Smells like ummm...Socialism?

Official: Obama to Reverse Bush Abortion Regulation

The Bush administration instituted a rule in its last days that strengthened job protections for doctors and nurses who refuse for moral reasons to perform abortions.

President Obama wants to rescind a Bush administration rule that strengthened job protections for doctors and nurses who refuse for moral reasons to perform abortions.
A Health and Human Services official said Friday the administration will publish notice of its intentions early next week, opening a 30-day comment period for advocates, medical groups and the public. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the notice has not been completed.

The Bush administration instituted the rule in its last days, and it was quickly challenged in federal court by several states and medical organizations. As a candidate, Obama criticized the regulation and campaign aides promised that if elected, he would review it.
The news that he was doing so drew praise from abortion-rights supporters and condemnation from groups opposed to abortion.

"It would be a horrible move. These regulations were a long time coming," said Tom McClusky, a vice president at Family Research Council. "What they seek to do is protect patients, nurses, doctors and other health care professionals from being forced to violate their consciences."

McClusky and other abortion opponents said the Bush regulation clarified federal policies and raised awareness about the rights of medical providers to follow their consciences. But abortion rights advocates said it was vague and overly broad, and could reduce access to other services -- allowing a drug store clerk to refuse to sell birth control pills, for example.

"I think it's a wonderful step," Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., who co-chairs the Congressional Pro-choice Caucus and has introduced legislation to overturn the regulation, said of Obama's move.

"That rule was actually a poorly drafted last-minute attempt to, I think, restrict health care access and I think it would have had far-reaching and unintended consequences."
Federal law has long forbidden discrimination against health care professionals who refuse to perform abortions or provide referrals for them on religious or moral grounds. The Obama administration supports those laws, said the HHS official.

The Bush administration's rule adds a requirement that institutions that get federal money certify their compliance with laws protecting the rights of moral objectors. It was intended to block the flow of federal funds to hospitals and other institutions that ignore those rights.
But the Obama administration was concerned that the Bush regulation could also be used to refuse birth control, family planning services and counseling for vaccines and transfusions.

"The administration supports a tightly written conscience clause," said the HHS official.

"While we are concerned about the Bush rule, we also understand there might be a need to clarify existing laws."

The administration will review comments from the public before making a final decision. Options range from repealing the regulation to writing a new one with a narrower scope.

The administration's move was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

So much for the The Hippocratic Oath. It's amazing to me how centuries ago when Hippocrates created this oath, we protected the rights of the unborn - "I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion." Yet today, with the advanced technology that we have in this country, it so much easier to discard a human life than to preserve it. All in the name of what? Big government disguised as women's choice? It baffles me.

More than 60 years later...

(click on the cartoon to enlarge)

In memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians, and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved, tortured and humiliated.

We must never forget.

TODAY

Today, Ash Wednesday, is the beginning of the 40 day journey that Catholics travel on called Lent. The end of the 40 days culminates with the celebration of life on Easter Sunday. (We skip Sundays when we count the forty days, because Sundays commemorate the Resurrection, hence the reason it starts on Ash Wednesday.) Those that have followed my blog for a while know how seriously I take this season.

These next 40 days are usually the time where we try to parallel our walk with Jesus' own 40 day withdrawal into the wilderness. During this time, I fast, pray, soul-search, repent and remind myself as much as possible of the sacrifice my Savior made for me. It is a time of reflection and spiritual discipline. Something I should do year round, but alas, I seem to only be able to truly commit to these challenges during this time of year. I pray that changes someday. I also pray that Lord listen to the yearning in my heart for Him to mold me into the person He created me to be.

Last night, I was sharing with Scott what a heavy heart I had. It seems like so many children are afflicted with life threatening diseases.

My heart broke to learn yesterday that little Lydia, a sweet Chinese beauty who's story touched so many around the globe, even allowing her to finding the needle in the haystack, her birth parents, has gone home to be with the Lord. She no longer suffers pain or fevers and is dancing in the Heavens with her Father. But my heart cannot stop thinking about the family left on earth. I ask that you please keep all of them, who's grief I could not even begin to fathom, in your prayers. I am thankful they know our Savior and they are assured that one day they will once again be dancing with their sweet angel.

This precious little man pictured on the right is Nick. I think you all remember me asking for prayers for Nick a few months ago. Well, I am here again with the same pleas.

The wonderful news is that he is a candidate for a bone marrow transplant that is scheduled to be done on March 3rd. He needs our prayers again. This precious little boy and his family are struggling with the preparations for the transplant. He began radiation twice a day yesterday and was very sick. He is not doing well and as you can imagine, neither is his family. They are all in dire need of our prayers. Please lift them up to our God. (You can read more about Nick HERE.)


Lastly, I know I've mentioned this little one before and her blog button sits on my sidebar, but I am once again asking for prayers for her. Precious Abby, adopted from Guatemala at a mere 6 months of age, has been diagnosed with a high risk, aggressive form of leukemia. You can click HERE to read more about amazing Abby and her inspiring family. They draw their strength from our Savior and have yet ceased to praise Him throughout this nightmare of an ordeal. God continues to humble me and bring me to my knees when I meet people like Abby and her family. This little girl, in severe pain, poked and probed, going through what I could only imagine is the worst physical impact a little body could take, has not ceased to live, laugh and love. Only God could do that. Please visit Abby's blog and send them your prayers and support. I promise you that you will be changed by this family.

As much as my heart is heavy, as much as I would love to be able to have the miracle cure for each and every child with a terminal illness, I know that's not reality. But the same goes for the fact that as much as I believe those words, I believe even more than "NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!" - Luke 1:37 NOTHING!

So, my dear friends, this is the time to do something. God hears and answers prayers. I know that. I know that YOU know that. We are all one body in Christ. Can I count on you to please pray for these children? Lift them up to our Savior, the Great Healer, and storm the Heavens that His perfect will may be done. Our God is so much bigger than we could ever imagine. We just need to let Him out of the box. Believe with all your heart that everything you pray for He will grant, if it is according to His will. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." - Mark 11:24

Prayer is the most powerful tool man has access to. Let's use it together!

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." - James 5:16

I Heart Faces Contest

A few of my bloggy friends have entered the I Heart Faces contests and I'm in awe at the amazing pictures that are at this site. Please click on the button above to check them out!

This week's theme is B & W pictures. I've always loved this picture of my sweet AJ playing with Woody from Toy Story. So, I thought this week I'd enter and give my amateur-ish photography skills a try.

AAAUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

Can I tell you how STEAMING MAD I am at that stupid invention they call TiVo?!!!

IT DID NOT RECORD THE FIRST HALF OF MY "24" SHOW TONIGHT!!!!!!

While I sat here twiddling my thumbs because the kids were in bed, Scott was playing his computer game, Amanda was not home and my dishes were done, the show was going on. I wasn't watching it. Why? You ask why? I'll tell you why! Because we're now in the 21st century. That means, why watch long, boring commercials when you can fast forward through them in a millisecond with TiVo. Yeah, the same !@(&^ TiVo that didn't record!

I know FOX on Demand allows you to watch full episodes, but I'll have to wait till next week for episode 10. Do you know how hard it was to wait till this week? (I did manage to catch it halfway through right when the FBI mole shot his little fling in the belly.)

I know. I sound like an immature 3 year old having a tantrum.

I guess I'm done ranting. ::deep breaths::

O.K.! I admit it! No, I'm not done ranting! I'M NOT! I'M NOT! I'M NOT!

I'm mad and I'm off to bed to drown my sorrows.

I Didn't Do It!

Due to last week's craziness, I missed MckMama's weekly Not Me, Monday! carnival. You know the one where you go to her blog and read about the funny things that everyone else did not do!

So here I am. Once again to humiliate myself and 'fess up about all the things that I did not do this week!

It was absolutely not me that enjoyed a celebratory dinner with family on Thursday night, only to develop a humongous belly ache on the way home, which was an hour drive. Nope. It wasn't me that totally and completely refused when asked by sweet hubby if I wanted to stop at a truck-stop to use the bathroom since there was nothing else on that 15 mile stretch of highway. No way was it me that sat in the car pleading to please hurry because I didn't think I could make it home. And I know that you have to believe that it was not me who in the midst of said pleading, for just a fleeting moment, thought about hopping into the back seat and pulling out one of AJ's size 5 diapers from the diaper bag and using that because, for Pete's sake, it would have been much more hygenic than a truck stop. The fleeting moment truly did flee when I spoke my thought out loud and sweet hubby looked at me like he was gonna push me out the door. (For those not completely grossed out yet and wondering if we made it home in time, we ended up finding a Cracker Barrel that we stopped at. :)

********************************

It definitely was not me that danced around in elation when my baby boy yelled, "I did CA-CA" at the top of his lungs after sitting on his potty seat for twenty minutes. I was not the proudest Mama on the planet and ran with my camera to take a picture of the huge milestone, which was a first. It was not both sweet hubby and I who high-five'd each other at the thought that we might, after 3 years, be seeing the light at the end of the "diaper tunnel". No, it could not have been me because that would be outright gross to take a picture of and completely silly to be cheering about!

It certainly was not me that totally threw caution to the wind when I broke that big 'ole golden rule of not mentioning the word "prayer" in school by sending my precious daughter to said institution on Friday wearing this:

No way was it me that thought that she not only looked absolutely adorable, but that the statement on her shirt was so very true that we had to let the world know, after last week's mess, that God totally rocks!

You'd be so wrong if you thought that it was me that woke up this morning completely giddy with excitement because it was Monday. I have not been thinking all weekend about how Jack is going to save the girl he pretty much threw into the fire last week, although I've already cheated and saw a few sneak peeks. It is also not me that is so very a tad bit jealous of co-star, Annie Wersching, because not only is she stunningly beautiful but she gets to spend her days with Kiefer Sutherland trying to figure out how Jack is going to save the world! That would be just crazy because it is only a TV show and those people are really not real in my life.


And finally, it really was not me that let the kids play in a tub filled with bubbles, for almost an hour the other day, until their little fingers were wrinkled like "little old people" because they were having so much fun. If it would have been me, it would have been totally selfish because I got the opportunity to sit on the floor by them, listen to them giggle and read my new book all at once. But I know that you know the truth. It really wasn't me that let them play with almost an entire can of shaving cream with which they started out covering just their arms and belly and ended up covering almost the entire tub, including fixtures.

Nope! That would not have been me because shaving cream cost money and we are definitely not in a position to completely throw away money on something so wasteful as the children having fun! Not to mention the fact that I do not find activities that they enjoy doing, while allowing me some quiet time, even in the midst of the earthquaking laughter and chatter.