hot button issues: ALITO / CHOICE ON EARTH / CONCEALING RAPE?
abortion: EMOTIONAL IMPACT
culture of death: PREGNANCY AND DISEASE
euthanasia: TIMERS END LIFE
human embryo: IDENTITY
morning-after abortion pill: WISCONSIN
personhood: MICHIGAN / RIGHT TO LIFE ACT
stem cell research / unethical: DESPERATE PATIENTS
victory: AMERICAN GIRL
wisdom: POPE BENEDICT XVI
reflection for prayer: WHY PRUDENCE?
hot button issues
ALITO: American Life League’s new web site, ApproveAlito.com, encourages citizens to sign a petition urging senators to approve the appointment of Judge Samuel Alito. An analysis of Alito is available online.
CHOICE ON EARTH: Planned Parenthood is once again offering “holiday” cards with the inscription, “Choice on Earth.” Jim Sedlak of American Life League’s STOPP International calls the cards egregious, noting that “according to numbers just released by Planned Parenthood, 255,015 babies who visited Planned Parenthood facilities in 2004 will not be alive to celebrate the birth of Jesus this year.” The number represents the number of surgical abortions as documented in Planned Parenthood’s latest annual report.
(Reading: “2005 holiday cards,” Planned Parenthood, 11/05; “Planned Parenthood blasphemes Christmas,” American Life League news release, 12/12/05)
CONCEALING RAPE? A letter on the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate web site praises Planned Parenthood for not telling the writer’s parents that she was raped by her 17-year-old boyfriend when she was just 11 years old. Jim Sedlak of American Life League’s STOPP International said at a time when laws require suspected sexual abuse of minors to be reported, “it is time law enforcement agencies in every state address the situation.” When news of the letter started making the rounds of pro-life blogs and news sites, PPGG pulled the page from the web.
(Reading: “Shared stories: It keeps us safe,” Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, 12/05; “Planned Parenthood conceals rape of 11-year-old,” American Life League news release, 12/14/05; “Is Planned Parenthood involved in coverup?,” American Life League news release, 12/15/05)
abortion
EMOTIONAL IMPACT: University of Oslo researchers studying the psychological effects of abortion found that among the women they surveyed, 25.7 percent experienced distress six months after their abortions; 20% still experienced distress five years later. According to a BBC News report, “Pro-choice campaigners said there was no evidence abortion directly caused psychological trauma.”
(Reading: “Abortion ‘leaves mental legacy,'” BBC News, 12/12/05)
culture of death
PREGNANCY AND DISEASE: Researchers note that if placing a high priority on reducing birth rates and preventing AIDS is to be successful, a program is needed that recognizes a single goal: “to break the link between sexual intercourse and negative consequences: unintended pregnancy and disease.”
(Reading: “What would Malthus say about AIDS in Africa?” The Lancet, 366:1899-1901)
euthanasia
TIMERS END LIFE: In Israel, a government bill setting forth a procedure for passive euthanasia facilitates the placement of a timer on a patient’s ventilator. “A response delayed by a timer attached to a patient’s ventilator will solve the Israeli government’s wish to introduce passive euthanasia for terminally ill people and to allow them to die with dignity,” states a medical journal article.
COMMENT: The phrase “passive euthanasia” is an ambiguous term designed to make the imposed death of a loved one seem acceptable.
(Reading: “Israelis turn to timer device to facilitate passive euthanasia,” British Medical Journal, 12/10/05)
human embryo
IDENTITY: James Sherley, during a recent interview, said, “Despite the confusion that some like to create on the question of ‘are embryos human beings?’ and ‘when does a human life begin?’ both scientists and physicians know very well that human embryos are alive and human. A human life begins when a diploid complement of human DNA is initiated to begin human development. Therefore, a life can be initiated by the fusion of sperm and egg or by the introduction of a diploid nucleus into an enucleated egg (i.e., ‘cloning’). Given that embryos are human beings, they have a right to self and a right to life. Exploiting their parts (i.e., cells) or killing them for research is moral trespass that society should not allow. Even if the research might, and let’s be clear, might benefit others, this trespass is not justified.”
(Reading: “To clone or note to clone,” MercatorNet, 12/6/05)
morning-after abortion pill
WISCONSIN: Gov. Jim Doyle, Catholic Democrat, has provided authorization for state attorney genera Peg Lautenschlager to sue the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over the FDA’s “failure” to approve over-the-counter status for the deadly morning after pills. Citing “politics, not science” as a reason for the FDA delay, the Wisconsin AG is opining that women’s health is at risk because of the FDA decision.
COMMENT: Not once in the ongoing debate over these dangerous pills has anyone among the politicians been honest enough to point out that these pills can kill preborn babies during their first days of life.
(Reading: “Doyle approves suing the FDA,” Associated Press, 12/9/05)
personhood
MICHIGAN: Pro-life activist Cal Zastrow is leading an effort to end abortion by focusing attention on a statewide petition that, if successful, could force the Supreme Court to address the fundamental question of whether or not the preborn child is a human being from his beginning.
(Reading: “Michigan group seeks petition drive targeting abortion,” Associated Press, 12/7/05)
RIGHT TO LIFE ACT: This bill (HR 552) states, “The terms ‘human person’ and ‘human being’ include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including, but not limited to, the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.” See RightToLifeAct.org for details.
COMMENT: Is your member of Congress a co-sponsor? If not, ask!
stem cell research / unethical
DESPERATE PATIENTS: As many suffering people travel abroad in the hopes of finding a treatment for a debilitating disease, critics of the promises being made to those patients say, “these researchers are unnecessarily blurring the lines between quackery, science and treatment, risking grave harm to both research and patients.” Some pay as much as $30,000 for unproven procedures.
(Reading: “Desperate patients are traveling abroad for dubious stem cell therapies,” Nature Biotechnology, 12/6/05)
victory
AMERICAN GIRL: The Pro-Life Action League reports that American Girl is ending its partnership with the pro-abortion group Girls, Inc. (see Communique, 10/14/05). American Girl was selling “I Can” wristbands and sending a donation to Girls, Inc., for each bracelet sold. The partnership will end December 26. In addition, American Girl is launching a Save Girlhood campaign designed to keep girls from growing up too fast.
(Reading: “American Girl tries to restore image tarnished by pro-life boycott,” Pro-Life Action League news release, 12/14/05)
wisdom
POPE BENEDICT XVI: Scientific and technological advances should always be evaluated according to should ethics criteria, and nothing that threatens the inherent dignity of the human person should ever be tolerated. Only by faithful adherence to these unchanging truths can society create the conditions in which human beings may flourish and prosper.
(Reading: “Pope to bishops: Make everyone understand the ‘evil of the crime of abortion,'” LifeSiteNews.com, 12/5/05)
reflection for prayer
WHY PRUDENCE? Fr. John Hardon observed, “Because the apostle must be always on guard not to be seduced by the sinners he has come to convert. Moreover, they can be more cunning in seducing him than he in converting them.”
(Reading: Retreat with the Lord)