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A radical surrogacy law advancing in Michigan seeks to redefine parenthood to eliminate genetics and biology and cut off children from their mothers and fathers.

Michigan, which in 2022 ensconced a “right” to abortion-on-demand into its state constitution, may be on the verge of another adaptation to the sexual revolution: adopting commercial surrogacy.

The Great Lake State, along with Nebraska and to some degree Louisiana, are the three states that still outlaw commercial surrogacy. “Commercial” surrogacy is distinguished from “altruistic” surrogacy, where the latter is nominally a volunteer undertaking. I say “nominally” because (a) how does one really monitor financial exchanges in such quasi-private contexts and (b) when does “compensation for care” (e.g., medical “expenses”) blur into pay?

Are you surprised that the vast majority of states allow trafficking in children? If you are, you’re soooo 1987, when New Jersey’s “Baby M” case was decided. As bioethics activist Jennifer Lahl has observed, America is the “Wild West” when it comes to artificial reproduction.

Amid the controversies over abortion from the 1970s-90s, many state legislators decided to steer clear of any involvement in the emerging field of artificial reproduction, including surrogacy. And Roe fostered a perspective of treating childbearing as an “individual liberty interest” with which states should not interfere, a mindset that has perdured in the various post-Dobbs state constitutional amendments enshrining abortion-on-demand.

So, while those pushing commercial surrogacy in Michigan would like simply to suggest the state is catching up with all the others, in fact, the legislation advancing in Lansing is extreme.

Just as Obergefell redefined marriage to eliminate sexual difference, Michigan’s proposed surrogacy law redefines parenthood to eliminate genetics and the bodily. The only “parent” in law in Michigan would be the person(s) commissioning the baby.

If there are two, they wouldn’t even need to live together or have any formal relationship to be listed as “Parent One” and “Parent Two.” (Yeah, sexual differentiation in parentage goes away, too). Parenthood becomes a state of mind.

We need to make ourselves fully aware of what that means.

For a child to come into existence requires genetics, gestation, and upbringing, what Catholicism once used to call procreatio et educatio. You need a man for sperm; a woman to provide an ovum. You need a woman – who may or may not be the woman who provided the ovum – to bear that fertilized ovum for nine months. And you need somebody to raise that newborn.

That used to be understood as what mothers and fathers do.

Read more at: lifesitenews.com

The H5N1 virus was detected on a poultry farm in northwest Belgium

An outbreak of the highly contagious H5N1 avian influenza has been reported on a poultry farm in the northwestern part of Belgium, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).

In a Monday statement quoted by Reuters, the Paris-based organization said that the outbreak was detected in the city of Diksmuide near France and that at least 95 birds died of the infection while the rest of the flock, consisting of 20,100 birds, had been culled.

Previously, German authorities also reported on Friday that 11,500 turkeys had to be slaughtered after an outbreak of the highly pathogenic virus was detected at a farm in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

In the Netherlands, outbreaks have been detected at a laying hen farm, prompting the culling of approximately 110,000 chickens, and at a petting zoo, where some 90 birds that posed a risk of spreading the virus were slaughtered.

Another outbreak was also reported by the French Ministry of Agriculture last week at a turkey farm in northwest France, prompting authorities to raise the national alert level for bird flu from ‘negligible’ to ‘moderate.’

In recent years, the H5N1 avian influenza has led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds worldwide. In Europe, outbreaks typically occur in autumn and winter, and this season has also already seen cases detected on farms in Italy, Croatia, and Hungary, in addition to those previously mentioned.

Read more at: rt.com

Democrat-run San Francisco is facing its deadliest year in history for drug overdoses. During the full month of August — all 31 days — San Francisco was hit with an overdose death every nine hours.

Well, this is what happens when you vote for Democrats who declare your city a sanctuary city, refuse to put convicted criminals in jails, and support a Southern border that is wide open to third-world invaders who bring with them sex trafficking and deadly narcotics.

It’s terrible, no question. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt or die, and my heart breaks for people caught in the horrors of addiction, but this is what the people of San Francisco vote for.

No one who ran for office in this once beautiful city hid their desire to import third-world illegals, look the other way with drug cases, or release criminals. And what happened?

The idiots of San Francisco voted overwhelmingly to destroy their city. Oh, yeah, they are showing us MAGAtards a thing or two — as we live here where life is safe, clean, and tolerant.

“San Francisco is facing its deadliest year ever for drug overdoses,” reports the far-left Guardian. “a trend blamed on the surge of powerful synthetic fentanyl in the US’s illicit drug supply.”

The report continues: “August was the deadliest month on record – with an overdose death every nine hours.”

“It’s going to be an almost 25% increase over last year – that’s crazy and unfortunate,” said one addiction specialist.

Democrats open the border…

Cartels smuggle in fentanyl and meth.

These drugs are deliberately dosed to murder Americans…

Nevertheless, San Francisco politicians do nothing to reverse its sanctuary policy, nothing to pressure His Fraudulency Joe Biden to secure the border; San Francisco residents approve of this in overwhelming numbers with their votes, and John eats cookies and watches Star Trek* because San Francisco is not my problem.

Democrats release convicted felons…

Felons deal the drugs deliberately dosed to murder Americans…

Read more at: breitbart.com

“Polarization” caused by the Israel-Hamas war is leading to a “huge risk of terrorist attacks”, the European Union’s Home Affairs Commissioner has warned.

European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson has made a warning about terrorism in the run-up to Christmas — what she calls the “holiday season” — and although not citing any specific intelligence or threat, nevertheless saying the risk level is “huge”.

Speaking before a meeting of European Union interior ministers, Johansson said: “With the war between Israel and Hamas, and the polarization it causes in our society, with the upcoming holiday season, there is a huge risk of terrorist attacks in the European Union”.

Johansson said the rising tide of violence had already started and cited Saturday’s terror attack in Paris in which one tourist was killed and two injured near the Eiffel Tower.

The remarks by the top European politician comes just days after Germany’s federal political police warned the Hamas attack against Israel was inspiring a rise in antisemitic and anti-Western extremism. Lone wolf attacks are a real threat, the bureau said, adding that cross-group dynamics in the global Islamist scene had shifted in the wake of the Hamas attack.

Groups that once professed to hate each other, for reasons such differing interpretations of the Quran or methods in spreading their beliefs — such as Hamas, al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State — are now expressing mutual support in ways that “previously seemed hardly conceivable”, said Germany.  The director of the body said: “now a new [situation] is emerging: in the jihadist spectrum, we see calls for assassinations and to [link up between] Al-Qaeda and [Islamic State] over the Middle East conflict. This danger now affects highly emotional people who are inspired by trigger events. This can lead to the radicalization of perpetrators acting alone who attack ‘soft targets’ with simple means.”

The report came as German police arrested two migrant teenagers who they accused of plotting to attack a Christmas market in Cologne. The “polarization” that Home Affairs Commissioner Johansson claims is being caused by the Hamas attack on Israel is certainly being felt in Germany, for instance, with one monitoring group reporting antisemitic hate incidents are up 320 per cent since the terror attack against the Jewish state.

The report stated: “Jews are hiding signs and symbols: a cap over the kippah, the Star of David pendant under the scarf, they no longer speak Hebrew on the street… Jewish life in Berlin has become less visible, less openly lived.”

Read more at: breitbart.com

Pope Francis has signed an interfaith statement asserting that humanity faces a “global climate crisis” that demands phasing out fossil fuels.

The Abu Dhabi Interfaith Statement for COP28 manifests the signers’ “shared concern for the escalating climate impacts that imperil our cherished planet, as well as our common commitment to jointly address this global crisis.”

“Our faith instills in us a sacred duty to cherish not only our human family, but also the fragile ecosystem that cradles us,” the text states.

The pope signed the Abu Dhabi Interfaith Statement for COP28 — which “recognizes the intrinsic rights of ecosystems, encompassing water, oceans, and seas, to exist, thrive, and rejuvenate” — as fruit of the United Nations climate summit in Dubai.

Curiously, the interfaith text makes no mention of God, Jesus, the Creator, or divinity but instead makes repeated references to “Mother Earth,” calling her “a source of life that must be protected.”

As a call to action, signers of the document commit to urging business and policymakers “to adopt a rapid, just transition away from fossil fuels, embracing clean energy sources that nurture the Earth and safeguard its inhabitants unconditionally.”

Read more at: breitbart.com

A Texas judge has ruled a baby can be killed in an abortion just because the baby is disabled.

Katie Cox is suing Texas , saying she is seeking an emergency exception in the state’s law protecting babies from abortions for a pregnancy that is destined to end in the death of the baby.

The lawsuit claims the baby has Trisomy 18, which is not proven because prenatal tests often fail.

“It is not a matter of if I will have to say goodbye, but when,” she said in the lawsuit. “I do not want to continue the pain and suffering that has plagued this pregnancy.”

Cox’s baby is approximately 20 weeks old.

And today, a judge ruled she can legally get an abortion despite the fact that Texas law only allows abortions to save the life of the mother. Cox lawsuit claims that not having an abortion could make it so she can’t get pregnant again, even though the abortion could cause the same problem.

In an emergency hearing Thursday, a judge granted a temporary restraining order against the state that would allow Cox to immediately have an abortion.

“The idea that Mrs. Cox wants desperately to be a parent, and this law might actually cause her to lose that ability is shocking and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice,” Judge Maya Guerra Gamble said. “So I will be signing the order and it will be processed and sent out today.”

The ruling ignores the fact that abortion is linked to infertility and women have been unable to have children because of previous abortions.

A texas pro-life group talked about the case and said abortion is unnecessary.

Read more at: lifenews.com

A Christmas tree festival in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, is being criticized for two displays that have disturbed locals.

The National Railroad Museum’s Christmas tree festival features nearly 70 trees. However, two of the trees, from the Satanic Temple of Wisconsin and the Bay Area Council on Gender Diversity, brought quite a shock to the community, Fox News reported Wednesday.

The Satanic Temple’s tree is decorated with pentagrams while the Gender Diversity tree features trans flags and ornaments that reportedly say, “Protect Trans Kids.”

In a social media post November 12, The Satanic Temple – Wisconsin shared photos of its tree at the museum and urged people to go view it.

“Zoom in to see our awesome ornaments, many of which were hand made by our members!” the post reads:

“Why are we afraid to stand up and say no. This is absurd. The devil has no rights,” one social media user commented on the Fox report.

Local news reports said museum CEO Jacqueline Frank admitted several community members voiced their concern about the trees while others seemed pleased the event highlighted inclusivity.

Read more at: breitbart.com

A Barbadian theatrical dance group is taking legal action after being “excluded in the name of inclusivity” following their “unconstitutional” disqualification from a national competition due to their Christian beliefs on gender.

Praise Academy of Dance Barbados was banned from performing at the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) in October for allegedly breaching the rules by exceeding “the bounds of good taste,” and making “defamatory claims,” the St. Vincent Times reported.

The infraction was found due to the group’s “Speak of Life” performance produced for the event, in which they “presented a Christian viewpoint of gender identity and sexual orientation and declared the Christian worldview that there are only two genders.”

A recording of the full performance includes a depiction of a teen girl who struggles with her gender identity in school, with a dialogue sharing biological and biblical explanations for the two sexes.

At one point, the performers announce, “It’s not a choice, you don’t get to pick. That’s the science, period!”

Banners with verses from the biblical book of Genesis hung on the stage, stating: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Despite the dance troupe sharing their Christian faith for the last 20 years without disqualification, they say that Senator Gregory Nicholls, arbiter of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), “unconstitutionally” canceled them without referring the matter to the Barbados Supreme Court.

“The case is believed to be the first time that a group has been canceled for the expression of traditional Christian beliefs in Barbados and brings into question whether the LGBTQ agenda is being brought in by the back door,” the Carribean outlet reported.

Praise Academy has raised an official complaint, arguing that the decision of the NCF and NIFCA judging panel was illegal and unconstitutional.

Read more at: breitbart.com

The border is “open,” according to Detective Shawn Wilson. Despite working 80 miles from the border of Mexico in the Tucson Sector of Arizona, Wilson, a member of the Pinal County Anti-Smuggling Unit, regularly encounters illegal aliens and smugglers passing through the county.

Wilson says the smugglers’ strategy has changed in recent years.

Over the last few years, “human smuggling has increased dramatically,” Wilson told The Daily Signal during a recent ride-along. “Before, you’d see … a little bit [of] human smuggling and mainly marijuana. But now there’s hardly any marijuana or drugs, and it’s mainly human smuggling.”

At least two incentives are driving the change, according to Wilson: money and police penalties.

“People want to come and the cartels, and people down in Mexico who are making the money, they see the opportunity to increase their annual income,” he said. There are also less severe prison terms or penalties for smuggling people “than if you were smuggling methamphetamine or fentanyl,” the detective explained, “so there’s a lot less risk to it and a lot more money.”

The cartels “contract” drivers to pick illegal aliens up at the border and drive them into the interior of the U.S., Deputy Sheriff Mark Terry, who also serves on the Pinal County Anti-Smuggling Unit, told The Daily Signal.

The cartels “go on social media and they’ll basically put a job offering a certain amount of money to just take people from point A to point B,” Terry said. “That money can go for between $500 per person to $1,000 per person.”

When Terry and Wilson pull over vehicles in Pinal County they suspect might be involved in human smuggling, they often encounter illegal aliens from all over the world.

Nationals from Pakistan, Iraq, and India represent a sampling of the aliens officers have encountered being smuggled through their county. When the officers stop vehicles smuggling illegal aliens, they contact Border Patrol to come detain them because local law enforcement does not have the authority to arrest illegal aliens.

Yet Border Patrol agents who used to be patrolling in the field have now been moved to the border to process illegal aliens, Terry and Wilson lamented.

“The numbers that are coming through the border right now are so high that they need everybody there to help with that,” Terry said. “So, if we pull someone over on the freeway here … sometimes they can’t come because they’re all busy at the border.”

When Border Patrol cannot respond in a timely manner, “we just have to let them go,” Wilson said.

Read more at: dailysignal.com

Anglican bishops have expressed their grief at the Church of England’s decision to trial “special standalone services” for blessing those in same-sex partnerships.

Under previous proposals, the services would have been authorised under a two-year long process, which would have required a two-thirds majority in each of the General Synod’s three Houses. Instead, Synod backed a proposal to fast-track trial services. The amendment required a simple majority to pass and succeeded in the House of Laity by just one vote.

In a statement, bishops of the Anglican Network in Europe spoke of their “deep sadness” at the Synod’s continuing rejection of Scripture, and promised to stand with faithful Christians within the Church.

Arrogance

The bishops lamented that “a majority at General Synod voted to continue to travel along a road that arrogantly rejects the authority of scripture, the historic teaching of the church from earliest times and the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide.

“They have walked away from the life transforming grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

On behalf of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, Archbishop of South Sudan Justin Badi said: “We wholeheartedly support the faithful bishops, clergy and laity within the Church of England and assure them of our continuing prayers and pastoral commitment as a global body.”

Quoting the book of Revelation, he added: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)

Read more at: christian.org.uk