From the article -- But, according to an analysis of new data from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), abortion is no longer the leading cause of death because the number of deaths of embryos as part of the typical IVF (in vitro fertilization) process now tops the staggering number of lives lost to abortion.
As more and more couples tragically struggle with infertility, the demand for IVF has increased. Reportedly, “in 2023, there were 432,641 IVF cycles at 371 reporting clinics, but only 95,860 babies were born.” When the numbers are broken down, this means in just one year, “an estimated 1,946,884 embryos did not survive to be implanted, and another 1,759,664 were either frozen, destroyed, donated to research, or released for embryo adoption.”
That’s a staggering number of babies, many of whom were intentionally destroyed. (Yes, embryos are persons. Everything that made you “you,” a person made in the image of God, was present right from fertilization—nothing new was added. And, of course, a human embryo can’t be anything but . . . a human! “Embryo” just refers to a specific developmental milestone in a person’s life.) But why are so many destroyed?
Well, as these breakdowns from the companies themselves show, IVF cycles create a large number of embryos, and these “embryos [are] graded and labeled during testing, and those not deemed healthy enough [are] automatically destroyed.” It’s eugenics—filtering out and destroying those deemed “not good enough” to be born.
2) “Hanukkah Terror Has Roots in Australia’s Alienation of Jews: Canberra Once Aligned with the United States on Middle East Issues, Including Israel, but Prime Minister Albanese Has Hewn a Different Path” (Danielle Pletka, Middle East Forum)
From the article -- Here’s the problem: Albanese and his Foreign Minister Penny Wong have done their utmost in the twenty-six months since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel to signal their uninterest in the well-being of Jewish communities, in Israel, Australia, and beyond. Like their political counterparts in Europe and the United States, Laborites in Australia have turned on Israel and Zionists everywhere. And like the fringes of the left in the United States, Spain, England, Canada, and France, they have gone further, aligning themselves with Israel’s enemies.
The surfacing of Jew-hatred in Australia has been notable, even by international standards. Aussie Jews, like much of the world’s Jewish communities, believed the pieties about “never again,” but were rudely awakened when a post-October 7, pro-Palestinian march in Sydney began chanting, “Gas the Jews.” A synagogue was firebombed in Melbourne. The leader of one of Australia’s most prominent Jewish organizations had his former home vandalized and burned in Sydney. Two Sydney nurses were caught on video threatening to kill Jews. Universities have, as in the United States, worked assiduously to isolate Jewish students.
The difference between Australia and, say, the United States, is that the government has played a significant role in the alienation of Jews. As a president of Harvard University might say, it’s all about the context. And under Albanese, the context has been a growing hostility to the State of Israel and its supporters. Australia recently repatriated its own “ISIS brides,” and has welcomed pro-Hamas activists, yet banned supporters of Israel, including former Israeli government ministers.
Related articles: “Bondi Was Not a Surprise: The massacre at Bondi Beach was shocking, but after years of denial and equivocation about antisemitism, it was inevitable.” (Jack Pinczewski, Quillette)...“Australia's Government: ‘Moral Bankruptcy on Parade’” (Nils A. Haug, Gatestone Institute)
3) “Trump’s Marijuana Executive Order Is Woefully Half-Baked” (Auguste Meyrat, Federalist)
From the article -- Trump should rethink his support for weed. Increasing the normalization and legalization of pot will only introduce more problems to a nation that has enough to worry about. The health risks of marijuana are legion: studies have found increased risk of heart attack, stroke, schizophrenia, suicidal ideation, and depression. “THC, marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient, soaks into the brain and binds to receptors that are involved in executive function, decision-making, coordination, memory and emotion. Teenage brains are especially vulnerable to the drug’s ill effects and have shown changes on medical imaging that are linked to impaired decision-making and psychosis,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
Marijuana is also a gateway drug. According to a study on this topic, “A large proportion [almost half] of individuals who use cannabis go on to use other illegal drugs.” If a person can justify regularly smoking a joint to relax and escape his problems, he can easily do the same with other substances, especially if his reasoning capacity has been damaged. Marijuana use has fueled our homelessness crisis too.
Even if one tries to liken the unhealthy effects of pot to those of alcohol, this does not somehow make it okay to commercialize it, especially when newer strands of cannabis are over ten times more potent than 50 years ago. The latest executive order ensures ever more ways for people to waste their money, ruin their health, and become permanently dumber.
Related article: “Trump Reschedules Marijuana amid Intense Controversy” (Dan Hart, Washington Stand)...“Rescheduling Marijuana Is the Wrong Call: Trump’s move sacrifices public decency to big business.” (City Journal, Patrick T. Brown)...“Has the war on drugs succeeded? The real problem is far worse.” (Tony Perkins, Christian Post)
4) “The Legalization Of Euthanasia: Illinois And New York Embrace The Culture of Death” (David Closson, Harbinger’s Daily)
From the article -- In both Illinois and New York, lawmakers have emphasized the safeguards built into their physician-assisted suicide laws. Each bill limits “medical aid in dying” to adults with terminal diagnoses. Yet even The New York Times, in its coverage of New York’s proposal, acknowledged that other countries with similar laws have significantly broadened them over time.
Canada offers a striking example. When it first legalized “medical assistance in dying” (MAID) in 2016, eligibility was limited to those with terminal conditions. But in 2021, the law was amended so that a patient’s death no longer needed to be “reasonably foreseeable.” The results were predictable: in 2023, 15,300 Canadians died by assisted suicide, accounting for 4.7% of all deaths nationwide. And in 2027, Canada is scheduled to expand eligibility even further to include individuals “suffering solely from a mental illness.”
The Netherlands also offers a cautionary example of how physician-assisted suicide laws can expand over time. In 2002, it became the first nation to formally legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Under the original law, adults experiencing unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement were eligible, and minors ages 12-16 could also request euthanasia with parental consent. Although children under 12 were not included in the law, a 2004 medical protocol (the Groningen Protocol) created guidelines under which physicians could end the lives of infants with severe, untreatable conditions without facing prosecution.
Over time, Dutch practice also broadened to include patients whose suffering is primarily psychiatric, and courts affirmed that mental illness can meet the legal standard of “unbearable suffering.” In 2020, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that euthanasia may be performed on patients with advanced dementia based on a previously written advance directive, even if the patient can no longer express a current wish to die. In 2023, the government announced plans to expand euthanasia eligibility to include terminally ill children between the ages of 1 and 12.
In short, lawmakers in Illinois and New York will champion their new laws and defend them by pointing to the safeguards they have put in place. But history shows that such guardrails rarely hold.
5) “Stop Giving Liberals Tax Money: Conservatives can’t save the country by funding their enemies -- defunding the Department of Education would return billions to taxpayers, cut grift, and let education compete.” (Josiah Lippincott, American Greatness)
From the article -- You might say I’m a utopian dreamer for suggesting that the government not seize money from hardworking, decent people (Republicans) in order to give those funds to profligate losers and communists (Democrats). But indulge me for a moment. Let’s zero in on just one source of left-wing slush fund money: the Department of Education. What would happen if we slashed its budget to zero? Start with the numbers: according to the US Treasury, in FY2024, the federal Department of Education spent $268 billion. That amounts to almost 1% of the United States’ annual economic output.
That’s a lot of dough; it is crucial to remember that it all had to come from somewhere. Before these resources could be distributed to leftist clients, they had to be produced by people with jobs, businesses, and investments.
It is likewise important to remember that the producers who created those resources by transforming raw materials into usable goods with their labor and problem-solving ability did not do so because they wanted to fund the Department of Education. If they had, then they wouldn’t have had to be taxed in order to provide these funds to the state. Producers produce, workers work, and creators create because they want to benefit themselves. Human beings choose to labor because they think the fruits of their labor will be good for themselves. Men reap because they want to sow.
If Americans labored because they loved the Department of Education and its spending, then they would freely donate their funds to the federal government to spend on school programs. Since they have to be taxed, under penalty of law, to provide these funds, we can say with certainty that the vast majority of taxpayers would not fund the Department of Education with their own money if they were given a real, non-coerced choice.
Other important articles from the week:
* “Can the Dark Ages Return?” (Victor Davis Hanson, Blade of Perseus)
* “Nigeria Is a Quiet Test of Trump’s ‘America First’ Foreign Policy: A test we can ill afford to fail.” (Duggan Flanakin, American Spectator)
* “Contrary To The New York Times, Homeschooling Is Still A Much Better Alternative To Public Schools” (Nathanael Blake, Federalist)
* “A 21st Century Trojan Horse” (Jean Garton, NRL)
* “As Europe Steps Back, Asia Steps Up” (Mike Watson, Washington Free Beacon)
