*Editor's Note: The Local News story is a MUST READ!  Also, there's an important news clip regarding health care you'll want to note.  And it's curious to see what is happening in Japan as result of the overpopulation scare that has so saturated developed nations. * [image: Logo%20small%202.jpg?attredirects=0&auth=ANoY7cqKxNiUx4kK99wdBlpphNduiAZ0NW 3ELOxfu9fff17umgr6eRsI87oiEpHPIYNdOr1iI-ThiPirelTFkSA0WrV-obr5b_aBtRwdfWXO6 kHc3x73kP5I64sDHTm0Pk-mmHk6o2sd8ZgGBP7lbRO4t9Xf4SpOkTRQfuoL336QuG_X3dcnhfQ4 PJM0cgsNQ4vzt-vWgrqNqozQegW3-JhAnRosKM5K4g%3D%3D]   Culture of Life UPDATE September, 2009 + Volume 1.3  LOCAL NEWS THIS ISSUE One Life Saved! by Sandy George Earlier this month I had the privilege of manning the Washington County Right to Life fair booth for a couple of hours.  I was very busy handing out stickers to the children and literature to the adults and I was amazed at the support from the public.  One lady in particular stopped by to talk to me.  She pointed to her little girl and said that she is here today because of us.  She decided to give birth to her daughter after learning about the horrible details of abortion.  I want to thank this person for sharing this wonderful inspirational story with me.  I can only say that it truly made my day and inspired me to keep working harder to protect the lives of the unborn and elderly. I shared this story at our monthly meeting with the others members of our Washington County Right to Life group and they too were inspired to know that we saved at least one life.   In today’s environment, we are fighting against incredible odds and at times it can be discouraging.  Knowing that we are touching people and making a difference gives us the courage and determination to keep going. If you would like to join our cause, please consider coming to our monthly meetings that are held at 6:30 pm on the second Wednesday of each month at Joe Schmidt’s office at St. Mary’s School.  If that doesn’t work into your schedule, please keep us in your prayers. Sandy George is the Treasurer for Washington County Right to Life  Local News Getting Up To Speed Christian Comics Fact of Life Great Quotes Resources PLEASE NOTE: LIFE CHAIN will take place on Respect Life Sunday (October 4th) from 2-3 PM.  In Washington County there are THREE locations for Life Chain: along Route 60 next to GreenLeaf Landscapes in Marietta; on Route 60 just south of Beverly: on Washington Blvd by Fruth Pharmacy in Belpre.  Contact Barb Hintz with any questions (376-0557).   GETTING UP TO SPEED: News Briefs Related to the Culture of Life                            (See Credit Section for Copyright Infomration) An Exchange You Can't Believe In (FRC.org) - Senator Max Baucus' (D-Mont.)... is pushing co-ops as an alternative to the unpopular public option, despite Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) insistence that co-ops are the same thing as a public option. As Congress debates the merits and facts of co-ops vs. public option one fact remains true-unless it is specifically excluded, taxpayers will be forced to pay for abortions. This is true of Senator Baucus' bill as it relies on an Exchange, a government entity that would decide on what gets covered in any insurance program and is similar to what is in the House bill. Even if one were to stretch the imagination to believe that this very pro-abortion Administration would prohibit anything to do with the ghastly procedure, the courts have already made clear that abortion would by law need to be covered unless specifically excluded. The bottom line on the Baucus compromise is that you can change the words but it doesn't matter when the results are the same.  READ MORE <http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU09I06&f=PG07J01  (1) Cultivate detachment, humility, Pope urges Christians (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI resumed his series of talks on the Church fathers at his regular weekly audience on September 2, speaking about St. Odo, the 2nd abbot of Cluny, who lived from about 880 to 942. Cluny had a vast influence on the monasteries of the continent, the Holy Father pointed out, and thus the Benedictine tradition formed European society. St. Odo, the Pope continued, set a strong personal example of devotion to the Eucharist. He urged the monks under his guidance to adopt a radical change of life_style_ founded upon humility, austerity, detachment from the ephemeral and adherence to the eternal. That same spirit of detachment should be cultivated by Christians in the 21st century, the Pontiff said. READ MORE<http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=3918 (2) Ben & Jerry's Renames Ice Cream to Support Homosexual Marriage in Vermont (LifeSiteNews.com) - Vermont ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's has temporarily renamed their popular Chubby Hubby ice cream to Hubby Hubby to show the company's support for the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state. On September 1 same-sex marriages began to be performed in Vermont after the state legally redefined marriage to include homosexuals last April.  The repackaged ice cream tub features a caricature of two men getting married and will be available only in Vermont during September, after which the packaging will return to normal. READ MORE <http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/sep/09090207.html  (3) Franciscan U. Students Launch Pro-Life Response to G-20 Summit (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Students For Life at the Franciscan University of Steubenville have announced a pro-life prayer campaign in response to the upcoming G-20 Summit.  Dubbed Go-20 for G-20, students plan to lead a nationwide campaign beginning at 9 PM on Thursday, September 24, when participants will begin twenty hours of prayer and fasting for an end to the culture of death in international politics. The students offer several suggestions for those interested in locally promoting the Go-20 campaign [such as fasting for 20 hours, praying 20 mysteries of the rosary, organizing local events to decry public funding for abortion, etc.] READ MORE <http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/sep/09091510.html (4) D.C. Archbishop Joins Black Pastors in Same-Sex Marriage Fight (LifeSiteNews.com) - One might call it the new ecumenism, an example of solidarity between Christian denominations at its best: the Catholic Archbishop of Washington, D.C. has joined forces with local Christian ministers in the nation's capital to give strong support to a ballot initiative that would define marriage as the union of a man and a woman and stop the legalization of same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia.  READ MORE <http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/sep/09090204.html (5) Morning-After Pill Proving To Be Ineffective and Abused (LifeSiteNews.com) - In what appears to be a startlingly candid admission of failure, an article in the Reproductive Health Reality Check blog...states that emergency contraception (EC), commonly called the morning-after pill, is not as effective in reducing unwanted pregnancy rates at a population level as we once hoped ....The authors also admit that the promised effectiveness of EC was greatly exaggerated in a bid to gain lucrative financial support for the method in anticipation of huge profits for pharmaceutical companies.  READ MORE <http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082709.html  (6) A Catholic Alternative to Living Wills (PriestsForLife.org) - Some may ask if it is acceptable to sign a “Living Will.”  The making of a Living Will presupposes that we know what kind of medical treatments we will want to use or avoid in the future. It speaks about treatments before we even know the disease; it turns a future option into a present decision.  Living Wills are both unnecessary and dangerous.  There are alternatives to a Living Will.  A safer route is to appoint a health care proxy who can speak for you in those cases where you may not be able to speak for yourself.  In the current climate, more and more hospitals are refusing life-saving treatment to people who want it. Because of this, more and more people are signing documents, called the Will to Live, that expressly indicate their desire for life-saving treatment, should the need arise.  The Will to Live<http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/willtolive/index.htmlproject is sponsored by the National Right to Life Committee. READ MORE <http://www.priestsforlife.org/euthanasia/livingwill.htm  (7) Study: Abortion, Hormonal Contraceptives Influence Breast Cancer Risk (LifeSiteNews.com) - A paper published this week in the journal, The Linacre Quarterly, by Angela Lanfranchi, MD shows how different pregnancy outcomes influence breast cancer risk. According to Lanfranchi, 52 years of research has pointed to the fact that abortion, as well as hormonal contraceptives, can significantly increase the risk of breast cancer. Lanfranchi is the Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. READ MORE <http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/sep/09090807.html (8) CBS Airs Most vile, Obscene Attack on Catholic Church Ever Aired (LifeSiteNews.com) - In all of his 16 years defending the rights of Catholics, the President of the Catholic League has never seen a more defamatory, obscene and vicious show on TV.  League President Bill Donohue was referring to the August 27 edition of the CBS/Showtime program Penn & Teller.  The half-hour show libeled the Catholic Church with impunity, blaming the Church for, as Donohue put it, every evil in history. Show host Jillette said the intolerance, greed, paranoia, hypocrisy and callous disregard for human suffering was the hallmark of the Catholic Church. READ MORE <http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/sep/09090211.html (9) Amid demographic collapse, Japan to increase cash incentives for children (CWNews.com) - Amid a projected demographic collapse that will see Japan’s population shrink from 127.6 million in 2006 to under 100 million in 2050, Prime Minister-elect Yukio Hatoyama has pledged to encourage births through government payments of $3,300 per year per child from birth to junior high school