Ruth Institute Blog

by Helen Alvaré, Greg Pfundstein, Matthew Schmitz and Ryan T. Anderson

This article was first published January 17, 2011 at publicdiscourse.com.

Do pro-lifers care about life after birth?

One of the most frequently repeated truisms of the abortion debate is that pro-lifers really don’t care about life. As much as they talk about protecting the unborn, we are told, pro-lifers do nothing to support mothers and infants who are already in the world. Liberal writers such as Matthew Yglesias are given to observing that pro-lifers believe that “life begins at conception and ends at birth.” At Commonweal, David Gibson, a journalist who frequently covers the abortion debate, asks how much pro-lifers do for mothers: “I just want to know what realistic steps they are proposing or backing. I’m not sure I’d expect to hear anything from pro-life groups now since there’s really been nothing for years.” Read more…

A nice story.

by Carolyn Moynihan

Picture: Caters News Agency / Daily Mail

Another story in the mums-will-cut-off-their-right-arm-for-their-child tradition, with a happy ending for both.

The Daily Mail reports:

Victoria Webster, 33, was diagnosed with cancer during a routine blood test when she was 21 weeks pregnant. Read more…

Kind of a fun, funny article. I’m with the author on this one.

by Mariette Ulrich

One hates to be cynical, but I often cringe when I see an article that begins with the words: “Psychologists have found…” Usually, they have found something that wasn’t lost. Or else they find something that works for some people, but not for others, or for some people some of the time, but not at other times. That’s not a discovery; that’s the breadth and scope of human experience.

“Men should concentrate on playing with their children and leave the care to women” the London Telegraph heading announces. Read more…

Still more to come on this front, but ITAF’s closing lecture is featured in this week’s newsletter, so it’s up out of order.

Dr J delivers the closing lecture (also entitled “It Takes a Family to Raise a Village”) at Ruth Institute’s summer student conference.  She traces the roles of marriage in society and gives examples of how the devaluation of marriage has hurt women and children (particularly among the poor and those in Marxist states).

It Takes a Family to Raise a Village

(July 20, 2010) We’ve already podcasted Dr J’s talk from this rally, “Why Not Privatize Marriage?“  She also recorded two of the other speakers.  Bishop John Smith, the ninth bishop of Trenton, discussed how marriage compliments the uniqueness of men and women.  Jim White, former Supreme Director of the Knights of Columbus, encouraged civic participation and accountability of government officials.

Bishop John Smith

Jim White

A commenter here on the blog made the ridiculous statement that Feminism is about choice.

But feminism has little, if anything to do with choice.  For instance, Feminism has been dead set against the choice to be a stay at home mother.  It has derided that particular choice ever since the author of The Feminine Mystique condemned the homes of housewives as “comfortable concentration camps.”

This article discusses the stunning success that feminism has had in stigmatizing housewives.

STOCKHOLM — When the Swedish journalist Peter Letmark tried to track down a housewife for a series on 21st-century parents in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter recently, he failed.

“Housewives,” he explained, “are a near-extinct species in Sweden. And the few who still do exist don’t really dare to go public with it.” Read more…

by Maggie Gallagher

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Townhall.com

I walked in late for the Susan B. Anthony List breakfast last Friday and, right away, Sarah Palin blew me away.

Trig. Read more…

By Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse

This article was first published May 12, 2010, at the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. 

Well, we have survived another Mother’s Day. But what is the holiday really all about, besides an excuse to sell chocolates, flowers, greeting cards and a bit of guilt? Why should we “celebrate” motherhood, when motherhood itself is under attack, or at least, undergoing some kind of cultural renovation? Read more…

As a mom I’d say it’s because we’re thinking more of homicide. Oh, just kidding!

by Carolyn Moynihan

One of the topics that came up at the Barcelona conference on low fertility was the question of whether parenthood brings happiness to adults; the evidence so far seems uncertain. This week, however, there is solid evidence reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in favour of motherhood, if not fatherhood. Read more…

Carolyn Moynihan, Mercatornet.com

Listen carefully to the crying of your newborn baby and you may recognise the cadences of your own voice, especially if you are the mother. European researchers have discovered that even within the first week after birth, babies imitate the melodic patterns of voices they have heard while still in the womb. And that includes the “tunes” typical of the mother tongue. Read more…