Thursday, April 30, 2009

• Freedom of Choice Act not a high priority, Obama says

  by Michael Foust, posted Thursday, April 30, 2009 (15 years ago)

  WASHINGTON (BP)--Giving his thoughts on a controversial bill that pro-lifers say could set their cause back decades, President Obama said Wednesday that passage of the Freedom of Choice Act is not a high priority.

        Even though the bill has yet to be introduced in this Congress, it has remained a source of concern for conservatives. Obama was one of 19 co-sponsors of the bill as a senator, and in 2007 when asked at a Planned Parenthood meeting what he would do as president to make sure abortion remains legal, he replied "the first thing I'd do as president is sign" the Freedom of Choice Act. But he made those comments when he was trying to defeat Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, and he has rarely addressed it since.

        If passed, the bill would guarantee that abortion remains legal even if Roe v. Wade someday is reversed. It also would overturn most if not all federal and state regulations on abortion, including waiting periods, parental notifications and bans on partial-birth abortion. It also could require taxpayer funding of abortion.

  "The Freedom of Choice Act is not my highest legislative priority," Obama said at a news conference. "I believe that women should have the right to choose.... Read More

• Miss. Calif. featured in ad warning about 'gay marriage' consequences

  by Michael Foust, posted Thursday, April 30, 2009 (15 years ago)

  

  WASHINGTON (BP)--With the assistance of Miss California USA Carrie Prejean, a leading conservative group launched a television ad Thursday saying the criticism the beauty contestant has received is symbolic of what will happen to religious freedoms ... Read More

• Wheelchair no obstacle to mission passion

  by Gary Hardin, posted Thursday, April 30, 2009 (15 years ago)

  

  Photo by Gary Hardin

  ALICEVILLE, Ala. (BP)--Peggy Gentry may be bound to a wheelchair, but her service to Christ knows no bounds.

        "The Lord gave me a desire to go, and I just want to keep on going," says Gentry ... Read More

• Man with cerebral palsy aims for M.Div.

  by Christopher Black, posted Thursday, April 30, 2009 (15 years ago)

  

  NEW ORLEANS (BP)--"Little Randy can't complete the test, so I'm afraid to tell you that he is brain damaged," Randolph Schweinberg II said recalling the doctor's evaluation of a childhood IQ test ... Read More

• McKeever retiring from New Orleans post

  by Jennifer Davis Rash, posted Thursday, April 30, 2009 (15 years ago)

  NEW ORLEANS (BP)--Kay Bennett remembers the day Joe McKeever visited a group of girls in the Up 2 Hope summer program at Baptist Friendship House in New Orleans where she serves as director.

  "Joe is a person who makes everyone feel comfortable around him -- even a group of girls, [most of whom] came from an abusive background," Bennett said. "He came in, sat down with the girls, pulled out his pen and sketch pad and began to sketch the girls. One by one, he sat there and drew a caricature o... Read More

• Urban singles exhorted to spiritual growth

  by Polly House, posted Thursday, April 30, 2009 (15 years ago)

  RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)--It was a singles conference "planned with urban singles in mind."

  JoAnn Scaife described it as "a multicultural experience where these young adults can come together and discover not only the joy of being single but also the tremendous opportunity for spiritual growth and intimacy with Christ that their time of singleness offers."

  Scaife, a Baptist Collegiate Ministries director from Tennessee and founder of Living Single in Faith ministry, coordinated the Urban ... Read More

• Death isn't the end

  by Charles Lowery, posted Thursday, April 30, 2009 (15 years ago)

  BOSSIER CITY, La. (BP)--I recently spoke in Pensacola, Fla., with Art Linkletter who is 96 years old. Read More