abortion
NURSES: RN magazine reports that nearly two-thirds of the hospital-based registered nurses polled by RN magazine say that partial-birth abortions should be prohibited by law, and six out of ten would not work in an OB/GYN unit where abortions – of any kind – are performed.
(Reading: RN magazine news release, 3/11/99; http://www.rnweb.com/ce/399/ethics5.html)
birth control and health insurance
CONNECTICUT: pro-life and pro-abort activists are pressuring Lawmakers. At issue is a bill that would require health insurance companies to pay for prescription birth control, including methods that are know to abort at the earliest stages in a human being’s life.
(Reading: “Pill bill returns, fervor and all,” Hartford Courant, 3/10/99, 1, 17; for all the facts: http://www.all.org/legislat/pillbill.htm)
dying
MEDICAL FUTILITY: A report from the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, American Medical Association, recommends a 4 step process “aimed at deliberation and resolution including all involved parties,” and other steps that can be taken in the case of “irreconcilable differences.” Subjective language permeates the document, including the admission that “futility” is a value-laden determination. And, regarding the physician: “When the physician’s primary purpose of the treatment seems to be to prolong the dying process without much benefit to the patient or others with legitimate interest, this will be taken into account among fairly heard perspectives, and may become determinative but only if all available physicians in all institutions share this perspective.”
(Reading: Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, American Medical Association, “Medical futility in end-of-life care,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 281:10:3/1/99:937-941; http://www.ama-assn.org/public/journals/jama.jamahome.htm)
fetal tissue
COLORADO: Dr. Curt Freed, Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado, is performing non-government-funded fetal tissue transplants in an effort to treat Parkinson’s disease. Included in a packet of materials, available upon request from his office, the tissue is “obtained following a therapeutic abortion performed by a physician who was not involved in the research.” The “fetal cell implant program” is now in its eleventh year. The total cost of treatment is “about $25,000.00.” The aborted children used for this research are between 45- and 55-days old.
(Reading: Personal letter and materials from Curt R. Freed, M.D. to Judy Adams of Virginia, 3/8/99; “Endangered human species,” The Witness, 12/13/98; http://www.hsc.colorado.edu/sm/deptmed/neuro.htm)
physician-assisted suicide
CALIFORNIA: Contra Costa Times reports that California Assemblywoman Dion Aroner has introduced a bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide. The proposed bill is patterned after the Oregon law. Disability rights groups, the Catholic Church, the California Medical Association and others already oppose the bill, which had not been unveiled at the writing of the news account.
(Reading: “State debates right to die,” Contra Costa Times, 3/2/99; for details: http://www.bioethix.org)
QUESTIONS: Dr. Edward Spudis writes in JAMA: “The warning that PAS might lead physicians to commit unintentional acts of euthanasia [JAMA, 1998:280:507-513] is unclear. Can we agree on a definition of euthanasia in this century? Should we worry that health care managers will be posting a list of available medications for ‘terminal’ injections, including the appropriate amounts for various weights and ages?”
But Dr. Richard McDonald of the California Hemlock Society writes “Sometimes physicians not only must help patients face during but also assist them in finding death that is more peaceful and dignified….”
(Reading: “Oncologists’ practice of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide,” Journal of the American Medical Association, Letters, 281:10:897-899;
presidential politics
GEORGE W. BUSH: While National Right to Life claims that George W. Bush is pro-life, the fact is that Mr. Bush is not.
(Reading: “Anti-abortion group says Bush is ‘pro-life,'” Star-Telegram Washington Bureau, 3/17/99, http://www.star-telegram.com)
STEVE FORBES: Pro-life? Not! He says, “We must recognize that we as a nation lack an overwhelming consensus about the primacy of life over liberty or the pursuit of happiness. We must recover such a consensus, but we cannot do so simply with the stroke of a legislative pen or a Supreme Court vote. In democracy, we cannot impose; we must persuade. Thus, the only way for abortions to disappear in this country is for there to be a change of heart, a change of conscience, a change of attitude. In order to change the law, we must change the culture. To change the culture, we must change the law little by little….”
COMMENT: Let’s not dedicate ourselves to protecting our brothers and sisters from murder by abortion! There’s no consensus!
(Reading: Steve Forbes 2000 web site: http://forbes2000/com/compass/life.html)
reproductive health
WHAT IS IT? Chris Angel writes in The Lancet, referring to an editorial by abortion-proponent Malcolm Potts, “I am not clear what ‘reproductive health’ means. For instance, in my own case I have been blessed with six children and nine grandchildren so far. Does this phrase imply that my own personal reproductive health is good or bad? If bad, what remedy is proposed to restore me to health?”
(Reading: Chris Angel, “Reproductive health,” The Lancet, 353:932)
title X
ACTION REQUESTED: Pursuant to a March 5 letter to Attorney Generals in the states from Congressman Ernest J. Istook (R-OK) regarding enforcement of a new federal policy requiring Title X recipients to report child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape or incest, Eagle Forum is asking activists to request oversight hearings from their state lawmakers. Title X recipients should be required to provide proof that the new regulation is being enforced.
(Reading: March 5, 1999 letter from Congressman Istook to state Attorneys General and Legislative leaders; Life Advocacy Briefing, 3/15/99, p. 1; http://www.eagleforum.org
web news
CHRISTIANS AND JEWS FOR LIFE, dedicated to approaches aimed at “reducing abortion.” Legislative goals include “ban” partial-birth abortion, informed consent, parental notification before an abortion can be performed on a minor, and child custody protection. http://www.cj4life.org
COMMENT: no mention of nondiscrimination for every child from fertilization forward.
GENETICS PRIMER: The Lancet reviewed a new web site, designed to prepare middle- and high-school students for understanding retroviruses, karyotypes, and other topics new to this age of the human genome. To visit: http://hyperion.advanced.org/18258/
you
FREE BUMPER STICKERS: For a limited time only you can receive a bumper sticker stating “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope” which is quote from Pope John Paul II. Send you mailing address to , attn,: Wendy.
reflection
ON THE CRUCIFIXION: “For a while you must work, but for eternity you shall rest from work; your difficulties are brief, but your joy will be everlasting; your anxiety is passing, but your joy will be without end. Are you, however, on the point of sinking under your hardship? Put before your eyes the example of Christ’s sufferings. Look at what He took upon Himself for you. He who had no reason to suffer. No matter how grievous your affliction, you will never endure those insults or lashes that cloak of shame or crown of thorns. And above all you will never undergo that cross, for it is no longer on the list of human penalties. Even though in ancient times criminals were crucified, no one is fixed to a cross today. What must He keep in store for His faithful ones since He has invested His very sufferings with such glory!” (St. Augustine, “Second discourse on Psalm 36”)
pray
Lord, thank you for loving me! Amen.