in this issue:
hot button issues: CATHOLIC POLITICIANS I / CATHOLIC POLITICIANS II / NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY
abortion/breast cancer: LA TIMES
activism: ON THE ROPES
in vitro fertilization: DEATH TO THE ‘SPARES’
license plates: ARKANSAS / FLORIDA / LOUISIANA
morning-after abortion pill: NEW YORK TIMES
planned parenthood: NEW NEIGHBORS
ru-486: ANTIDOTE / STICKY NOTES OF DEATH
population elimination: SWEDEN
research: CONSCIOUSNESS
reflection for prayer: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-18
hot button issues
CATHOLIC POLITICIANS I: Fourteen Catholic senators voted for a non-binding “sense of the Senate” resolution supporting Roe v. Wade: Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.); Susan Collins (R-Maine); Tom Daschle (D-S.D.); Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.); Richard Durbin (D-Ill.); Tom Harkin (D-Iowa); Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.); John Kerry (D-Mass.); Mary Landrieu (D-La.); Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.); Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.); Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska); Patty Murray (D-Wash.); Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
(Reading: Harkin Amendment 260 to S.3, Congressional Record; go to Library of Congress and search for Senate vote 48 from the first session of the 108th Congress; “Deadly Dozen betrays faith and families,” American Life League news release, 3/14/03)
CATHOLIC POLITICIANS II: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) was one of the main sponsors of an amendment that would have required many health plans to cover the cost of birth control. Senators voted down the proposal 49-47. Murray appears in American Life League’s “Deadly Dozen” ad, part of a campaign designed to spotlight elected officials who back legal abortion while claiming to be faithful Catholics.
(Reading: “Senate rejects birth control measure in abortion bill,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 3/12/03; “The Deadly Dozen,” American Life League, 1/22/03)
NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY: On April 28, students across the country are asked to wear pro-life T-shirts to school. One teen writes to say she’s definitely going to participate: “I’m wearing the ‘I survived’ T-shirt since I was about five minutes away from being aborted. The operation didn’t work. Woo-hoo! Praise God! Thanks for doing this.” American Life League is sponsoring the event through its Rock for Life youth outreach.
(Reading: “National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day,” American Life League)
abortion/breast cancer
LA TIMES: A report examines the science and the politics behind conflicting claims about a possible relationship between induced abortion and breast cancer. Researcher Joel Brind, who maintains there is a link, insists that “We should continue to look at this until everyone is convinced.” Brind offered additional views in an Agape Press report.
(Reading: “An enduring debate: cancer and abortion,” Los Angeles Times, 3/10/03; “NCI workshop ‘stamps out’ abortion/birth cancer link,” Agape Press, 3/7/03)
activism
ON THE ROPES: Abortion advocates in Minnesota admit that pro-lifers have the upper hand, following key legislative victories in the last round of elections. Noted pro-abortion State Sen. Sheila Kiscaden, “I have felt that the pro-choice leaders have been losing the public relations war. The other side, for example, has the billboards up, has its messages reinforced in churches.”
(Reading: “Abortion rights leaders regroup,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3/9/03)
in vitro fertilization
DEATH TO THE ‘SPARES’: The British government reports that women who are pregnant with more than one child as a result of in vitro fertilization are opting to abort the “extra” babies. The babies, described as normal and healthy, were killed by lethal injection. Pro-lifer Jack Scarisbrick said, “It’s utter cynicism to deliberately manufacture a human being which you then deliberately destroy.”
(Reading: “Mothers destroy IVF ‘spares,'” BBC News, 3/10/03)
license plates
ARKANSAS: With Gov. Mike Huckabee’s signature, Arkansas joins the list of states offering “Choose Life” licenses. The ACLU is pondering legal action. Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Carolina offer similar plates.
(Reading: “Arkansas Gov. Huckabee signs ‘Choose Life’ plate into law,” Associated Press, 3/10/03)
FLORIDA: A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge to Florida’s version of the “Choose Life” license plate.
(Reading: “Court: ‘Choose Life’ plate lawful,” Associated Press, 3/14/03)
LOUISIANA: Pro-abortion forces in Louisiana have taken a novel approach to fighting pro-lifers’ “Choose Life” license plates. They’re asking a federal judge to either throw out all of the state’s specialty licenses, or order Louisiana to offer plates that read “Choose Choice” for “balance.”
COMMENT: But isn’t the opposite of Choose Life ? Choose Death?
(Reading: “La. abortion advocates argue plate,” The [Baton Rouge] Advocate, 3/8/03)
morning-after abortion pill
NEW YORK TIMES: Among women of childbearing age in the Unites States, response to so-called emergency contraception has been underwhelming. A survey shows only 4 or 5 percent of the women between 18 and 44 have used it. Proponents therefore want to expand efforts to make the drugs readily available without a doctor’s prescription.
(Reading: “‘Emergency’ birth control: access issues,” New York Times, 3/11/03)
planned parenthood
NEW NEIGHBORS: Planned Parenthood will soon open a new location in Mansfield, Ohio. Another new facility is opening next door — the Mary Weslin Home for Pregnant Unwed Mothers. This will be Fr. Norman Weslin’s second such home. Ohio pro-lifer Bonnie Oleska said the home and Planned Parenthood actually share a single driveway. “When a girl walks down it, she can chose either life or death,” she said. “It’s that simple.”
(Reading: “Anti-abortion activists move beside Planned Parenthood,” The [Mansfield, Ohio] News Journal, 3/9/03)
ru-486
ANTIDOTE: We are often asked if there is a way for a mother to change her mind about an RU-486 abortion after she has ingested the pills. In response to an inquiry about this situation, Bogomir Kuhar, Pharm.D., responds that if 24 hours has passed since the pills were taken, “it is pretty much absorbed and there is no ‘antidote.’ One can only speculate if she will now abort or, if not, what malformations may possibly occur from ingesting this powerful drug. ” Dr. Kuhar said speculation from a clinic spokesman that the chances of the pregnancy continuing were 1 in 1,000 “is sheer pulling the numbers out of thin air and has no scientific basis.”
(Reading: E-mail from Bogomir Kuhar, Pharm.D., director of Pharmacists for Life International)
STICKY NOTES OF DEATH: Planned Parenthood’s marketing gurus have concocted a bright, cheerful sales package to boost sales of the RU-486 abortion pill (also known as mifepristone). Available merchandise includes colorful posters, wallet cards and sticky notes with the message, “It’s about choice. It’s about privacy. It’s about time.”
(Reading: “Abortion in the first trimester,” Planned Parenthood; “Mifepristone, the abortion pill sticky note pads,” Planned Parenthood store)
population elimination
SWEDEN: The government of Sweden has increased its contribution to the U.N. Population Fund. Said Migration and Aid minister Jan O. Karlsson, “We cannot accept that UNFPA’s important work to improve women’s rights and reproductive health is undermined because some countries find it hard to accept UNFPA’s activities.” The comment was a criticism of the United States, which reduced its UNFPA funding.
(Reading: “Sweden boosts donation to U.N. population fund,” Associated Press, 3/6/03)
research
CONSCIOUSNESS: British researchers say there’s strong evidence suggesting the conscious mind develops much earlier than 24 weeks gestation. Abortion in the U.K. is basically unrestricted before 24 weeks. Some abortionists say the “solution” is merely to anesthetize the child prior to killing him.
(Reading: “Foetuses ‘may be conscious long before abortion limit,'” The Daily Telegraph [U.K.], 3/10/03)
reflection for prayer
2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-18: We are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.