Ethics/rights

The 15-year-old daughter of well-known Egyptian convert Maher el-Gohary has written a letter appealing to President Obama to help her father who is in danger of being murdered or imprisoned for becoming a Christian.

Dina el-Gohary, who also converted from Islam to Christianity, has been on the run and living in hiding with her father, who is the second Egyptian to legally request to change his religious status.

In her handwritten letter in Arabic, posted on Coptic Web sites, she writes: more >>

Celebration over the Stupak amendment in the House health care bill was cut short this week as pro-life supporters fear the language could be removed.

Abortion rights supporters, including House lawmakers, have threatened to pull their support from the health care bill if language such as the Stupak amendment remains in the final version.

The Stupak amendment, introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), bars the use of federal funding for “any health plan [public or private] that includes coverage of abortion,” except in the cases of rape, incest or to save the woman’s life. more >>

Thousands of students at the world’s largest evangelical university on Wednesday kicked off a week filled with high-profile speakers, including “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade, to celebrate pro-life week.

The Pro-Life Conference, sponsored by Liberty University Student Government Association, began Wednesday morning with an address by Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, to more than 10,000 people in Lynchburg, Va.

Staver will also hold a lecture with a question and answer session on abortion and the courts later in the afternoon in the Supreme Courtroom at the School of Law. The school has the nation’s only replica of the U.S. Supreme Court’s nine-member bench. more >>

Since 2003, the United States has provided 1.2 billion dollars to the East African nation of Uganda through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Instigated by President George W. Bush, PEPFAR’s results have been striking. According to a 2009 Annals of Internal Medicine research report, an estimated 1.2 million lives have been saved. The AIDS rate has dropped dramatically. PEPFAR funds three components of AIDS education and prevention: Abstinence education, Be faithful in marriage or to one partner, and Condom usage (ABC).

However, a bill proposed in the Ugandan parliament in early October may add a D to this policy and compromise Bush’s good work. The D stands for the death penalty for homosexual offenses, including multiple homosexual acts and engaging in sex while HIV positive.

Introduced by MP David Bahati, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009 would impose the death penalty on some homosexual behaviors, and maintain life in prison for others. Even touching someone of the same sex could be considered an offense if the intent is sexual. Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda but this bill cracks down harder on offenders as well as anyone with any relationship to a homosexual. The bill requires persons in authority (pastor, teacher, missionary, physician, parent, etc.) to report any knowledge of any offense covered by the act within 24 hours upon pain of 3 years in jail or a hefty fine. Thus, parents could be expected to turn in same-sex attracted children. Relevant to AIDS relief work, there is no exemption in the bill for professionals. If a patient reveals homosexual behavior in the course of AIDS treatment or education, then those hearing the revelation must report. more >>

Christian conservatives were quick to oppose the new House health care bill, which they say includes federal funds for elective abortion and mandates providing information about physician-assisted suicide in some states.

"Speaker Pelosi might as well rename her bill the 'Government Funded Abortions for America Act,'” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said as he lambasted the new proposal.

The 1,990-page health care bill, unveiled Thursday, removes the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion except in the cases of rape, incest, or danger to the physical health of the mother. more >>