Sunday, June 27, 2010
This week in Christ's life… (15)
This week, Jesus is 15 weeks old. With the help of his placenta and umbilical cord, his circulatory, digestion, respiratory, and waste systems are operating as they will after he’s born. His reflexes have developed. Child Jesus, growing in the womb, give us the strength to protect all people, especially the tiniest of growing babies.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
ALL Babies Deserve Life
‘Miracle baby' celebrates first year of beating odds
 |
| ---A happy birthday for Joey---Bruce and Lisa Pagac with their “miracle baby,” daughter Joey. (Staff photo/MATT AIKEN) |
By Matt Aiken
Joey Pagac's first birthday is much more than a milestone.
To her parents, Bruce and Lisa, it's a miracle.
“I brought her home from the hospital expecting that I'd only have maybe a few more days with her,” says Lisa. “And here we are.”
Where they are is the maternity ward of Chestatee Regional Hospital, where little Joey is wearing a tiny birthday hat as she's passed back and forth between adoring nurses and cooing doctors.
It was a little more than a year ago that Joey beat the odds by emerging into the world despite her diagnosis of Trisomy 18.
“Trisomy 18 children generally have a whole host of issues,” said Lisa. These issues can range from holes in the heart to non-functional kidneys. The disease is so severe that approximately 95 percent of babies that are diagnosed with it don't make it through delivery. Others rarely live more than a few hours after birth.
Naturally, when the young Murrayville mother found out her child had the vicious disease, she was crushed.
After trying for eight years to conceive, Lisa and Bruce had turned to in vitro fertilization and watched Joey develop from an egg. So when the results of an early test came back, Lisa felt as though she already had a daughter.
“I had seen her look like an egg, then I saw her look like a frog, and then I saw her look like a porpoise,” says Lisa. “I mean, I watched her stages of development, and I was already attached. I couldn't bear the thought of losing her. And I wasn't going to make the decision to end her life. I would leave it up to God. And I'm glad that I did.”
Chestatee nurse Ellen Wren says the gutsy move of Lisa and Bruce is to be admired.
“I think what was so amazing was she was given a choice,” said Wren.
Joey's pediatrician Dr. Stephanie Corn agrees.
“Their plan was ‘I want to hold this baby for 30 seconds, for 60 seconds, maybe a day, maybe two days,'” she says. “They lived in the moment.”
Joey arrived two weeks late. And the delivery process was brutal, says Lisa. She credits Dr. Robert Brown for getting her child through it.
“We almost lost her twice,” she says. “... But she came out crying. She didn't require anything special.”
Normally Trisomy 18 babies need breathing and feeding tubes to live. Joey requires nothing like this. Instead she has spent the past year growing and developing with very few complications.
And, in turn, Lisa, Bruce and Joey have grown into a family.
“I'm just happy,” says Bruce.
Joey is too, adds Lisa.
“She's really a very happy baby,” she says. “I'm so lucky. She's so good natured.”
After returning home from the hospital, Lisa says she learned that she wasn't alone in her plight when she met up with other parents of Trisomy 18 children on Facebook.
“After connecting with a bunch of people I found out, ‘Gosh, I'm not the only one.' There's so many other people out there,” she says.
In turn, Lisa says she hopes she can provide comfort to any parents-to-be who find themselves in a similar situation.
“It's an individual decision, and I would never criticize somebody over choosing the opposite of what I chose,” she says. “But I would hate for someone to choose that path, thinking there was no hope.”
As she says this, proof of this hope is still wearing a small pink birthday hat and making the rounds among a beaming hospital staff.
“She's a year old,” says a smiling Lisa. “A year and a day. And tomorrow will be a year and two days.”
To her parents, Bruce and Lisa, it's a miracle.
“I brought her home from the hospital expecting that I'd only have maybe a few more days with her,” says Lisa. “And here we are.”
Where they are is the maternity ward of Chestatee Regional Hospital, where little Joey is wearing a tiny birthday hat as she's passed back and forth between adoring nurses and cooing doctors.
It was a little more than a year ago that Joey beat the odds by emerging into the world despite her diagnosis of Trisomy 18.
“Trisomy 18 children generally have a whole host of issues,” said Lisa. These issues can range from holes in the heart to non-functional kidneys. The disease is so severe that approximately 95 percent of babies that are diagnosed with it don't make it through delivery. Others rarely live more than a few hours after birth.
Naturally, when the young Murrayville mother found out her child had the vicious disease, she was crushed.
After trying for eight years to conceive, Lisa and Bruce had turned to in vitro fertilization and watched Joey develop from an egg. So when the results of an early test came back, Lisa felt as though she already had a daughter.
“I had seen her look like an egg, then I saw her look like a frog, and then I saw her look like a porpoise,” says Lisa. “I mean, I watched her stages of development, and I was already attached. I couldn't bear the thought of losing her. And I wasn't going to make the decision to end her life. I would leave it up to God. And I'm glad that I did.”
Chestatee nurse Ellen Wren says the gutsy move of Lisa and Bruce is to be admired.
“I think what was so amazing was she was given a choice,” said Wren.
Joey's pediatrician Dr. Stephanie Corn agrees.
“Their plan was ‘I want to hold this baby for 30 seconds, for 60 seconds, maybe a day, maybe two days,'” she says. “They lived in the moment.”
Joey arrived two weeks late. And the delivery process was brutal, says Lisa. She credits Dr. Robert Brown for getting her child through it.
“We almost lost her twice,” she says. “... But she came out crying. She didn't require anything special.”
Normally Trisomy 18 babies need breathing and feeding tubes to live. Joey requires nothing like this. Instead she has spent the past year growing and developing with very few complications.
And, in turn, Lisa, Bruce and Joey have grown into a family.
“I'm just happy,” says Bruce.
Joey is too, adds Lisa.
“She's really a very happy baby,” she says. “I'm so lucky. She's so good natured.”
After returning home from the hospital, Lisa says she learned that she wasn't alone in her plight when she met up with other parents of Trisomy 18 children on Facebook.
“After connecting with a bunch of people I found out, ‘Gosh, I'm not the only one.' There's so many other people out there,” she says.
In turn, Lisa says she hopes she can provide comfort to any parents-to-be who find themselves in a similar situation.
“It's an individual decision, and I would never criticize somebody over choosing the opposite of what I chose,” she says. “But I would hate for someone to choose that path, thinking there was no hope.”
As she says this, proof of this hope is still wearing a small pink birthday hat and making the rounds among a beaming hospital staff.
“She's a year old,” says a smiling Lisa. “A year and a day. And tomorrow will be a year and two days.”
Sunday, June 20, 2010
This week in Christ's life… (14)
This week, Jesus is 14 weeks old. His eyes begin moving under closed lids. His skeleton is actively ossifying. His toenails are growing from their nail beds. His head sits upright. He is almost 5 inches long and weighs almost 4 ounces. Child Jesus, growing in the womb, give us the strength to protect all people, especially the tiniest of growing babies.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Pro-Life America (SBA)
Have you heard about the Republicans' newly launched website called “America Speaking Out”? Members of the Republican leadership created the site to give the American people a chance to share their national policy ideas with Members of Congress by telling them which issues matter most.
As we’ve seen in the recent healthcare debate, the cost of disengagement is dire. This is your opportunity to become engaged and to help set the priorities for your Representatives in Washington. As a former Representative who has fought hard for Life, I can’t tell you how important it is to have the back-up of pro-life citizens across the country when speaking out on the issue that matters most—protecting innocent unborn children. While most Republicans agree that Life is precious at all stages, they need encouragement and support from us. It is our job as constituents to keep the pressure on Congress to ensure that protecting unborn children is at the top of the legislative agenda.
The America Speaking Out website contains forums where citizens can voice their ideas and concerns. Currently in the “Life” section, radical, pro-abortion groups have taken it upon themselves to submit suggestions, such as: “the sanctity of life should support whatever of woman wishes to do with her body. Without this right freedom is meaningless.”
the majority of Americans are pro-life, so we need to make sure our voices are heard. Stand up for the values of the pro-life American majority and unborn boys and girls across this nation by supporting Life on the America Speaking Out website.
Right now, the number one policy goal for pro-lifers is to ensure that the healthcare bill protects Life. Click here to send this message loud and clear to Republicans.
Abortion is not healthcare. Any bill that replaces or changes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act must ensure that no federal funds go toward elective abortion, must prevent any federal agency from mandating abortion, and must protect the conscience of healthcare workers.
To support this idea and make your voice heard click the link to the site, then click the “thumbs up” on the website. You will be asked to create an account if you do not already have one. Then you can place a final “thumbs up” vote to take abortion funding out of health care. You can also comment on our post, send a link to your friends, and put it on your Twitter and Facebook. (If you create an account and are having trouble finding the comment, just click here to give a "thumbs up" for Life.)
now is your chance to tell Republican leadership that we must continue to fight the expansion of abortion through healthcare reform. Don’t let the pro-aborts out-vote us on our pro-life post. Click here now and vote for Life. It is important to vote as soon as possible so that, together, we can send the clear message that protecting unborn American lives should be a legislative priority. The Republican Leadership cannot help but pay attention if our idea gets overwhelming support in a short span of time. Vote Now!
Let’s speak up and let Congressional Republicans know what’s important to us. Vote today and stand strong for Life.
For Life,
Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave
Susan B. Anthony List
www.sba-list.org
P.S. Don’t miss my friend and SBA List President Marjorie LIVE tomorrow (6/16) on Fox and Friends at 8:15 AM Eastern Time on the Fox News Channel. She’ll be discussing the wonderful pro-life women in this year’s elections.
As we’ve seen in the recent healthcare debate, the cost of disengagement is dire. This is your opportunity to become engaged and to help set the priorities for your Representatives in Washington. As a former Representative who has fought hard for Life, I can’t tell you how important it is to have the back-up of pro-life citizens across the country when speaking out on the issue that matters most—protecting innocent unborn children. While most Republicans agree that Life is precious at all stages, they need encouragement and support from us. It is our job as constituents to keep the pressure on Congress to ensure that protecting unborn children is at the top of the legislative agenda.
The America Speaking Out website contains forums where citizens can voice their ideas and concerns. Currently in the “Life” section, radical, pro-abortion groups have taken it upon themselves to submit suggestions, such as: “the sanctity of life should support whatever of woman wishes to do with her body. Without this right freedom is meaningless.”
the majority of Americans are pro-life, so we need to make sure our voices are heard. Stand up for the values of the pro-life American majority and unborn boys and girls across this nation by supporting Life on the America Speaking Out website.
Right now, the number one policy goal for pro-lifers is to ensure that the healthcare bill protects Life. Click here to send this message loud and clear to Republicans.
Abortion is not healthcare. Any bill that replaces or changes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act must ensure that no federal funds go toward elective abortion, must prevent any federal agency from mandating abortion, and must protect the conscience of healthcare workers.
To support this idea and make your voice heard click the link to the site, then click the “thumbs up” on the website. You will be asked to create an account if you do not already have one. Then you can place a final “thumbs up” vote to take abortion funding out of health care. You can also comment on our post, send a link to your friends, and put it on your Twitter and Facebook. (If you create an account and are having trouble finding the comment, just click here to give a "thumbs up" for Life.)
now is your chance to tell Republican leadership that we must continue to fight the expansion of abortion through healthcare reform. Don’t let the pro-aborts out-vote us on our pro-life post. Click here now and vote for Life. It is important to vote as soon as possible so that, together, we can send the clear message that protecting unborn American lives should be a legislative priority. The Republican Leadership cannot help but pay attention if our idea gets overwhelming support in a short span of time. Vote Now!
Let’s speak up and let Congressional Republicans know what’s important to us. Vote today and stand strong for Life.
For Life,
Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave
Susan B. Anthony List
www.sba-list.org
P.S. Don’t miss my friend and SBA List President Marjorie LIVE tomorrow (6/16) on Fox and Friends at 8:15 AM Eastern Time on the Fox News Channel. She’ll be discussing the wonderful pro-life women in this year’s elections.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Prayer to Abolish the Death Penalty
God of compassion, You let Your rain fall on the just and the unjust. Expand and deepen our hearts so that we may love as You love, even those among us who have cuased the greatest pain by taking life. For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance as we fill up death rows and kill the killers in the name of justice, in the name of peace. Jesus, our Brother, You suffered execution at the hands of the state, but You did not let hatred overcome You.
Help us to reach out to victims of violence, so that our enduring love may help them heal. You strengthen us in the struggle for justice. Help us to work tirelessly for the abolition of state-sanctioned death and to renew our society in its very heart so that violence will be no more. Amen.
(remember that Jesus Himself was a victim of the death penalty)
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Your tax dollars at work (NRL)
Conference sponsored by UN agencies tramples on citizens' rights.
Every day it seems Americans lose more and more of their rights. Political speech is limited in ways that would be unimaginable to our Founding Fathers. Bills are passed that slash life-saving medical treatment for the elderly and disabled. Unborn babies are denied the basic right to life.
Now several taxpayer-funded groups have done the unthinkable: censoring even information about unborn babies.
At the “Women Deliver” international conference held in Washington D.C. June 7-9, National Right to Life volunteers passed out information in pink bags proclaiming the message “Celebrate Motherhood.” The conference was supposedly dedicated to exploring ways to decrease the mortality of mothers delivering their babies. But pro-abortion groups have all but taken over United Nations affiliated organizations, and have no intention of hearing from anyone “Celebrating Motherhood.”
The conference hosts stood inside the entrance of the Washington Convention Center, confiscated the bags and threw them into the trash. The Conference attendees were told that the information inside the bags – including beautiful pictures of unborn babies – was “anti-human rights,” “anti-life” and “anti-woman.”
Sponsors of the conference included the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the U.S. government’s USAID program, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Planned Parenthood, all of which receive funding from U.S. taxpayers.
That is taxpayer-funded censorship right in our nation’s capital!
Please help us fight the international movement to legalize abortion and to abolish pro-life dissent. National Right to Life has worked long and hard on this issue, which is a quiet but world-wide war on the unborn.
Every day it seems Americans lose more and more of their rights. Political speech is limited in ways that would be unimaginable to our Founding Fathers. Bills are passed that slash life-saving medical treatment for the elderly and disabled. Unborn babies are denied the basic right to life.
Now several taxpayer-funded groups have done the unthinkable: censoring even information about unborn babies.
At the “Women Deliver” international conference held in Washington D.C. June 7-9, National Right to Life volunteers passed out information in pink bags proclaiming the message “Celebrate Motherhood.” The conference was supposedly dedicated to exploring ways to decrease the mortality of mothers delivering their babies. But pro-abortion groups have all but taken over United Nations affiliated organizations, and have no intention of hearing from anyone “Celebrating Motherhood.”
The conference hosts stood inside the entrance of the Washington Convention Center, confiscated the bags and threw them into the trash. The Conference attendees were told that the information inside the bags – including beautiful pictures of unborn babies – was “anti-human rights,” “anti-life” and “anti-woman.”
Sponsors of the conference included the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the U.S. government’s USAID program, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Planned Parenthood, all of which receive funding from U.S. taxpayers.
That is taxpayer-funded censorship right in our nation’s capital!
Please help us fight the international movement to legalize abortion and to abolish pro-life dissent. National Right to Life has worked long and hard on this issue, which is a quiet but world-wide war on the unborn.
This week in Christ's life… (13)
This week, Jesus is 13 weeks old and his mother, Mary, has entered her fourth lunar month of pregnancy. His head rests on his neck and his scalp hair pattern is determined. He can turn his head, open his mouth, and press his lips together. He can make a fist, move his thumbs, bend at the wrist, and grasp. His heart pumps about 25 quarts of blood a day. He can kick, turn his feet outward and inward, and curl and fan his toes. Child Jesus, growing in the womb, give us the strength to protect all people, especially the tiniest of growing babies.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
She Won!!! (SBA)
"She won!" was the message of tonight's primary elections, a resounding confirmation of the resurgence of authentic feminism across America.
In fact, tonight's victories are the greatest affirmation of our mission in the history of the Susan B. Anthony List and are the first of many victories to come in what will be the year of the pro-life woman.
With the victories of pro-life leaders Carly Fiorina in California and Sharron Angle of Nevada, the void of a pro-life woman's voice in the Senate could finally be filled this November.
we're up against pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and EMILY's List whose views of feminism are out of sync with the majority of Americans, yet are well-funded by a wealthy, powerful minority.
They'll do everything they can to defeat pro-life advocates like Carly and Sharron because they know what's at stake, the very underpinnings of their movement, which advances the rights of one group on the broken backs of another.
They know that a Senator Carly Fiorina and a Senator Sharron Angle mean the voice of authentic feminism is strengthened and their outdated views are left in the dust.
Besides powerful pro-abortion groups, we're up against two well-funded foes Senator Barbara Boxer, the poster child for pro-abortion feminists, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the key proponent for Obama's health care plan that included taxpayer funding of abortion.
They may be well-connected and funded in Washington, but Carly Fiorina and Sharron Angle can win with the full weight of the pro-life community behind them.
Tonight is proof that pro-life feminism has electoral power. Now let's carry that momentum into November and elect leaders who will protect unborn children in Congress.
Onward to Victory,
Marjorie Dannenfelser
President, Susan B. Anthony List
www.sba-list.org
In fact, tonight's victories are the greatest affirmation of our mission in the history of the Susan B. Anthony List and are the first of many victories to come in what will be the year of the pro-life woman.
With the victories of pro-life leaders Carly Fiorina in California and Sharron Angle of Nevada, the void of a pro-life woman's voice in the Senate could finally be filled this November.
we're up against pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and EMILY's List whose views of feminism are out of sync with the majority of Americans, yet are well-funded by a wealthy, powerful minority.
They'll do everything they can to defeat pro-life advocates like Carly and Sharron because they know what's at stake, the very underpinnings of their movement, which advances the rights of one group on the broken backs of another.
They know that a Senator Carly Fiorina and a Senator Sharron Angle mean the voice of authentic feminism is strengthened and their outdated views are left in the dust.
Besides powerful pro-abortion groups, we're up against two well-funded foes Senator Barbara Boxer, the poster child for pro-abortion feminists, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the key proponent for Obama's health care plan that included taxpayer funding of abortion.
They may be well-connected and funded in Washington, but Carly Fiorina and Sharron Angle can win with the full weight of the pro-life community behind them.
Tonight is proof that pro-life feminism has electoral power. Now let's carry that momentum into November and elect leaders who will protect unborn children in Congress.
Onward to Victory,
Marjorie Dannenfelser
President, Susan B. Anthony List
www.sba-list.org
Sunday, June 6, 2010
This week in Christ's life… (12)
This week, Jesus is 12 weeks old and his mother, Mary, is ending her first trimester of pregnancy. He can move his thumb in opposition to his other fingers, and he practices inhaling and exhaling, sending amniotic fluid in and out of his lungs. His spleen begins to work and his salivary glands are functioning. He is making sucking and swallowing motions. At the end of his second month of life, he measured about an inch and weighed about one gram; now, he is 3 times as long and more than 50 times as heavy! Precious heart of Jesus, teach us to love all people, especially the newly developing baby.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
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