in this issue:
hot button issues: PELOSI
abortion: LATIN AMERICA
birth control: MALE CONTRACEPTIVES
catholic bashing: SAN FRANCISCO
sexual health: PROPAGANDA
stem cell research / analysis: NATURE
vaccine: COMPULSORY HPV VACCINATION
reflection for prayer: SALVATION
hot button issue
PELOSI: Rep. Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to be honored at her alma mater, Trinity College of Washington, prior to her installation as House speaker. Trinity is a Catholic institution. Pelosi, a Catholic, is pro-abortion. American Life League is asking Archbishop Donald Wuerl to intervene. American Life League will be providing additional information about Pelosi’s Washington area events next week.
(Reading: “Pelosi wants Mass to showcase faith,” American Life League, 12/19/06)
abortion
LATIN AMERICA: FIGO, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, is increasingly pushing countries in Latin American and other parts of the developing world to legalize abortion. A recent conferencefeatured a number of seminars focusing on chemical abortions in the Third World. Vida Humana Internacional reports a number of anti-life groups and foundations have supported this effort, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
(Reading: “FIGO takes strong public stand in favor of abortion,” Vida Humana Internacional, 12/20/06)
birth control
MALE CONTRACEPTIVES: Noting a lack of public support for the idea of male birth control, one commentator states “Pharmaceutical companies may have a number of reservations about male contraceptives.” Those include an untested market and “because male contraceptives would be given to healthy individuals for long periods, they are likely to require a high level of safety to win regulatory approval and to minimize the probability of lawsuits.”
(Reading: “Male contraceptives on the horizon,” Journal of the American Medical Association,” 12/6/06)
catholic bashing
SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge has ruled that San Francisco city supervisors were acting in a constitutional manner when it issued a resolution blasting the Catholic Church for its opposition to homosexual adoption. The Thomas More Law Center, representing the church, is going to appeal the decision.
(Reading: “Federal judge says San Francisco’s labeling of Catholics as ‘hateful’ is constitutional,” Life Site News, 12/14/06)
sexual health
PROPOGANDA: The Lancet, a British medical journal, has devoted numerous pages over the past several issues to the concept of sexual health including an editorial claiming that it is essential that sexual reproductive health and rights be the basis for sound public policy decisions because “denial of sexual and reproductive rights is a preventable cause of death.” The Lancet includes commentary on the “Confessions of a condom lover” and the concept of promoting sexual pleasure as a sound argument in the effort to promote the use of condoms.
(Reading: The Lancet, 12/2/06)
stem cell research / analysis
NATURE: Analysis of those who oppose human embryonic stem cell research prompts this comment: “The most common argument against human embryonic stem cell research is that both techniques involve the destruction of human life, which, according to opponents, begins at conception. Ironically, these same people often support in vitro fertilization technologies, despite the fact that IVF clinics routinely discard surplus embryos, which are the main source of human embryonic stem cell lines.”
COMMENT: Once again, lack of consistent principles will undo pro-life political efforts. We must oppose IVF.
(Reading: “Delivering on the promise of human stem-cell research: What are the real barriers?” EMBO Reports, 12/06, pp. 1188-1192)
vaccine
COMPULSORY HPV VACCINATION: A commentary on the potential problems associated with a mandatory requirement that the HPV vaccine be given to children notes, “A critical question is whether achieving a higher level of coverage justifies the infringement on parental autonomy that compulsory vaccination inevitably entails.”
(Reading: “The ethics and politics of compulsory HPV vaccination,” New England Journal of Medicine,” 12/7/06)
reflection for prayer
SALVATION: Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do.
(Reading: “Two precepts of charity,” St. Thomas Aquinas)