in this issue:
abortion: NO CHOICE
activism: LAWYERS TO MEET
adolescents: DEPRESSION AND SUCIIDE
berkshire hathaway: PAMPERED CHEF
culture of death: SHE-MALES
disability rights: END OF LIFE ISSUES
feeding tubes: RACIST?
morning-after abortion pills: OVER THE COUNTER
no exceptions: 14TH AMENDMENT DEBATES
stem cell research: HUMAN CELLS IN RATS
zinger: EXCUSE US?
reflection for prayer: IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD
abortion
NO CHOICE: California pro-lifers are suing in federal district court claiming that the state of California is denying mothers the “choice of life.” The suit is being filed by Life, Ackerman and Cody on behalf of crisis pregnancy centers.
(Reading: “Pro-lifers federal suit demands ‘choice,'” World Net Daily, 7/4/03)
activism
LAWYERS TO MEET: The National Lawyers Association will host its annual conference July 31 through August 2. Keynote speaker and honored guest is Congressman Henry Hyde.
adolescents
DEPRESSION AND SUICIDE: The Heritage Foundation has published a study indicating that those teens who are engaged in sexual activity are more likely to be depressed and to attempt suicide.
berkshire hathaway
PAMPERED CHEF: Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, announced the termination of its shareholder-designated contributions program. One of the reasons cited is the harm done to Pampered Chef by the corporate giving program that funded anti-life groups. While the corporate contributions program was terminated, Buffett’s spokesman made no mention of the ongoing private funding of pro-death groups that Buffett has pursued for years.
(Reading: untitled Berkshire Hathaway news release, 7/3/03)
culture of death
SHE-MALES: U. S. scientists told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology that they had created hybrid human “she-males” by mixing male and female cells in the same embryo.
(Reading: “Scientists create human ‘she-males,'” Reuters, 7/2/03)
disability rights
END OF LIFE ISSUES: National disability rights groups are outraged that Last Acts has presented, as terminal illnesses, the stories of two individuals who are suffering with debilitating diseases that are not terminal. “Obviously, neither Parkinson’s nor Crohn’s are terminal conditions, but Last Acts is misleading the public and is wrongly perpetuating the dangerous myth that life with a disability is the beginning of a death sentence.”
(Reading: “National disability groups outraged about ‘end of life’ advocacy further devaluing life with a disability,” Not Dead Yet news release, 6/30/03; Last Chapters, the web site cited in the Not Dead Yet news release)
feeding tubes
RACIST? A recent study claims “senile residents of nursing homes are more likely to be put on feeding tubes instead of being had fed if they are black or Asian or live in a big urban nursing home run for profit.”
COMMENT: Nancy Valko, RN, states “Like so many articles, this one mixes truths and misinformation. Nursing home patients aren’t automatically dying. It can be dangerous to spoon-feed patients with swallowing difficulties. While spoon-feeding some nursing home residents would be ideal, there is often not enough staff. Most people, even the confused or those with dementia, usually tolerate feeding tubes very well and don’t pull at them.” In other words, don’t believe everything you read.
(Reading: “Study finds racial differences in use of feeding tubes,” New York Times, 7/2/03; “Clinical and organizational factors associated with feeding tube use among nursing home residents with advanced cognitive impairment,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 7/2/03, abstract)
morning-after abortion pills
OVER THE COUNTER: Follow the money and see where studies affirming the morning after pill regimen “safety” are coming from. Recent three articles appeared in a major medical journal, all focused on pressing for over the counter distribution of morning after pills. The basic argument is that “most women used emergency contraception correctly without provider evaluation and counseling. Self-administration is even more feasible…” Here are the details of each article, including information about the funding source and/or the background of the principal author:
- Tina Raine, MD, MPH, editorial, “Emergency Contraception: The Right Questions?” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 7/03, pp. 1-2, (articles not on line). Raine is a member of the Journal’s editorial board and the lead researcher in a study posted on the Plan B web site. Plan B is one of the morning after pill regimens currently being considered by the FDA for over-the-counter approval. Her study is online.
- Jackson, et al, “Advance supply of emergency contraception: effect on use and usual contraception — a randomized trial,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 7/03, pp. 8-16; study funded by the Packard Foundation, one of the world’s largest financial supporters of international family planning. For information see STOPP International’s Ryan Report, 6/99.
- Raymond, et al, “‘Actual use’ study of emergency contraceptive pills provided in a simulated over-the-counter manner,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 7/03, pp. 17-23, study funded by the John Merck Fund, supporters of Catholics for a Free Choice and other anti-life groups; Merck is a pharmaceutical firm most recently cited in this newsweekly for denying matching funds for employees who select Human Life International as the recipient of their donations. For details on Merck see Communique, 6/27/03, and “To whom it may concern,” by Chris Kahlenborn, M.D.
no exceptions
14TH AMENDMENT DEBATES: Congressman Joshua R. Giddings on the 14th Amendment: “Our fathers, recognizing God as the author of human life, proclaimed it a self-evident truth that every human being holds from the Creator an inalienable right to live …. If this right be denied, no other can be acknowledged. If there be exceptions to this central, this universal proposition, that all men, without respect to complexion or condition, hold from the Creator the right to live, who shall determine what portion of the community shall be slain? And who shall perpetrate the murders?”
(Reading: Congressional Globe, 35th Congress, 1st Session, App. 65-66, 1858; cited in American Life League’s amicus brief in Vacco v. Quill)
stem cell research
HUMAN CELLS IN RATS: Stem cells were taken from human embryos and injected into paralyzed rats by a team of scientists at Johns Hopkins University. The rats were able to walk after the injection.
(Reading: “Stem cells help paralyzed rats in study,” Reuters, 6/27/03)
(Background: “Human stem cells help paralyzed rats, mice walk,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/25/01)
zinger
EXCUSE US? Malcolm Potts, M.D, noted abortion proponent, wrote in a letter to the editor of Newsweek, “I am an obstetrician and an embryologist, but I can no more tell when life begins in the human fetus with my microscope than an astronomer can tell if heaven exists with a telescope.”
(Reading: “When does life begin?” Newsweek, 6/23/03, p. 20, paid subscribers only)
reflection for prayer
IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Our Lord showed that this beatitude was the straight path along which we will achieve happiness in this life as well as in the next. It is like a little trickle of fresh water that springs from the outpouring mercy of God and that gives us a share in his very happiness. It teaches us, far better than books can, that true happiness does not consist in having and possessing, in judging and in always being right, in imposing justice according to our lights. It consists rather in letting ourselves be taken up and clasped by God, in ourselves submitting to his judgement and to his generous justice, and in learning from him the daily practice of mercy. It is then we understand that it is more blessed to give than to receive. A compassionate and merciful heart is a heart filled with happiness and peace. In this way we too will receive that mercy that we need so badly; and we will owe it to those who have given us the opportunity of doing something for them and for God. Saint Augustine tells us that mercy is the luster — the glory — of the soul; it enriches it and causes its appearance to be good and beautiful.
(Reading: “In Conversation with God,” Vol. 3, pp. 539-540)