In response to George Washington’s Farewell Address to the nation of which he was Founding Father, James Madison affirmed the first President’s claim that morality was essential to liberty: “If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue.”

Put another way, if virtue is not the companion of our private doings, it will be absent from our public lives, and the larger cultural life of our country.  This is logical deduction, of course, and leads to inevitable consequences for our society at large.

Consider former Senator John Edwards (D-NC), who had an adulterous affair with filmmaker Reille Hunter.  It occurred while he was a credible candidate for the presidency of the United States and married to a woman suffering from an incurable recurrence of cancer.  Yet Ms. Hunter now effuses about their torrid relationship as if it were a thing of rare beauty:

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Remember all the whining and complaining that those old 21 approved “Bush lines” of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) were tired, contaminated, aging, and useless (despite facts to the contrary), and the cry for more and newer lines? And the celebration when President Obama’s new Executive Order and NIH guidelines opened the door to use of many more hESC lines? No more having to deal with those old hESC lines, bring on as many new lines as you can make from destroyed embryos, a cornucopia of hESC lines available from which to choose. NIH approved the first new lines in December 2009, and 44 lines are now available for taxpayer-funded research (a new line, UCSF4 derived in April 2009, was approved on 12 March 2010), and over 100 more lines have been submitted to qualify for funding. Along with an increase in funds for human embryonic stem cell research, all seemed well for wide-open ESC science.

OOPS! Turns out those tired old useless hESC lines were… extremely valuable! They were, and are, the gold standard for human embryonic stem cells. They’re what almost every hESC scientist has studied. They’re thoroughly characterized and familiar cells.

Now, a number of scientists are realizing just how valuable are those well-characterized hESC lines. Despite the increased funding and many more lines from which to choose, many hESC scientists want… those tired old “Bush” lines. They are complaining that so far the new policy is more of a burden than a boon to their work. Some of the scientists say they’re stunned by the irony. Apparently ideology and desire trumped science.

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Today is James Madison’s birthday, his 259^th. This small man (5 feet 4 inches, less than 100 pounds) had a huge impact on our country. Not only is he credited with being the “Father of the Constitution,” he is also known as the “Author of the Bill of Rights.” Some scholars have even argued that Madison used the process of drafting and ratifying the first ten amendments to the Constitution in order to save the Constitution.

That’s because many anti-Federalists, who had failed to block adoption of the Constitution, were gathering strength to radically overhaul the Framers’ work in 1789. They sought to amend away some of the newly adopted Constitution’s provisions, ones that had been so carefully crafted at Philadelphia.

James Madison had to fight to get elected to the First Congress. Virginia anti-Federalists like Patrick Henry and George Mason—revered patriot leaders—were working to defeat Madison. They carved out a district for the U.S. House of Representatives in which it would be harder for Madison to be elected. Today we call this practice “gerrymandering.” The word came from Massachusetts anti-Federalist leader Elbridge Gerry, who carved out some districts that looked like salamanders. Gerrymanders, they were and still are.

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Last week, I had the opportunity to attend part of the 54^th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations in New York. The CSW is a UN body with power for global policy-making on issues related to women and gender. Every year delegates from member states meet at UN headquarters in NY to evaluate progress and draft policies to promote women and gender equality. The question of abortion is always hotly debated and presented in a variety of creative forms from anti-life advocates.

With the memory still fresh from my first CSW (five years ago) I was much encouraged this year with the number of pro-life lobbyists present. Most lobbyists fell into two categories: generous college students on Spring Break or fed up pro-life moms from the Midwest! Both groups “made their presence felt;” there was no question that they were a viable force. There were also a significant number of pro-life, pro-family side-sessions, with speakers including Miriam Grossman and Pam Stencil, as well as researchers, MDs, and ObGyns. In particular, one session about the importance of motherhood was attended by approximately 500 persons.

Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, representatives of the Obama Administration weren’t tuned into the pro-life U.S. citizens present (you know, the American people whom they represent). They were more concerned about advocating for things like the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Ratification, among other things.

CEDAW is a women’s rights international agreement of the UN that was first adopted in 1979. Worthy of mention is the fact that this agreement would also advance such policy areas as abortion rights; same-sex marriage; legalization of prostitution; gender re-education; and would negate parental rights. Out of 192 member countries, the U.S. is one of eight not to ratify; ratification would require 67 senators to vote affirmatively.

Despite efforts from previous Democrat Administrations, proponents have not been successful in achieving ratification. But the Obama Administration is actively working to change that. In her remarks to the CSW, Secretary Clinton named CEDAW ratification as a major priority for the Obama Administration. Karen Richardson, Senior Advisor on International Organizations to State Department Ambassador for the Global Women’s Issues Bureau Melanne Verveer, spoke at a number of CSW workshops and affirmed that the Obama Administration and in particular Amb. Verveer are working actively with the Hill to ratify CEDAW.

Interestingly, Secretary Clinton also noted in her remarks to the CSW the recent issue article on Gendercide in The Economist, noting that sex selection abortion has left the world with 100 million fewer girls than it should have. While I appreciated the fact the Secretary noted this tragedy in her remarks, I only wish she would make the necessary connection between the abortion rights she so aggressively advocates and the societal ramifications that follow, such as this appalling gendercide reality. Abortion never has been — and never will be good for women.

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Our friends at C–Fam, the pro-life watch dogs at the United Nations helmed by my husband Austin, issued a blockbuster last week when they revealed that the Girl Scouts had a meeting for girls only at the UN last week which included a Planned Parenthood guide for sex. It was a no-adults-allowed affair; any adult not associated with the Girl Scouts was kicked out.

The Girl Scouts have been officially “pro-choice” for years. Now they’re pushing promiscuous sex on the girls. Here’s an excerpt from page 11 of the Planned Parenthood guide offered at the secret meeting:

Some people have sex when they have been drinking alcohol or using drugs. This is your choice. Being drunk or high can affect the decisions you might make about sex or safer sex. If you want to have sex and think you might get drunk or high, plan ahead by bringing condoms and lube or putting them close to where you usually have sex.

Apparently Planned Parenthood does advocate some limits to sex: “It is not okay to have sex with someone who is so drunk or high that they are staggering, incoherent or have passed out.” (What prudes!)

C-Fam’s report has rocketed around the Girl Scout world. Girl Scout officials have issued denials that the brochure was even present at the meeting while faith-filled Girl Scout leaders are up in arms and threatening to leave. C-Fam stands by its report: the Planned Parenthood sex guide was at the meeting.

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You’ve gotta love Bart Stupak, the brave Democrat from Michigan who is standing athwart the Obama-Abortion-Care Juggernaut, yelling, “Stop!”

Here are some choice quotes (to use a pun) from Representative Stupak from a recent interview with the Weekly Standard:

When the reporter mentioned speculation that Stupak was ready to cave and vote for a health care bill that would force taxpayers to fund abortion, his response was clear: “Obviously they don’t know me,” he said.  “If I didn’t cave in November, why would I do it now after all the crap I’ve been through?”

President Obama’s attempt to get Stupak’s vote is both ridiculous and revealing:  Apparently the President invited Stupak to the Russian opera last week.  (This is reminiscent of candidate Nelson Rockefeller at the working man’s bar ordering beers all around and a Courvoisier for himself.)  The Weekly Standard writes:  “Asked if he was a big fan of the opera, Stupak, who represents a district encompassing the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, laughed and said:  ‘No, I’m not a fan of opera, especially not Russian opera because I wouldn’t understand a thing.’”

Stupak isn’t afraid to call out his own Party, saying that White House officials are “trying to get face time with members to convince them to vote for a bill that no one has seen in writing.”

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Scientific dogma has long held that a single stem cell is responsible for all of the components of the blood system. Now in a paper published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, a group at Baylor College of Medicine is challenging that dogma. The group found that there were different, distinct adult stem cell subtypes that contribute to different components of the blood system. They verified the “stem cell nature” of these different subtypes by transplanting single stem cells into individual mice, and were able to confirm that these subtypes exist, can maintain a stable population of the stem cells over time, and behave as expected. Senior author Dr. Margaret Goodell said:

“From a scientific point of view, it’s making us re-evaluate the view of the stem cells that come from adults. It challenges the dogma that there is one type of stem cell.”

The study has significance for stem cell patient treatments as well. According to Goodell:

“People have been looking for purer and purer stem cell types. In doing that, they may not be getting all the stem cell types they need. Maybe in the clinic, it is better to have less pure types.”

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Growing lots of adult stem cells in the lab, for study or for a patient treatment, has been difficult in the past. While some groups have successfully grown large numbers of adult stem cells, many labs have difficulties keeping the cells growing for more than a few days. Now scientists at Weill Cornell have shown that culturing adult stem cells with endothelial cells, the cells that compose the innermost linings of blood vessels, is the key to growing unlimited amounts of adult stem cells. The research group reasoned that because endothelial cells line blood vessels and are often in contact with adult stem cells, these cells might play a significant role in the growth and maintenance of stem cells. Using a mouse model, the scientists were able to grow adult stem cells for weeks at a time and increase the number of cells over 400-fold. They also showed that even after one year, there was no indication of tumor formation from the adult stem cells. Senior author, Dr. Shahin Rafii, noted:

“This study will have a major impact on the treatment of any blood-related disorder that requires a stem cell transplant.”

Previous work from Dr. Rafii’s lab had demonstrated that endothelial cells are not “passive conduits”
for delivery of oxygen and nutrients but also produce novel stem-cell-active growth factors.

The breakthrough promises broad clinical benefits, from bone marrow transplantation to therapies for heart, brain, skin and lungs. If the system continues to be validated, physicians could use any source of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells, grow large numbers, and bank the adult stem cells for transplantation into patients.

The paper is published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

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Today the Grey Lady carries an op-ed titled, “A Chance for the Bluefin.”  It begins with this sentence: “There finally might be a reprieve for the bluefin tuna of the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, which are spiraling rapidly downward toward commercial extinction.”  The piece waxes eloquent about the need to protect the bluefin, an important food resource for the U.S. and much of the world.

That’s good news.  But given the Times’ addictive advocacy of unrestricted access to abortion on demand (federally funded, at that), I could not help but being impressed by the unintended irony of the op-ed’s title.  This year, somewhere between 1.2 and 1.4 million unborn children will be aborted in the United States. 1 This does not count the many who will die due to abortafacient contraceptives.

It is estimated that more than 70 percent of the abortion facilities in the United States are located in or near minority population centers. 2 The “black genocide” is real, as the abortion industry targets little ones of color long the targets of eugenicists like Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.  Even the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, formerly the research arm of Planned Parenthood, notes, “[T]he abortion rate for black women is almost five times that for white women.”  3

Worldwide, approximately 42 million unborn children will be killed in utero this year, many of them due to the largesse of the United States (the Obama Administration’s funding of international “family planning” groups that provide abortions to women in the developing world). 4 Although the Times warns against “waking up one day and discovering there are no tuna left to fish,” protecting those little lives far outweighs protecting tuna.  As Jesus said to His disciples, “You are far more valuable than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31).  He might have added, “and than many fish.”

I’m glad the bluefin might be saved.  I like a good tuna salad sandwich as much as the next guy.  But I long for the day when as much moral urgency will be given the preservation of the unborn as the New York Times has today given to the continued sustenance of a fish.

1 http://www.guttmacher.org/media/presskits/2005/06/28/abortionoverview.html

2 http://blackgenocide.org/planned.html

3 http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/11/3/gpr110302.html

4 http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/12/4/gpr120402.html

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God bless the Wall Street Journal’s Mary Anastasia O’Grady. She’s a defender of liberty. Her March 1^st column, “Viva Zapata,” urges us to remember the Cuban human rights champion, Orlando Zapata. This humble stone mason died in a military prison in Havana last week. Zapata was only 42. He had gone on an 84-day hunger strike to protest Fidel Castro’s inhuman treatment of thousands of prisoners of conscience in Cuba, one of the last of the Stalinist regimes in the world.

I say “one of the last” in a spirit of hope. Surely China is a Stalinist regime. So is North Korea. What does it mean to call Castro’s island prison a Stalinist regime?

Soviet dictator Josef Stalin died on this day in 1953. Then, Fidel Castro was already planning an invasion of his homeland. The bearded revolutionary had not yet brought down his iron fist on Cuba, the “pearl of the Antilles.” Orlando Zapata had not even been born yet. Nor had any of today’s tyrants in Beijing or Pyongyang.

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Yesterday, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, released a statement including the following: “If the current Senate language introduced by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) is maintained, it would result in the most significant restriction in access to abortion coverage in the nearly 35 years since the U.S. Congress first adopted the Hyde Amendment…For that reason, Planned Parenthood opposed the Nelson provision when it was proposed and continues to oppose it.”

This statement makes me wonder if Ms. Richards and I are looking at different bills. To set the record straight, the Senate bill goes beyond current law restricting government funding of abortion and plans that include abortion.

In Section 1303, the bill allows tax credit subsidies for plans that include abortion and leaves an abortion surcharge in place. It then maintains the proposal to create a multi-state plan that includes abortion in Sec. 1334. Lastly, the Obama proposal would increase the Senate bill funding from $7 billion to $11 billion for community health centers in Sec. 10503 without any abortion funding restrictions.

The sad reality, in the words of FRC president Tony Perkins is that “If this bill becomes law, this Congress will oversee the largest ever expansion of abortion on demand at taxpayer expense.”

Planned Parenthood’s claim that the bill is more restrictive of abortion funding than current law is disingenuously inaccurate. However, if Planned Parenthood truly does want to maintain current policy since the 1970s under the Hyde amendment, then we’ve found common ground, and can agree that inclusion of the Stupak amendment to maintain the status quo on government abortion funding is the best way forward.

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President Obama was surrounded by doctors and nurses in white coats for the second time this week. Yesterday, he was on national television, pumping for his health care plan. But before that video performance, he was at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. He went there for his first physical as President.

I sure have to hand it to him: He’s practicing what he’s preaching. Bethesda is government health care. I should know: my life was saved there by a top-notch Navy doctor in 1985. I had been stricken with viral meningitis, an often fatal illness.

My heart went out to the President when the report on his physical exam came back. He is having a hard time quitting smoking. This is a hard addiction to shake. I quit in 1977. Cold turkey. Haven’t had a cigarette since. Or a cigar. Or a pipe. (I found through many attempts to quit that going to a cigar or pipe just whetted the appetite and sent me right back to cigarettes.)

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This is not, I hope, a trivial pursuit. We have now lost the meaning of “March Forth!” But from 1793 to 1937, Americans recognized the pun–and the date. March 4th was not so much a military order as it was Americans’ Inauguration Day. That’s why all those Presidents, from George Washington’s second term to FDR’s second, were inaugurated on that day.

The long delay between Election Day–by tradition, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November–and Inauguration Day on March 4th was originally intended to permit an orderly transfer of government. Recall that the Founders’ plan was for Presidential Electors to be chosen on Election Day. They would then have to have several weeks to assemble in their respective state capitols. Electors still do this, in obedience to the Constitution. It could take weeks in those days for Electors to travel from the mountains of (Western) Virginia to Richmond or for those near Buffalo, New York, to make their way to Albany. Once the Electors had cast their ballots, it would take more weeks to carry those sealed ballots to the nation’s capital. New York was the first capital (1789-90), followed in a year by Philadelphia (1790-1800), and only after ten years by Washington, D.C. (1800-present).

Once received in the capital, it would be the duty of the Vice President of the United States to open the envelopes and read the results to the Congress. A few times in our history, this responsibility would fall upon a man who actually lost the recently concluded Presidential campaign. These included John C. Breckenridge in 1861, who lost to Abraham Lincoln (and who later became a Confederate Brigadier General), Richard Nixon in 1961, who lost to John F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey in 1969, who lost to Nixon, and Albert Gore, who lost to George W. Bush in 2001.

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In the latest Mapping America, the National Survey of Family Growth shows that women in always-intact marriages who worship at least weekly are more likely to have had fewer lifetime sexual partners than those in other family structures who never worship.

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Today (3/2/10), the Supreme Court heard arguments as to whether the 2^nd Amendment’s right for individuals “to keep and bear arms” against the federal government can be applied to the States.  The case is McDonald v. City of Chicago, and it made some news in a page one, above-the fold story in the Washington Times today (Matthew Cella, “Gun Rights Lawyer Gives Hope to Liberal Causes.”).  All conservatives want the Supreme Court to hold that the Second Amendment should be applied to state and municipal laws.

The main issue is how you link the Second Amendment to protections against the states.  (There is a long legal story here involving the Fourteenth Amendment and what is known as “incorporation doctrine.”)  The lead attorney for the “conservative” side, Alan Gura, wants the Court to let the Second Amendment operate via a particular constitutional provision – the Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges or Immunities Clause –  that has been dormant for 137 years.  The Family Research Council joined an amicus brief arguing AGAINST this position saying that reviving this clause would be like Christmas-come-early for judicial activists.  One of the lead attorneys on the amicus brief, Ken Klukowski, is quoted in the Times piece:

Constitutional scholar Ken Klukowski warned that a ruling incorporating the Second Amendment based on privileges or immunities and overturning Slaughterhouse could have broad political implications.

“Slaughterhouse may be second only to Marbury v. Madison as the most impactful Supreme Court decision of all time,” he said. “It could fundamentally rewrite the nature of what goes on in this country.”

Mr. Klukowski wrote an amicus brief in support of Mr. Gura’s case filed by a handful of conservative groups, including the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), a nonprofit organization founded by Robert B. Carleson, who was an adviser to President Reagan.

The group, whose policy board includes conservative legal heavyweights such as former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III and former Solicitor General Kenneth W. Starr, supports incorporation of the Second Amendment through the privileges or immunities clause but asks the court not to overturn the Slaughterhouse Cases decision.

“The Privileges or Immunities Clause could be used as a source for judicial activism unlike anything America has ever seen,” the group said on its Web site.

Please take a look at our amicus brief – link provided above – to see the entire argument.

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* Note: Alexandria City Schools School Board Meeting tonight!

As a taxpaying citizen of Alexandria, VA, a former educator, and a person who values our young people and wants them to have the best options available, I am outraged that the public school system in Alexandria is funding a local “teen health center,” with a primary focus on family planning. Moreover, I strongly disagree with the planned move of the center from its current location in a trailer outside a nearby shopping center, directly into T.C. Williams High School so that center workers will have unlimited access to students.

Not only do I not want my hard-earned tax dollars supporting this endeavor, but more importantly, I am convinced that this move undermines parental authority, is costly to our city, and most importantly does a huge disservice to young people.

The center provides services for youth aged 12-19 years old, dispenses contraception and refers for abortion without parental permission. The teen center also provides other services, interestingly, all which require parental permission, such as routine physical exams, vaccinations, treatment of minor illnesses. However the primary focus of the center is family planning, STD treatment and abortion referral.

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So says the slogan spread by “Catholics” for Choice in Nicaragua and El Salvador to overturn laws in those countries restricting abortion.
This pro-abortion propaganda effort is in anticipation of what will be one of the most heavily attended U.N. conferences this year: The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a gathering of radical feminists, from all points on the globe, with so-called “reproductive rights” as its centerpiece.

Samantha Singson reports in C-Fam’s Friday Fax that groups like “Catholics” for Choice and other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are circulating declarations to present to delegations who attend the event in New York on March 1-12. This so-called Catholic group demands “the immediate restitution of therapeutic abortion” in Nicaragua and, in El Salvador, “the restitution of law that guaranty therapeutic, ethical and eugenical [sic] abortion.”
Singson writes that this year’s CSW is particularly significant because it is the fifteenth anniversary of the Beijing Conference on Women where advocates tried, but failed, to establish an international “right” to abortion on demand. She reports that abortion is a matter of frequent debate among member states at this conference, where delegates attempt to sneak into conference documents ambiguous language that can later be used as a platform for such a right.

Against all odds, pro-life forces have defeated their efforts year in and year out. WWJD at the CSW? Maybe He’s been doing it all along.

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Two new published studies provide further evidence for the effectiveness of adult stem cells in repairing heart damage, and suggest possible mechanisms for how the cells work.

A Brazil-Florida collaboration found that adult stem cells injected directly into the heart could relieve angina. The researchers used injection directly into the heart based on previous results showing higher uptake of cells administered in this way. All eight of the angina patients in the study benefitted. Lead author Dr. Nelson Americo Hossne, Jr. said:

“For our patients, angina symptom relief began as early as three months post-procedure with continuing improvement through the twelfth month and sustained improvement past 18 months. Symptom relief improved in all patients, suggesting that the effect is sustained, not transitory.”

The authors conclude that their results show the procedure to be safe and effective, and suggest neoangiogenesis, the stimulation of new blood vessel growth, as the main stem cell mechanism of action in these patients.

A separate published study by Chinese scientists suggests that a small protein called apelin, which affects the strength of muscle contraction, may play a role in adult stem cell repair of heart. Twenty patients experiencing severe heart failure were treated with their own bone marrow adult stem cells, while another twenty heart failure patients were treated with standard medications; both groups were compared against twenty healthy adults. All twenty of the heart failure patients treated with adult stem cells showed significant improvement in cardiac function within 21 days of treatment, while the standard medication patients showed no improvement. Interestingly, the adult stem cell-treated patients showed a large increase in levels of apelin, correlated with the improvement in cardiac function. They postulate that the secretion of apelin is induced by the grafted adult stem cells.

Both studies were published in the journal Cell Transplantation. Dr. Amit Patel of the University of Utah School of Medicine and an Editor of the journal said:

“Both studies demonstrate a possible mechanistic approach in a clinical trial either. These important findings further enhance the understanding of the use of bone marrow derived cell therapy for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.”

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An international team of scientists has used modified adult stem cells to repair the spinal cord in rats, restoring function. In spinal cord injury, the protective insulating sheath around the spinal cord is destroyed, a process called demyelination. Without the normal insulation, spinal cord nerves can’t send electrical impulses. The scientists isolated adult spinal cord stem cells, then modified them to produce the protein ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), a growth factor that stimulates cell survival and nerve growth. The results, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, showed recovered signaling in spinal cords of the treated rats and enhanced recovery of hindlimb movement. The authors conclude that using modified adult stem cells can enhance remyelination and facilitate functional recovery after traumatic spinal cord injury. Patients have already been treated with similar nasal adult stem cells. The authors of this current study note that besides confirming previous results with adult stem cells, these results indicate that optimal recovery will include grafts with additional stimulation such as the added growth factor they used.

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UCLA scientists have shown that they can engineer adult blood stem cells so that they lack a molecule necessary for HIV infection. The CCR5 receptor is a protein molecule on the surface of cells that is bound by HIV when the virus infects certain immune cells, acting as a receptor for the virus. The scientists used “short hairpin RNA” to knock down the expression of the CCR5 molecule in the human adult stem cells, effectively preventing the protein from being produced. These cells could reconstitute the immune system in a mouse model, indicating that the function of the immune cells was not inhibited. But the human cells, now without the CCR5 protein receptor, resisted HIV infection. The study, published in the journal Blood, provides a potential method for controlling HIV infection in patients.

The study follows a previous report of successful adult stem cell treatment for leukemia that also appears to have controlled HIV infection in the patient. The doctors specifically used an adult stem cell donor whose cells lacked the CCR5 molecule.

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