in this issue:
hot button issues: ARINZE / BOSTON / REACTION
abortion: ARCHIVE / BY ANY OTHER NAME / MORTALITY I / MORTALITY II / RISKS
dark side: UNFPA + IPPF
end of life care: UNMET NEEDS
human embryo: HUMAN BEING?
lifeline: A THOUGHT
living wills: VAGUE
preimplantation genetic diagnosis: ATTITUDES
philippines: DAY OF THE UNBORN
stem cells: NEW CELL LINES
reflection for prayer: IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD
hot button issues
ARINZE: The Vatican has released a document concerning the Mass, which among other things addresses proper disposition for receiving Holy Communion. At a news conference called to announce the new document, Cardinal Francis Arinze was asked if priests should refuse to offer Communion to pro-abortion politicians. “Yes,” he said. “If the person should not receive it, then it should not be given.”
(Reading: “Cardinal: Politicians need follow church on abortion,” Reuters, 4/23/04)
BOSTON: Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), a pro-abortion Catholic, received Communion at Mass at the Paulist Center in Boston on Saturday. “We’re following the directive of our archdiocese,” Fr. Joe Ciccone, the priest who gave Kerry Communion told the Associated Press. “They have said we should give him Communion.”
(Reading: “Kerry takes Communion after Vatican edict,” Associated Press, 4/25/04)
REACTION: In response to the above two items, American Life League’s Judie Brown said, “It seems reasonable to suggest that the bishops reflect upon the Holy Father’s guidance and act as the pontiff instructs them. In failing to act, they’re ignoring the clear teaching of Pope John Paul II. And if they’re going to do that, they need to pray about whether it’s time to step aside.”
(Reading: “Rome says no Communion for pro-abortion Catholics; Time for United States bishops to take the next step,” American Life League news release, 4/26/04)
abortion
ARCHIVE: In a 1967 edition of Eugenics Review, Malcolm Potts conceded that induced abortion increased prematurity risk.
(Reading: “Evidence that induced abortion boosts prematurity risk,” Brent Rooney)
BY ANY OTHER NAME: Proponents of the morning-after abortion pill — which they unbelievably describe as “retroactive contraception” — claim that those who say a human being begins at fertilization/conception are “ideologically opposed” to those in the practice of medicine who argue, “pregnancy is considered to begin when implantation is complete.”
COMMENT: Pregnancy is defined as the period between conception and birth, at least according to most honest sources such as the WordReference.com dictionary.
(Reading: “Reducing the need for abortion,” Contraception, 60 (2003) 397-99; for pregnancy definition, see Word Reference or Hyper Dictionary)
MORTALITY I: Finnish researchers found that the mortality rate for women is lower after a birth (28.2/100,000) than after a spontaneous (51.9/100,000) or induced abortion (83.1/100,000).
(Reading: “Pregnancy-associated mortality after birth, spontaneous abortion, or induced abortion in Finland, 1987-2000,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, (1004) 190, 422-427)
MORTALITY II: A study in the Journal of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology finds “there is a 38% increase in death risk for induced abortion with each additional week of pregnancy.”
(Reading: “Most maternal deaths from abortion could be avoided if procedure performed earlier,” ACOG news release, 3/29/04)
RISKS: Researchers find that women risk a higher level of “continuing pregnancy” after a medical abortion (i.e., mifepristone) than with aspiration abortion. Ectopic pregnancy is also a risk factor. They recommend that women who have such abortions should be trained on how to use a home pregnancy test to verify that the abortion was complete.
(Reading: “Routine follow-up visits after first-trimester abortion,” Journal of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 4/04)
dark side
UNFPA + IPPF: The Global Health Council’s June 1-4 conference features speakers from IPPF, MTV, Harvard and UNFPA. The meeting is sponsored by USAID, CDC and the Gates Foundation, among others.
(Reading: “Generation on the edge,” Global Health Council)
end of life care
UNMET NEEDS: A study based on interviews with 1,578 relatives of patients who had died revealed that many people who die in institutions have unmet needs. “Nursing home residents were less likely than those cared for in a hospital or by home hospice services to always have been treated with respect at the end of life.” Family members of those receiving hospice care were more satisfied with overall quality of care.
(Reading: “Family perspectives on end-of-life care at the last place of care,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 1/7/04)
human embryo
HUMAN BEING? Author Jane Maienschein (“Whose view of life? Embryos, cloning and stem cells”) “maintains that science cannot by itself establish a definition of human life: the answer depends, in part, on moral and political judgments. She recognizes that there are deep questions here about what counts as moral expertise and how to respect competing view of life.”
COMMENT: Clearly in her research for the book Maienschein failed to read Professor Dianne Irving’s scientific presentation “When do human beings begin?“
(Reading: “Embryo research,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 4/7/04)
lifeline
THOUGHT: A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.
living wills
VAGUE: Living will language can often be “vague, using phrases such as ‘heroic measures,’ and most apply only to ‘terminally ill’ patients facing ‘imminent death,'” writes Dr. Muriel Gillick. She comments that because there are laws in all 50 states requiring some form of advance directive, there need to be strategies developed by physicians to work around the idiosyncrasies of such laws so that patients can be treated as they wish, including making decisions about “artificial nutrition.” Gillick perceives artificial means of providing food and water as medical treatment, not ordinary care.
(Reading: “Advance care planning,” New England Journal of Medicine, 1/1/04)
preimplantation genetic diagnosis
ATTITUDES: Analyzing the various ways Americans view PGD, which is a search and destroy method of eliminating “unwanted” human beings prior to implantation, researchers find that American approve using the method to avoid genetic diseases, to ensure that the child is a good tissue/blood match or to avoid diseases like cancer. Americans do not approve using the method to determine the child’s sex or to make sure the child has “desirable characteristics.”
COMMENT: One wonders how many of those surveyed realize that the human embryo is a human being and that destroying him or her is murder.
(Reading: “Merits of embryo screening debated,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 2/25/04)
philippines
DAY OF THE UNBORN: March 25 was declared the “Day of the Unborn” by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
(Reading: “GMA proclaims March 25 as “Day of the Unborn,'” Philippine government news release, 3/25/04)
stem cells
NEW CELL LINES: Human embryonic stem cell research John Gearhart touts the creation of 17 new cell lines as vital to ongoing research involving the destruction of human embryos in order to acquire addition stem cells. The new cell lines cannot be used by any researcher receiving federal funds.
(Reading: “New human embryonic stem-cell lines,” New England Journal of Medicine, 3/25/04; “Derivation of embryonic stem-cell lines from human blastocysts,” New England Journal of Medicine, 3/25/04)
reflection for prayer
IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD: Love for God does not consist in sensible feelings, although these too may be given to us by Our Lord so as to help us to be more generous. It consists essentially in the full identification of our will with that of God. That is why we should ask ourselves frequently: Am I doing what I ought to be doing at this moment? Do I offer my activity to God on starting it and during its accomplishment? Do I rectify my intention when vanity and the thought of ‘what people will say’ tend to intervene? Do I try to do my work with human perfection? Am I a constant source of joy for those who live or work with me? Does my daily presence among them draw them closer to God?
(Reading: “In Conversation with God,” Vol. 2, p. 358)