Samuel Farr, M.D. 1787

In 1787 Samuel Farr, M.D., challenged the long-held notion that life begins sometime after the beginning of pregnancy. It was a common belief that life began at “quickening,” when fetal movements were first felt by the woman. But in his Elements of Medical Jurisprudence, he wrote:

“With regard to the state of the life of the child, the following question requires to be decided: At what time may a foetus be supposed to begin to live? To answer this, we must consider, that conception is made in the ovarium of a female after coition with a male, when the subtile aura of the semen hath so far penetrated into the germen, which may be supposed to contain the outline of the future man, as to produce a turgescence and motion of its circulating humours. At this time, it may be said, that life begins, i.e. immediately after conception. Hence those seem to err: 1st Who would persuade us, that the foetus acquires life when it is so particularly active, that the mother becomes sensible of

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William Wilberforce, Francis Beckwith, and Ad Hominem Attacks

A few months a go I posted a blog concerning a certain pet peeve I have where abortion advocates attempt to discredit the pro-life position by accusing us of only caring about the unborn (and not the born) and/or only caring about one issue (and not caring about other issues). In some reading I've done lately, I have come across material worth sharing that relates to all this.

First, I've been reading a biography about William Wilberforce, the abolitionist responsible for ending the slave trade and slavery in Britain. In 1823 a slavery defender named William Cobett attempted to discredit Wilberforce's work to end slavery by claiming his concern for suffering among African slaves was hypocritical because he did not seem to equally care for the working poor in England. Cobett said, "You seem to have great affection for the fat and lazy and laughing and singing and dancing Negroes . . . [But] Never have you done one single act in favor of the laborers of this country . . . You make

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The Great Commission and Pro-Life Work?

I've noticed that when many Christians think about the Great Commission, they primarily think about personal evangelism, sending out missionaries, and initial conversion. While the Great Commission surely includes these things, it also includes a whole a lot more. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus gave his Great Commission, saying, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." In this passage there is one main command, "make disciples," and three necessary components for carrying out the command: "going," "baptizing," and "teaching." Going and baptizing definitely have to do with the initial stages of evangelism and conversion, but teaching encompasses the entire life of a disciple. Notice Jesus said, "...teaching them to observe all that I

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Worthy Examples of Doing Hard Things

This summer, Abort73 was invited to be a part of the Do Hard Things Tour which challenges teens to rebel against the low expectations society places on them. Both before and after we joined them on the road, Abort73 was the direct beneficiary of such thinking in action. This past Spring, a 15-year-old girl from Ithaca, NY decided to host Abort73's Love the Least in her community, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. By the time she was through, more than $5,000 had been raised for Abort73. More recently, a group of high school girls here in Rockford, IL (photo above) started looking for a way to give to Abort73 that would go well beyond their limited means. The result was a community-wide yard sale that raised close to $1,400.

Below, you'll hear, in their own words, how these events came to be. My hope in sharing these stories is to honor their efforts, encourage those who support our work, and inspire more of you to follow their lead. Youthful zeal and godly conviction are a great

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Disturbing Video Double Standard?

Special thanks to Nathan Brauer for this link, which depicts The Today Show singing the praises of a new, extremely graphic PSA (Public Service Announcement) from the Gwent Police (UK). In the dramatization, the texting of a teenage driver leads to a gruesome auto accident in which her three friends are all killed. The point of the video? To convince teens to not text while driving. During the course of The Today Show feature, the following statements are made about this "powerful new video":

If your teenager hasn't seen [this video], you might want to show it to them.

It is a graphic video, but it does make an impression.

Texting while driving is a global problem, crossing every age-group.

I think it was very graphic and I think it was very frightening, but unfortunately, we see that with 40,000 fatalities every year (40,000 being the total number of people who die on American roadways each year – an estimated 10,000 fatalities each year are the result of distracted driving).

American

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