in this issue:
activism: CALIFORNIA / OCTOBER
congress: ETHICAL STEM CELL RESEARCH
defending the faith: MICHIGAN
end-of-life care: DECISION MAKING / SPIRITUAL WELLBEING
fetal research: FEMALE OVRIES
personhood: CODE FOR HUMAN LIFE / PUBLIC ATTITUDES
planned parenthood: FLORIDA
prenatal diagnosis: WHERE TO TURN
stem cell research: ADULT STEM CELLS
zingers: CRIMINALS
reflection for prayer: 1 TIMOTHY 6:11-12
activism
CALIFORNIA: A Superior Court judge has ruled that a Sacramento abortion facility should be protected from pro-life demonstrations. The judge granted the abortion mill’s request for a “no protest” zone. Stating that the content of the protestors’ message was not the issue, he cited traffic and difficulty for those attempting to drive into the parking lot. Pro-life attorneys are considering an appeal.
(Reading: “Judge OKs no-protest zone for abortion clinic,” Sacrament Bee, 7/29/03)
OCTOBER: Respect Life Month is fast approaching. American Life League is planning a special novena, and plans are under way in many communities for Life Chains. To learn more about how to conduct a Life Chain see National Life Chain.
congress
ETHICAL STEM CELL RESEARCH: Congressman Chris Smith has introduced H.R. 2852, the Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2003, which has been endorsed by American Bioethics Advisory Commission chairman C. Ward Kischer, Ph.D., who tells Communique the bill is not only needed, but worthwhile.
(Reading: H.R. 2852, Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2003, Library of Congress; “U.S. Congress may approve stemcell bill,” Axcess News, 8/03/03)
defending the faith
MICHIGAN: The Church and Truth Project is focused on politicians who claim to be Catholic but behave otherwise.
end-of-life care
DECISION MAKING: Researchers studying decision-making practices in six European countries found, “In Italy and Sweden, more than 50% of all end-of-life decisions, whether for competent or incompetent patients, were discussed with neither the patient nor with relatives.” The researchers go on to say that end-of-life decisions that “are mainly a medical response to the suffering of patients seem to be practiced everywhere in modern health care.”
(Reading: “End-of-life decision-making in six European countries: descriptive study,” The Lancet, 8/2/03, pp. 345-350)
SPIRITUAL WELLBEING: Bernhard Steger writes, “One reason why doctors tend not to incorporate their patients’ psychological or spiritual needs into their program of care is inadequate preparation for this task during their medical school training. As a final-year medical student, I would like to point out the potential beneficial effect of McClain and co-workers’ findings (see Communique, 6/6/03), and similar studies, on the curricula of medical schools. Young doctors who recognize their failure to deal with all the needs of their patients may eventually find themselves struggling to maintain their own spiritual well-being.”
(Reading: “Spiritual well-being and care of terminally ill patients,” The Lancet, 8/2/03, pp. 408)
fetal research
FEMALE OVARIES: Israeli gynecologist T. Biron-Shental presented a paper focused on culturing female ovarian follicles taken from aborted babies. “All seven fetuses were aged 22-33 gestational weeks and feticide preceded all abortion inductions.” Researchers report that they received approval from hospital ethics committees and “informed consent was obtained from the mothers.” The goal of such research is to develop a process whereby the cultured ovarian follicles could be maintained “in vitro” thus enabling scientists to “create eggs from fetal ovaries.”
(Reading: “Preliminary results of cultured human ovaries from second and third trimester fetuses,” Abstracts of the 19th annual meeting of the ESHRE, 6/03, p. xviii4; “Fetus research could aid IVF,” ITV news, 7/9/03)
personhood
CODE FOR HUMAN LIFE: Dr. Frederick Zugibe, featured in Catholic New York for his efforts to apply his expertise in forensic medicine to a thorough study of Christ’s death (see “Faith and reason,” Catholic New York, 6/6/02), presents a unique and coherent analysis of the science behind the personhood of the human being for his beginning. States Dr. Zugibe, “If the personhood principle depends on rationality, awareness, self consciousness, then we are in deep trouble because this would exclude full-term fetuses, newborn infants, infants perhaps up to two years old, the markedly retarded, patients with organic mental syndrome. Alzheimer patients and patients with cerebral trauma who are in coma.”
(Reading: “The code for human life,” E-Forensic Medicine)
PUBLIC ATTITUDES: According to a Gallup poll, more than half of U.S. residents surveyed consider embryonic stem cell research to be morally acceptable. Gallup found that among those who attend church weekly, only 38% agree that embryonic stem cell research is morally acceptable.
COMMENT: Clearly the average American does not identify the human embryo as a human being, a person deserving of total protection under the law.
(Reading: “Majority finds stem cell research acceptable,” Los Angeles Times, 8/9/03)
planned parenthood
FLORIDA: Taxpayers in Florida should be outraged that the student government at the publicly supported University of Florida has approved Voices for Planned Parenthood’s request for funds to purchase 3,000 condoms to be distributed at an event this fall called “Sex on the Lawn.”
COMMENT: From Ed Szymkowiak, national director of STOPP International: “Taxpayers should call Governor Jeb Bush to request that their tax dollars not be used to support an institution that has obviously descended into the depths of decadence and perversion.”
(Reading: “SG passes bill, allocates funds to buy 3,000 condoms,” Independent Florida Alligator, 8/7/03)
prenatal diagnosis
WHERE TO TURN: Sisters of Life recently launched a website designed for parents who have received an adverse prenatal diagnosis and need encouragement, love and facts. Please visit Be Not Afraid.
stem cell research
ADULT STEM CELLS: An analysis of current research programs indicate that “postnatal mesodermal hematopoietic progenitor cells destined to differentiate along their own pathway may, like embryonic stem cells, cross germ-layer boundaries to generate endodermal or ectodermal tissue cells.” Researchers point out, “There is a growing body of evidence that the adult stem-cell system may be more flexible than previously thought.” And they suggest that since the basic mechanisms of stem-cell differentiation “that lead to the formation of solid-organ tissue are still not completely understood,” more study is required.
(Reading: “Adult stem cells for tissue repair — a new therapeutic concept,” New England Journal of Medicine, 8/7/03, pp. 570-582)
zinger
CRIMINALS: A Mount Vernon, N.Y., pet shop owner may be facing criminal charges because “scores of animals were found dead, with others feeding off their carcasses.” The police chief said he had never seen anything like it.
COMMENT: New York protects those who perpetrate the murder of human beings who live in their mothers’ wombs. Apparently it does not protect animal abusers.
(Reading: “Animals found dead, starving in Mount Vernon,” The [White Plains, N.Y.] Journal-News, 8/6/03)
reflection for prayer
1 TIMOTHY 6:11-12: You must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called.