The Dream is DEAD...

Inspiring words

When I have trouble moving forward and I have to face a tough situation, I always end up finding some inspiring words that lead me to recover all my strength and try harder. Today I needed to hear that and it definitely helped me taking another step..."When it is dark enough, we can see the stars"

"It is important for you to recover from recent stress by leaning on Me. Be strong. Don't give up. All things that represent problems are only a stepping stone to understanding the work of My kingdom more completely. Keep looking up, says the LORD. Never forget that I am leading you to victory."

Philippians 3:12, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."

Never give up. Never did, Never will.

Is "IT" just tissue?

Trying to explain to somebody the abortion procedures and how they could affect a woman’s body. She was very interested in having an abortion so after explaining the other alternatives and holding a conversation on the possible ways we could help her with her pregnancy, I did my best to explain every possible abortion procedure, medical and surgical, and what its consequences could be. We spent way more time discussing about the abortion pill. She said she didn’t want to kill a baby but she didn’t feel bad about taking the pill. I was very surprised about her reaction. First I thought she probably didn’t want to go through surgery but wouldn’t mind taking a pill because it may seem more “random” or less invasive. However, her answered really shocked me. She replied that now that she was 5 weeks, “it was just tissue, just a cell”. Then I realized how little some people now about the development process of the human being. Well, I said. How can a tissue have a heartbeat? And I started to get deep into the point…

 

 

CONCEPTION:
The beginning of a unique, living, human organism...

3 WEEKS:
The baby has a heartbeat...

6 WEEKS:
The baby begins to move...

9 WEEKS:
The baby can yawn and suck its thumb...

12 WEEKS:
All the baby organs are functioning and the baby can smile...

 

Conception marks the beggining of a unique, living, human organism and at just eight weeks from conception all the baby's organs are developed...The life of the unborn is precious...YOUR LIFE IS PRECIOUS!

God, Who created life, said "You shall not murder". Many people try to deny that abortion ends the life of an innocent child... Yet God considers even hatred to be murder. (Mat. 5:22)

One day your life will come to an end and you will stand before God in judgement and he will judge your every thought, word and action, according to his standard and perfection, the Ten Commandments.

How will you do?

The Bible says thet if you have lied, stolen, taken God's name in vain or hated someone, you will be found guilty and cast into Hell for all eternity.

 

DON'T BE FOOLED

 

Your good works cannot save you. However, God in his love, provided a way for sin to be paid for through his son Jesus Christ. Jesus chose to lay his life down, die on the cross and rise from the dead so that we could be cleaned from our sin. But Jesus commands everyone, everywhere, to hate your sin and turn from it and trust in him alone for salvation. When you do, God will forgive your every sin and grant you everlasting life with him. Eternity is forever. Cry out to the Lord to show you your heart compared to his righteousness... You will either be broken over your sin and cry out to God for salvation OR you will harden your heart...

The CHOICE is yours!

"Letter to my aborted baby"

The short film below is based on a real letter that was written by written by a young mother to her aborted baby. It provides a realistic picture of the kind of suffering that abortion causes women every single day.

If you are struggling after an abortion, ask an specialist for support. For more resources, please contact us.

MPSC
Lumina
Sisters Of Life

NY, The Abortion Capital of America

Last week I was discussing about USA legal abortion procedures with one of the girls coming to our centers. At one point, she asked me what was the legislation applied in NYC as she felt horrified that all those nightmares could be happening just right here. I told her everything I knew but I didn't feel that was enough so I decided to investigate a little bit on my own and and find out which were exactly the restrictions applied in this city and here is what I found...

New York abortion laws are less restrictive than those in many other states, which often impose long waiting periods, consent requirements, strict facility codes, and other statutory obstacles. The Empire State requires a licensed doctor to perform the procedure. But all states, including New York, have some abortion restrictions.

Regulating abortion is like playing whack-a-mole. Every time a state tightens its laws, abortions rise somewhere else.

In 1970, New York passed the most permissive abortion law in America, one that defined the state as the country’s abortion refuge. Overnight, a new industry materialized in New York City, promoting itself to women across the country. The pitches were often blunt. A newspaper ad from the time inquired, “Want to be un-pregnant?”

Facts About Abortion: New York

Thirty-five years later, New York has the highest abortion rate in America. In 2000, the last year for which good data are available, 39 out of every 1,000 women in the state ended a pregnancy, for a total of 164,000 abortions that year. In America, one of every ten abortions occurs in New York, and in New York, seven of every ten abortions are performed in New York City. 

In absolute terms, there are more abortions performed on minors, more repeat abortions, and more late abortions (over 21 weeks) in New York City than anywhere else in the country. 

Over the past twenty years, while legislatures have circumscribed access to abortion in state after state, especially for the poor and the young, New York has remained an island of unrestricted abortion rights. Medicaid pays for abortions for low-income women. Teenagers don’t need a parent’s permission to have an abortion. There are no 24-hour waiting periods. Thirty-four major clinics in New York City each perform more than 400 abortions per year.

To know more about abortion restrictions in NY and other States read: Abortion Restrictions in States

In short, New York is the abortion capital of America.

The United States is slowly turning into two places when it comes to abortion. In one, easy access to the procedure is being eroded by regulations, while conservative legislators dream up new restrictions, waiting periods, and consent laws. In the other, abortion is accessible, inexpensive—often government-subsidized—and safeguarded by powerful interest groups. 

More than half of Americans live in states where abortion is prohibited at about 24 to 26 weeks of pregnancy. In many of the states, the law bans abortion when a fetus is deemed viable outside the womb, which is generally in the range of 24 to 26 weeks. NY is one of those. However, there are nine States and also the District of Columbia that do not have specific laws prohibiting abortion after a certain point in pregnancy.

We need to stop this sacrilege

State abortion regulations have marched across the American landscape because they strike the sweet spot of the abortion debate, that place between criminalization and abortion-on-demand that commands broad majorities. These state laws are very often only superficially reasonable, especially if one believes, as the Supreme Court said in Roe, that abortion is a “fundamental right.” But their superficiality is their genius. Consciences are pricked by “partial birth” abortion. Parents become mystified that their teenager can have an abortion without their permission. Requiring a woman to cool her heels for 24 hours before an abortion seems like a common-sense precaution. New York has remained a fortress in the face of these laws. But in the next stage of the abortion wars, when laws tighten and women begin seeking refuge in blue metropolises, New York will be more fully confronted with its status as America’s abortion capital, and New Yorkers will be confronted with how culturally distant they have become from many other Americans. It is by no means certain how they will react.

For more information you can read the complete article: The Abortion Capital of America

TO ALL WOMEN

The other day we had a tough situation in the office that really hit me inside. This post is addressed to all women in this world:

PLEASE, do never let anyone force you to do something you don’t wish to. You deserve more than that. Much more. You deserve to be loved, supported and respected. If somebody ever tries to discourage you, do not allow it. FIGHT. Fight for what YOU want, fight for your ideals, fight for your values, fight for yourself. You MUST fight for your happiness because you DO deserve to be happy and you DEFINITELY can get much more than that. Do NEVER just conform to what you have. Do not believe you wouldn't find better. That’s a LIE. The worst lie anybody can tell you. Even if you don’t know better, I assure you there is something out there waiting for you and it ONLY depends on you to find it. You will achieve EVERYTHING you want in life if you look for it and try hard to get it. Because you are STRONG. You are stronger than what you think. And if you don’t find it do never be scared of loneliness. Sometimes being alone is BETTER than having the wrong company. You can go through all that’s happening to you and still find a smile for the people you love. You CAN face all this shit and still be able to kick some ass. You are strong and you are smart and you are WORTH it. You are a gift for everyone having YOU in their lives. Do not believe you are alone, because you will NEVER be. God is always with you, watching your steps and we will be here, just beside you, accompanying you in all those hard situations that life puts on our way. You MUST take care of yourself, because nobody else is going to do it for you. You have to learn to be happy just for yourself and NOT because of others. What is best for you is what matters now. PLEASE, do not let anybody make you feel other way. That person does not deserve to be part of your life. And SMILE. Smile because you have reasons to smile. Do never lose your smile and you will be making others happy.

Life is hard sometimes but don’t lose the passion for living. Take control of your life. Find your own way. Enjoy every single moment God gives you. Only you know what you are capable of doing and now it’s time for you to show it. And if you happen to lose your hope and need help getting it back, remember we are here for you. Don’t forget it, you should be the one making decisions in your life. It’s YOUR life. It’s YOU.

Rearranging the Bronx Office!

Today we spent the whole day cleaning and rearranging the Bronx Office for all of you guys. Linda started her fist day here very powerful and always full of energy. She was really excited about getting the place to make you feel home and I personally think we have made it! Now it is all bright and clean with lot of space for all of you needing counselling, a little chat or just a hug...

(Even better if you see it with your eyes)

Feel all of you welcome anytime!

EMC Centers

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I was very shocked this week about my first day and so I kept investigating. It is amazing how different religions can have such a similar way of understanding life sometimes.

I would like to share with you this article written by Dr. Nazmy Khalil Abou El Atta (Translated by Marwa Hassan and Revised By Magdy Abd Al-Shafy).

The Fetus Rights in Islam

Calls for human rights resound in the whole world with a serious and false accusation that Islam comes to violate such rights. In a matter of fact, this is entirely repudiated by Islam and Muslims as well.

Accordingly, we believe that it is our duty, as Muslims, to defend ourselves and our Islam by illustrating few established facts in our true religion to show how Islam preserve rights, whether these rights relating to living organisms or non-living things as Islam consider both divine . We will illustrate this by means of evidence and we will start by figuring out what rights Islam provided for the fetus.

1-   The right of having known and contracted lineage:

One of the simplest fetus rights is to have one known lineage. Islam put some regulations and restrictions to the sexual relationships and bound it to marriage. Further, marriage is legislated by Islam and it was stated as the only way for people to procreate and have children

God says: in this concern what means “your wives are as a tilth unto you" , that is to say He made the womb like a soil where the sperm is the seed that a husband cultivates.

To have a true marriage contract, witnesses are provided. That is to say when two Muslim Couple is getting married, it is necessary for the other Muslims to witness such marriage contract and thus protecting the rights of the fetus to have two known and married parents.

To announce marriage, is another requirement for a true marriage contract as by this act Islam differentiates between illegitimate sexual relationships and marriage. Therefore the act of announcement means letting the majority to learn that those two people bound by the sacred bond of marriage.

  Islam prescribed a period of waiting for the wife, Iddat, in order to make sure that her womb is free and she is not pregnant of her ex-husband. Accordingly, this protects the fetus rights to know who his father is and save any confusion in this regard.

Islam absolutely banned the believers to perform the act of adultery or fornication as God dictates in Sura El Nour ( Nour chapter in the Holy Quran)

"Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry any but a woman similarly guilty, or an unbeliever: nor let any but such a man or an unbeliever marry such a woman: to the believers such a thing is forbidden. " (Sura El Nure- verse 3)

Otherwise, the punishment of those who do not conform to the dictations of God and Islam should be punished in public in order to let the other Muslims witness that as God says "and let a pretty of the believers witness their punishment" ( Sura El Nure – Verse 2 )   in order to be deterrent .

Accordingly, Islam comes to protect the fetus right to have a known linage and origin. However, this right is not preserved in those communities which allow different forms of unregulated behaviors as far as the relationship between man and woman is concerned, such as adultery, deceit, sex offences and having babies without the bond of marriage, in other words, lovechildren.

2-     the right to have a healthy and chaste womb environment

Womb is the first environment that fetus touches and this is where it stays to grow. It is figured more likely as a soil where the sperm is cultivated. Islam has granted this soil some sort of sanctity as it bounds the sexual relationship to marriage where only the husband can sow the seed in order to reap the harvest. Islam banned sex offences for a higher and virtuous reason; that is to keep such soil healthy and chaste rather than exhausted or injured...

  When diseases occur due to sex offences the first organ to be affected is the womb of the woman. This is why Islam banned adultery and fornications as through improper sexual relationships venereal diseases easily transmit. Islam has also banned alcoholic drinks, drugs and eating spoiled food as His Almighty says "Eat of the good things we have provided for you"

  Islam has also banned eating dead bodies of animals or birds, eating swine's meat (pork) or drinking blood. Further, ill-gotten food is strictly forbidden. Avoiding all these things ensure a healthy womb environment

Islam dictated some regulations and restrictions concerning the relationship between man and woman. Further, it forbids Muslim women to interact with strange men for women's sake and to keep them away from sick and evil people. Thus that would provide protection for fetus and secure chaste womb.

3-  The right to have a strong genetic origin

from the scientific point of view; fetus is formed as a result of integration in the hereditary substance, in other words chromosomes, of both man and woman, where these chromosomes carry the genetic characteristics of the child. In a matter of fact, marriage which is exclusive to the relatives of one's family is not favorable; this is according to the prophetic tradition, Muhammad (PBUH), " marrying a non-relative is favored than marrying a relative one"…narrated   by El Bukhary. The Hadeeth advises people not to get married to a relative spouse as this results in deformed kids. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) advises those who wishes to get married, to choose their wives carefully in order to make sure that she free form any deformity, and thus he assures that he will be having healthy and deformity free kids.

4-   The right to have a true faith

Marriage is the most intimate relationship that combines spiritual harmony with physical link. This is a vital matter that affects both parties and influences their potentiality of choice to a great extent. The main aim of both parties is to seek for the right and good partner rather than an unbeliever! God says " do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters) until they believe. A slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she allures you"( Sura Bakara – verse 221)

When God dictates that Muslims are to be married to believers and never to unbelievers, was to ensure a true faith and powerful religion to the coming children and not to be subjected to the whims of an unbelieving father or mother.

5- The right to get into heaven

Islam maintains the right of fetus to get into heaven and to stay away from Hell as God says " O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from fire" . A believing father raises his children on virtues and the dictations of Islam which works as a firewall against tracing the devil's track. Thus Islam ensures religious family for fetus and a believing social background.

6- The right of equality with other fetuses

Islam stipulated that it is only He, God ,the Almighty, Who grants people baby boys or girls. So, it is up to God only to determine the fetus sex, whether it is a boy or a girl. In other words, fetus is helpless when the matter of sex is concerned and this makes all fetuses equal, girls and boys.

7- The right to have a normal social life

Islam prescribed that both parties, the husband and the wife, shall be socially equivalent as this ensures a normal and social environment for the coming children, where no way that one of the parents act superciliously. As a matte of fact, this lessens the potentiality of social discord and family disunity as it enhances the social life of families and the psychological needs.

8- The right to maintain fetus life

The law of Islam has provided the right of fetus to live and prohibited any attempt of killing him and further abortion is legislated in few established situations which are determined by physicians, Islam legists together with sociologists. In Islam, violators are punished equally, whether it is the father, the mother, or some one else... as the Islamic law dictates that the violator is to be deprived from inheritance in case of getting rid of fetus to capture his  share in the inheritance. Accordingly, the right of fetus to live is secured by Islam.

Islam legists agreed unanimously on prohibiting abortion and they resorted to the fact that God granted life to such lifeless thing and only He who has the power to take it back. Physicians and embryologists agreed that fetus is a living organism even when it is still a sperm and this is a convincing reason, from the scientific point of view, for not depriving such a helpless creature form the divine right of life.

9- The right to enjoy health life within womb

In Islam, the responsibility of fetus is resorted to parents as it is to be considered one of their duties, in other words subjects, in life " You are all guardians and each one of you is responsible for his own subjects", or that is to say " good shepherd is responsible for his own sheep" . Islam stipulated that the husband shall spend on his pregnant wife and socially protect her. This provides the right of fetus to enjoy secure, and serenity and good food " Let the women live (in Iddate) in the same style as ye live, according to your means: annoy them not, so as to restrict them. And if they carry (life in their wombs), then spend (your substance on them until they deliver their burden…" (Sura Talak – verse 6)

Accordingly, in Islam the husband is entitled to pay all the expenses of his pregnant wife after divorce, including food, housing, clothing, social protection, psychological support and medicines. This protects fetus against malnutrition and psychological illness. Islam protected women as well in a way that it allowed them to work outdoors only under admissible necessity.

10- Maintaining fetus good and benefit

For fetus sake, Islamic law gives the permission to the pregnant mother to eat in Ramadan and not to fast. (Prophet Muhammad, PBUH, exempted pregnant or suckling mothers from fasting) narrated by Termezi in the Fasting section.

11- Temporary hold of penalties for the pregnant

Islamic Law stipulated the delay of executing penalties on the pregnant adulterer till delivery, as what was dictated by Prophet Muhammad, PBUH, to a pregnant adulterer in an incident (you may go till your childbirth). Thus Islam comes to absolve fetus from the guilt of his mother. 

12- Maintaining fetus's financial rights

Islam preserves the right of fetus in inheritance in case if it is born live. Islam legists stated that fetus is to be counted within the total of inheritors and his share should be preserved till childbirth. In case if it is born live, his assigned share should be separated.   In Islam, patrimony is divided on the basis of holding back the major part for the sake of such fetus, and further the legacy for the fetus is considered true and correct.

13-Honorable Islamic precedence

What we have already mentioned is a small number of rights out of the large number of rights for the fetus in Islam which wad not introduced to the modern civilization until 1959, when the committee of child's rights – which is affiliated to the General Society of the United Nations – stated that both mother and baby shall get the utmost care and protection especially before delivery. In 1966 the United Nations approved on providing special care for pregnant women before and after delivery as well and granting them paid vacations.

First Day - Family, Culture, Religion

My first day at the EMC Bronx office. First girl arriving around 10:30 am with her boyfriend. She is not that young but she is tiny and very sweet. I look at her but I am not sure were she is coming from. She is very polite, she has positively finished her studies. She seems to be smart and to have her feet on the ground. She is nervous, hen skin, and her eyes moving quickly from the floor to the woman that is supposed to counsel her. The first thing she says when she sits down on the chair of that cold room is she came to us looking for counseling. Then she starts answering carefully all our questions trying not to show ho
w afraid she is and paying attention to every single word she is been told.

She is in love. She has been dating her boyfriend for a long time now and she has no doubt he is the right person for her. She knows she is pregnant. They were using protection, unfortunately it broke and she had to go for plan B. However, she has been part of that 1% ineffectiveness. After the pregnancy test, the counselor calculated an approximate due date. She is now 6 weeks pregnant. She is considering the abortion pill but still wants to listen to any other alternative. She refuses to give the baby in adoption. 9 months taking care of a vulnerable life in order to give it away later on is something she would not be able to stand. But there is something else. The counselor talks with her about the fetus and shows her a picture of its current stage of development. She burst into tears asking herself "why she has to do this". As I said, there is something else.

Sometimes, men do not support women. Sometimes, they do not enjoy stability or have financial problems but this was not the case. Both have gone to college. They were both working and studying. She is living with her parents and so is him. They would have to make an effort and move together and have the baby as a family but still that was not the problem. Finally she said very cautiously was she had in mind all that time since she first arrived an hour before. "My father would kill me, you do not understand". She had been raised within a Muslim family, very conservative,coming from a very different culture. She came here very young, she has grown as any other American and always standing in the line that separates such different two cultures. She understood her parents opinion, believes and values as no one that has not been raised with them could but she could not help feeling herself very far from her roots now.

She repeated once and again that we really did not understand her. And certainly we really do not. Pre-marital sex is absolutely forbidden in Islam. Pre-marital sex is a sin punishable by the Islamic court.

If an unmarried man and an unmarried woman are found guilty of fornication in an Islamic court, their punishment will be as the following: The woman and the man who fornicate scourge each of them a hundred whips; and in the matter of God s religion, let no tenderness for them seize you if you believe in God and the Last Day; and let a party of the believers witness their punishment. (24:2) If the unmarried man or woman commit fornication more than once, then they will be punished three times by hundred wipes, and if they are proven guilty for the fourth time, then they will be put to death. (See the chapter on "hudud" in Sharaya' and Sharh Lum'a also a;-Khu'i, Takmilah, p. 37-8) (As for adultery, its punishment is even more severe because married persons have no excuse, whatsoever, to commit adultery. The shari'ah says that married persons guilty of adultery should be stoned to death.) 

The truth is that, even if it is hard to believe, there are some cultures, specially Muslim people around the world, who consider that having their daughters having a baby outside marriage would be worse than having them killed before they do so. The embarrassment can be so humiliating for the family's honor, that the same family repudiates that woman or even kills her as a punishment for her sin. Families allowing such behavior would not be consider respectable anymore.

I cannot forget the sorrowfulness and the pain in her eyes. She was desperately crying for a solution, for an alternative. She wanted to keep her baby, she wanted to have a family. She wanted to save that life and she was ready for everything coming. She was just too scared and too alone to face it. She needed some time. But if that baby comes to the world, even if she has to raise him or her on her own, she will never again be alone. Because she would have all that love coming from the only person who really loves her unconditionally. Her baby. It is dramatic that still nowadays religion, customs, culture and even family can separate a mother from her child and even be the reason why she would be considering sacrificing a life.

Fear should never be there. We are here to help you. You are never alone. God will find you.