Children of surrogacy campaign to outlaw the practice | New York Post

The following excerpts are from the New York Post:

• When Jessica Kern gave evidence to lawmakers in Washington, DC, last summer opposing the legalization of surrogacy in the district, she was pointedly asked why she wasn’t grateful for the procedure that created her.
• “The question was so simple and dismissive,” she recalls. “Like I would choose this for myself? When the only reason you’re in this world is a big fat paycheck, it’s degrading.”
• Kern, 30, of Culpepper, Va., is among a number of donor-conceived children in the US who are campaigning for tighter controls on the law governing assisted reproduction.
• “You can’t sell your kidney for profit but you can purchase an egg or sell a child,” she says. “There needs to be more checks and balances.
• “Most of the consideration within surrogacy is toward the adults and what they want. Often, it’s not in the best interests of the children.”

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Children of surrogacy campaign to outlaw the practice | New York Post

Mosul's Ancient Christian Population 'May Never Return'

AP Wire Photo

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

• The Islamist overthrow of the Iraqi city of Mosul has emptied it of its ancient Christian population, who may never return, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul said.
• Archbishop Amel Nona said he had "never seen anything like" the attack on the northern city this week, which is part of an ongoing campaign to set up an Islamic state in northern Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who are also known as ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Group).
• Mosul, historically a Christian heartland, was home to 35,000 Christians before the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. In the 11 years since, its Christian population has drained to just 3,000. World Watch Monitor, which monitors Christian persecution, reported that up to a thousand Christian families had fled this week for safer areas.
• The archbishop told the Christian charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): "We have never seen anything like this -- a large city such as Mosul attacked and in chaos." He went on: "Now there is probably no one left. We received threats... [and] now all the faithful have fled the city. I wonder if they will ever return there."
• Archbishop Nona said the city had been left "to the mercy of the attackers" after the Iraqi army and police suddenly withdrew. Mosul's last remaining Christians were among the 500,000 people to flee this week.

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Mosul's Ancient Christian Population 'May Never Return'

Iraqi Christians Flee Homes Amid Militant Push

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

• The flight is a new blow to Iraq's dwindling Christian community, which is almost as old as the religion itself but which has already been devastated since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. During the past 11 years, at least half of the country's Christian population has fled the country, according to some estimates, to escape frequent attacks by Sunni Muslim militants targeting them and their churches.
• Now many of those who held out and remained may be giving up completely after fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant swept over the city of Mosul and a broad swath of the country the past week.
• "I'm not going back," said Lina, who fled Mosul with her family as the militants swept in and came to Alqosh, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) to the north.
• "Each day we went to bed in fear," the 57-year-old woman said, sitting in a house for displaced people. "In our own houses we knew no rest." Like other Christians who fled here, she spoke on condition she be identified only by her first name for fear for her safety.
• In leaving, the Christians are emptying out communities that date back to the first centuries of the religion, including Chaldean, Assyrian and Armenian churches. The past week, some 160 Christian families -- mosly from Mosul -- have fled to Alqosh, mayor Sabri Boutani told The Associated Press, consulting first on the number with his wife by speaking in Chaldean, the ancient language spoken by many residents.

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Iraqi Christians Flee Homes Amid Militant Push