in this issue:
abortion: SCREENING
catholic bishops: GREGORY / McCARRICK
catholic colleges: CARDINAL NEWMAN SOCIETY
ethical fertility care: CONFERENCE
lifeline: A THOUGHT
planned parenthood: MAGGIES / SACRED WORK / STOPP ANALYSIS
population control: UN REPORT
web notes: IN VITRO FERTILIZATION
zinger: MAXINE’S MOM
reflection for prayer: JOHN 6:53-54
abortion
SCREENING: A review of 63 medical studies reveals that if every woman seeking an abortion were screened in advance for potential risk factors, abortion rates would decrease as would the tragic consequences suffered by women who abort their children.
(Reading: “Screening for risk factors will lower abortion rates,” Elliot Institute news release, 4/23/04)
catholic bishops
GREGORY: Regarding the imposition of sanctions on pro-abortion Catholic political figures, Bishop Wilton Gregory said, “In the nature of the church, the imposition of sanctions is always the final response, not the first response, nor the second nor maybe even the 10th.” Bishop Gregory, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said denying Holy Communion to a pro-abortion Catholic was a last resort.
(Reading: “Denying Communion on abortion is last resort, Bishop Gregory says,” Catholic News Service, 4/26/04)
McCARRICK: The head of a Catholic bishops’ task force examining the question of pro-abortion Catholic politicians says these elected officials may face sanctions. However, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., said, “I have not gotten to the stage where I’m comfortable in denying the Eucharist.”
(Reading: “Cardinal weighs sanctions for politicians,” Associated Press, 4/27/04)
catholic colleges
CARDINAL NEWMAN SOCIETY: A 56-page report outlines activities on Catholic university campuses that are contrary to Church teachings. From pro-abortion speakers to pro-abortion student clubs to internships at pro-abortion organizations to provision of birth control pills at campus health offices, this report looks at a series of abuses over the past five years. However, said researcher Erin Butcher, “many Catholics still fail to appreciate the scope of the problem.”
(Reading: “The Culture of Death on Catholic campuses,” Cardinal Newman Society, 4/04)
ethical fertility care
CONFERENCE: The 23rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Fertility Care Professionals will be held July 21-24 in Omaha, Nebraska. A pre-conference program on “Surgical NaProTechnology” will be conducted July 20-21. For details, and to register on line, see NaProTechnology.
lifeline
A THOUGHT: He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.
planned parenthood
MAGGIES: Communications mogul Ted Turner is a winner of this year’s Margaret Sanger Award. Planned Parenthood noted Turner “has contributed more than $3.5 million to PPFA for targeted pro-choice organizing and advocacy” in addition to pledging $1 billion to various UN programs.
(Reading: “Ted Turner, the Forum for Women, Law and Development, and K-MET win PPFA Margaret Sanger Award,” Planned Parenthood news release, 4/24/04)
SACRED WORK: Flyers were distributed at the Planned Parenthood national conference in Washington promoting a new book called “Sacred choices: Planned Parenthood and its clergy alliances.” Author Tom Davis defines the sacred work as “promoting social justice, and that it is this work that continues to bring clergy into alliance with” Planned Parenthood. The book has a Feb. 2005 release date.
(Reading: “Sacred work: Planned Parenthood and its clergy alliances,” Rutgers University Press flyer)
STOPP ANALYSIS: The annual review of Planned Parenthood operations from American Life League’s STOPP International is now available online. From 1977-2002, Planned Parenthood has performed 3.2 million abortions. From 1987-2002, Planned Parenthood reports an income of $8.3 billion and a profit of $500 million.
(Reading: “Summary and analysis of Planned Parenthood’s operations in the U.S.,” American Life League’s STOPP International, 4/04)
population control
UN REPORT: According to the United Nations, “61% percent of all women of reproductive age who are married or in a consensual union are using contraception.” The most commonly used method is female sterilization. The report also notes that “longer-acting and highly effective chemical contraceptive methods are more commonly used in developing countries.”
(Reading: “Majority of world’s couples of reproductive age using contraceptives,” United Nations news release, 4/21/04)
vaccines
NEWS: For the latest information on vaccines, including a petition drive focused on Georgetown University and pro-life efforts at the annual Merck shareholders meeting, sign up for the Children of God for Life update by . Visit Children of God for Life for additional information.
web notes
IN VITRO FERTILIZATION: What’s really wrong with the test tube baby process? For one thing, it often involves destruction of living human embryos. Find out more from American Life League by reading “In vitro fertilization undermines human dignity“
zinger
MAXINE’S MOM: It is reported on National Review Online’s “The Corner” page that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) made this comment at a rally prior to the pro-abortion march in Washington last weekend: “I have to march because my mother could not have an abortion.”
(Reading: “Mad Max,” National Review Online, 4/26/04)
reflection for prayer
JOHN 6:53-54: Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.