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Communique – Aug. 18, 2000

action alert

FINAL WEEK OF FDA COMMENT PERIOD: Between now and August 25, the public is invited to share written comments on over-the-counter drug products, including the birth control pill and the morning-after abortion pill. Comments may be submitted to “>Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. Comments may be delivered online. American Life League’s media statement and official testimony are available online.

abortion

ABORTION AFTERMATH AND POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER: Rachel McNair, Ph.D., addresses this topic in chapter 2 of her online new book, Achieving Peace in the Abortion War.

NICARAGUA: “The government of Nicaragua is considering moves to grant unborn babies legal protection and to abolish the current provisions which permit abortion when the health or life of the mother is thought to be at risk. These provisions are said to have been exploited by women’s centers which provide abortions and are funded from abroad.”

(Reading: News Digest, 8/1/00, “>SPUC Information Office [UK])

adolescent sexuality

SCHOOLS DISPENSING CONTRACEPTIVES: Life Advocacy Briefing reports that Congressional Research Service found that 15 percent of the 12,000 schools it surveyed dispense contraceptives, including the “morning after” abortifacient pill.

(Reading: “>Life Advocacy Briefing, 7/31/00)

birth control pill

INSURANCE COVERAGE IN NATION’S CAPITOL: Life Advocacy Briefing points out that D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, who vetoed an ordinance passed by the D.C. city council mandating coverage for contraception, told the press “he hopes his refusal to sign the bill will ‘foster the kind of dialogue and compromise needed by all the parties so we can get the bill out there this fall.” Life Advocacy Briefing comments, “we urge recognition of lives that will be lost by taxpayer subsidy of abortifacient chemicals via employers whose knowledge or conscience is deficient to exercise such an [conscience- clause] exemption. With or without a conscience clause, the ordinance would still be a mandate for providing an elective sex tool whose use is not a provision of ‘health.'”

(Reading: “>Life Advocacy Briefing, 8/7/00; for background information on why the pill bills around the nation are all equally bad for sexual and spiritual health, see ALL’s Pill Bill page)

MENSTRUATION OBSOLETE? Abortion proponent David Grimes, M.D., says, “I see little reason for women to menstruate on a regular basis.” The American Medical News reports, “for years, women have taken pill dosages back-to-back to avoid inconvenience during a vacation, honeymoon or special event. There is also anecdotal evidence that some women do it more frequently.”

(Reading: “Move to Nonstop Use of Oral Contraceptives Stirs Debate,” AMA News, 7/31/00; also see an article about the book, Is Menstruation Obsolete? by Elsimar M. Coutinho and Sheldon J. Segal, Ph.D.)

health care

DECLARATION 2000: Christus Medicus Foundation has published “Declaration 2000 supporting health care right of conscience for all Americans.” The document sites, among other things, various contraceptive bills and federal health employee bills as reason for the Declaration.

human embryo

LYING TO DISPOSE OF “EXTRAS”: Editors of the prestigious Fertility and Sterility journal say, “most would agree that a human embryo has special status compared with somatic tissues used for other treatment purposes.” But they add that “human embryological research holds promise for the discovery of novel treatments for infertility and innovations in contraception and will better enable us to more effectively diagnose and treat genetic and age-related disorders. Research involving the ‘preembryo’ (defined by the interval from first cleavage to the primitive streak stage, which spans about 14 days) may be ethical but is forbidden in most countries that have passed legislation on the issue. … Research involving preembryos donated by patients for this purpose could significantly advance the study of human reproduction and other medical sciences.”

COMMENT: Fake terms like “preembryo” do not hide the reality that some would kill our tiniest brothers and sisters for purposes of scientific research, but never admit that the act itself is barbaric and should not exist in a humane society.

(Reading: “Disposition of Extra Embryos,” Fertility and Sterility, 8/00, pp. 213-215)

human experimentation

HIV TESTING IN UGANDA: Commenting on HIV “viral load” testing done on Ungandans (see Communique 5/5/00), Dr. Direceu Greco of Brazil writes, “Clinical trials should be performed when use of the ‘best proven’ methods can be assured. This approach may delay access to trials for some countries but will be safer and ethical. If at the end of the trial the drug, vaccine or procedure is found to be effective, it should be made available wherever it is needed. The plan for this provision should be discussed at the outset among all parties. The justification for different ethical standards for poor countries is based on economic grounds, not on ethical or scientific grounds. Such trials should not be permitted.”

(Reading: Correspondence, The New England Journal of Medicine, 343:5:362)

imposed death [euthanasia]

ACTION ITEM I: Responding to the upcoming World Conference on Assisted Dying in Boston this Labor Day weekend, Dan Avila of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference has put together a team who drafted a statement, currently signed by many organizations and distinguished citizens. Included in the statement: “Life-affirming alternatives are available in our society to comfort those diagnosed with severe conditions. The challenge before us is to educate one another about these alternatives, to improve our ability to deliver good care to those who need it, and to strengthen our financial commitment to serving the vulnerable. We must continue to build linkages between our healthcare, social and faith-based institutions, and thereby treat with full and abiding respect those disabled more by our societal indifference than by the severity of their prognosis.”

(Contact: To sign on to the statement, or to acquire a copy for review prior to signing, please contact Dan Avila’s office, and ask for “>Maria Parker: phone 617-367-6060, fax 617-367-2767)

ACTION ITEM II: Not Dead Yet is organizing nonviolent demonstrations during the Labor Day Weekend in Boston, focusing attention on the fallacy of the so-called “right to die.” For information and involvement, contact Diane Coleman, Not Dead Yet, 7521 Madison Street, Forest Park, IL 60130; phone 708-209-1500, fax 708-209-1735, TTY 708-209-1826. Web site is under construction.

LAST ACTS: This web site is a study in subjectivism applied to the dying and the infirm. In a particular article entitled “A woman pulling her groceries home,” which deals with the vulnerability of the writer’s mother, such phrases as “despite my mother’s living will, which stated that if she was going to die she wanted no intervention,” “the doctors would not say that she had ‘a terminal diagnosis,'” and “her quality of life would not be what she wanted,” lead the reader to accept as fact that death is better than life.

media

ABC DENIED KEVORKIAN INTERVIEW: ABC’s 20/20 has been refused the opportunity to interview Jack Kevorkian and two additional prison inmates. Corrections Director Bill Martin “invoked a state prisons policy that took effect last March, barring TV crews except for stock footage and scenes of inmates taking part in prison activities.”

(Reading: “ABC Suing to Interview Kevorkian,” Life at Risk, 7/00, p. 2)

personhood

“THERAPEUTIC” HUMAN EMBRYO CLONING: Based on recommendations from the Donaldson Committee, the British Parliament will exercise a “free vote” on the question of human cloning for “therapeutic” reasons. Matt Ridley of Britain’s Daily Telegraph has argued “banning the procedure, which would leave the terminally ill without the possibility of growing the necessary tissue, ‘is arguably the cruel option.’ Ridley discounts the argument that ‘cloning destroys potential human lives,’ stating that legal procedures such as assisted reproduction, contraception and abortion, do the same thing.” Ridley describes those who oppose human cloning as possessing a “yuk factor.” SPUC, Britain’s national pro-life lobby, describes the committee recommendations as based on a desire for “Britain to complete with other countries in human spare part research by allowing unethical practices which our European and American competitors have avoided.”

Professor Dianne Irving points out, “‘Personhood’ begins when the human being begins- at fertilization. ‘Personhood’ properly refers to the NATURE or KIND of organism-whether or not its capacities of ‘sentience’ or ‘rational attributes’ are actively being exercised or not. It is not some groups’ idiosyncratic ‘yuk factor’ idea. It is the only definition of ‘personhood’ in the history of philosophy that matches the objective empirical facts of Biology 101. The consequences of foregoing reality-for whatever reason-are perfectly clear.”

(Reading: “Embryo Cloning: British government should respond to report,” Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 8/2/00; “Blair gives MPs free vote on cloning of human embryos,” Daily Telegraph, 8/13/00; “>SPUC Information Office news update, 8/16/00; Gobbledygook #32, Dianne Irving, PhD; “When do human beings begin?” Dianne Irving, Ph.D.)

politics

PRO-LIFE? The debate over using embryonic babies for stem cell research has caused a rift among so-called pro-life Republicans. The Wall Street Journal reports, “Citing the promise of the new technology, Sen. Smith (R-Ore.) and a few other antiabortion Republicans whose families have been battered by disease have declined to support a blanket opposition to stem-cell research with embryos.”

COMMENT: Some politicians do not see the tiniest person as worthy of protection! Even among the allegedly pro-life.

(Reading: “New Stem Cell Research May Stir US Abortion Debate,” WSJ/Dow Jones, 7/31/00; on line by subscription only)

vaccines

CAMPAIGN TO CONVERT MERCK ONLINE PETITION: CoG for Life has placed the “Campaign for Ethical Vaccines U.S. 2000” signature effort online. A copy of the petition, for signature collection, can also be requested.

you

HELP WANTED: The Elliot Institute, a post-abortion research organization of national repute, is looking for an experienced computer programmer. For details, please e-mail application or questions to the “>Elliot Institute. Please include contact information, a resume including a description of programming languages and operation systems with which you are familiar, years of experience, and compensation requirements. A summary of programming accomplishments is also requested.

reflection for prayer

Grant me grace, O merciful God, to desire ardently all that is pleasing to You, to examine it prudently, to acknowledge it truthfully and to accomplish it perfectly for the praise and glory of Your name. Amen.

-St. Thomas Aquinas

FINAL WEEK OF FDA COMMENT PERIOD: Between now and August 25, the public is invited to share written comments on over-the-counter drug products, including the birth control pill and the morning-after abortion pill. Comments may be submitted to “>Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. Comments may be delivered online. American Life League’s media statement and official testimony are available online.

abortion

ABORTION AFTERMATH AND POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER: Rachel McNair, Ph.D., addresses this topic in chapter 2 of her online new book, Achieving Peace in the Abortion War.

NICARAGUA: “The government of Nicaragua is considering moves to grant unborn babies legal protection and to abolish the current provisions which permit abortion when the health or life of the mother is thought to be at risk. These provisions are said to have been exploited by women’s centers which provide abortions and are funded from abroad.”

(Reading: News Digest, 8/1/00, “>SPUC Information Office [UK])

adolescent sexuality

SCHOOLS DISPENSING CONTRACEPTIVES: Life Advocacy Briefing reports that Congressional Research Service found that 15 percent of the 12,000 schools it surveyed dispense contraceptives, including the “morning after” abortifacient pill.

(Reading: “>Life Advocacy Briefing, 7/31/00)

birth control pill

INSURANCE COVERAGE IN NATION’S CAPITOL: Life Advocacy Briefing points out that D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, who vetoed an ordinance passed by the D.C. city council mandating coverage for contraception, told the press “he hopes his refusal to sign the bill will ‘foster the kind of dialogue and compromise needed by all the parties so we can get the bill out there this fall.” Life Advocacy Briefing comments, “we urge recognition of lives that will be lost by taxpayer subsidy of abortifacient chemicals via employers whose knowledge or conscience is deficient to exercise such an [conscience- clause] exemption. With or without a conscience clause, the ordinance would still be a mandate for providing an elective sex tool whose use is not a provision of ‘health.'”

(Reading: “>Life Advocacy Briefing, 8/7/00; for background information on why the pill bills around the nation are all equally bad for sexual and spiritual health, see ALL’s Pill Bill page)

MENSTRUATION OBSOLETE? Abortion proponent David Grimes, M.D., says, “I see little reason for women to menstruate on a regular basis.” The American Medical News reports, “for years, women have taken pill dosages back-to-back to avoid inconvenience during a vacation, honeymoon or special event. There is also anecdotal evidence that some women do it more frequently.”

(Reading: “Move to Nonstop Use of Oral Contraceptives Stirs Debate,” AMA News, 7/31/00; also see an article about the book, Is Menstruation Obsolete? by Elsimar M. Coutinho and Sheldon J. Segal, Ph.D.)

health care

DECLARATION 2000: Christus Medicus Foundation has published “Declaration 2000 supporting health care right of conscience for all Americans.” The document sites, among other things, various contraceptive bills and federal health employee bills as reason for the Declaration.

human embryo

LYING TO DISPOSE OF “EXTRAS”: Editors of the prestigious Fertility and Sterility journal say, “most would agree that a human embryo has special status compared with somatic tissues used for other treatment purposes.” But they add that “human embryological research holds promise for the discovery of novel treatments for infertility and innovations in contraception and will better enable us to more effectively diagnose and treat genetic and age-related disorders. Research involving the ‘preembryo’ (defined by the interval from first cleavage to the primitive streak stage, which spans about 14 days) may be ethical but is forbidden in most countries that have passed legislation on the issue. … Research involving preembryos donated by patients for this purpose could significantly advance the study of human reproduction and other medical sciences.”

COMMENT: Fake terms like “preembryo” do not hide the reality that some would kill our tiniest brothers and sisters for purposes of scientific research, but never admit that the act itself is barbaric and should not exist in a humane society.

(Reading: “Disposition of Extra Embryos,” Fertility and Sterility, 8/00, pp. 213-215)

human experimentation

HIV TESTING IN UGANDA: Commenting on HIV “viral load” testing done on Ungandans (see Communique 5/5/00), Dr. Direceu Greco of Brazil writes, “Clinical trials should be performed when use of the ‘best proven’ methods can be assured. This approach may delay access to trials for some countries but will be safer and ethical. If at the end of the trial the drug, vaccine or procedure is found to be effective, it should be made available wherever it is needed. The plan for this provision should be discussed at the outset among all parties. The justification for different ethical standards for poor countries is based on economic grounds, not on ethical or scientific grounds. Such trials should not be permitted.”

(Reading: Correspondence, The New England Journal of Medicine, 343:5:362)

imposed death [euthanasia]

ACTION ITEM I: Responding to the upcoming World Conference on Assisted Dying in Boston this Labor Day weekend, Dan Avila of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference has put together a team who drafted a statement, currently signed by many organizations and distinguished citizens. Included in the statement: “Life-affirming alternatives are available in our society to comfort those diagnosed with severe conditions. The challenge before us is to educate one another about these alternatives, to improve our ability to deliver good care to those who need it, and to strengthen our financial commitment to serving the vulnerable. We must continue to build linkages between our healthcare, social and faith-based institutions, and thereby treat with full and abiding respect those disabled more by our societal indifference than by the severity of their prognosis.”

(Contact: To sign on to the statement, or to acquire a copy for review prior to signing, please contact Dan Avila’s office, and ask for “>Maria Parker: phone 617-367-6060, fax 617-367-2767)

ACTION ITEM II: Not Dead Yet is organizing nonviolent demonstrations during the Labor Day Weekend in Boston, focusing attention on the fallacy of the so-called “right to die.” For information and involvement, contact Diane Coleman, Not Dead Yet, 7521 Madison Street, Forest Park, IL 60130; phone 708-209-1500, fax 708-209-1735, TTY 708-209-1826. Web site is under construction.

LAST ACTS: This web site is a study in subjectivism applied to the dying and the infirm. In a particular article entitled “A woman pulling her groceries home,” which deals with the vulnerability of the writer’s mother, such phrases as “despite my mother’s living will, which stated that if she was going to die she wanted no intervention,” “the doctors would not say that she had ‘a terminal diagnosis,'” and “her quality of life would not be what she wanted,” lead the reader to accept as fact that death is better than life.

media

ABC DENIED KEVORKIAN INTERVIEW: ABC’s 20/20 has been refused the opportunity to interview Jack Kevorkian and two additional prison inmates. Corrections Director Bill Martin “invoked a state prisons policy that took effect last March, barring TV crews except for stock footage and scenes of inmates taking part in prison activities.”

(Reading: “ABC Suing to Interview Kevorkian,” Life at Risk, 7/00, p. 2)

personhood

“THERAPEUTIC” HUMAN EMBRYO CLONING: Based on recommendations from the Donaldson Committee, the British Parliament will exercise a “free vote” on the question of human cloning for “therapeutic” reasons. Matt Ridley of Britain’s Daily Telegraph has argued “banning the procedure, which would leave the terminally ill without the possibility of growing the necessary tissue, ‘is arguably the cruel option.’ Ridley discounts the argument that ‘cloning destroys potential human lives,’ stating that legal procedures such as assisted reproduction, contraception and abortion, do the same thing.” Ridley describes those who oppose human cloning as possessing a “yuk factor.” SPUC, Britain’s national pro-life lobby, describes the committee recommendations as based on a desire for “Britain to complete with other countries in human spare part research by allowing unethical practices which our European and American competitors have avoided.”

Professor Dianne Irving points out, “‘Personhood’ begins when the human being begins- at fertilization. ‘Personhood’ properly refers to the NATURE or KIND of organism-whether or not its capacities of ‘sentience’ or ‘rational attributes’ are actively being exercised or not. It is not some groups’ idiosyncratic ‘yuk factor’ idea. It is the only definition of ‘personhood’ in the history of philosophy that matches the objective empirical facts of Biology 101. The consequences of foregoing reality-for whatever reason-are perfectly clear.”

(Reading: “Embryo Cloning: British government should respond to report,” Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 8/2/00; “Blair gives MPs free vote on cloning of human embryos,” Daily Telegraph, 8/13/00; “>SPUC Information Office news update, 8/16/00; Gobbledygook #32, Dianne Irving, PhD; “When do human beings begin?” Dianne Irving, Ph.D.)

politics

PRO-LIFE? The debate over using embryonic babies for stem cell research has caused a rift among so-called pro-life Republicans. The Wall Street Journal reports, “Citing the promise of the new technology, Sen. Smith (R-Ore.) and a few other antiabortion Republicans whose families have been battered by disease have declined to support a blanket opposition to stem-cell research with embryos.”

COMMENT: Some politicians do not see the tiniest person as worthy of protection! Even among the allegedly pro-life.

(Reading: “New Stem Cell Research May Stir US Abortion Debate,” WSJ/Dow Jones, 7/31/00; on line by subscription only)

vaccines

CAMPAIGN TO CONVERT MERCK ONLINE PETITION: CoG for Life has placed the “Campaign for Ethical Vaccines U.S. 2000” signature effort online. A copy of the petition, for signature collection, can also be requested.

you

HELP WANTED: The Elliot Institute, a post-abortion research organization of national repute, is looking for an experienced computer programmer. For details, please e-mail application or questions to the “>Elliot Institute. Please include contact information, a resume including a description of programming languages and operation systems with which you are familiar, years of experience, and compensation requirements. A summary of programming accomplishments is also requested.

reflection for prayer

Grant me grace, O merciful God, to desire ardently all that is pleasing to You, to examine it prudently, to acknowledge it truthfully and to accomplish it perfectly for the praise and glory of Your name. Amen.

-St. Thomas Aquinas