in this issue:
catholic bishops: CARLSON / DONOGHUE, BAKER AND JUGIS
cloning humans: BOTH SIDES PLAYING POLITICS?
fertility drugs: PERIODONTAL DISEASE
hospice: HASTENING DEATH?
human embryology: ISLAM
lifeline: ARE YOU A SERVANT?
morning-after abortion pill: ALABAMA / POLITICS
planned parenthood: CHOICE CHICK
politics: LESSER EVIL / VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE
pregnancy: LOWERING THE RISK OF OVARIAN CANCER
sex education: BRITAIN
sexually transmitted disease: BRITAIN
reflection for prayer: ST. JOHN VIANNEY
catholic bishops
CARLSON: From Sioux Falls, South Dakota Bishop Robert J. Carlson:
Opposition to abortion binds every Catholic under pain of mortal sin and admits of no exceptions. It was for this reason that I stated in October of 2000 that you cannot vote for a politician who is pro-abortion when you have a choice and remain a Catholic in good standing. For some Catholics this is a hard teaching, but I am simply repeating church teaching: Human life is sacred because from the beginning it involves the creative action of God (Gospel of Life, par. 53)…the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being (abortion and euthanasia) is always gravely immoral (Gospel of Life, par. 57, 65)…protecting the mother’s health does not justify the deliberate killing of an innocent human being (Gospel of Life, par. 58).
(Reading: “Daschle’s bishop: Don’t vote for pro-abortion politicians,” Human Events, 7/30/04)
DONOGHUE, BAKER AND JUGIS: In a joint proclamation, Archbishop John Donoghue of Atlanta, Bishop Robert Baker of Charleston and Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte decreed: “Catholics serving in public life espousing positions contrary to the teaching of the Church on the sanctity and inviolability of human life, especially those running for or elected to public office, are not to be admitted to Holy Communion in any Catholic church within our jurisdictions.”
(Reading: “Worthy to receive the Lamb,” Archdiocese of Atlanta, 8/4/04)
cloning humans
BOTH SIDES PLAYING POLITICS? Dianne Irving, PhD, exposes the ugly truth that human cloning is not truly human cloning when both sides are deceiving the public.
(Reading: “The kettle calling the pot fake,” LifeIssues.net, 7/27/04)
fertility drugs
PERIODONTAL DISEASE: A recent study find that the process of ovulation induction that involves the use of fertility drugs exacerbates gingival inflammation, bleeding and GCF volume. The use of such drugs over a period of time is strongly associated with the severity of such problems.
(Reading: “The effects of ovulation induction during infertility treatment on gingival inflammation,” Journal of Periodontology, 6/04)
hospice
HASTENING DEATH? Researchers surveyed hospice social workers to determine whether or not a desire to hasten death is prevalent among hospice patients. Despite the talk about hastening death, in 40 of the 54 cases death in fact was not hastened; in five cases, death was hastened and it was unknown or unclear what happened to the other nine patients.
COMMENT: Not discussed is how “death was hastened” or how the other nine died!
(Reading: “Hospice patients and family caregivers talk of hastening death,” Caregiver’s Home Companion, 6/7/04)
human embryology
ISLAM: According to Islamic interpretations of the Qur’an and Hadith, a human being does not begin to exist until after the 42nd day of his actual life. Dianne Irving, PhD, points out that Canadian human embryologist Keith Moore is among those who “wants to change the traditional Carnegie States of Early Human Embryological Development.”
COMMENT: This is not a good sign for human personhood.
(Reading: “Iran, abortion, and Islamic embryology?” LifeIssues.net, 7/20/04)
lifeline
ARE YOU A SERVANT? Ron Panzer of the Hospice Patients Alliance has written an analysis of what it means to be a servant in today’s “me first” culture.
(Reading: “Called to serve,” Hospice Patients Alliance, 7/18/04)
morning-after abortion pill
ALABAMA: According to Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson, federal law does not mandate that Alabama’s health department distribute the pills. The letter said, in part, “The current Title X statute, regulations and guidelines do not mandate the distribution of emergency contraceptive pills.” However, state officials say they will continue to provide them anyway.
(Reading: “State not required to distribute emergency contraceptives,” Associated Press, 7/28/04)
POLITICS: Arguing that “over the counter” status for these pills will “improve women’s lives and health by preventing unintended pregnancies,” David Grimes, MD, tells readers that denying these pills to adolescents is creating an ignorant population of young women. Grimes does not admit that the pills can abort human beings. Gene Rudd, MD argues that using Plan B invites risk-taking behavior that could lead to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. He also points out that the material provided with Plan B does not help women understand that the pills can abort a developing human embryo. In addition, Barr Laboratories has submitted documents to the Food and Drug Administration that, they argue, will lead to FDA approval for the abortion pills.
(Reading: “Emergency contraception: politics trumps science at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 104:2:220-1; “Avoiding Pregnancy ‘A’ Plan versus Plan B,” Annals of Pharmacotherapy; “Company proposes dual marketing status,” Barr Pharmaceuticals news release, 7/22/04)
planned parenthood
CHOICE CHICK: A political pro-abortion cartoon featuring a heroine totally dedicated to child killing is now online.
politics
LESSER EVIL: In an op ed column, Matt Abbott quotes Janet M. Thompson of the Fides Foundation: “There is no explicit Magisterial teaching giving the moral ‘green light’ to the faithful to vote for pro-abortion candidates….The notion of ‘choosing the lesser evil’ is simply not valid — one may never licitly choose evil. As Pope Paul VI stated, ‘Although it is true that it is at times lawful to tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater or in order to promote a great good, it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it.'”
(Reading: “Should Catholics vote for ‘Dubya?‘” Catholic Online, 7/20/04)
VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE: Fr. John Corapi has written a most interesting commentary on the various ways a Catholic can be guilty of sin simply by cooperating in the sins of others. He writes, “It is not morally possible for any Catholic to support abortion, euthanasia, fetal stem cell research, human cloning, or same-sex marriage. There are no ways around this, no justifications whatever. Why? For the simple reason that the Church holds these things to be intrinsically evil. They are evil in themselves, and no circumstances or subjective conditions can ever change that” [emphasis added].
(Reading: “Form your conscience, vote your conscience,” Catholic Citizens, 6/29/04)
pregnancy
LOWERING THE RISK FOR OVARIAN CANCER: Malcolm Pike and colleagues at the University of Southern California have discovered that women who have children after the age of 35 are less likely to suffer ovarian cancer. “Women who had four or more children had a 64 percent lower risk than women who had never given birth.”
(Reading: “Late childbirth lowers ovarian cancer risk-study,” Reuters, 7/14/04)
sex education
BRITAIN: Dr. R.V. Short points out that “taking the pill off prescription to make it more readily available to teenagers would be an enormous breakthrough, and is fully justified on public-health grounds.” In a second study, researchers claim that those teens educated by “peers” are less like to have sex before age 16 than those taught by adults.
COMMENT: Two questions. Why would anyone want teens on the pill when the pill protects no one from STDs, destroys human beings during their first week of life, and is immoral? Why is the age of sixteen a magic cut off date in British medicine? Isn’t sex outside of marriage always wrong?
(Reading: “Teaching safe sex in English schools”; “Pupil-led sex education in England (RIPPLE study): cluster-randomized intervention trial,” The Lancet, 07/24/04)
sexually transmitted disease
BRITAIN: STD rates continue to rise, and proponents of sex education claim it is because there is not enough of sex education.
(Reading: “STD rates continue to rise in Britain,” Associated Press, 7/27/04)
reflection for prayer
ST. JOHN VIANNEY: Do you know what the devil’s first temptation is to the person who wants to serve God with dedication? It is human respect.