in this issue:
hot button issues: PLANNED PARENTHOOD / RIGHT TO LIFE ACT / TRAINING AND ACTIVISM
action: CONTACT THE FDA
catholic diocese: TULSA
euthanasia: NEWBORNS VS. PREBORNS
population: GLOBAL WAR ON BABY GIRLS
prenatal partners: WHEN YOUR BABY MAY NOT BE BORN HEALTHY
stem cell education: FRC
stem cell research / ethical: BACK PAIN / MARKER
stem cell research / unethical: OREGON
wisdom: MARK TWAIN
zinger: ARROGANCE
reflection for prayer: PATIENCE
hot button issues
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: American Life League’s annual survey of Planned Parenthood operations again shows a decrease in the number of the organization’s “health” clinics. From a high of 938 locations in 1995, Planned Parenthood now operates 817 locations described as “health” clinics. ALL’s Jim Sedlak noted, “Americans, whom we have supplied with the truth about this organization, simply do not want Planned Parenthood in their communities.”
(Reading: “Planned Parenthood closes clinic after clinic,” American Life League news release, 12/13/06)
RIGHT TO LIFE ACT: American Life League thanked the 100 U.S. House members who co-sponsored the Right to Life Act during the recently concluded congressional session and asked for support for similar legislation in the new session that begins in January. “The bipartisan support for this bill is indicative of the fact that it is time for abortion to end in this country now,” said ALL’s Judie Brown. “Unfortunately, the pro-life movement has been attempting to merely chip away at abortion for almost 34 years. Now is the time for a dramatic change.”
(Reading: “Right to Life Act critical for new Congress,” American Life League news release, 12/11/06)
TRAINING AND ACTIVISM: American Life League is sponsoring a full day of workshops featuring well-known pro-life speakers in Washington, D.C. on January 21, the day before the annual March for Life. Details are available online.
action
CONTACT THE FDA: December 28 is the deadline for submitting comments to the FDA regarding the use of fetal cell lines in the manufacture of vaccines.
ACTION: Find suggested letter writing tips and spread the word with facts from Children of God for Life, an American Life League associate group.
catholic diocese
TULSA: The Diocese of Tulsa purchased land directly across the street from Tulsa’s only abortion clinic. It is designed to be a place to pray and support life.
(Reading: “Catholic diocese buys land near Tulsa abortion clinic,” Associated Press, 12/11/06)
euthanasia
NEWBORNS VS. PREBORNS: A British bioethics council has rejected a suggestion for “active euthanasia” of severely disabled infants, but recommended babies born before 22 weeks into pregnancy not be treated.
COMMENT: The guidelines outlined in the article suggest that certain preborn children are expendable, which suggests that killing is not always a bad idea. Slippery slope anyone?
(Reading: “British council rejects ‘active euthanasia’ for newborns,” Associated Press, 12/7/06)
population
GLOBAL WAR ON BABY GIRLS: Nicholas Eberstadt, speaking at a U.N. conference, provides statistics indicating that around the world there is a serious imbalance in the ratio of baby boys to baby girls. In Asia alone he reported 20 million “missing” girls.
(Reading: “US demographer sees ‘global war on baby girls,'” Catholic World News, 12/11/06)
prenatal partners
WHEN YOUR BABY MAY NOT BE BORN HEALTHY: A new web site, Prenatal Partners for Life, has been developed to offer parents with a negative diagnosis about their preborn child support, information and encouragement.
stem cell education
FRC: Family Research Council has produced Stem Cell: Beyond Hype, Real Hope, which exposes the truth about the real success being achieved by using adult and cord blood stem cells. Details available online.
stem cell research / ethical
BACK PAIN: British researchers are studying the treatment of lower back pain using the patient’s own stem cells. This could be a viable alternative to powerful painkillers or surgery.
(Reading: “Patients’ own stem cells used in one-off treatment to stop back pain,” University of Manchester news release, 12/3/06)
MARKER: U.S. scientists say a sugar molecule present on embryonic stem cells has also been found on the surface of a type of adult stem cell.
(Reading: “Molecule marker found on stem cells,” Science News, 12/4/06)
stem cell research / unethical
OREGON: Six-year-old Daniel Kerner is the first child to receive a transplant of neural stem cells taken from the brains of children aborted during their first weeks of life.
(Reading: “Doctors turn to aborted fetus to save boy’s life,” Associated Press, 12/11/06)
wisdom
MARK TWAIN: “It’s curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.”
(Reading: “Courage, The Quotations Page)
zinger
ARROGANCE: Columnist Ilana Mercer writes, “In a pre-election postmortem in the Washington Post, former House majority leader Dick Armey, in particular, castigated Republican lawmakers for taking up trivia such as Terri [Schiavo], which he lumped with the ban on horsemeat and the attempted bans on same-sex marriage and flag burning.”
COMMENT: Mercer is NOT pro-life, but she got this right.
(Reading: “Conservatives for killing Terri,” World Net Daily, 11/17/06)
reflection for prayer
PATIENCE: “Patience breeds hope” (Romans 5:4). As Father Yves Congar, O.P., wrote, “Those who do not know how to suffer, do not know how to hope either. People who are in too much of a hurry, who wish to grasp the object of their desires immediately, are also incapable of it.”
(Reading: “Patience breeds hope,” Third Order of Preachers)