Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Giving Thanks for Life


The season has begun. Not the football season or the basketball season, but the “holiday” season. Thanksgiving Day is fast approaching and Christmas will be upon us faster than parents can say …. .Well, you get the idea. And in this time of merriment and madness, between the Christmas wrappings and the school pageants, it is very important that we take a moment and give thanks for life.

You will hear that preached in the pulpits throughout America. Take a moment and give thanks for life. It is not a very original thought. Or perhaps I should say it is the original thought. To say thank you; to express gratitude; to show appreciation, to acknowledge the gift of life, is the first thing we human beings should do upon waking each and every day.

To express appreciation for life helps to set our attitude toward life itself and more importantly toward the people in our lives. These people benefit from a positive attitude toward life and provide each of us with the opportunity to show our true appreciation for the many blessings God has bestowed on us.

Many of the current problems in today’s world stem from a failure to appreciate all that we have and all that we have been given. This negativity then pollutes our being and gives rise to a bad attitude toward aspects of our life that should be embraced.

No clearer does the negativity and bad attitude toward life show itself than in the abortion debate. How chilling it is to think that some people are actually recommending the death and destruction of children in the womb. The most extreme example is that of the politician or judge supporting these barbaric court decisions that permit an industry to profit over the death of human beings.

This negativity toward life is seeping all through the medical profession. Where at one time the practice of medicine was known as the healing arts, where at one time the credo of the physician was to “first do no harm,” where at one time the very oath doctors took proscribed the taking of unborn human life, now there exists a very utilitarian secular philosophy which will debate whether newborns with disabilities should be killed.

So during these very serious times, take a moment to thank our Creator for the gift of life. Thank Him for your family, your friends, and those with whom you deal on a regular basis. Consider it a great privilege to be alive and to share the gift of life and time with those around you.

From all of us at Arizona Right to Life, thank you for your continued support. We pledge to continue our efforts to appreciate life, to protect life, to defend life and ultimately to build a culture of life that will be reflected in law.

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving weekend.

.

posted by Jakubczyk on Life @ 5:06 PM 1 comments

Planned Parenthood - dangerous to women; fatal to children


From our friends at Family Research Council a powerful story:


In Arkansas, an unlikely couple led to the capture of one of the state's most dangerous criminals. When Detective Jimmy Long began investigating the rape of a 15-year-old girl, a tip led him to the Hope Clinic for Women. According to reports, the man accused of sexually abusing the teenager had brought her to the clinic for an abortion. For years, another couple, Daniel and Angela Michael, had spent their days trying to counsel women outside of the clinic. They also took photographs of people and cars in case anything illegal occurred. They kept every picture, including three of the vehicle that police were searching for. Thanks to their cooperation, Long was able to capture Jeffrey Cheshier and charge him with multiple counts of sexual assault. Prosecutors were relieved to have the evidence but frustrated by repeated requests to the clinic itself, which refused to turn over patient records on the grounds of confidentiality. Long was told he couldn't go to the abortion provider for records without first going to court and suing for the rights. This is the same dilemma that Attorney General Phill Kline faced in Kansas. After years of legal hassle, wasting precious time that could have been spent hunting down sexual predators, Kline was finally granted access to local records. What he found was a shocking paper trail of rape, molestation, and coercion--none of which had been released to police. Tragically, other medical records revealed that a few of the young girls struggled during the procedure but were forced to have abortions against their will. Without any government oversight, is it any wonder that these clinics are getting away with murder? In the name of privacy, young girls have been pawns in a political game. And unless we insist on tighter regulations for abortion clinics, these young girls will continue to suffer.


Additional Resources
Planned Parenthood Clinic Abortion Totals Defy National Trends

posted by Jakubczyk on Life @ 5:02 PM 0 comments

Friday, November 10, 2006

Various perspectives

We find a great deal of conversation as to why the voting went as it did on November 7, 2006.

Lets look at some of the comments made by both well known and lesser known pundits in the world of politics.

    "Republican leaders in Congress during this term apparently never understood, or they forgot, why Ronald Reagan was so loved and why he is considered one of our greatest presidents. If they hope to return to power in '08, they must rediscover the conservative principles that resonated with the majority of Americans in the 1980s -- and still resonate with them today. Failure to do so will be catastrophic. Values Voters are not going to carry the water for the Republican Party if it ignores their deeply held convictions and beliefs.

    "To quote Dr. Ken Hutcherson, 'When Republicans act like Democrats they lose and when Democrats act like Republicans, they win.' And therein lies the lesson of '06."

    - James Dobson.

"Four columns in the Washington Post --by Dionne, Novak, Broder and Ignatius-- achieve Beltway perfect pitch: The election was a rejection of Iraq, Rumsfeld, partisanship, and pork. The quartet are singing from a Beltway hymnal that has been around forever. We can only hope that the president and his party smile, thank them for their advice, and get back to the war with the realization that history bleeds the party in power after six years, and this time it wasn't so bad. Embracing Beltway dogma is a return ticket to the '86 results when America woke up to a loss of eight Republican seats and a 55-45 Democratic Senate, and a Democratic House majorrity of 258 to 187.

"Tuesday was part Foley fallout and part GOP fatigue. But it was mostly disgust with the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight on the Hill. The country expected a lot from the majorities it gave the Republicans in 2004, and it got very little. The long explanation is here. Team Pelosi is a high price to pay, but two years is a very short time. If the Republicans elect the right leadership, recruit the right candidates, and select the right nominee for the White House in '08, they will be back in the majority two years from now. And then they may well be prepared to use it to legislate and confirm as opposed to posture and profit."

- Hugh Hewitt

"In the nation's capital, the rain continues to fall, but it seems insignificant compared to last night's storm when the Democrats roared back to power, a victory that eluded them for 12 long years. With the House in their grasp and the Senate just recounts from it, America has spoken. But at a closer glance, this "new direction" isn't new at all. Democrats won mainly because they seized on a platform largely forsaken by the GOP--social values. When "integrity voters" saw that Republicans had abandoned their principles, they ultimately abandoned the GOP. From Indiana and Pennsylvania to Florida and Kentucky, Democratic challengers embraced a partisan realignment--not as Nancy Pelosi's radical replicas, but as bona fide men and women of faith. These proclaimed pro-life, pro-God Democrats, once extinct, have returned to compete for the confidence of voters. And while our issues prevailed at the polls, we have yet to see if they will prevail in Congress. As Pelosi prepares to lead the House, it will be painfully obvious that the values of her hometown, San Francisco are not the values of Middle America. Make no mistake. The battle in which we are set to engage will be the biggest one we have faced for our core beliefs. The assault against abstinence, marriage, life, good judges, and cloning may be the fiercest yet. As speaker, Rep. Pelosi and the old guard of extremists will pounce on the opportunities that their new committee chairmanships will afford them. Although pro-family Democrats may have tipped the election, watch for them to be marginalized in positions where they have little influence. We must work to peel off this new Congress from their radical leadership and hold them accountable to the standards that elected them. The reality is, this majority will only be as durable as the true change it delivers. The integrity voters who overwhelmingly held the GOP accountable will be back in 2008--and the Democrats will have to prove that their conservative credentials are based on more than rhetoric. They have two years to convince the electorate that they belong in power. In the meantime, the pro-family movement must have all hands on deck."

- Tony Perkins

    I will have my own comments in my next blog. - perhaps.


posted by Jakubczyk on Life @ 5:03 PM 0 comments

Returning to a Ravaged Land.

Many of you knew that I had been invited to some meetings in Rome and therefore was not in the United States until tonight. However, thanks to the biased and gloating reporters of CNN, I followed the pattern of destruction as Republicans and conservatives throughout the nation suffered one defeat after an other all across America.

I have not done any analysis or examined the exit polling. I have not had much sleep in the last 24 hours as I sit here pondering the effect of this election and what it all means.

I haven’t looked at much on the web, though I saw that I was quoted in a Fox News analysis of the oral arguments of the partial abortion case held November 8, 2006.

And then I read that Jeff Groscost suddenly passed away and the funeral was held Wednesday. My condolences to the family and those close to him.

First - at the local level – - Len Munsil and Bill Montgomery did something most of us would never do. They entered into the political arena and challenged the status quo. We all knew it would be a tough race because the incumbents have both the power of the office and the desires of those who curry favor with those in power. Add to the mix the dominant news media and the relative unknocandidaciesies of both candidates and there become major hurdles. They are to commended for their courage. Both of them have outstanding futures in both politics and public policy.

What was not fully realized by this author was the extent of the disconnect with the president and his party regarding the effort in Iraq. Add to that the spending by the Congress, the lack of a clearly articulated plan for the next few years and the results are staring you in the face. But the failure of the folks in Missouri and South Dakota to see through the millions of dollars spent by special interest groups and the failure of California to pass a simple parental notice initiative is another story. I will discuss those in a later blog.

I was very surprised by J. D. Hayworth’s loss. It is very clear that he was a victim of this voter attitude that in the long run may be something the voters will regret.

But then elections are funny things and voters sometimes make poor decisions. In fact some voters make poor decisions on a regular basis – reference the northeast part of the country. I also recall that after saving England, the voters promptly kicked out Winston Churchill.

After spending time in Europe and especially in Poland, I can only resolve to work more diligently to achieve our goal of protecting all human life and having the law reflect that reality. However due to the lateness of the hour, I will reserve those thoughts to a later report.

I did send the author who quoted me an email raising some rather important points. I will advise you if she responds. My message is below.

Dear Ms. Wiehl,

I had the opportunity to review your article in which you quoted me from a 1996 interview with Steve Wilson of the Arizona republic on the subject of the partial birth abortion ban.

Those of us who oppose the killing of innocent children in the womb as well as outside the womb are concerned the difficult pregnancies of some women are not exploited by those who want wholesale abortion for the entire nine months of pregnancy. Wholesale abortion for the entire nine months of pregnancy is what the twin decisions of Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton imposed upon the country. But then you are a law professor and you know that.

As a law professor, how do you reconcile the inherent right to life that every innocent human being has with legal abortion?

(and please do not tell me you do not acknowledge the humanity of the child).

How is a nation suppose to respect the dignity of every human person when it will not guarantee the right to life of all its people?

How can we condemn in law someone who willfully takes the life of another, when the society allows the taking of the life of the unborn child?

It should not matter that the child's life will be short or long or even that there be suffering involved. One is not ordained with the "divine right of kings" to kill an innocent human being. To claim such would be to slide down the slippery slope that puts every innocent life at risk.

In reality because the unborn child , who as a recognized person in law prior to Roe, is at risk, we are all at risk. Our right to life can be stripped away by a court that could contend we are a burden, an inconvenience, a drain upon resources, a pain in the side of government.

As for the court, it never should have entered the abortion controversy in the 1970s. But between Brennan and Douglas, they had an agenda and wanted to socially engineer society. So they did. 47 million dead children later, our society is at odds over the nature of the person, the sexes, the family, and the role and purpose of law.

As a law professor, you know that the integrity of the law is what gives it credence. Otherwise it is just an exercise of power by those in control. The basis of law must be an acknowledgement of the nature of the human person and his/her ability to claim certain rights as preceding government and being superior to government restriction unless they harm or interfere with another's basic human rights. This concept was recognized in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 ( noting that such basic human rights are not limited to the States). The unborn child was also recognized as entitled to such recognition. Thus we find both in our own Declaration of Independence and in the UN Declaration an acknowledgement of the inherent right to life of the human person both prior to and after birth.
Having just returned from Europe, these international reflections are particularly current.
How then can the law permit its demise by private action?

I am interested in your response to these thoughts and in further dialogue if you are interested.

John Jakubczyk
Attorney at Law


posted by Jakubczyk on Life @ 2:17 AM 1 comments