Texas Alliance for Life

TAL Update 10/3/07

Last chance for reservations at TAL's annual dinner on October 9

Passionate pro-life champion Dr. Alan Keyes will speak at TAL's annual benefit dinner on Tuesday, October 9, 2007, at the Doubletree Hotel North in Austin.

Please hurry; we are getting close to selling out!

To make a reservation for individual tickets or tables for 10, please contact Mary Shearer at 512-477-1244 or mary@texasallianceforlife.org. Or visit www.texasallianceforlife.org.

Listen to our 60-second radio ad by clicking HERE.

Adult stem cells bring sight to the blind

Adult stem cell research is an ethical and effective alternative to embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of human embryos. Adult stem cells have been used to treat more than 70 diseases. No one has been cured of anything using embryonic stem cells.

Medical News TODAY reports that adult stem cells have been used to restore sight to a man who had been blind for 40 years since the age of three when he lost his sight in a chemical explosion. One eye was lost, and he remained blind in the other until surgery involving a transplant of adult stem cells brought sight to his remaining eye.

The TimesOnline reports that a team of British specialists has successfully treated more than a dozen patients using adult stem cells. The technique restored sight in seven cases of people who had been blinded after getting acid, alkali, and boiling metal in their eyes, or because of congenital disorders. Many of the patients had been told that they had no hope of getting their sight back or had already undergone failed corneal transplants. Sheraz Daya, an ophthalmic surgeon a leading team of researchers, which has spent five years perfecting the technique, said that doctors had been astonished at how the cells appeared to trigger the eye's natural regeneration of its damaged surface. One patient, Edward Bailey, who had lost his sight from acid in an industrial accident, said the operation changed his life. "I couldn't believe it," the TimesOnline reports. "For ten years all I had seen was shades of black and gray, then after the operation the nurse came by and I saw a flash of blue from her uniform. I went home and when I took the patch off my eye, I had my vision back."

Life Chain Sunday is October 7

The organizers of LIFE CHAIN describe it as "a peaceful and prayerful public witness of pro-life Americans standing for one hour praying for our nation and for an end to abortion. It is a visual statement of solidarity by the Christian community that abortion kills children and that the Church supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception."

Over 135 separate Life Chains are planned for Texas. Go to www.LifeChain.net and click on "TEXAS" to find one near you. (Shown above are some of the participants in last year's LIFE CHAIN held in Allen, Texas.)

U.S. Senator John Cornyn guest speaker at TAL's Leadership Circle luncheon

U.S. Senator John Cornyn was the featured speaker at the August Leadership Circle luncheon in Austin. He is one of our very best pro-life heroes in Washington and has a 100% pro-life voting record. Cornyn excited the crowd with his speech. "It's important that America maintain its moral compass," he said. Quoting Alexis de Tochqueville, he said, "America is great because America is good." He pointed out that as science performs research, it is up to us to draw an ethical line as clearly as possible, expressing his opposition to tax funding for embryonic stem cell research because it attempts to trade one life for another. Cornyn supports adult stem cell research.

A former justice on the Texas Supreme Court, Senator Cornyn challenged the nation's judiciary to "embrace the vision of the judiciary of our founding fathers -- to respect the right of 'we the people' to govern [through the legislature process] and not make law from the bench."

Cornyn concluded by pointing out that there are two types of people: spectators who watch life and those in the game, trying to make a difference. How to get involved? One of the best ways is to support candidates who support our values.

The Leadership Circle is a special way for individuals to support our life-saving work by making a contribution of at least $1,000 per year. The annual membership includes three lunch meetings (January, April, and August) with community leaders in medicine, law, politics, policy, and ethics and a complimentary table at our annual October dinner (including attending our VIP reception). For information about joining, click HERE or call us at 512-477-1244.

P.O. Box 49137 * Austin, Texas 78765 * (512) 477-1244 * TexasAllianceforLife.org