WHISTLE - Letter No 18

5 December, 2008

WHISTLE

·   A branch of HealNZ 24/7 prayer, with a specific focus on prayer regarding abortion in NZ.

·   Announcing "FULL TIME" to abortion in NZ.

·   Arranged by Sue Rowe and The Whistle Team, coordinated from Hamilton.

·   "He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, He whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come swiftly and speedily!"  (Is 5:26)

Over the past week we have more than doubled the number who have signed up to pray an hour a week

                    TOTAL NOW 32.

There are several more working on the time they will pray.

A separate Whistle 24/7 prayer letter will be sent out regularly to these ones.

Will you consider making this commitment:

 - to press the advantage gained during the 40 days

 - for our nation

I know many, while not commiting to one hour, are praying regularly about abortion and

for this I am grateful. 

The Declaration was also declared on 18th November - the 40th day - at the following places:

·   Leesdon, South Island

·   Bronswick, Rotorua

·   Gisborne

·   top of The Mount, Mt Maunganui and the lower Mount Drury

·   Christchurch

·   Masterton, two locations, with signs in the sky following

(see Whistle website for a couple of summaries)

Networking meeting for all prolife groups and interested people in Canterbury area.

    This follows on from the Labour weekend All For Life Conference in Nelson.

·       Saturday 13th December, 1-3pm

·       John Paul II Centre for Life, 88 Idris Rd, Bryndwr, Christchurch.

·       ph 351 3225, or email: maria@fli.org.nz re you intention to attend.

·       arranged by Family Life International, a Catholic organisation dedicated to promoting the

·       sanctity of life and the dignity of marriage and family.  www.fli.org.nz

    Training for Sidewalk Counselling: to train for standing peacefully and prayfully outside

    Lyndhurst Abortion Clinic, Christchurch, and inviting women to consider the help available to them to

    keep their baby.  This is through Family Life Int.  Contact Maria Schmetzer - see details above.

Also a meeting in Auckland next week for key people in prolife groups.

Maxim Institute, in their recent email letter, wrote:

"749 babies with Down's syndrome were 'live-born' in the United Kingdom in 2006, the largest number since prenatal screening began in 1989.

The reasons why families decided to continue with the pregnancy, were highlighted in a radio documentary, and included holding a moral objection to abortion and hence being willing to confront the challenge of a child with special needs, but they also included a sense that life for Down's Syndrome children has improved and that society is more accepting of people with disabilities.

We really can make a difference in the lives of those with disabilities, by trating disables people as exactly that - people - human beings, living on the same earth and members of the same human family.  People with aspirations, hopes, fears and weaknesses become hard to dismiss or ignore, and once we have seen their humanity, disabled people, even those in the womb, have a claim upon our consciences, in terms of support and concrete assistance."

 NZ Study at University of Otago finds that abortion increases women's mental health problems    

(There was a press release on Dec 3rd, an interview with Brendan Malone of Family Life Int NZ on Shine TV on 4th Dec, a release on LifeSiteNews.com and the report was published in the December issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.)

"This study is part of a growing body of research which challenges the current popular misconception that abortion carries no risks to the health and wellbeing of women.

The study, led by Dr David Fergusson, Dunedin, and funded by the Health Research Council of NZ, studied the pregnancy and mental health history of over 500 women, who have taken part in the long-running study from birth to the age of 30.

The researchers took into account factors which might be associated with increased risks of abortion and/or mental illness, including childhood environmental factors, adolescent and parental adjustment, individual characteristics, and achievement in school.

They concluded that abortion could be blamed for an increase of various anxiety, mood and substance abuse disorders, and that exposure to abortion accounted for between 1.5% and 5.5% of mental disorders in the general population.

The research findings could have implications for the legal status of abortion in NZ and the UK, where over 90% of abortions are authorized on the grounds that the pregnancy poses a serious threat to the women's mental health.  This research indicates that in many cases the opposite may be true: that teminating the pregnancy is in fact the riskier choice for the woman's mental health.

In August, a study of 768 women by the University of Oslo, Norway, also determined that abortion

specifically puts women at higher risk for mental health disorders."

May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His light shine upon you,

Blessings,

Sue Rowe

Sue Rowe,  Email:  roy.sue.rowe@clear.net.nz 

Supported by: Brian and Trisha Caughley of Intercessors For NZ, and John Fulford of Vision Network (Prayer).