Daly Focus Blog
For many of us, the issue of physician-assisted suicide was brought to our attention last year with the very public illness and death of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old woman who chose to end her own life with a lethal prescription after receiving a diagnosis of an aggressive form of cancer.
This pains me in so many ways, not the least of which is that it compounds the heartbreak of a horrible, terminal illness with the tragic choice of a young woman to take her own life.
From the serious to the light-hearted, here are some recent news articles on topics that impact faith and family that might be of interest to you.
– Obama’s Middle-Class Blind Spot, via The Wall Street Journal: The president’s proposed tax credit for families doesn’t extend to families with a stay-at-home parent.
President Obama is missing an opportunity to help all struggling families…
– Pope: Catholics need not breed ‘like rabbits’: USA Today reports on the controversial statement.
Have you ever ridden one of those amusement park rides that spin at dizzying speeds just before the floor drops out? They leave you glued to the wall, holding on for dear life.
Well, if you’ve ever had a teen daughter shock you with the announcement, “I’m pregnant,” I’m guessing you can relate.
You probably felt like your world was spinning, and the floor had dropped out from beneath you.
The shock is understandable.
The question is, how should a parent respond?
Four decades and 50 million innocent lives later, those of us who support the protection of the unborn were heartened to hear of the upcoming vote in the House of Representatives that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks. But now we’ve learned the bill has been pulled by the GOP leadership over some of the legislation’s language. Rather than have a public fight on the floor of the House, leadership has chosen to cancel the vote altogether.
Note: On Jan. 21, the GOP leadership pulled this bill and cancelled the vote. Please read my new post on what’s happened — and, more than ever, please contact your representative. -JD
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Your help is needed.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are currently gearing up for a vote on a bill that would ban abortion (with a few exceptions) after 20 weeks’ gestation.
It’s called the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” (H.R. 36) and it builds on the fact that 10 states have already passed local versions of the law since 2010.
January is Sanctity of Human Life month, so it’s very fitting that I share with you some more about a film project Focus has been working on called The Drop Box. I’ve highlighted this touching documentary in this blog before, and you’ll be hearing more about it in the weeks to come. The documentary highlights the work of Pastor Lee Jong-rak who leads Jusarang Community Church in Seoul, South Korea.
The hallmark ministry of Pastor Lee’s church is its care for children that are left in its “baby box,” a warm, safe receptacle where an infant can be left anonymously instead of being discarded in a cold alley or a dumpster.
This year, Focus on the Family is commemorating Sanctity of Human Life month in January in three primary ways:
1. Announcing a new milestone for our Option Ultrasound program
In the ten years since its launch, we estimate that Option Ultrasound has now helped saved more than 300,000 babies! Since its beginning in 2004, Option Ultrasound has provided some 655 grants to qualified pregnancy medical clinics and about $4.5 million worth of benevolent resources to pregnancy centers.
It was January 2010 when word got out that Focus was planning to air a pro-family commercial during Super Bowl XLIV.
Except many in the media were calling it an “anti-abortion” commercial – and many abortion rights groups were irate. Their condemnation was harsh. Many called on CBS to cancel our ad, despite not having even seen it.
The network ignored the spirited petitions urging them to reject the advertisement. It ran as scheduled in the first half.
This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for a small country church and its big-hearted members.
We first learned of Silver Lake Church of the Bible (Silver Lake, Oregon) from a simple letter. The story Pastor Leon Baker shared in that letter started in 2006.
After listening to a Focus broadcast, “The Lord laid it upon my heart to begin collecting for the purchase of an ultrasonic machine,” he wrote.
And for eight years, that’s what Pastor Baker and his congregation did.
Imagine you’re out walking one night. The cold wind penetrates your coat and you can see your breath in the air.
As you step forward under the moonlight, you stumble on a newborn baby that has been abandoned, alone and vulnerable, in an alley.
What do you do?
The scenario I laid out might seem improbable, but it’s exactly what happened to Pastor Lee Jong-rak of Seoul, South Korea.
Pastor Lee scooped up the baby, and the baby – and that experience – changed his life.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
