short service for their unborn child. She grieves for that precious little life. Just a few days ago another lady I know gave birth to a healthy baby boy.  That family is rightly rejoicing. The lady that miscarried did not think any less of her child than the one that went full term. I suggest most ladies’ that miscarry feel a terrible sense of loss. Why is it then that in our so-called civilised society we are on a mission to terminate our unborn children? Not only this, in Northern Ireland where the unborn has some safety, we in Wales are considering inviting women to bring their unborn children here. Why? That they might be killed in what should be the safest place on earth – the womb.

Some have called the culture in which we live ‘The Culture of Death’. The measure of civilisation can be measured by how we treat the most vulnerable. Who amongst us are more vulnerable than the unborn? Our culture seeks to deprive the unborn of the right to be born, to have a future, to live. As if our society were not already in The Dock standing accused of taking the lives of thousands of children – we intend on heaping upon ourselves even more guilt by inviting and cajoling like the child catcher the helpless children so they might be terminated. Termination is euphemistically called a ‘Health Service’, (Children’s Health!) which in itself must be regarded as a contradiction. Shame on us! Shame I say. This is not the mark of civilised people.

In light of the above, and more, much more could be said; I implore you to take a stand against funding NI abortions. I do not support funding NI Terminations.

Yours Sincerely,

Michael J. Iliff

 

Bats are worth more than Babies

When demolishing an existing building to make way for a shiny new one, local councils will refer to a Bat Report. There are very strict guidelines when it comes to Bats.

There’s a very helpful article on the RSPB website titled ‘Bats and the law‘. I looked this up partly out of curiosity and partly because I needed to know as part of my job. On reading through the article if was difficult to contain my laughter at the ridiculousness of the regulations. For your education and amusement I will quote from part of the article below – before drawing out my conclusion.

Just in case you think I’m kidding here is the relevant legal detail:

“The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA) protects bats and their roosts in England, Scotland and Wales. Some parts have been amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW) which applies only in England and Wales.

The Conservation (Natural Habitats,&c.) Regulations 1994, better known as the Habitats Regulations, implements the Council Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora – better known as the Habitats Directive. All bats are listed as ‘European protected species of animals’.

Bats may also be protected by site safeguard measures, for example if their roost site or feeding grounds are notified as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC)or a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).”

Bat protection – snippets

It is an offence for any person to:

  • intentionally kill, injure or take a bat. Under the Habitats Regulations it is an offence to deliberately capture or kill a bat.
  • intentionally or recklessly* damage, destroy or obstruct access to any place that a bat uses for shelter or protection …
  • intentionally or recklessly* disturb a bat while it is occupying a structure or place that it uses for shelter or protection …

It is not illegal:

  • to take a disabled bat, for the sole purpose of tending it and releasing it when no longer disabled, as long as that person can show that it was not disabled unlawfully by them.
  • to kill a bat, as long as that person can show that the bat was so seriously disabled, other than by their own unlawful act, that there was no reasonable chance of it recovering.

It is laughable for a while, until one realises this is serious. Forgive me for thinking that Bats are obviously worth far more than babies. A Bat is safer than a baby in the Womb. It should be disturbing how our society mainly thinks of babies with any serious defect that they are so ‘seriously disabled, other than by their own unlawful act, that there was no reasonable chance of it recovering.’ One of my own grandchildren under this rubric would be in the trash.

Pictures & videos: unborn babies
The images show that a 24 week old baby is a fully developed human being, yet abortion is still legal up to this point in England.

A baby spends its first nine moths in the womb – the ‘habitat’ if you will. Is it safe there? No it isn’t! the reality is a Bat is safer and better protected than a Baby.

You can invade its habitat, you can chop it into tiny pieces, liquefy it and then extract it by means of suction. You can’t do that with a bat, but you can do it to a baby in the womb. Isn’t there something wrong?

In our crazy God rejecting world Bats are worth more, maybe worth far more than a baby, than human life.

In the Image of God

We had an excellent sermon this morning from Pastor Paul Watts on the text:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26

As Paul pointed out, being made in the image of God is a vital Biblical Doctrine and has massive implications for the Church and for society.

I recommend listening to this. For young preachers, here is a good example of preaching. Download / link of the sermon HERE.

Pro-lifers: the student censor’s favourite target | Abortion | Down with campus censorship! | Free speech | spiked

Pro-lifers: the student censor’s favourite target | Abortion | Down with campus censorship! | Free speech | spiked.

Good article as an example of (almost) how the ‘tolerant’ would like ‘Free Speech’ to be policed.

The idea of ‘Free Speech’ is very challenging as this quote from the article demonstrates:

‘if you take it seriously, you have to defend the free speech of precisely the people who drive you up the wall.’

Abortion Debate Audio

The Abortion Images Debate that took place in early October is available to download. You can download it from here.

I have listened to the debate and it is worth an hour and half of your time. I listened to it in the car travelling to work. Your jaw will drop at some of the statements from Ann Furedi (and some of the questions from the floor) as she seeks to defend the indefensible.

The Abortion Debate – Tonight

Arrived in my inbox. Don’t know if it will be recorded or available as a download.

Description of an Abortion – Warning, very detailed

There is no other way to describe the testimony below as Horrific. We rightly condemn acts of terror, homicide bombing and the like. But bear in mind the account below is State Funded. Both here in the UK and in the US The State is funding its own Genocide. There’s no other way to describe it. Also, consider this, rational sane ‘nice’ people actually argue FOR the procedure below. And, they will argue it forcefully, passionately and argue for the freedom of the women (mother) for this to happen. Where is the right of the child? Can any civilised society support this – well yes they do. And you help pay for it. What stopped Dr. Anthony Levatino? Sadly, his daughter died. Then he woke up to the horror of his ‘work’.

I came across it on World magazine: a Christian news site. They had a link to full text at Life News. The following description formed part of the congressional committee testimony

‘of Dr. Anthony Levatino, a New Mexico pro-life physician who once was an abortionist with 1,200 killings to his discredit. Then his daughter died in an auto accident, and he changed his views and stopped doing abortions. Now he tells the truth with specific detail:The following though is copied & pasted from I performed first trimester suction D&C abortions in my office up to 10 weeks from last menstrual period and later procedures in an outpatient hospital setting. From 1981 through February 1985, I performed approximately 1200 abortions. Over 100 of them were second trimester Suction D&E procedures up to 24 weeks gestation.’

[This is pretty sickening stuff to read, so be warned!]

Imagine if you can that you are a pro-choice obstetrician/gynecologist like I once was. Your patient today is 24 weeks pregnant. At twenty-four weeks from last menstrual period, her uterus is two finger-breadths above the umbilicus.

If you could see her baby, which is quite easy on an ultrasound, she would be as long as your hand plus a half from the top of her head to the bottom of her rump not counting the legs. Your patient has been feeling her baby kick for the last 2 months or more but now she is asleep on an operating room table and you are there to help her with her problem pregnancy.

The first task is remove the laminaria that had earlier been placed in the cervix to dilate it sufficiently to allow the procedure you are about to perform. With that accomplished, direct your attention to the surgical instruments arranged on a small table to your right. The first instrument you reach for is a 14-French suction catheter. It is clear plastic and about nine inches long. It has a bore through the center approximately ¾ of an inch in diameter.Picture yourself introducing this catheter through the cervix and instructing the circulating nurse to turn on the suction machine which is connected through clear plastic tubing to the catheter. What you will see is a pale yellow fluid that looks a lot like urine coming through the catheter into a glass bottle on the suction machine. This is the amniotic fluid that surrounded the baby to protect her.

With suction complete, look for your Sopher clamp. This instrument is about thirteen inches long and made of stainless steel. At the end are located jaws about 2 ½ inches long and about ¾ of an inch wide with rows of sharp ridges or teeth. This instrument is for grasping and crushing tissue. When it gets hold of something, it does not let go. A second trimester D&E abortion is a blind procedure. The baby can be in any orientation or position inside the uterus. Picture yourself reaching in with the Sopher clamp and grasping anything you can.

At twenty-four weeks gestation, the uterus is thin and soft so be careful not to perforate or puncture the walls. Once you have grasped something inside, squeeze on the clamp to set the jaws and pull hard–really hard. You feel something let go and out pops a fully formed leg about six inches long. Reach in again and grasp whatever you can. Set the jaw and pull really hard once again and out pops an arm about the same length. Reach in again and again with that clamp and tear out the spine, intestines, heart and lungs.

The toughest part of a D&E abortion is extracting the baby’s head. The head of a baby that age is about the size of a large plum and is now free floating inside the uterine cavity. You can be pretty sure you have hold of it if the Sopher clamp is spread about as far as your fingers will allow. You will know you have it right when you crush d own on the clamp and see white gelatinous material coming through the cervix. That was the baby’s brains. You can then extract the skull pieces. Many times a little face will come out and stare back at you.

Congratulations! You have just successfully performed a second trimester Suction D&E abortion. You just affirmed her right to choose.

Chinese Abortion Apology – but no UK Apology

http://wellspentjourney.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/de_diagram1.jpg
From Matt’s Blog at http://wellspentjourney.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/the-roots-of-the-abortion-debate/

Reported on the BBC News over here is a forced abortion in China. Feng Jianmei was injected with a chemical forcing an abortion that took place 36 hours later.

It was kind of weird to hear the sense of shock and outrage by the BBC when their normal position is support for the Pro Choice lobby.

I’m tempted to ask ‘what’s the problem, it’s only a fetus’. We as a country support the taking – murder – of  thousands of unborn children every year. And yet, because China forces a woman to have an abortion there is outrage. We read of ‘shock over abortion photo’ yet where is the shock and outrage over thousands of children being murdered annually in the self-righteous West! Here in the UK!

There is a You Tube video of  Feng Jianmei but the picture of the aborted child is  blurred out. Why? To sanitize the full horror. We should be allowed to see the full horror of this horrible procedure. The picture above is from an excellent post by Matt at Well Spent Journey. Without the moral grounding of the Christian faith, a faith people do not want, a faith a secular State does not really want there is no problem whatsoever with murdering babies. Without a belief in God there is no such thing as Evil. There is no basis for the concept of evil without the Christian God.

See my previous post for more on this subject.

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