in this issue:
abortion: Burnhill, RU 486, sex selection
chemical (medical) abortion: morning after “abortion” pill; RU-486
cloning: pig + human
contraception: behavior counts
health care: pain relief
human embryo: nature flawed
planned parenthood: condomania for teens
politics: bishops promote no exceptions?
procreation: may not be requirement in future
web news: useful site
women: negative paradigm shifts
you: help wanted
zinger: Carhart a hero?
abortion
PRACTITIONER BURNHILL: At age 73, Michael Burnhill passed away and is being memorialized by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, among other groups. PPFA has established a fund in his memory and touts him as the medical director of a Planned Parenthood clinic that began offering abortions in 1972.
(Reading: “Fund Established in Memory of Burnhill,” Contraceptive Technology Update, 11/00, p 136, paid subscriptions only)
RU-486 VS. MISOPROSTOL: A randomized comparative trial of 90 British women seeking “surgical terminations” (abortion) were randomly assigned to receive 200 milligrams mifepristone orally 24 to 48 hours before the abortion or 800 micrograms misoprostol vaginally two to four hours before the abortion. All women were seeking first-trimester abortions and the drugs were being used to ripen the cervix prior to the abortion. The women who received the mifepristone within 48 hours of the abortion were most likely to suffer hot flashes and headaches.
(Reading: “Mifepristone Versus Vaginally Administered Misoprostol for Cervical Priming Before First-Trimester Termination of Pregnancy: A Randomized, Controlled Study,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 10/00, pp. 998-1002; paid subscriptions only)
SEX SELECTION: Ruth Deech, Human Fertility and Embryology Authority spokesperson, supports the current guidelines under which “couples can only select a child’s sex if there is a pressing medical reason, such as a risk of the baby inheriting a serious genetic illness.” A Scottish couple wishes to choose the sex of their child for the purpose of balancing their family.
(Reading: “Couple Angered by Baby Ruling,” BBC news, 10/18/00)
chemical (medical) abortion
MORNING AFTER ABORTION PILL: Danish researchers studied 217 women to determine which age group was most likely to use morning after pills. They found “EC users were older, better educated, more often in stable relationships, had experienced more abortions, and gestation age was less.”
(Reading: “Differences Between Users and Non-users of Emergency Contraception after a Recognized Unprotected Intercourse,” Contraception, 2000, pp. 1-3, paid subscription only)
RU-486 (mifepristone/Mifeprex) + VAGINALLY-ADMINISTERED MISOPROSTOL: U.S. researchers studied the efficacy of aborting during the first 56 days of life by using mifepristone in conjunction with self-administered vaginal misoprostol. They conclude that the vaginal dose of 800 micrograms can be used 1 to 3 days after 200 milligrams of mifepristone rather than the former recommendation of 48 hours later.
(Reading: “Vaginal Misoprostol Administered 1, 2 or 3 Days after Mifepristone for Early Medical Abortion,” Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 10/18/00, pp. 1948-1953, summary available)
cloning
PIG + HUMAN: Researchers from Stem Cell Sciences in Australia and Biotransplant in the U.S. claim to have successfully produced an “embryonic pig-human hybrid.” They further claim that if the embryo had implanted, in either a human or a pig, it would have grown and developed.
(Reading: “Cloning Teams Cross Pig and Human DNA,” Sunday Times (London), 10/8/00; for more information on Australian research see Monash Institute; for an overview of cloning and stem cell research published in New Scientist, see Super Cell; for the pro-life perspective on moral and ethical dilemmas, see “Cloning: When Word Games Kill” by Professor Dianne Irving)
contraception
BEHAVIOR COUNTS: Alleging that “48 percent of all pregnancies each year in the United States are unintended,” researchers claim that “synergism between the intention to prevent pregnancy and the intention to prevent STD should be considered in the design of interventions promoting condom use.”
(Reading: “Birth Control Method Choice and Use of Barrier Methods for Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Among Low-Income African-American Women,” Contraception, 2000, pp. 5-13, paid subscription only)
health care
PAIN RELIEF: When oncologists were presented with a specific case and were asked to recommend pain relief, nearly one fourth of those surveyed “chose the wrong medical protocol.”
(Reading: “Cutting the Pain,” American Medical News, 10/16/00, pp. 24-25. See five websites for additional background on pain management, each listed at the end of the article.)
human embryo
FATALLY FLAWED: British researchers Delahunty and Wells have devised an imaging technique for examining every chromosome in a cell. To prove a point they took 12 test tube embryos, examined the chromosomes in the 12 and determined that only 3 of the twelve were “truly normal.” The rest were deemed to be “imperfect.” The news report opines, “researchers have long known that humans are notoriously inefficient reproducers.”
(Reading: “Most Human Embryos Fatally Flawed,” Washington Post, 10/23/00; “New Tests Find Embryo Abnormalities,” Associated Press, 10/24/00; for details on Wells and Delahunty, see Human Genetics and Embryology Research Group)
planned parenthood
ARIZONA: The “Protection Connection” is Planned Parenthood’s latest project focused on safe sex and adolescents, according to reports in Contraceptive Technology Update. For information on the programs offered, see Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona listing on the Tucson info pages. The report on this activity states “More than 90 percent of teens say the campaign has made them very or somewhat likely to use condoms when they have sex.”
(“Tucson Teens Urged to ‘Use Condom Sense,'” Contraceptive Technology Update, 11/00, pp. 135-136, paid subscriptions only)
politics
MASSACHUSETTS BISHOPS: “Support and promotion of abortion by any candidate is always wrong and can never be justified.”
QUESTION: Even when support is given to abortion in the case of rape, incest or life of the mother? HMMM!
(Reading: “Massachusetts Bishops Urge Catholics to ‘Stand for Life’ by Voting for Candidates ‘Who Stand with Us,'” 10/20/00, Massachusetts Catholic Conference)
procreation
SEX NOT NEEDED TO “MAKE A BABY”: UCLA Professor Greg Stock predicted to a gathering of fertility experts that “a number of new technologies would mean that parents wishing to have children will turn to science rather than letting nature take its course.”
(Reading: “Why You Won’t Need to Have Sex to Make a Baby,” Daily Express, 8/25/00; also see additional info on Greg Stock)
web news
U.S. GOVERNMENT SITE: A web site designed to provide single, point-of-entry information for U.S. federal, state and local government websites: FirstGov.
women
NEGATIVE PARADIGM SHIFTS: The Beverly LaHaye Institute has issued a commentary on the manner in which cultural changes in politics and the workplace are not good for “Generation X” women because these women “chased the wrong dreams.”
(Reading: Dot Commentary, Beverly LaHaye Institute, 10/24/00)
you
PRO LIFE WISCONSIN HELP WANTED: If you have an interest in becoming a director of communications or a director of development and can provide a resume, please contact or visit the web site, become a fan and then make the contact.
zinger
CARHART A HERO? Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., vice president Virginia Martin claims that Dr. Leroy Carhart is “one of America’s heroes” for showing “courage in the face of terrorism.” Carhart, the Nebraska abortionist, said during cross-examination prior to the Supreme Court ruling, “My intent in every abortion that I have ever done is to kill the fetus and terminate the pregnancy.”
(Reading: “Group Honors Leroy Carhart,” Omaha World-Herald, 10/21/00, “Nebraska Case,” Concerned Women for America, 3/31/00)
reflection for prayer
Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led Him to bestow on us so many graces and favors, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of His love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love Him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing His love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.
-Teresa of Avila (Liturgy of the Hours, Vol. 4, p. 1484)