in this issue:
abortion: MISOPROSTOL
activism: CROSSROADS, FATHER WESLIN
catholic health care: NEW HAMPSHIRE
ethical adult stem cell research: BONE MARROW CELLS
exceptions: SLIPPERY SLOPE
human embryo: CREATE AND KILL
living will: INCREMENTALISM
morning-after abortion pill: MODE OF ACTION
physicians: HIPPOCRATIC OATH NON-BINDING
stem cell spin: DRAWING THE LINE, MISREPORTING
help wanted: ALL PUBLICATIONS
reflection for prayer: ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
abortion
MISOPROSTOL: Researchers found that 1000 mg of misoprostol, inserted vaginally, will abort up to the ninth week of gestational age. The side effects included nausea and diarrhea. Some 300 Cuban women over the age of 18, seeking “elective termination of pregnancy,” were enrolled in the study.
(Reading: “Vaginal Misoprostol 1000 mg for Early Abortion,” Contraception, 63 (2001) 131-136, subscribers only)
ethical adult stem cell research
BONE MARROW CELLS: Reported as a “potentially astounding development in transplant surgery,” a British study using mice suggests that the body’s own master cells are most appropriate for treatment in the care of kidney patients.
(Reading: “Stem cell breakthrough offers new hope for kidney patients,” Independent News (UK), 7/25/01)
activism
CROSSROADS: This group of pro-life students concludes its 3,000 walk across America with a closing rally at Senate Park in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Aug. 11 from 5:00 to 8:30 pm. For the past three months, two groups of college-age students have been on a walking pilgrimage from California to Washington. The rally will feature Judie Brown, president of American Life League, and a concert with two pro-life Christian rock bands. All youth groups are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Crossroads director “>Adam Redmon at American Life League, 888-546-2580.
FATHER WESLIN: Activists are asking fellow pro-lifers to write to U.S. District Court Judge Richard Arcara to disagree with a decision he recently made. Judge Arcara ruled that Fr. Norman Weslin, the leader of the pro-life group Lambs for Christ, violated a court order by praying within a buffer zone outside a Buffalo, N.Y., abortion center. Fr. Weslin will appeal the ruling, but he now faces the possibility of a $5,000 fine and up to six months in jail.
ACTION: Write to Judge Richard Arcara, Dillon Federal Building, Buffalo, NY 14202.
(Reading: “Pro-Life Priest Convicted of Contempt,” Buffalo News, 7/19/01)
catholic health care
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Encouraged by the efforts of local pro-lifers, the Catholic Medical Center in Manchester has stopped funding a non-profit agency that provides various services for low-income children. Child Health Services provides counseling and nutritional services. But the agency also prescribes birth control, distributes condoms, and refers for abortions. Catholic Medical Center wanted to earmark its $150,000 annual funding for specific programs that did not involve “family planning.” But when Child Health Services insisted on spending the grant money as it saw fit, the Catholic group cut its funding.
(Reading: “CMC Stops Funding Child Health Services,” Manchester [N.H.] Union Leader, 7/26/01)
exceptions
SLIPPERY SLOPE: Edmund D. Pellegrino, M.D.: “The slippery slope is not a myth. Historically it has been a reality in world affairs. Once a moral precept is breached a psychological and logical process is set in motion which follows what I would call the law of infinite regress of moral exceptions. One exception leads logically and psychologically to another. In small increments a moral norm eventually obliterates itself. The process always begins with some putative good reason, like compassion, freedom of choice, or liberty. By small increments, it overwhelms its own justifications.”
(Reading: “Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Rebuttals of Rebuttals — The Moral Prohibition Remains,” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 2001:26:1:93-100, paid subscriptions only)
human embryo
CREATE AND KILL: The published study from Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine discusses the “future production of human embryonic stem cells lines for therapeutic use” based on the use of gametes acquired from anonymous donors.
(Reading: “Use of Human Gametes Obtained from Anonymous Donors for the Production of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines,” Fertility and Sterility, 7/01, pp. 132-137, subscribers only)
living will
INCREMENTALISM: A history of the living will notes, “Actually, the ‘living will’ was originally invented in 1967 by two groups, the Euthanasia Society of America [currently Society for the Right to Die] and Euthanasia Education Council [currently Concern for Dying], and was touted as a first step in gaining public acceptance of euthanasia. These groups had been struggling for years to get ‘mercy killing’ bills (which would allow doctors to give disabled or dying patients lethal overdoses) passed in various state legislatures. The ‘living will’ opened up the new strategy of an incremental approach.”
COMMENT: Rev. Flip Benham says: “The lie of incrementalism is that we become as God trying to negotiate with the enemy the terms of peace.”
(Reading: “Of Living Wills and Butterfly Ballots,” Nancy Valko, RN; “Incrementalism: A Lie from the Pit of Hell,” Operation Save America)
morning-after abortion pill
MODE OF ACTION: An international meta-analysis of possible actions relating to various types of “emergency contraception” [sic] regimen indicate that the possibility of interfering with the human embryo prior to implantation is highly likely, but cannot be confirmed absolutely. The researchers progress in the study from the false premise that pregnancy begins at implantation, not conception/fertilization.
(Reading: “Mechanism of Action of Hormonal Preparations Used for Emergency Contraception: A Review of the Literature,” Contraception, 63 (2001) 111-121, subscribers only)
physicians
HIPPOCRATIC OATH NON-BINDING: Gary Seay, Ph.D.: “What, then, is the argument for regarding the Hippocratic Oath’s proscription of the giving of poisons as unconditionally binding on physicians? It cannot be simply an appeal to the authority of the Oath itself as the basis of the moral principles that govern the practice of medicine, since the Oath of course includes much now generally held not binding at all.”
(Reading: “Do Physicians Have an Inviolable Duty Not to Kill?” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, (2001) 26:1:75-91, paid subscription only)
stem cell spin
DRAWING THE LINE: The editorial position of a prestigious medical journal endorses the use of “embryos surplus to fertility treatments” because such a practice “seems justified on pragmatic grounds.”
COMMENT: Pope John Paul II has said of pragmatism (in Fides et Ratio, Section 89): “No less dangerous is pragmatism, an attitude of mind which, in making its choices, precludes theoretical considerations or judgments based on ethical principles. The practical consequences of this mode of thinking are significant. In particular there is growing support for a concept of democracy which is not grounded upon any reference to unchanging values: whether or not a line of action is admissible is decided by the vote of a parliamentary majority. The consequences of this are clear: in practice, the great moral decisions of humanity are subordinated to decisions taken one after another by institutional agencies. Moreover, anthropology itself is severely compromised by a one-dimensional vision of the human being, a vision which excludes the great ethical dilemmas and existential analyses of the meaning of suffering and sacrifice, life and death.”
(Reading: “Stem-Cell Research: Drawing the Line,” The Lancet, 7/21/01. p. 163)
MISREPORTING? One report suggests that early reports on the value of adult stem cells taken from muscles and morphing into blood cells are overstated, if not totally in error. The editorial states “while embryonic cells can grow indefinitely in culture, producing vast quantities in a short time, no one has figured out how to duplicate that trick with adult cells.”
(Reading: “Many Say Adult Stem Cell Reports Overplayed,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 7/18/01, p. 293)
help wanted
ALL PUBLICATIONS: American Life League’s growing publications department seeks a deadline-oriented self-starter to coordinate pro-life magazine and other periodicals. Requirements: degree in journalism and three years experience in writing, editing and project management. Resume and writing samples to “>Mrs. Clark, P.O. Box 1350, Stafford, VA 22555; fax 540-659-2586.
reflection for prayer
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT: Against arrogance in word or deed: “True doctrine all the more effectively shuns the voice of arrogance through reflection, in which it pursues the arrogant teacher himself with the arrows of its words. It ensures that the pride which it attacks in the hearts of those listening to the sacred words will not in fact be preached by arrogant conduct. For true doctrine tries both to teach by words and to demonstrate by living example — humility, which is the mother and mistress of virtues. Its goal is to express humility among the disciples of truth more by deeds than by words.”