in this issue:
abortion: RIGHT TO PRIVACY
culture of life: HOPE IN VIRGINIA
euthanasia: BLACK SHOES / EVALUATING SUFFERING
politics: DIVINE INTERVENTION
schiavo: INTERRED / MANAGING CONFLICT
stem cell research: HUMAN EMBRYO
wisdom: POPE BENEDICT XVI
zinger: AWAKE BUT NOT AWARE
reflection for prayer: PSALM 62:1-2
abortion
RIGHT TO PRIVACY: A recent feminist commentary by Elizabeth Borg sets the record straight on the connection between contraception and abortion: “As a law student, I closely studied Griswold v. Connecticut [June 7, 1965] and how it profoundly deepened the constitutional right of individuals to be free from government intrusion in their private lives. But most Americans know little about this landmark case that first affirmed our right to use modern birth control and has served as the legal foundation for rulings on sexual relations, reproductive rights and family life ever since.”
(Reading: “40 years later, fight for privacy is still on,” Women’s eNews, 6/21/05)
culture of life
HOPE IN VIRGINIA: For those who want to keep track of Susan Torres and the progress of her preborn baby (Communique, 6/17/05), see the Susan Torres Fund.
euthanasia
BLACK SHOES: In a chilling commentary, Ron Panzer of Hospice Patients Alliance exposes the problem with the U.S. president who talks about “compassion” but does nothing to make sure that the tax money earmarked for care for the vulnerable is actually going to those who truly need it.
(Reading: “Black shoes,” Hospice Patients Alliance, 6/17/05)
EVALUATING SUFFERING: In a recent exchange on whether or not spina bifida babies should be euthanized at birth, proponents argue that a judgment of “unbearable suffering” for the newborn infant should result in the application of the “Groningen protocol” so that euthanasia, if deemed appropriate, can be carried out.
(Reading: “Euthanasia in severely ill newborns,” New England Journal of Medicine, 6/2/05)
politics
DIVINE INTERVENTION: When Fr. Paul McDonald preached on the circumstances under which a Catholic must be denied Holy Communion, he had no idea that Paul Martin, Canada’s pro-abortion Catholic prime minister, was among the congregation. But the priest says he’s certain that the topic, and Martin’s attendance, were “all by Divine arrangement.” Fr. McDonald said he caught sight of Martin only at the end of Mass, noting the prime minister had a “sad and bewildered face.”
(Reading: “Prime Minister Martin hears homily: ‘Pro-abortion politicians shouldn’t receive Communion,'” LifeSiteNews.com, 6/22/05)
schiavo
INTERRED: Terri Schiavo’s remains have been interred in Florida and the headstone, composed by Michael Schiavo, reads in part, “departed this earth February 25, 1990; at peace March 31, 2005.”
(Reading: “Schiavo marker stirs family hostility,” USA Today, 6/20/05)
MANAGING CONFLICT: Using the Schiavo case as a focus, one medical journal commentator applauded Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Terri Schiavo’s bishop), who “broke with the Church hierarchy,” for taking no side in the discussions about Terri and whether or not she should have been starved to death.
(Reading: “Managing conflict at the end of life,” New England Journal of Medicine, 6/9/05)
stem cell research
HUMAN EMBRYO: In the ongoing effort to focus attention on the fact that every single human embryo is a human being whose life must be protected regardless of arguments to the contrary, the following is helpful: “The [human] embryo is fully programmed, and has the active disposition, to develop himself or herself to the next mature stage of a human being. And unless prevented by disease, violence or a hostile environment, the embryo will actually do so. None of the changes that occur to the embryo after fertilization, for as long as he or she survives, generates a new direction of growth.”
(Reading: “Scientific basis for doubts about stem cell research,” Zenit, 6/4/05)
wisdom
POPE BENEDICT XVI: In a new book, Pope Benedict XVI writes on the reason why the Catholic Church cannot compromise on abortion: “Why don’t we resign ourselves to the fact that we lost that battle and dedicate our energies instead to projects where we can find greater social consensus? … Recognizing the sacred nature of human life and its inviolability without any exceptions is not a small problem or something that can be considered part of the pluralism of opinions in modern society. … There is no such thing as ‘small murders.’ Respect for every single life is an essential condition for anything worthy of being called social life.”
(Reading: “Church can never accept abortion — Pope’s book,” Reuters, 6/21/05)
zinger
AWAKE BUT NOT AWARE: Professor Inez Beaufort focuses on Terri Schiavo and what the professor perceives as a state of non-awareness. Beaufort makes the point that individuals need to make their family members aware of their desires should something similar to Terri’s situation happen to them because “most of us, given the opportunity, would want to orchestrate the way in which we die.”
COMMENT: Without faith and trust in God, in other words, each person should be protected by law in his effort to get others to agree to kill him. First abortion, because mothers need to orchestrate when they want to be mothers of living children; now this!
(Reading: “Patients in a persistent vegetative state — a Dutch perspective,” New England Journal of Medicine, 6/9/05)
reflection for prayer
PSALM 62:1-2: In God alone there is rest for my soul, from him comes my safety; with him alone for my rock, my safety, my fortress, I can never fall.