in this issue:
birth control pill: THE PILL-THE FACTS
bush watch: BANNING FOREIGN AID FOR SURGICAL ABORTIONS; INAUGURAL SPEECH QUOTE
congress: PILL BILL RETURNS
grief after miscarriage: NEW STUDY
health care: PHYSICIANS AND END-OF-LIFE QUESTIONS
personhood: WHERE ARE WE NOW?
politics: MORAL COURAGE
stem cell research: ALS RESEARCH USING EMBRYONIC BABIES
web news: ABSTINENCE CLEARINGHOUSE; LIFE AND LIBERTY MINISTRIES
zinger: MORALLY RIGHT
reflection for prayer: THOMAS A KEMPIS
birth control pill
THE PILL-THE FACTS: “The Pill – How It Works and Fails,” by John Wilks, B. Pharm, MPS, MACPP is the most updated resource available. The material is presented in an easy-to-follow question and answer format.
bush watch
BANNING FOREIGN AID FOR SURGICAL ABORTION: Gail Quinn of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops hailed the Bush executive action and said, “Withholding funds from organizations that promote or perform abortions overseas (often in violation of the host country’s own laws), sends a clear message that Americans will not subsidize attacks on the first and most basic human right, the right to life.” However, Mark DeYoung, director of the World Life League, was quick to point out that “in order to restore U.S. foreign policy, the president must boldly go beyond simply cutting funds related to surgical abortion. All support for contraception abroad, which includes chemical abortion-inducing contraceptives, must be stopped.”
(Reading: “Reaction to Bush’s Ban on Abortion Funding,” CWNews, 1/23/01; “U.S. Taxpayers Still Foot Bill for Abortions Abroad,” World Life League, news release 1/24/01)
INAUGURAL SPEECH QUOTE: “No insignificant person was ever born.”
QUESTION: Mr. President, did you mean created? Or was this an intentional oversight?
(Inaugural speech, President George W. Bush, 1/20/01)
congress
PILL BILL RETURNS: Senators Harry Reid and Olympia Snowe have reintroduced the infamous “pill bill,” known on Capital Hill as the Equity in Prescription and Contraceptive Coverage Act (S 104). For detailed information on combating the measure, see documents located at Pill Bill. The entire pro-abortion, pro-population control movement is set to press for passage of this bill in the current session of Congress. The bill must be stopped.
grief after miscarriage
NEW STUDY: Australian researchers studying the effects of “the natural termination of pregnancy” on parents studied 39 women and 32 partners. The conclusion is that because of despair and other psychological factors involved, “miscarriage can no longer be regarded as a minor matter by either health professionals or the law community.” Researchers say the anxiety experienced in subsequent pregnancies is also a concern.
(Reading: “Couples’ Grief and Experience of Support in the Aftermath of Miscarriage,” British Journal of Medical Psychology, 73 (2000) pp. 531-545; not available on the web.)
health care
PHYSICIANS AND END-OF-LIFE QUESTIONS: A summary statement regarding a recent study published in the Hospice Journal reads, “Physicians agree that pain control, patient and family comfort, and quality of life are the most important aspects of palliative care and could reduce costs while improving quality and continuity of care. They expressed concern, however, that under managed care, expensive medications that could help bring about the desired improvements would not be allowed.”
(Reading: “Physicians Confused by Terminal Illness,” Medical Ethics Advisor, American Health Consultants, 12/00, p. 143, paid subscribers only; “Physician Attitudes Toward Palliative Care at a Community Teaching Hospital,” The Hospice Journal, 15(2) 2000, pp. 67-86, not available on line)
personhood
WHERE ARE WE NOW? “For 28 years, we have educated and lobbied and protested and counseled and prayed that America would see an end to the legally sanctioned killing of babies who are waiting to be born. And we will never give up.
“Today, advances in medical science and technology have brought the core of the right-to-life cause front and center by forcing us to confront the reality that the humanity of the human embryo must be firmly established in the law if we are to ever restore respect for life. It’s embryology 101. It’s simple high school freshman biology. When the sperm and egg unite, a new, unique individual human being comes into existence. That human being must not be killed to benefit somebody else, as in human stem cell experiments.
“The embryonic human being must be recognized as a human subject, protected under the Nuremberg Code of Medical Ethics — or utilitarianism at all of life’s stages will prevail.
“28 years after Roe v. Wade we teeter on the brink of the abyss. It’s not too late to pull back.”
(Reading: “28 Years Since Roe v. Wade,” RNC Life FaxNotes, 1/19/01)
politics
MORAL COURAGE: Pastor Chuck Baldwin writes, “To use the excuse that one cannot make right a bad law overnight is nonsense and only the most naive among us will fall for that demagoguery. Abortion was made legal overnight; it can be outlawed overnight. All it takes are political leaders with the moral courage to do it. It doesn’t appear, however, that such leaders exist.”
(Reading: “Just Because It’s Legal Doesn’t Make It Right,” 1/20/01)
stem cell research
ALS RESEARCH USING EMBRYONIC BABIES: “Master cells” from human embryos are being used in experiments to determine whether healthy neurons can grow. The goal would be to develop a treatment for the currently incurable Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS. The experimental treatment is being given to monkeys during this stage of the research. The private charity, Project ALS, is funding the project.
(Reading: “Stem Cell Research Racing Ahead,” Associated Press, 1/23/01)
web news
ABSTINENCE CLEARINGHOUSE: For the latest news on what physicians and others are saying about adolescent sexuality.
LIFE AND LIBERTY MINISTRIES: Excellent message to Christians on the subject of abortion-causing drugs (the pill, Depo Provera, Norplant) in LLM Update #11.
zinger
MORALLY RIGHT: British Liberal Democrat Evan Harris comments that the landmark House of Lords decision allowing therapeutic human cloning “to allow carefully regulated research on stem cells using early embryos to proceed in the search for cures for some terrible diseases” is “the morally right thing.”
(Reading: “UK Enters the Clone Age,” BBC news, 1/23/01; for background, search Society for the Protection of Unborn Children)
reflection for prayer
THOMAS A KEMPIS: Imitation of Christ, Book 2, Chapter 8, Section 3:
It is a great art to know how to converse with Jesus, and to know how to keep Jesus is great wisdom. Be humble and peaceful and Jesus will be with thee. Be devout and quiet and Jesus will stay with thee. … We ought rather choose to have the whole world against us than to offend Jesus.
in this issue:
birth control pill: THE PILL-THE FACTS
bush watch: BANNING FOREIGN AID FOR SURGICAL ABORTIONS; INAUGURAL SPEECH QUOTE
congress: PILL BILL RETURNS
grief after miscarriage: NEW STUDY
health care: PHYSICIANS AND END-OF-LIFE QUESTIONS
personhood: WHERE ARE WE NOW?
politics: MORAL COURAGE
stem cell research: ALS RESEARCH USING EMBRYONIC BABIES
web news: ABSTINENCE CLEARINGHOUSE; LIFE AND LIBERTY MINISTRIES
zinger: MORALLY RIGHT
reflection for prayer: THOMAS A KEMPIS
birth control pill
THE PILL-THE FACTS: “The Pill – How It Works and Fails,” by John Wilks, B. Pharm, MPS, MACPP is the most updated resource available. The material is presented in an easy-to-follow question and answer format.
bush watch
BANNING FOREIGN AID FOR SURGICAL ABORTION: Gail Quinn of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops hailed the Bush executive action and said, “Withholding funds from organizations that promote or perform abortions overseas (often in violation of the host country’s own laws), sends a clear message that Americans will not subsidize attacks on the first and most basic human right, the right to life.” However, Mark DeYoung, director of the World Life League, was quick to point out that “in order to restore U.S. foreign policy, the president must boldly go beyond simply cutting funds related to surgical abortion. All support for contraception abroad, which includes chemical abortion-inducing contraceptives, must be stopped.”
(Reading: “Reaction to Bush’s Ban on Abortion Funding,” CWNews, 1/23/01; “U.S. Taxpayers Still Foot Bill for Abortions Abroad,” World Life League, news release 1/24/01)
INAUGURAL SPEECH QUOTE: “No insignificant person was ever born.”
QUESTION: Mr. President, did you mean created? Or was this an intentional oversight?
(Inaugural speech, President George W. Bush, 1/20/01)
congress
PILL BILL RETURNS: Senators Harry Reid and Olympia Snowe have reintroduced the infamous “pill bill,” known on Capital Hill as the Equity in Prescription and Contraceptive Coverage Act (S 104). For detailed information on combating the measure, see documents located at Pill Bill. The entire pro-abortion, pro-population control movement is set to press for passage of this bill in the current session of Congress. The bill must be stopped.
grief after miscarriage
NEW STUDY: Australian researchers studying the effects of “the natural termination of pregnancy” on parents studied 39 women and 32 partners. The conclusion is that because of despair and other psychological factors involved, “miscarriage can no longer be regarded as a minor matter by either health professionals or the law community.” Researchers say the anxiety experienced in subsequent pregnancies is also a concern.
(Reading: “Couples’ Grief and Experience of Support in the Aftermath of Miscarriage,” British Journal of Medical Psychology, 73 (2000) pp. 531-545; not available on the web.)
health care
PHYSICIANS AND END-OF-LIFE QUESTIONS: A summary statement regarding a recent study published in the Hospice Journal reads, “Physicians agree that pain control, patient and family comfort, and quality of life are the most important aspects of palliative care and could reduce costs while improving quality and continuity of care. They expressed concern, however, that under managed care, expensive medications that could help bring about the desired improvements would not be allowed.”
(Reading: “Physicians Confused by Terminal Illness,” Medical Ethics Advisor, American Health Consultants, 12/00, p. 143, paid subscribers only; “Physician Attitudes Toward Palliative Care at a Community Teaching Hospital,” The Hospice Journal, 15(2) 2000, pp. 67-86, not available on line)
personhood
WHERE ARE WE NOW? “For 28 years, we have educated and lobbied and protested and counseled and prayed that America would see an end to the legally sanctioned killing of babies who are waiting to be born. And we will never give up.
“Today, advances in medical science and technology have brought the core of the right-to-life cause front and center by forcing us to confront the reality that the humanity of the human embryo must be firmly established in the law if we are to ever restore respect for life. It’s embryology 101. It’s simple high school freshman biology. When the sperm and egg unite, a new, unique individual human being comes into existence. That human being must not be killed to benefit somebody else, as in human stem cell experiments.
“The embryonic human being must be recognized as a human subject, protected under the Nuremberg Code of Medical Ethics — or utilitarianism at all of life’s stages will prevail.
“28 years after Roe v. Wade we teeter on the brink of the abyss. It’s not too late to pull back.”
(Reading: “28 Years Since Roe v. Wade,” RNC Life FaxNotes, 1/19/01)
politics
MORAL COURAGE: Pastor Chuck Baldwin writes, “To use the excuse that one cannot make right a bad law overnight is nonsense and only the most naive among us will fall for that demagoguery. Abortion was made legal overnight; it can be outlawed overnight. All it takes are political leaders with the moral courage to do it. It doesn’t appear, however, that such leaders exist.”
(Reading: “Just Because It’s Legal Doesn’t Make It Right,” 1/20/01)
stem cell research
ALS RESEARCH USING EMBRYONIC BABIES: “Master cells” from human embryos are being used in experiments to determine whether healthy neurons can grow. The goal would be to develop a treatment for the currently incurable Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS. The experimental treatment is being given to monkeys during this stage of the research. The private charity, Project ALS, is funding the project.
(Reading: “Stem Cell Research Racing Ahead,” Associated Press, 1/23/01)
web news
ABSTINENCE CLEARINGHOUSE: For the latest news on what physicians and others are saying about adolescent sexuality.
LIFE AND LIBERTY MINISTRIES: Excellent message to Christians on the subject of abortion-causing drugs (the pill, Depo Provera, Norplant) in LLM Update #11.
zinger
MORALLY RIGHT: British Liberal Democrat Evan Harris comments that the landmark House of Lords decision allowing therapeutic human cloning “to allow carefully regulated research on stem cells using early embryos to proceed in the search for cures for some terrible diseases” is “the morally right thing.”
(Reading: “UK Enters the Clone Age,” BBC news, 1/23/01; for background, search Society for the Protection of Unborn Children)
reflection for prayer
THOMAS A KEMPIS: Imitation of Christ, Book 2, Chapter 8, Section 3:
It is a great art to know how to converse with Jesus, and to know how to keep Jesus is great wisdom. Be humble and peaceful and Jesus will be with thee. Be devout and quiet and Jesus will stay with thee. … We ought rather choose to have the whole world against us than to offend Jesus.