in this issue:
abortion: ELIZABETH KARLIN
birth control pills and injectibles: RISKS
bush stem cell decision: BISHOP THOMAS DORAN, FR. VINCENT FITZPATRICK, INTERESTING INSIGHT
condom: EFFECTIVENESS
mifepristone (ru-486): LOWER DOSING
pharmacists: MICHIGAN HELP WANTED
politics: ARCHIVES, ALAN KEYES ON BUSH REPUBLICANS
vaccines: DTP, MMR and SEIZURES
web news: PRO-LIFE FACTS
reflection for prayer: ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA
abortion
ELIZABETH KARLIN: Comments from a so-called abortion provider: “I do what I do because I am convinced that being a mother is the hardest job there is, women know they have to gather their strength if they choose to become mothers. As a feminist physician … I can think of no greater, more interesting, or more challenging work than providing and preventing abortions … I get to treat women well, even those who expect to be despised, and I am constantly reminded through emotional and sometimes physical violence against me and my patients what important work we do.”
(Reading: “Why I Provide Abortions,” Physicians for Reproductive Choice)
birth control pills and injectibles
RISKS: An African research study of 984 Kenyan prostitutes reveals the use of oral or injectible hormonal contraception increases the risk for acquisition of chlamydia and vaginal candidiasis. There is the added risk of acquiring HIV-1 if pill users are not also using a condom. Researchers point out, of course, that average females will not have the same risk of acquiring an STD or HIV-1 as do prostitutes.
(Reading: “Hormonal contraception and risk of sexually transmitted disease acquisition: Results from a prospective study,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 8/01, pp. 380-385)
bush stem cell decision
BISHOP THOMAS DORAN: “One has to be moved with pity for politicians who try to decide ethical and moral questions politically…. The question to be answered is: ‘Is it ever lawful or morally right to profit from the direct killing of innocent human beings?’ Christians and Jews have known the answer to that question for thousands of years. The answer is: ‘No. Never.’ President Bush knows it too. That’s why he must be regarded with a measure of pity.”
(Reading: “On Bush decision,” < ahraef=”http://www.rockforddiocese.org/observer/observer.asp?a=5#bishop”>The [Diocese of Rockford, Ill.] Observer, 8/17/01, e-mail newspaper for a copy of the issue)
FR. VINCENT FITZPATRICK: “One of the truths (true if understood properly) uttered by that evil prophet Karl Marx, is apropos at this moment: ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’ Our president’s conscience is warped — not by bad intentions, but by bad principles. His thinking, which he tings is Christian, is not. It is utilitarian and consequentialist, a kind of ‘moral’ reasoning which we Catholics must loudly and tirelessly oppose. And we have a duty to pray that our president will seek to do God’s will in the future.”
(Reading: “President makes tragic blunder,” “>Fr. Vincent Fitzpatrick, Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, P.O. Box 509, Lakota, ND 58344)
INTERESTING INSIGHT: Columnist Tod Lindberg: “If Mr. Bush can issue as high-profile a decision as this one coming out where he did without arousing the opposition pro-life movement in its entirety, or even in its majority, then in making this decision Mr. Bush may well have broken the back of the pro-life lobby as a political force in the GOP.”
(Reading: “The politics of stem cell research,” Washington Times, 8/14/01)
condom
EFFECTIVENESS: A workshop summary focusing on the condom and how it “reduces” the risk of HIV and other STDs is available at the National Institutes of Health site. Conclusions indicate “insufficient evidence” to show that latex condoms reduce the risks of STDs other than HIV infection and gonorrhea in men.
hospice
CARE vs. FINANCES: USA Today features an expose on the sad state of affairs in many hospice facilities. The reports focus on growing concerns regarding mistakes in patient care “as the needs of patients are balanced against the financial bottom line.” Ron Panzer of Hospice Patients Alliance points out “Medical ethics has turned a corner so we’re not trying to do everything for the patient, but we’re trying to save money.”
(Reading: “The painful truth of hospice care, USA Today, 8/19/01; “Family sues hospice over son’s suffering,” USA Today, 8/19/01; also see Hospice Patients Alliance)
mifepristone (ru-486)
LOWER DOSING: Researchers studied 80 women with pregnancies 49 to 63 days’ gestation and used varying doses of misoprostol following 100 mg of mifepristone. The goal of the study was to discern the difference in abortion results when 400 mg of misoprostol was ingested orally versus 800 mg being administered vaginally. They conclude “Low-dose mifepristone (100 mg) combined with vaginal misoprostol 800 mg may be an effective alternative to regimens using 200 or 600 mg of mifepristone with misoprostol.”
(Reading: “Mifepristone 100 mg in abortion regimens,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 9/01, pp. 434-439; One of the researchers, Michael Creinin, is featured on a National Abortion Federation web site and has written “Medical abortion alternatives to mifepristone“)
pharmacists
MICHIGAN HELP WANTED: St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich., is seeking a totally pro-life pharmacist. Please contact “>Nancy Homrich.
politics
ARCHIVES: Of interest is a 1996 article by Father Matthew Habiger, OSB, who at the time was president of Human Life International, “Sin to vote for pro-abortion politicians?“
ALAN KEYES ON BUSH REPUBLICANS: “Above all, I do not see firm and foursquare support for the principles that ought to defend the dignity of human life, whether in the womb or in the petri dish, beginning not from a moment we choose, but from the moment of God’s creative will. … If the emperor has no clothes, we do him no favor by disrobing ourselves of our own principles and joining the silly parade.”
(Reading: “I am not a Bush Republican,” World Net Daily, 9/5/01)
vaccines
DTP, MMR and SEIZURES: A cohort study was conducted at four large HMOs to determine any relationship between the administration of the vaccines and febrile seizures in children. The results are that “there are significantly elevated risks of febrile seizures after receipt of the DTP vaccine or MMR vaccine, but these risks do not appear to be associated with any long term, adverse consequences.” The actual number of febrile seizures was estimated to be 6 to 9 per 100,000 after DTP and 24 to 35 per 100,000 after MMR.
(Reading: “The risk of seizures after receipt of whole-cell pertussis or measles, mumps and rubella vaccine,” New England Journal of Medicine, 8/30/01, pp. 656-661, abstract)
web news
PRO-LIFE FACTS: For an outstanding presentation of the human being, and her entire history from conception/fertilization, see Second Look Project.
reflection for prayer
ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA: “The empty honors of earth cannot satisfy you. Your heart is not narrow enough for the whole world to suffice for it; nothing but God can fill it. I am not trying to extinguish your ardor for glory, nor inspire you with mean thoughts. Be ambitious, be high-minded, but let your ambition aim higher by despising all that is perishable.”
(Reading: “Retreat with the Lord,” John A. Hardon, S.J., p. 137)