in this issue:
abortion: INCREASES CRIME / RACIAL TARGETS
birth control pill: RISKS
coma: MIRACULOUS BIRTH
feminism: EVANGELICAL WOMEN
imposed death: AIDS & PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE
morning-after abortion pills: OVER-THE-COUNTER “IMPERATIVES”
precisely pro-life: TO BE PRO-LIFE — A DEFINITION
pregnancy: DEPRESSION
stem cell facts: HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS CAN BECOME EMBRYOS / HUMAN TO MONKEY / KILLING PEOPLE
stem cell politics: RESCUE CELLS OR KILL HUMAN BEINGS? / WISDOM
zinger: WHO’S THE SUCKER?
reflection for prayer: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-6
abortion
INCREASES CRIME: Research findings suggest evidence “that legalizing abortion increased murder rates by around about 0.5 to 7 percent. Previous estimates are shown to suffer from not directly linking the cohorts who are committing crime with whether they had been born before or after abortion was legal.”
(Reading: “Abortion and Crime: Unwanted Children and Out-of-Wedlock Births,” Social Science Research Network, 4/30/01, abstract, complete paper can be downloaded)
RACIAL TARGETS: The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (formerly, Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights) has focused attention on the African American Community, in what can only be described as a revival of the Sangerian “Negro Project.” The RCRC Black Church Initiative is viewed by LEARN pro-life leader Pastor Johnny Hunter, and others, as a direct attack on the black family, and the preborn black baby in particular.
(Reading: Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice home page; RCRC Black Church Initiative information; LEARNpro-life website; racism and abortion, links: ProLife.About.Com)
birth control pill
RISKS: “The birth control pill can have significant adverse effects on sexuality and mood in some women, increasing the likelihood of early discontinuation,” according to a recent study.
(Reading: “Kinsey Study Finds Adverse Sexual, Emotional Side Effects of Birth Control Pills,” Science Daily, 7/25/01)
coma
MIRACULOUS BIRTH: After eight months in a coma, 23 year-old Chastity Cooper gave birth to a healthy little girl as doctors continue to describe her prognosis as “a mystery.” A third-year fellow in maternal-fetal medicine says “she seems to have gotten better just in the week she has been in a room near the nursery, where nurses and other hospital personnel have doted on her day and night.”
(Reading: “Devastating Car Wreck Didn’t Stop Joy of Birth,” Cincinnati Post, 7/26/01; for a similar story, see “Woman Awakens From Coma to See Newborn Daughter,” National Right to Life News, 4/01)
feminism
EVANGELICAL WOMEN: Of interest is this comment by Dr. Janet Crouse: “By being obedient to truth, these women (Rosa Parks, Catherine Booth and Carrie Nation) were agents of reconciliation. The message that we need to hear from these women is this: Focusing on power leads to pride and self-absorption — not humility. And, the end result is alienation. It is no accident that we live in a world that is very alienated.”
(Reading: “Evangelical Women: Who We Are and What We Believe,” Beverly LaHaye Institute, 10/99)
imposed death
AIDS and PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE: An editorial and accompanying study point out that concerns patients have about dying, including “loss of self, loss of dignity and the social context of dying” may improve the manner in which palliative care is provided, thus decreasing the initial request for death.
(Reading: “Desire for Physician Assisted Suicide: Requests for a Better Death?” The Lancet, 8/4/01; “Origins of the Desire for Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in People with HIV-1 or AIDS: A Qualitative Study,” The Lancet, 8/4/01)
morning-after abortion pills
OVER-THE-COUNTER “IMPERATIVES”: Researcher David Grimes, M.D., and colleagues argue that “the Food and Drug Administration is authorized, and, by its own regulations, should be required to switch hormonal emergency contraception to over-the-counter status without delay.” They state that the current prescription-only status is “not only gratuitous but also harmful to women’s health because it impedes access to this important therapy.”
(Reading: “Emergency Contraception Over the Counter: The Medical and Legal Imperatives,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 7/01, pp. 151-155, paid subscription only; for more on David Grimes, M.D., see Family Health International web site or e-mail “>Grimes)
precisely pro-life
TO BE PRO-LIFE — A DEFINITION: Mary Matuska, legislative director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, exposes the hypocrisy of alleged pro-life officials like DHHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and U.S. Senator Bill Frist. She accurately notes, “If you’re pro-life it means you accept the fact that when a sperm and egg unite, a unique human being comes into existence. That tiny person is worthy of total legal protection under the law, regardless of the circumstances surrounding his or her conception. If you can make exceptions and say it’s okay to directly and intentionally kill that child for any reason, you’re not pro-life. You might be less pro-choice than the other guy, but you still haven’t accepted the defining pro-life principle.”
(Reading: “Reclaiming What It Means to Be Pro-life,” Pro-Life Wisconsin news release, 8/2/01)
pregnancy
DEPRESSION: British researchers studying 9,028 pregnant women at 18 weeks and 32 weeks, versus 8 weeks and 8 months postpartum, found that depression scores were higher at 32 weeks of pregnancy than 8 weeks postpartum. They conclude that symptoms of depression are not more common or severe after childbirth than during pregnancy.
(Reading: “Cohort Study of Depressed Mood During Pregnancy and After Childbirth,” British Medical Journal, 8/4/01, pp. 257-260)
stem cell facts
HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS CAN BECOME EMBRYOS: Dianne Irving, Ph.D., a consultant on issues relating to human embryology and human embryo research, has issued a white paper defining the scientific facts that stem cells removed from human embryos can be coaxed into becoming embryos themselves. Dr. Irving was supported in her analysis by the Linacre Institute, the Catholic Medical Association USA and the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations. John Shea, M.D. concurs, and writes, “When separated from the embryo these cells may spontaneously become another new embryo, may be biologically manipulated (cloned) to produce specific tissues … a process which kills the embryo, or they may die. These totipotent blastomeres naturally strive to become and frequently succeed in becoming new embryos themselves, which in turn may be cloned and killed.”
(Reading: “Stem Cells Can Become Embryos,” Lifesite News)
HUMAN TO MONKEY: Scientists said they injected a clone of neural stem cells derived from a 15-week-old aborted human fetus into the brain of a laboratory monkey still in its mother’s womb and found that they integrated nicely, pointing to the possibility of repairing brain abnormalities in human fetuses.” Curt Freed of the University of Colorado and others conducted the study.
(Reading: “Study Points to Stem Cell Fetal Brain Treatments,” Reuters, 7/26/01; for more educational information, see “Cloning and Stem Cell Research,” prepared for the House of Lords Select Committee on Stem Cell Research (Britain) by Linacre Center for Healthcare Ethics)
KILLING PEOPLE: Human embryologist C. Ward Kischer, Ph.D., writes in the Tucson Citizen: “Virtually no human embryologists are being sought for their input into this vital issue…The hype is that this ‘stem cell research may (key word) save lives and cure diseases.’ … The science of human embryology tells us that all of life from the first moment of conception to ultimate death is a continuum. Changing the quality or status of this life continuum — at any point in development — is arbitrary.”
(Reading: “Embryo in Petri Dish Alive; To Remove Stem Cells Kills It,” Tucson Citizen, 7/30/01)
stem cell politics
RESCUE CELLS OR KILL HUMAN BEINGS? Christopher Reeve: “In these fertility clinics, every day of the week, fertilized embryos that will not be implanted in the womb are headed for the garbage. Now if you believe that life begins at the moment that an egg is fertilized, then it would seem to me that there would be an outrage. What we want to do, scientists want to do, is rescue cells that are headed for the garbage and use them to treat 100 million Americans who are suffering right now.”
COMMENT: Yes, in vitro fertilization should be banned! It is illicit, immoral, and thousands upon thousands of human beings have already died in in vitro fertilization laboratories. However, that does not justify using living human beings, frozen in time, for destructive research and experimentation. Where is the outrage focused against in vitro fertilization and against embryonic stem cell research? Where are the principled elected officials? Where is the Church?
(Reading: “Superman Urges Bush to Ignore Pope on Stem Cell Research,” Agence France-Presse, 7/29/01, quoted from CNN Late Edition)
WISDOM: Ken Connor, president of Family Research Council: “There should be a non-negotiable principle that says innocent human life is sacrosanct and on this we will not compromise.”
(Reading: “For the Record,” National Review, 8/6/01, p. 6)
zinger
WHO’S THE SUCKER? Phyllis Schlafly writes of the standoff in Oregon between environmentalists, who want to protect “suckerfish,” and farmers, whose families are literally withering on the vine as their farms are devastated by lack of water. She asks: “Are you for humans or for suckerfish?” Says Schlafly: “The radical environmentalists will be glad if the farming families are forced off the land. They would like to turn the area into a wildlife refuge.”
COMMENT: How can anyone wonder after millions of our brothers and sisters have been brutally murdered? Fish or man; clearly the fish have more value in the culture of death.
(Reading: “Humans vs. Fish at Klamath Falls,” Eagle Forum, 8/1/01)
reflection for prayer
2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-6: Since we have by an act of mercy been entrusted with this work of administration, there is no weakening on our part. On the contrary, we will have none of the reticence of those who are ashamed, no deceitfulness or watering down the word of God; but the way we commend ourselves to every human being with a conscience is by stating the truth openly in the sight of God. If our gospel does not penetrate the veil, then the veil is on those who are not on the way to salvation; the unbelievers whose minds the god of this world has blinded, to stop them seeing the light shed by the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For it is not ourselves that we are preaching, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. It is the same God that said, “Let there be light shining out of darkness, who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ.”