in this issue:
bulletin: TERRI SCHIAVO
abortion: UNION DEMANDS
adolescents: WISCONSIN
california: ARNOLD / SHELL GAME
personhood: MISSISSIPPI
planned parenthood: CLOSED
population control: KAZAKHSTAN / RUSSIA / STATISTICS
reflection for prayer: PSALM 90: 12, 14
bulletin
TERRI SCHIAVO: Despite Gov. Jeb Bush’s plea to Florida courts that a guardian be appointed to “independently investigate the circumstances of this case and provide the court with an unbiased view that considers the best interests of Mrs. Schiavo,” a state judge says he is “not inclined” to do so. At a Sept. 11 hearing, Judge George Greer will set a date for removing Schiavo’s feeding tube. Her husband wants feeding to stop, but her parents are pleading with the courts to spare their daughter’s life.
(Reading: “Gov. Bush seeks delay in coma case,” Associated Press, 8/27/03)
abortion
UNION DEMANDS: United Auto Workers negotiators want coverage for abortion and birth control written into members’ collective bargaining agreements. According to the Detroit Free Press, the union asked Chrysler to “expand benefits related to reproductive services,” and requested that “professional fees for elective pregnancy termination be covered” for General Motors workers.
(Reading: “Abortion coverage new goal for UAW,” Detroit Free Press, 8/21/03)
adolescents
WISCONSIN: A mom’s attempt to teach her teenager a lesson may boomerang. The woman found her 14-year-old daughter in bed with a 14-year-old boyfriend. They dared her to call the cops, so she did. Both teens now face criminal charges, but one of the lawyers is using the case to challenge the state’s age of consent law. Says the attorney, the teens’ right to privacy allows them the freedom to have sex, no matter what Mom might think about it.
(Reading: “Teens have right to have sex, lawyer argues,” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 8/20/03)
california
ARNOLD: A British newspaper notes that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is pro-abortion, donates to Catholic causes and attends Mass regularly at a parish in Santa Monica. He donated a house to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which was sold for $2 million to help build a new cathedral.
(Reading: “The Terminator seeks a helping hand from God,” Daily Telegraph, 8/24/03)
SHELL GAME: California Right to Life reports state assembly members have gutted AB 561, a conservation bill, and turned it into a companion piece for SB 71 (see Communique, 8/8/03), a bill that rewrites state regulations for “family planning” programs. California Right to Life notes, “The wording of this bill is deceptive since it would lead most people to believe it has some magic solution to stopping teen age sexual experimentation when, in fact, all it promises to ‘reduce teen birth rates.’ This means that while encouraging sexual intimacy they will assist in removing, through abortion, the evidence of intimacy — the baby.”
(Reading: California Right to Life action note, 8/27/03; AB 561, California State Assembly, 7/15/03)
personhood
MISSISSIPPI: The state supreme court says wrongful death claims can be filed on behalf of preborn children. The 6-2 ruling only treats the preborn as legal persons within the context of wrongful death litigation, but critics are calling the decision an assault on Roe v. Wade.
(Reading: “Court says unborn fetus is a ‘person,'” Associated Press, 8/21/03)
planned parenthood
CLOSED: Two years after it opened, a Planned Parenthood facility in Houghton, Mich., has shut its doors. For Planned Parenthood, it goes into the books as a failed business venture — the “health center” simply did not draw enough customers. A local pastor said the real story is the success of pro-lifers who kept up a regular witness outside the office during its tenure in downtown Houghton.
(Reading: “Planned Parenthood closes, pro-lifers claim victory,” The [Houghton, Mich.] Daily Mining Gazette, 8/25/03)
population control
KAZAKHSTAN: President Nursultan Nazarbaev offered no suggestions of how to meet the goal, but he says his nation needs to add 5 million people in the next 17 years. The former Soviet republic has lost population since the USSR collapsed. Nazarbaev says the additional people are necessary to ensure economic stability.
(Reading: “Kazakhstan: President urges population increase to meet work force demands,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 8/27/03)
RUSSIA: The country is imposing restrictions on abortion for the first time in 50 years. While only slightly curtailing a virtual abortion on demand policy, the new ruling led the Russian Orthodox Church to encourage additional limits. Russia’s population is decreasing, and the decline is expected to continue.
(Reading: “After decades, Russia narrows grounds for abortion,” New York Times, 8/23/03)
STATISTICS: Even organizations that have supported population control are now wary of that policy’s consequences. Demographers meeting in Berlin say the world’s population is aging, as global fertility rates are decreasing. According to the United Nations, 7 percent of the world’s population is now 65 or older. By 2050, the 65-and-older group will represent 16 percent of the total. In some countries, it is projected that more than a third of the population will be 65 or older. Various nations, especially in Europe, are being criticized for failing to address that fact.
(Reading: “World ignoring population woes, demographers warn,” Reuters, 8/15/03)
reflection for prayer
PSALM 90:12,14: Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.