World Views

University of Pittsburgh A Fetal Tissue Hub

Judicial Watch and the Center for Medical Progress have received 252 pages of documents from the Department of Health and Human Services, obtained by a lawsuit filed  by Judicial Watch on behalf of The Center for Medical Progress under the FOIA. The documents reveal that HHS funded the University of Pittsburgh to the tune of approximately 3 million dollars for the University's ongoing efforts to become a "tissue hub" for human fetal tissue. The purpose of this "tissue hub" is to create a pipeline for the acquisition, quality control and distribution of human fetal organs for the GUDMAP (GenitoUrinary Development Molecular Anatomy Project) Study. In the proposal Pitt notes that they have been collecting  fetal tissue for over 10 years, including, livers, hearts,  gonads, brains , kidneys , ureters, bladders and legs. Pitt boasts strong working connections  with UPMC facilities including a lab  with a "Butcher Boy" band saw for sectioning bone and a frozen section lab with digital feeds to surgeons and for show and tell.   The tissues are collected through a collaborative process including Family Planning, Obstetrics and Pathology departments. (Pitt's tissue bank is imbedded  in UPMC's Department of Pathology) In the proposal Pitt records "the warm ischemic time" on samples to ensure the highest quality specimens. Warm ischemic time is defined as the amount of time an organ remains at body temperature after blood supply has been cut off.  "These documents show taxpayer money being used to turn the University of Pittsburgh into a one-stop human fetal tissue shop- from procuring the tissue from elective abortion. 'subdividing' the human remains, to distributing and shipping the harvested tissue," stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Fox news reported, 9/30/2021 that multiple Physicians reported to them that Pitt's previous statement alluded to the possibility that organs were extracted from live fetuses. Last week nearly 100 federal lawmakers sent letters to the Biden Administration suggesting Pitt's federally funded research might have utilized tissue from illegal abortions. Pitt has denied all allegations and has hired a D.C. Law firm to investigate and will release its' findings in 18 months.

The Law firm Pitt hired to investigate has Pitt alumni on its investigatory team and has limited the scope of the investigation to the University and not UPMC. The possibility of a conflict of interest here has been raised to the Board of Trustees President Thomas E. Richards. Richards responded that this was without merit.

There are several things that do not pass the smell test here. Why does it take 18 months to  do an investigation? Why does the University hire a Pitt friendly law firm to conduct the investigation? If the charges are true there are human fetuses being butchered alive for their body parts, surely this calls for an emergent investigation.If Pitt wants to be transparent and has nothing to hide, they should make the effort to reconvene The Federal Tissue Advisory Board that contains credentialed scientists grounded in medical ethics to review the research. (Biden recently disbanded it).  An alumni stacked  law firm smacks of a cover up. This will all be swept under the rug. Our state and federal government not to mention the national news media are all radically pro-abortion and will be complicit  along with Pitt in its coverup.                                 

Congress Passes The Women's Health Protection Act

 Friday, 24th September, 2021 Congress passed 218-211 along party lines, The Women's Health Protection Act. The lone dissenting Democrat being, Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, not one Republican voted for it. The bill is D.O.A. in the Senate because of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. So the question is, why bother going through the motions of passing a bill that you already know ahead of time is doomed? Two reasons: One is virtue signaling, because of the recent Supreme Court's denial of a stay in the Texas Heartbeat Law and Mississippi's upcoming case before the Supreme Court, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. (arguments will be heard December 1st of this year) Democrats are back on their heels and are mustering an offense, the first volley being the Women's Health Act. This is a Psy-Op. offensive. Their goal is to plant fear into women's minds across America that the very option of abortion is being taken away from them. They are targeting the women who say, "I personally would not have an abortion, but who am I to impose my morality on other women? That's a decision between the woman and her doctor." You know these women, they are the nice neighbors across the street with signs in their yards. Secondly, the Democrats are throwing down the gauntlet for the midterm elections. What else do they have to run on, the economy, covid, Afghanistan, immigration, foreign affairs? No, they only have one ace in the hole, abortion. They are counting on suburban women to carry the votes in their favor for fear of losing the option of abortion. We see this playing out in Virginia's tight race for governor between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin.  McAuliffe following party cues announced that he would be a "brick wall" against any laws restricting abortion, while Youngkin a pro-life candidate seems to be obfuscating his view, clearly afraid of a pro- choice backlash that may be coming. This race will be an interesting bellwether election for the upcoming midterms.

So what is in this law? First of all ,The Women's Health Act , is a euphemism for the most radical pro-abortion law legislated in history. Henry Olsen in an editorial for the Washington Post wrote, (an abortion law) "That goes far beyond what most of the world permits and Americans want." This bill permits abortion from conception up until birth, for any reason, including gender selection. It is a disgraceful attack upon decency, the dignity of what it means to be human and what is left of the moral fabric of our country. We need to stand up against lies of the Left, who are masters of deceit and treachery. Speak out anyway you can, do not remain silent, the truth will prevail in the end.

Listening in On Silence

We live in a world where silence is a precious commodity. How many of us have noise canceling headphones? We are constantly inundated with background noise. Muzak in elevators, stores and restaurants, phone ringtones, electronic beeps and pings,  ubiquitous tv monitors blare news or sports, not to mention music from car stereos, so loud that you can't hear yourself think, often accompanied along with the thump, thump, thump of bass so intense it makes your teeth rattle, throw in sirens and motorcycles, each one adds to the incessant assault on us.

 Music and silence–how I detest them both!….[Hell] has been occupied by Noise–Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile–Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a noise in the end….The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end. (The Screwtape Letters, emphasis added) . C.S. Lewis aptly points to the spiritual  dimension and source  of  "Noise-Noise." It is interesting to note that Lewis published "Screwtape Letters" in 1942, if he were alive today he would have to publish an updated and revised edition.

Silence can be a punishment for the prisoner in solitary confinement, or for some, silence is a refuge from the din of daily life. Jack Bogut a KDKA radio personality, coined the term "audio aspirin." For me taking an "audio aspirin" as a kid was walking into the Carnegie Library on a Saturday morning or St. Joseph's Church on Sunday, both places were like entering into a "cone of silence," a sense of peace washed over me. I still have fond memories of doing so. Heaven is ‘the regions where there is only life and therefore all that is not music is silence.’ (C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters)                                                  

Do you practice silence? Silence is a spiritual discipline where we create an environment for God to speak to us , by reading and meditating on the Word, prayer and worship. "For God alone, my soul waits in silence" (Psalm 62:1), "Let all the world keep silence before him." (Habakkuk 2:20), "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10), "He leads me beside still waters . He restores my soul." (Psalm 23:2b-3a). These are just some of many Bible verses that talk about being silent before the Lord. 

I have been practicing silence since I was a kid. I have always enjoyed getting up at 0: dark 30 before everyone else to read a book and think. I enjoyed the quiet time before my family trickled down the steps for breakfast and the start of the day's commotion. Now, decades later it is a time where I read my Bible,  pray and meditate. I find it to be an anchor for the day ahead. I have a habit of being 30-45 minutes early for work and I use it to catch up on email or to pray for my work shift, co-workers, patients ,doctors and the nurses we serve. I walk through the door with a sense of peace, often into a high stress environment, the difference it makes in the shift and my attitude towards it is palpable. 

Socrates considered by many to be the wisest man in Greece once stated, "The unexamined life is not worth living." What did he mean? He meant that an unexamined human life is deprived of the meaning and the purpose of existence. Like all Greek philosophers there is wisdom and truth to what he said but it falls short of the Christian worldview. Christian's examine our lives in the light of Scripture, we are sinners in need of a savior. The Spirit convicts us and leads us into all truth. We need silence before the Lord to listen for that "still small voice," that spoke to Elijah many years ago, and still speaks to us today.  Zechariah 4:6 tells us that God's work is "not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit." Do you hear him, are you listening? Take time and be quiet before the Lord. "You will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way. Follow it, whether it turns to the right or to the left.'" (Isaiah 30:21)  AMEN!