in this issue:
hot button issues: NORTH DAKOTA / SHARPTON UPDATE
abortion: TEXAS
birth control pill: YASMIN
bush watch: SUPREME COURT SPECULATION
catholic education: MICHIGAN
corporate giving: PAMPERED CHEF
legislation: CONGRESS / NEW HAMPSHIRE / UTAH
population elimination: ABORTING THE FUTURE / ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
reflection for prayer: POPE JOHN PAUL II
hot button issues
NORTH DATOKA: Patrick Delaney of American Life League was one of a number of pro-lifers testifying before the state House Judiciary Committee on behalf of HB1242, the Preborn Child Protection Act. The bill reads in part, “A person is guilty of a class AA felony if the person intentionally destroys or terminates the life of a preborn child. For the purpose of this section, ‘preborn child’ includes a human being from the moment of fertilization until the moment of birth.” The bill does not have the support of North Dakota’s two Catholic bishops.
(Reading: “Preborn Child Protection Act,” HB1242, North Dakota legislature; “That they may have life,” Diocese of Fargo news release, 2/7/03)
SHARPTON UPDATE: Cardinal Francis George responded to reports that Rev. Al Sharpton, who favors legal abortion, was delivering the homily at Sunday Mass at St. Sabina Church in Chicago. A statement from the Chicago archdiocese noted Sharpton’s pro-abortion stance, and the fact that only Catholic bishops, priests and deacons are permitted to deliver a homily at Mass. But the statement concludes that “making a case of this invitation at this time would be a futile gesture and a waste of effort.” American Life League responded with a full-page newspaper ad.
(Reading: “Statement from the Archdiocese of Chicago,” Archdiocese of Chicago news release, 2/7/03; “Sharpton: Don’t get complacent,” Chicago Sun-Times, 2/10/03; “New ad: Al Sharpton is not a Catholic priest,” American Life League news release, 2/13/03)
abortion
TEXAS: The ACLU has filed suit on behalf of a Harris County jail inmate who wants an abortion. The woman is nine weeks pregnant. The county says abortion is elective surgery, and she cannot have it without a court order. The ACLU says “it’s completely inexcusable and is a blatant violation of inmates’ rights.”
(Reading: “County inmate suing for right to get abortion,” Houston Chronicle, 2/6/03)
birth control pill
YASMIN: Researchers are taking a closer look at Yasmin, a birth control pill that’s been available in the United States since 2001. Two deaths were reported among 40 women who experienced major blood clots after taking the pill.
(Reading: “Two fatalities linked to pill,” Los Angeles Times, 2/10/03; “Thromboembolism associated with new contraceptive Yasmin,” British Medical Journal, 2/1/03)
bush watch
SUPREME COURT SPECULATION: Former Texas Supreme Court judge Alberto Gonzales may not be in the top spot among the Bush administration’s prospective Supreme Court nominees. Insiders say the first vacancy on the high court could be filled by Janice Rogers Brown of the California Supreme Court. Strategists say it would be hard for Democrats to oppose an African-American woman. It is reported that Brown has ruled against “abortion rights.”
(Reading: “Supreme Court: Moving on, moving in, moving up,” Newsweek, 2/17/03)
catholic education
MICHIGAN: A Catholic high school in Farmington Hills has withdrawn an item from its fundraising auction — lunch with Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Parents and alumni complained that the school should not be offering what could be construed as a sign of support for a pro-abortion officeholder. Mercy High School’s principal said the administration never saw it that way, but has withdrawn the item “out of sensitivity to any who might interpret this item as Mercy taking a pro-abortion stand.”
(Reading: “School rebuffs Granholm lunch offer over abortion stand,” Associated Press, 2/13/03)
corporate giving
PAMPERED CHEF: The company has been added to Life Decisions International’s list of firms supporting Planned Parenthood. Pampered Chef was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by investor Warren Buffett, a frequent donor to pro-abortion concerns.
(Reading: “A popular home-party marketing firm is the latest boycott target,” Life Advocacy Briefing, 2/10/03)
legislation
CONGRESS: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) plans to introduce a Life at Conception Act. “The only way that we’re going to legislatively overturn Roe v. Wade is to establish personhood early on — and that is at conception,” Hunter said.
(Reading: “Life at Conception Act to be introduced,” Family News in Focus, 2/5/03)
NEW HAMPSHIRE: HB193 would have declared that life begins when the human egg is fertilized. The state House defeated the proposal, 253-119. It did not specifically mention abortion, but opponents feared it would establish the groundwork for limitations on abortion.
(Reading: “Bill establishing life at conception rejected,” Manchester [New Hampshire] Union-Leader, 2/7/03; “Right to Life Act,” HB 193, New Hampshire Legislature)
UTAH: A bill requiring insurance companies to cover prescriptions for birth control “like other preventative health-care services” has stalled in a legislative committee.
(Reading: “Pro-contraceptive bill fails for the 5th time,” [Salt Lake City] Deseret News, 2/5/03)
population elimination
ABORTING THE FUTURE: Columnist Gene Edward Veith notes the number of countries whose birth rates are now below the replacement rate, thus ensuring a declining population in the years ahead: “The dirty little secret of the population implosion, one seldom mentioned by demographers, is that the world is aborting its future generations.”
(Reading: “Population implosion,” World Magazine, 2/15/03)
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL: The international service organization has renewed its “memorandum of cooperation” with the United Nations Population Fund. During the previous term of the agreement, the two cooperated on “efforts to increase understanding of reproductive health issues in regions of Mexico.” UNFPA often focuses on “reproductive health,” a stealth term that often includes support for abortion.
(Reading: “UNFPA and Rotary renew cooperation on population and development issues,” UNFPA news release, 2/5/03)
reflection for prayer
POPE JOHN PAUL II: Humanity must let itself be touched and pervaded by the Spirit given to it by the risen Christ. It is the Spirit who heals the wounds of the heart, pulls down the barriers that separate us from God and divide us from one another, and at the same time, restores the joy of the Father’s love and of fraternal unity.
(Reading: “Homily of the Holy Father,” Mass in St. Peter’s Square for the canonization of Sr. Mary Faustina Kowalska, 4/30/00)