What Christmas says about human life and dignity

Christians use the Christmas holiday to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This event (apart from everything else it entails) provides a number of insights about human life and dignity.

1. Each of us was once an unborn child. The Incarnation—the coming into the world of Christ—did not happen in the manger. It happened some nine months earlier. This is what the facts of human embryology and developmental biology tell us, and it is what the scriptural accounts affirm.

Mary is said to be "with child" (Matthew 1:18) upon Jesus being "conceived ... from the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20). Earlier, Mary is told she will "conceive in [her] womb ... a son, [to be named] Jesus" (Luke 1:31), who even before birth is called a "child ... [who] will be called holy—the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Luke 1:41-44 recounts that the unborn John the Baptist (who was probably in his sixth month) "leaped for joy" in his mother's womb when he entered the presence of the unborn Jesus (who was probably a very young embryo at the time).

Jesus began his earthly existence as an embryo and fetus. So did all of us.

2. The weak and vulnerable matter just as much as the strong and independent. God chose to enter the world in the most vulnerable condition possible: as an embryo, and then a fetus, and then a newborn baby lying in a manger. This is startling, and it turns ancient "might makes right" morality on its head. It suggests that human dignity is not determined by age, size, power or independence.

3. Motherhood is enormously honorable. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was utterly important, admirable and deserving of great honor. All mothers are important and deserving of honor.

4. Human life is extraordinarily valuable. Christmas is part of God's larger plan to rescue humanity because He loves us (John 3:16). Jesus was born so that we might live. From this Christian perspective, God considers human life to be immensely precious, and worth saving at tremendous cost. "Christian belief in the Incarnation is thus inseparable from belief in the objective, and even transcendent, value of the human race as a whole, and of each human person as an individual," writes Carson Holloway.

Christmas proves that human beings matter. All of them, at all stages of their lives—including the youngest and most vulnerable.

Video: Hormonal stress response at 16 weeks after conception

Why Minnesota has taxpayer funding of abortion

The following news release was issued today, Dec. 13.

ST. PAUL — Since a Dec. 15, 1995, Minnesota Supreme Court ruling required taxpayers to fund abortions, more than 62,000 unborn babies have been killed in Minnesota with taxpayer funds, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services (MDHS). The Doe v. Gomez ruling established the most extreme abortion-on-demand policy in the nation.

"The Doe v. Gomez ruling by a handful of activist judges has been disastrous for Minnesota women and their unborn babies," said Scott Fischbach, Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL). "On this 18th anniversary of the decision, Minnesotans continue to believe it is not the mission of the state to abort thousands of innocent unborn children each year, yet that is exactly what is happening under this radical ruling."

The Supreme Court's Doe v. Gomez decision established a new state constitutional “right” to abortion on demand. This supposed right would remain protected by the state Constitution even if Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision legalizing abortion in the United States, were to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Doe v. Gomez allows abortions for reasons such as "stress" or "discomfort." It forbids the state to "interfere" in any way with a woman's "decision making" regarding abortion.

Doe v. Gomez also obligates the state—and thus, taxpayers—to pay for abortions, something not required by the U.S. Supreme Court. From June 1994 (under an earlier decision) through 2011, state taxpayers paid more than $19.9 million for 62,252 abortions, according to MDHS. In 2011 alone (the most recent statistics available), state taxpayers paid $1.2 million for 3,693 abortions (MDHS). The state does not report how many women have been hurt or killed from these abortions.

While the total number of abortions in the state is declining gradually, taxpayer funding of elective abortions has risen most years since 1995. Minnesota taxpayers now pay for 34 percent of all abortions performed in the state—the highest percentage ever.

"This is not the will of the majority of Minnesotans, who oppose abortion on demand," Fischbach said. "The Court took away the people's ability to decide whether they want abortion on demand in the state and whether they should be required to pay for others' elective abortions. After 18 years, it's time for the Supreme Court to revisit this wrongly decided ruling."

Abortion and breast cancer: The evidence from China

A new meta-study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Cancer Causes & Control analyzes 36 different studies of the association between abortion and breast cancer in China.

Combined, the studies show that abortion increases a woman's risk of breast cancer by 44 percent. The increased risk jumps to 76 percent after two or more abortions and 89 percent after three or more. The researchers conclude, "IA [induced abortion] is significantly associated with an increased risk of breast cancer among Chinese females, and the risk of breast cancer increases as the number of IA increases."

In China, which has a coercive population control policy, abortion is extremely prevalent. The weight of the evidence of an abortion-breast cancer link from all of these academic studies (which cover 14 different provinces in China) seems overwhelming.

The Chinese data should come as no surprise. Dozens of studies worldwide, spanning decades, show an abortion-breast cancer connection. A 1996 meta-analysis found a 30 percent increase in breast cancer risk among post-abortion women. And the physiological explanation of this increased risk (how abortion leaves a woman with more cancer-vulnerable breast tissue) makes perfect sense.

This isn't just a scientific discussion. It has very real consequences. As Dr. Joel Brind writes:

It is really frightening when you start doing the math on the impact of abortion on a population of over a billion women—in India and China alone: Just a 2% lifetime risk of breast cancer due to abortion—a very conservative estimate—means upwards of 10 million women getting breast cancer, and millions dying from it.

Many continue to deny (or ignore, in the case of the mainstream media) any link between abortion and breast cancer, but the criticisms of the evidence do not seem to withstand scrutiny, and more studies from around the world continue to surface. They are making the link seem almost undeniable.

On Human Rights Day, we recognize the unborn child's right to life

The following was released today by MCCL Global Outreach.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Today is Human Rights Day as declared by the United Nations. December 10th marks the 64th anniversary of the agreement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

The following statement may be attributed to Scott Fischbach, Executive Director of the Global Outreach division of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life:

"On this important Human Rights Day of 2013, let us come together as compassionate human beings, understanding of each other’s plight, to protect one another.

"Let us remember and call to mind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of Dec. 10, 1948, which states in Article 3, 'Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.'

"Let us recall from the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (Nov. 20, 1959) that 'The child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.'

"As we move forward into critical negations concerning new post-2015 development goals, let us prioritize the genesis of all human rights, life. For without that first, most basic right to life itself, all other rights are irrelevant and meaningless."

MCCL GO is a pro-life NGO global outreach program of the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Education Fund with one goal: to save as many innocent lives as possible from the destruction of abortion. Learn more at www.mccl-go.org.