in this issue:
abortion: CATHOLIC AND “PRO-CHOICE”? / RUSSIA / VIOLENCE OVERLOOKED
activism: FREE SPEECH
brain death: DOCUMENTATION
humor: REV. J.F. JACQUES
music: TIM McGRAW
personhood: MICHIGAN / WASHINGTON
politics: EXCEPTIONS I / EXCEPTIONS II / LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY
publishing: HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
reflection for prayer: JAMES 2:24, 26
abortion
CATHOLIC AND “PRO-CHOICE”? Controversy is brewing in Michigan, where the Detroit Free Press published a letter to the editor signed by three parish priests and a theologian claiming that a pro-choice stance is compatible with Catholic teaching. Specifically, they write that “pro-choice” gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Granholm “has chosen to follow her conscience. This is perfectly compatible with her responsibility as a Catholic and as a good citizen.” The writers were responding to a column written by three Catholic professors who said Granholm’s position as a “pro-choice Catholic” is “scandalous.”
(Reading: “Granholm’s abortion stance is off base,” Detroit Free Press, 10/17/02; “Priests defend Granholm,” Detroit Free Press, 10/19/02)
RUSSIA: A member of the Russian parliament is launching an effort to outlaw abortion. According to a French language report, Aleksandr Tshuev cites the fact that Russia’s death rate has exceeded its birth rate for a number of years, and also notes that most people have a negative point of view about abortion.
(Reading: “L’avortement remis en question,” Russie.net-Infos, 10/19/02; for an English language backgrounder from a pro-abortion writer, see “Abortion foes seek new ground in Russia,” Initiative for Social Action and Renewal in Eurasia)
VIOLENCE OVERLOOKED: David Reardon, PhD, notes, “Many women are coerced, pressured or battered to submit to unwanted abortions by men who are opposed to birth. This may be a clue as to why a history of abortion is an important marker for increased risk of death from violence.” And yet Reardon found nothing in the WHO report to reflect what is a growing body of evidence.
(Reading: “World Health Organization report on violence misses major cause of women’s deaths associated with pregnancy,” Elliot Institute news release, 10/7/02)
activism
FREE SPEECH: School administrators are again generating complaints about teens wearing T-shirts with pro-life messages. Two recent incidents involving ALL’s Rock for Life “abortion is homicide” shirts were settled in favor of the students and their free speech rights.
(Reading: “T-shirt gets student in trouble,” Sheboygan Press, 10/5/02; “Slogan on student’s shirt stirs minor controversy at Morgan,” Zanesville [Ohio] Times Recorder, 10/12/02)
brain death
DOCUMENTATION: A recent study found that “to meet the needs of organ recipients and donor families and to comply with hospital, legal, and legislative mandates, hospitals may need to increase quality assurance activities with respect to declarations of brain death. Increased physician education should improve awareness of uniform brain death declaration guidelines.”
COMMENT: No mention was made of the many abuses of the “definition of death.”
(Reading: “Brain death documentation: analysis and issues,” Neurosurgery, 9/02, not online; to learn the facts about faulty brain death declarations, see “When is a person really dead?”)
humor
REV. J.F. JACQUES: “The only way to stimulate interest in religion is to substitute a performing elephant in place of the sermon.”
(Reading: “Quick Quotes,” The Star, 8/02, p 5; For copies write Fr. Rawley Myers, 22 W. Kiowa, Colorado Springs, CO 80903)
music
TIM McGRAW: Country singer is creating controversy with his new song, “Red Rag Top,” which touches on abortion and its aftermath.
(Reading: “Tim McGraw knew ‘Red Rag Top’ would create controversy,” ET, 10/11/02)
personhood
MICHIGAN: A Michigan appeals court has ruled an expectant mother can use deadly force to protect her preborn child. Abortion supporters had a curious reaction: “When a woman is carrying a wanted pregnancy and she has made that decision, which is constitutionally protected, she has the right to protect the embryo or fetus.”
(Reading: “Ruling opens new arena in the debate on abortion,” New York Times, 10/16/02)
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Supreme Court will be asked to rule on whether frozen embryos belonging to a divorced Seattle couple are property or people. The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (http://www.cbhd.org/) comments on this case and is watching it carefully.
(Reading: “Embryo case could challenge abortion rights,” 10/16/02, World Net Daily; for an analysis of the moral morass caused by in vitro fertilization and frozen embryos (human persons) see “In vitro fertilization undermines human dignity“)
politics
EXCEPTIONS I: Georgia Right to Life has withdrawn its endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Saxby Chambliss, who says he opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the mother’s life. Georgia Right to Life opposes abortion in cases of rape or incest, so it is backing away from Chambliss. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the decision puts the organization “at odds with the state GOP and the National Right to Life group.”
(Reading: “Anti-abortion group rescinds endorsement of Chambliss,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/22/02)
EXCEPTIONS II: Columnist R. Cort Kirkwood writes, “pro-lifers who say ‘except in the cases of’ need to learn that all abortions are evil. Neither paternity nor the medical condition of the mother lowers an unborn child’s status as an innocent human being.”
COMMENT: Amen!
(Reading: “Except in the cases of…” Agape Press, 10/23/02)
LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY: Quoting Pope John Paul II: “While public authority can sometimes choose not to put a stop to something which — were it prohibited — would cause more serious harm, it can never presume to legitimize as a right of individuals — even if they are the majority of the members of society — an offense against other persons caused by the disregard of so fundamental a right as the right to life.”
(Reading: “Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life),” Section 71)
publishing
HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY: The second installment of a 20-volume set is now out, covering the time from 70-250 AD. The Western Catholic Reporter quotes parallels to the present day: “Adultery, prostitution, idolatry, self-seeking and uncaring cruelty were the order of the day?. Clearly, there was deep hunger for something else, a way out of the pain of despair and oppression, and just as clearly the Christians offered it.”
(Reading: “Christian survival vividly drawn,” Western Catholic Reporter, 10/21/02; “The Christians: Their first two thousand years,” Christian History Project)
reflection for prayer
JAMES 2:24, 26: You see now that it is by doing something good, and not only by believing, that a man is justified… A body dies when it is separated from the spirit, and in the same way faith is dead if it is separated from good deeds.