in this issue:
abortion: EFFICACY
bush: PRO-ABORT NOMINEE
congress: CHILD INTERSTATE ABORTION NOTIFICATION ACT / ENGEL REPRIMAND
euthanasia: DEFENDING KILLING / TREATMENT OF ELDERLY
morning-after abortion pills: COLORADO / IMPLANTATION / WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
politics: DEMOCRATS SOFT ON ABORTION?
schiavo: BLOGS / COMMENTARIES
stem cells: ADULT I / ADULT II
words of wisdom: POPE BENEDICT XVI
reflection for prayer: IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD
abortion
EFFICACY: A review of 1,927 abortions performed at 9-13 weeks in Scotland reveals that “medical” abortion is an effective alternative to surgical abortion. The drug of choice in this study was misoprostol.
(Reading: “Medical abortion at 9-13 weeks’ gestation: a review of 1,076 consecutive cases,” Contraception, 71 (2005) 327-332)
bush
PRO-ABORT NOMINEE: Republican National Coalition for Life reports that President Bush has announced his intention to nominate Julie Finley as U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Finley is publicly identified with many pro-abortion groups. ACTION: Ask President Bush to just say no: ; or call White House comment line at 202-456-1111.
(Reading: “President Bush to nominate abortion advocate to key ambassadorship,” Republican National Coalition for Life Fax Notes, 5/3/05)
congress
CHILD INTERSTATE ABORTION NOTIFICATION ACT: The U.S. House passed a bill that says only parents of pregnant teens can transport their daughters across state lines for the purpose of ending the life of their grandchild.
COMMENT: Though touted as a pro-life victory, it is more of a pro-abortion snafu.
(Reading: “House passes limit on abortion for minors,” Associated Press, 4/27/05; “Bush, Frist praise bill that allows pregnant minors to murder their unborn by abortion,” John Lofton, 4/29/05)
ENGEL REPRIMAND: Congressman Eliot Engel has reprimanded his legislative director, Pete Leon, for alleging that the congressman was opposed to Scott Bloch because he was a “devout Catholic.” Bloch is a member of the Bush administration.
(Reading: “Engel staffer rebuked for remark,” The Journal-News, 4/30/05; “Leftists resort to bigotry to tar Scott Bloch,” Catholic league news release, 3/30/05)
euthanasia
DEFENDING KILLING: Describing how a patient in “very near” fully persistent vegetative state starved to death over an 8-day period indicates the level to which euthanasia protagonists will go to assure the public that “peace and calm” are all that the dying person experiences. The account does provide a complete history of the various separate drugs during the 8 days it took her to die, including drugs to ease her breathing. The author tells the story because the patient in question could not be starved to death in hospital, and subsequently was moved home to die.
(Reading: “Death after withdrawal of nutrition and hydration,” The Lancet, 4/23/05, 1446-1447)
TREATMENT OF ELDERLY: Ron Panzer, president of the Hospice Patients Alliance, has written a cohesive commentary on how we treat the elderly and the ill.
(Reading: “Are we becoming a Nazi-like nation?” Hospice Patients Alliance, 4/25/05)
morning-after abortion pills
COLORADO: The Colorado House has sustained Gov. Bill Owens’ veto of a bill that would have required healthcare providers to tell sexual assault victims about so-called emergency contraception. Owens vetoed the bill because he said it violated the religious freedom of Catholic health facilities.
(Reading: “Contraception veto stands,” Denver Post, 5/3/05)
IMPLANTATION: Researchers are investigating new ways to make sure that the human embryo does not implant in his mother’s womb. As one research group reports, “implantation in primates and in humans is dependent on vascular remodeling in the endometrium and that the identification of agents that can disrupt this process prior to embryo attachment will lead to the development of new post-coital contraceptives.”
(Reading: “Novel antiangiogenic agents for use in contraception,” Contraception, 71 (2005) 263-271)
WORLD HEATH ORGANIZATION: “Contraceptive methods that prevent implantation and can be taken on a once-a-month basis appear to be an attractive option for many women in a variety of settings.” A number of “promising leads” are reported in this Rockefeller Foundation-funded study.
COMMENT: “Contraceptive” means against conception; abortion methods are what this study is discussing.
(Reading: “The World Health Organization initiative on implantation research,” Contraception, 71 (2005) 235-238)
politics
DEMOCRATS SOFT ON ABORTION? It is reported that “liberal Democrats in the House appear to be easing off on the abortion issue in an attempt to appeal to the more conservative in their party.”
COMMENT: We don’t believe in the tooth fairy, and we don’t believe this.
(Reading: “Are Democrats softening on pro-life issue?” Family News in Focus, 4/27/05)
schiavo
BLOGS: A good source for updates on the growing threat of euthanasia: Blogs for Terri
COMMENTARIES: Articles by Joel Belz and Betty Wickham provide information about treatment for the disabled.
(Reading: “Media malpractice: the public never learned about Terri Schiavo’s true condition” World Magazine, 4/05; “How the culture of death was brought to American medicine,” LifeIssues.net, 4/05)
stem cells
ADULT I: A new report on the uses for adult stem cells gives a glimmer of hope. Such stem cells raise no ethical dilemmas and “they are easy to collect and offer the possibility of treat patients with their own cells, avoiding problems with tissue rejection.”
(Reading: “Studies revive debate over what adult stem cells can do,” Los Angeles Times, 4/14/05)
ADULT II: Regentech is reporting that contrary to some reports, adult stem cells do not turn cancerous and, as a matter of fact, they appear to have no deleterious side effects.
(Reading: “Adult stem cells do not turn cancerous studies suggest,” LifeSiteNews.com, 4/27/05)
words of wisdom
POPE BENEDICT XVI: Evil draws its power from indecision and concern for what other people think.
(Reading: “Way of the Cross,” Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 2005)
reflection for prayer
IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD: Where justice is loved, where the dignity of the human person is respected, where one is not looking to one’s own caprice or personal interest, but rather to serve God and others — that’s where you’ll find peace.
(Reading: “In conversation with God,” vol. 2, p. 480)