'I had to see what I could do'

Pattie Mallette was sexually abused as a child. She got into drugs and alcohol. She tried to commit suicide. She became pregnant at 17 and was encouraged to have an abortion.

"I just knew I couldn't. I just knew I couldn't. I just know I had to keep him," she explained in a recent interview. "I didn't know how I was going to do it. But I just knew that I couldn't -- I couldn't abort. I had to do my best. I had to see what I could do. And I was determined to do whatever it took."

Mallette's life story is recounted in her new autobiography, Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom.

'October Baby' is testament to power of forgiveness

The low-budget indie film October Baby opened nationwide the same day as The Hunger Games and managed to finish in the top 10 at the box office. The New York Times calls it a "quiet hit" that is "making a dent at theaters across the country." Last weekend it expanded to more than 500 theaters, including eight in Minnesota, five of them in the Twin Cities metro area.

The movie follows Hannah (Rachel Hendrix, easily giving Jennifer Lawrence a run for her money), a college student who learns the unsettling truth about the circumstances of her birth and sets out to find answers. Filmmakers Jon and Andrew Erwin were inspired by the real-life story of Gianna Jessen, who survived a saline abortion and lives with cerebral palsy as a result (Gianna actually sings on the film's soundtrack).

October Baby is an impressive production, well-acted and emotionally satisfying, with surprising bits of humor mixed in -- "a film whose poignancy is hard to deny whatever side of the abortion debate you fall on," notes the Los Angeles Times. It is, more importantly, a moving testament to the value of every person and the liberating power of forgiveness. And 10 percent of the film's profits will go to the Every Life is Beautiful Fund to support "frontline organizations helping women facing crisis pregnancies, life-affirming adoption agencies, and those caring for orphans," according to the movie's website.

Those who have not seen October Baby should go -- and bring others. Go for both the entertainment value and the abortion-exposing, soul-healing, heart-softening message. And be sure to stay during the credits.

Dear Abby highlights solution to problem of frozen embryos

In yesterday's "Dear Abby" column, "Deadlocked in New Jersey" asks for advice about the fate of her frozen human embryos. She and her husband used in vitro fertilization and gave birth to two children, and two "excess" frozen embryos remain. Her husband does not believe they can financially accommodate any more children, but "Deadlocked" has moral concerns about having the embryos destroyed.

Abby responds:

This isn't an either/or question. I discussed it with Diane Goodman, the past president of the Academy of California Family Formation Lawyers, who suggests a third option. Your embryos could be donated for embryo adoption by a couple who have been unable to conceive, and who would love to raise them. For more information, you should contact an attorney who specializes in family formation, or contact the Snowflakes Frozen Embryo Adoption and Donation Program. Its phone number is 714-693-5437 and its website is www.nightlight.org.

The biological fact is that human embryos are human beings in the embryonic stage of development. I was once an embryo, and so were you, the reader of this post. Destroying embryos, or donating them to be killed for scientifically dubious research, are not ethical options. Those practices treat intrinsically valuable members of the human family as mere raw material to discard or dissect in order to harvest useful parts.

Embryonic human beings should be given the chance to grow up. But an embryo's genetic mother need not gestate the embryo herself. Embryo adoption, as Abby rightly notes, is a life-affirming alternative, just as regular adoption is a wonderful alternative to the killing of abortion.

I wrote about a personal story of embryo adoption in the January 2010 issue of MCCL News. The article is reprinted below (I have changed the names for privacy).

John and Nicole, a married couple from St. Paul, struggled with infertility. They considered traditional adoption, but felt God leading them to another alternative: the adoption of human embryos.

Embryo adoption offered John and Nicole a chance to experience the joys of pregnancy and birth—and also to rescue young human beings trapped in a frozen state from possible destruction.

Some 400,000 human embryos currently reside in a state of suspended animation, frozen in liquid nitrogen (a process called cryopreservation) and stored in fertility clinics across the United States. They are "left over" from in vitro fertilization (IVF); the genetic parents may choose to implant them at a future date, store them indefinitely, discard them, donate them for destructive research, or donate them to an adoptive couple.

These embryos are not mere tissue, but distinct, living and whole human organisms—members of the species Homo sapiens, like the rest of us, only at a much earlier stage of their development. They are "created in God's image," as Nicole puts it, and ought to be treated with dignity and respect, not farmed for their useful parts for research or simply thrown away.

Through the Snowflakes Frozen Embryo Adoption Program (www.snowflakes.org), John and Nicole were matched with a couple willing to donate their surplus embryos after IVF. John and Nicole agreed to accept all 10 of the couple’s leftover embryos.

The process was similar to that of a traditional adoption, involving a home study and a visit by a social worker. Two embryos were transferred into Nicole in October of 2007. One survived and, after a normal pregnancy, was born as a healthy baby boy the next year. John and Nicole hope to implant more embryos in 2010.

Unlike a traditional adoption, Nicole explains, "There was no guarantee of a baby at the end." Embryos must successfully implant in the mother's uterus and avoid miscarriage; many do not make it.

As with traditional adoption, embryo adoption can be "open" or "closed." To honor the wishes of the genetic parents, details about John and Nicole's son are withheld from this story.

Advocates of embryonic stem cell research, which requires the killing of human embryos in order to derive stem cells, often tout the existence of leftover IVF embryos as a reason to proceed with destructive research. Such embryos would be "discarded anyway," proponents claim.

But they need not be. They can now be adopted by loving families like John and Nicole and allowed to grow up. As Dr. Micheline Mathews-Roth of Harvard Medical School explains, "We should offer these extra embryos to infertile couples to implant and allow them to be born, and not kill them either by experimentation or by disposal."

Embryonic research faces serious scientific obstacles and has yet to benefit human patients; ethical, adult stem cells have already successfully treated patients with more than 70 different conditions.

Couples who have used IVF and now have extra embryos have an "awesome option," John says, to place their embryos for adoption. And couples burdened with infertility can choose to adopt these embryos and give them a chance at life.

"We've had a fantastic experience," Nicole says. "We have a wonderful child because of [embryo adoption]. He was just waiting [in a frozen state]."

She adds: "He's who God had for our family."

For more information about embryo adoption, visit snowflakes.org, embryoadoption.org and embryodonation.org. (HT: Embryo Donation and Adoption Awareness Center)

The exceptional Tim Tebow is a testament to the exceptionality of human life

Tim Tebow might be the most talked-about and "polarizing" figure in professional sports right now. It stems from experts' criticism of his unorthodox throwing technique, his remarkable ability to lead comeback victories week after week regardless, and perhaps above all the startling (for so many) authenticity of his faith, and commitment to living those convictions and upholding those admirable principles in every area of life. (Tebow's habit of giving thanks on the football field has sparked an enormously popular internet meme called "tebowing.")

Tebow also stirred quite a bit of controversy almost two years ago, when he was still in college, by appearing in a subtly pro-life Super Bowl commercial with his mother, Pam Tebow. The short ad itself is completely innocuous,* but behind it is Pam's story of how a doctor in the Philippines (where she and her husband were missionaries) urged her to have an abortion after she contracted amoebic dysentery, a potentially deadly condition. The Tebows refused to have the abortion, and Pam and her unborn child both almost died at various points during the very difficult pregnancy. "Your child is a miracle baby," said the attending physician after the child was born. "I can't explain how it happened, but despite all odds, he beat them. Only a small part of the placenta was attached, but it was just enough to keep your baby nourished all these months."

Tim Tebow, right, with Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder

That baby, Tim, went on to win the Heisman trophy (given to the most outstanding college football player in the nation) and two national championships as quarterback for the University of Florida. Now he's compiled a 7-and-1 record this season as starting quarterback for the NFL's Denver Broncos, including five come-from-behind victories. The team started the season 1-and-4 before Tebow took the reigns (he began the season on the bench). As a recent New York Times editorial puts it: "Tebow has made his team believe in winning and has forced commentators to backpedal ... Tebow is lowly rated statistically except in the fourth quarter. Then he delivers miracles after unabashedly citing Proverbs 27:17 to his mates in the locker room."

Meanwhile, Pam Tebow has been speaking all across the country, using her personal story and national platform to advocate against abortion and for the sanctity of human life in the womb. She recently spoke at a banquet for New Life Family Services, a pro-life pregnancy center network here in Minnesota.

The Tebows' story is powerful, in part, because it focuses our attention on the fact that the fetus developing inside Pam Tebow in 1987 was the very same being who, for example, defeated the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 4, 2011. So to have killed that fetus, as the doctor recommended, would have been to kill Tim Tebow. Indeed, each of us was once a fetus, and then a newborn, a toddler and so forth. And as Pam says: "A child's right to life begins at conception, not at birth. From conception, all children are people, made in the image and likeness of God."

Abortion isn't wrong because Tim Tebow became a great person and a famous athlete (some of us become terrible people). Abortion is wrong because it kills an innocent human being, the unique kind of being who by nature has the capacity to love, to learn, to think, to achieve, to do good works, to be creative -- whether or not that capacity is developed and actualized. The exceptional life and success of Tim Tebow merely exemplify the exceptionality of humanity itself.

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* Guess who weirdly called for a boycott of the Tebow Super Bowl ad? Mark Dayton, unswerving abortion advocate, now governor of Minnesota.

Minnesota journalist receives National Right to Life award

From National Right to Life:

Dave Hrbacek of The Catholic Spirit, the paper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been awarded the National Right to Life 14th Annual Excellence in Journalism Award. Mr. Hrbacek received the award for his piece, "Electrician sparks life commitment by turning down abortion clinic job."

"We are proud to recognize Dave Hrbacek for his outstanding work and extend our deepest gratitude for his outstanding journalism on behalf of life," said NRLC President Carol Tobias. "Journalists working in the Catholic press community work diligently to advance legal protection for the most vulnerable members of our society. Their work is invaluable in reaching the Catholic community with the message of life." ...

The National Right to Life Excellence in Journalism Award is given annually in recognition of outstanding journalism in the Catholic press community on behalf of the most vulnerable among us – the unborn, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

13,000 more women helped by Positive Alternatives program

By Scott Fischbach
MCCL Executive Director

A couple of weeks ago, my wife Michelle and I were able to tour a pregnancy care center in greater Minnesota. It's one of the centers that receives a Positive Alternatives grant from the Minnesota Department of Health. The center was extremely well set up – almost like a cross between a doctor's office and the baby section at Walmart. Clean, professional and very welcoming. As we walked around and saw the exam room, the counseling room and the wealth of diapers and formula, we ran into a young attractive couple holding a blonde-haired blue-eyed little guy who was almost two years old. Michelle gave the little guy a high five, and I could not resist asking how they were involved with the center.

The mom and dad got a little emotional, but their story is actually fairly common. When they discovered they were pregnant they did not know what they were going to do. Abortion was looking pretty good. Their parents were no help and told them to "take care of it." Both mom and dad were out of high school, but under-employed and not attending college. All options in life were looking pretty bad. Then they called the pregnancy care center and it all started to turn around.

Relying on its Positive Alternatives grant, the care center helped this young couple in every way imaginable. They decided to keep their baby and try to make a go of it. Today, this young couple – with their good-looking little two year-old – are back in the game of life. The dad is working a good job that will allow career advancement, and the mom just got her two-year degree and is enrolled this fall to finish up her 4-year degree. They are making it, and Positive Alternatives helped it all come together.

Today the Minnesota Department of Health released its evaluation of the program. You can take a look at it here.

It truly is an amazing report – over 13,000 more women in Minnesota have been helped by the Positive Alternatives program! Over 13,000! We have always said that it is not enough to just be against abortion – we must be for life. The Positive Alternatives program says YES to life!

Tragic fetal diagnoses: What it means to be loved

A new song by singer/songwriter Mark Schultz:

From suffering to joy: Rape victim discovers courage and love in the midst of pain

The following is from the December 2010 issue of MCCL News.

By Bill Poehler

Drugged and raped. The words elicit disbelief, anger, compassion and a cry for justice. Rape victims rarely share their experience publicly. This is one teenager's story of courage and hope.

Amanda had completed her U.S. Army Reserve training and was ready for her deployment to Afghanistan in September 2009. At age 18, she was excited to fulfill a dream of serving her country. At a St. Paul party in August, she felt dizzy and sick after drinking a wine cooler, so she lay down in a friend's bedroom.

A half-hour later a guy entered the room and came after her. Amanda pleaded with him to leave, crying, "Stop! Stop!" But she was frozen.

"I was trained to kill, but I couldn't move," she recalls.

In the days that followed, Amanda told no one about the rape. But she felt something had changed. She took one drug store pregnancy test after another. Most were positive. Desperate, she went to urgent care, where her pregnancy was confirmed.

Amanda held strong pro-life convictions. She had written high school papers defending the pro-life position. But she had always viewed rape and incest as special situations.

So Amanda decided to get an abortion. She needed to fulfill her duty to her Army Reserve unit. She needed to get on with plans for her life. She made an appointment, but never got there.

Eight days before her scheduled abortion, Amanda was rushed to the emergency room with symptoms of a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. She was given a sonogram and reassured that her pregnancy was normal. It was then that Amanda saw her little unborn child on the ultrasound monitor for the first time.

"I fell in love at that moment," she says.

One image changed everything. What Amanda had thought of as a product of rape that she could not handle suddenly became her child growing inside her. She saw beyond the circumstances of the conception to the reality of her own motherhood.

A heavy weight was lifted as Amanda made a firm decision to give life to her unborn baby. But the challenges were not over.

She contracted the H1N1 virus in November. Amanda was told that one or both of them would likely die.

"The doctor said there was still time to do an abortion to save my life," she says. "But I had already decided not to abort my child, so I left it in God's hands."

The weeks and months ahead were difficult. Amanda was hospitalized 13 times. She suffered pre-term labor seven times. Her boyfriend—the "love of her life"—left her. She suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the rape and became suicidal.

But Amanda persevered through all of these because she loved her little boy.

"If I could take a bad experience and find good out of all of it—that's what I did," she explains.

The day finally came in March 2010 when Kaiden, Amanda's baby boy, was born. "I can't believe something so beautiful could come from such an ugly, horrible situation," she said tearfully to her family and friends who were with her.

The rapist had taken her deployment, her boyfriend and her self-worth, but not Amanda's belief in the sanctity of human life. That conviction carried her through suffering to joy. Kaiden has been a powerful source of healing for her.

"Now I know what a mother's love is. I can't describe it, and I never understood it before," she says.

Mother and child are living with Amanda's loving family, who help care for Kaiden while Amanda works full time. She will begin attending college in January.

Amanda shares two profound lessons from her experience. First, she finally has realized that being raped was not her fault. She could have made different choices that night, but nothing she did would have ever justified what was done to her. Second, life is precious, regardless of circumstances.

"The gift of life is bigger than me—than anything," Amanda says.

What would she say to someone who questions her decision?

"I would show them my child," she says. "I can't imagine my life without him. He is the greatest joy and the greatest love I have ever known. It's hard being young and not knowing if I will ever find someone … but I would not change anything that has happened to me.

"Now I know what real love is."