You have no doubt seen a video of a friend on Facebook being doused with buckets of ice water. What would possess a human being to do something so chilling? It is the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often called Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a devastating, progressive neurodegenerative disease that is fatal and has no cure.

But not all ALS charities are the same.
For example the ALS Association reported that that last year they gave $500,000 to Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS), the largest association of ALS clinical researchers in the world. Likely, the ALS Association will give more to NEALS this year with the popularity of the Ice Bucket Challenge.

NEALS helps run clinical trials for ALS. On their website, they say that a “NEALS-affliated” trial is one where the “sponsor of the trial has contracted NEALS Coordinating Centers to help conduct the trial. A sponsor may contract NEALS to manage an entire trial or just a portion of the work.”I found a NEALS-affliated active trial on their website that clearly states it uses stem cells that originated from an electively aborted fetus. The trial is being funded by NeuralStem Inc. and the description states:
     "These stem cells have been engineered from the spinal cord of a single fetus electively aborted after eight weeks of gestation. The tissue was obtained with the mother’s consent."

So who can you give your Ice Bucket Challenge money to? I know of one charity that is not focused on funding the research, but on making the lives of those with ALS better through technology and on raising awareness for the disease. Team Gleason, founded by former NFL player and ALS patient, Steve Gleason, has the following mission:

• Help provide individuals with neuromuscular diseases or injuries with leading edge technology, equipment and services.
• Create a global conversation about ALS to ultimately find solutions and an end to the disease.
• Raise public awareness toward ALS by providing and documenting extraordinary life adventures for individuals with muscular diseases or injuries.

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LifeNews recently profiled how the Planned Parenthood abortion business is running away from the term “pro-choice” because it is losing the abortion debate. Now, here is more evidence that the pro-abortion side is flailing and how it is attempting to reinvent itself again to somehow make the destruction of unborn babies in abortion palatable to the American public.

The pro-abortion group NARAL released a new poll today. The pro-abortion group had a chance to hire its own pollster and to formulate the questions in a way that would distort the results in a skewed pro-abortion direction.

No matter how hard NARAL tried, its own polling data makes it clear Americans are not comfortable with the current state of abortion on demand. Only 23 percent of those polled told NARAL that they think abortion is morally okay.

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The new movie, The Giver, adapted from Lois Lowry’s classic young adult novel, is being hailed by pro-life leaders as a genuinely pro-life movie.

Sometimes an author writes a story because she wants to write a good story, and Lowry’s story tells of the value of life and the tragedy of killing babies–and the elderly–we find somehow less valuable than others. Now, the story has been translated to the big screen, but pre-release reviews say the pro-life message hasn’t been changed.
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As America’s state lawmakers continue to lead in protecting women and preborn children by enacting pro-life laws, the culture clash over abortion inevitably plays out in U.S. federal courts. 
 
Two important cases, centered around the humanity of the child, are set to proceed soon.
The two cases – Edwards v. Beck in Arkansas along with MKB Management Corp. v Stenehjem in North Dakota – were filed to block recent state laws which ban abortions based on when a baby’s heartbeat is detected.

The future of these court cases rests on two questions.
     First, Who will be named to the three-judge panel? Any of the 15 judges in the Eight Circuit could be chosen. Another recent appeals case clarifies why this step is so vital. 
 
When the initial challenge to House Bill 2 in Texas went to an appeals court in March 2014, a panel of three female judges was chosen; they rejected the appeal unanimously, allowing Texas’ pro-life law to remain intact. 
 
     Secondly, Will the Eighth Circuit consolidate the two cases? The issue of a baby’s humanity in the womb will more likely come before the Supreme Court if judges consolidate these two as companion cases. 
 
Allan Parker of The Justice Foundation has filed amicus briefs in both cases. These briefs carefully document the testimonies of 3,279 women, who reveal the physical and psychological harm they’ve endured due to abortion.
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