Introductory Note from Denny: If “Plan A†is the effective use of contraceptives and “Plan B†is the use of a drug that has the potential to cause the miscarriage of an unborn baby, then “Plan C†would be yet another way that one might deal with an unplanned pregnancy. An old friend of mine from college left an extended comment on my previous post “Propaganda and ‘Plan B.’†In that comment, Jada Bown Swanson shares her own “Plan C†testimony, which she has given me permission to share with all of you. What follows is Jada’s story in her own words. Thank you, Jada, for your story with us.…
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Propaganda and “Plan Bâ€
The FDA has just approved the use of a non-prescription “morning after†pill. According to the Associated Press, “Women may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription — but only with proof they’re 18 or older†(source).Anyone who reads this blog knows that I believe this to be a tragic development. I say that because the so-called “morning after†pill can act as an abortifacient. How does “Plan B†work? It is essentially a heavier dose of birth control pills that a woman takes within 72 hours of sexual intercourse. The “emergency contraception†works to restrict ovulation in a woman. But it also can act after conception by blocking implantation…
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Embryonic Stem-Cell Research: Okay after All?
Today’s New York Times reports that “Biologists have developed a technique for establishing colonies of human embryonic stem cells from an early human embryo without destroying it. This method, if confirmed in other laboratories, would seem to remove the principal objection to the research†(source).If this article is any indication, I think the proponents of this research have yet to grasp the moral implications of experimenting on embryonic humans. While we can be thankful that this new technigue doesn’t kill the embryo, there still remains the obvious ethical problem of using human beings for spare parts. Moreover, this new technique doesn’t even address the widespread practice of in vitro fertilization…
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Petitioning for Life: A Story of Survival
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Julia Gorin declares “I was not aborted.†Why is she making this proclamation? She is responding to a petition being circulated by Ms. Magazine that invites women to declare publicly “I had an abortion.†It’s hard to believe that anyone (even readers of Ms. Magazine) would relish the opportunity to announce such a thing, but Ms. Gorin thinks that the antidote to such foolishness is for nearly-aborted people to tell their own stories.Ms. Gorin does tell her story in this piece, and it is a poignant and powerful narrative of her mother’s decision to buck the Soviet norm in order to have a second child.…
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Bessie Marie Criswell, R.I.P.
“Mrs. W.A. (Betty) Criswell – “Mrs. C†as she was affectionately called – taught the Bible for over 70 years, most of those here at First Baptist Church of Dallas. She devoted herself to Dr. Criswell’s gospel ministry during his life, and after his death continued to preserve his legacy through First Baptist Church and The Criswell College.“Mrs. C was a blessing and a beacon to all who knew her, as well as the many thousands who listened from her radio audience. We mourn her loss as a church family and staff and celebrate her homegoing to see her Savior face to face, Whom she has so wonderfully served.†–From…
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Victim of Truck-jacking Speaks
A four hour car chase captivated the Dallas/Ft.Worth area on Sunday. Samuel Scott Jones hijacked Christie Bundren’s 18-wheeler, kidnapped her in the process, and forced her at gunpoint to flee from police for four hours under threat of death. It seemed that everyone in the Metroplex was tuned in and praying for the safe release of this poor woman and for a peaceful conclusion to the kidnapping. Thankfully, she was released, and the ordeal did end peacefully.The victim was interviewed this morning on Good Morning America, and you can watch the entire conversation here: “Woman Truckjacked at Gunpoint.â€
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David Dockery Responds to NY Times on Baptist Colleges
Last week, I commented on an article that appeared in the New York Times about the battle that’s going on for Baptist colleges in various states around the country. In a Baptist Press piece today, David Dockery also responds to the New York Times. The integrated vision of faith and learning that Dockery commends is the ideal that we all should be striving for. Therefore, I recommend his article to you: “Christian commitment & intellectual inquiry.â€
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Is Embryonic Stem-Cell Research Murder?
Does the destruction of human embryos amount to murder? White House spokesman Tony Snow put this question on the front burner last week when he described President Bush’s position as follows: “The president believes strongly that for the purpose of research it’s inappropriate for the federal government to finance something that many people consider murder. He’s one of them. The simple answer is he thinks murder’s wrong” (source).
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The New York Times on Southern Baptist Colleges
The New York Times reports today on the struggle between Baptist Colleges and the state Baptist conventions that run them. Many people are aware of the conservative resurgence that began in 1979 in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). That resurgence returned the convention’s institutions and seminaries to conservative evangelical principles.That battle was all but completed in the 1990’s. Now the struggle has moved to the state conventions as various state conventions have tried to return their institutions and colleges to conservative Christian principles. The New York Times covers some recent developments in this ongoing battle for Baptist colleges. Southern Baptist colleges are affiliated with the state conventions, and it does…
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Bill Frist’s Incoherent Position on Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Senator Bill Frist is a political conservative. He is a Republican. He claims to be pro-life. And he is dead wrong on embryonic stem cell research.Senator Frist contributed an opinion editorial to the Washington Post on Tuesday titled “Meeting Stem Cells’ Promise — Ethically.†In this piece he makes an absolutely morally incoherent argument in favor of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Why is his argument incoherent? Because he claims to hold the pro-life convction that from conception all life has value, yet at the same time he claims that some of those valuable lives can and should be killed. In the first paragraph, he asserts his pro-life…