in this issue:
hot button issues: 34 YEARS / MARKETING THE KILLING / TRAINING AND ACTIVISM
abortion: ECONOMICS / GEORGIA / VIRGINIA
brain injury: NO INSURANCE COVERAGE
catholic bishops: CHAPUT / WUERL
euthanasia: VERMONT
in vitro fertilization: MIRACLE BABY
stem fell research / ethical: BONE MARROW
stem cell research / politics: NEW YORK
zinger: TAKE THAT RISK
reflection for prayer: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-10
hot button issues
34 YEARS: In a column marking the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions, ALL’s Judie Brown writes, “How often has any one of us stopped to ask a simple, yet profound question: What is it that we have done to contribute to a culture in which more and more Americans are tolerant of some abortions? For while some polls say that fewer Americans favor abortion today, the fact is those very people do favor abortion when the question involves rape, incest and life of the mother. Why do we not understand that those who favor such abortions are in fact not pro-life?”
(Reading: “34 years after Roe, where are we?” American Life League, 1/18/07)
MARKETING THE KILLING: David Bereit of American Life League hosted a teleconference featuring David Kupelian, author of the new book “The marketing of evil: How radicals, elitists and pseudo-experts sell us corruption disguised as freedom.”
(Reading: “The marketing of abortion exposed on teleconference,” Dakota Voice, 1/16/07)
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.
abortion
ECONOMICS: Matt C. Abbott has posted an excellent commentary by Mark Crutcher on his column site.
(Reading: “Abortion, illegal immigration and Social Security,” Renew America, 1/13/07)
GEORGIA: State Representative Bobby Franklin has introduced H.B.1, a bill that would restore personhood to every preborn baby without exception for the time life begins. Pro-lifers in Georgia call Franklin a hero.
(Reading: “Interview with Judie Brown on pro-life hope from dramatic Georgia bill,” Life Site News, 1/16/07)
VIRGINIA: Delegate Robert G. Marshall has introduced “A bill to reinstate the crime of abortion upon overturning of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). HB 2124 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+ful+HB2124) would, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, criminalize abortion and reinstate Virginia’s 1970 law outlining the punishment for anyone who performs an abortion or causes a miscarriage.
(Reading: “Marshall introduces bill to ban abortion,” Potomac News, 1/10/07)
brain injury
NO INSURANCE COVERAGE: It is reported that millions of brain-injury patients get minimal, if any, therapy to treat memory and other problems because most insurers don’t pay for such care, and so doctors consign them to nursing homes.
(Reading: “Why some patients get no help after brain injury,” Global Action on Aging, 1/8/07)
catholic bishops
CHAPUT: In his most recent column, Archbishop Charles Chaput takes on Colorado’s pro-Planned Parenthood Catholic governor, Bill Ritter, and writes, “The new governor has been engaged and active in his Catholic faith for many years, and remains so. Nonetheless, it’s very hard to reconcile anyone who is “pro-life” with any support for Planned Parenthood and its destructive record.”
(Reading: “Ritter now faces the hard part of governorship: governing All of us are judged by what we do,” Archdiocese of Denver, 1/17/07)
WUERL: In an interview with Judie Brown and Father Tom Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, regarding the recent inaction of Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., on the public display by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Father Euteneuer says, “In actual fact, we are talking about the exercise of episcopal oversight. I don’t believe Archbishop Wuerl is doing his job.”
(Reading: “HLI leader says, ‘I don’t believe Archbishop Wuerl is doing his job,'” Life Site News, 1/16/07)
euthanasia
VERMONT: As the state legislature takes up consideration of a physician-assisted-suicide bill, the “death with dignity” bill, Dr, Robert Orr opined, “It sends a major societal message that sometimes life sucks. And sometimes it’s okay to take your life. Therefore I should be able to do that. I think that’s a dangerous, dangerous precedent.” When asked if he thought the bill would promote suicide, Orr said “absolutely.”
(Reading: “Legislative preview: Death with dignity,” WCAX-TV, 1/12/07)
in vitro fertilization
MIRACLE BABY: Hurricane Katrina endangered the lives of many cryopreserved human embryonic children, but thanks to the heroic efforts of Dr. Belinda Sartor, they children were saved. And now, sixteen months after tragic flooding, Noah Benton Markham has been born, the first of the 1,400 preborn children saved.
(Reading: “Parents of embryo rescued after Hurricane Katrina celebrate birth of boy,” Associated Press, 1/16/07)
stem cell research / ethical
BONE MARROW: Researcher Gary Van Zant “has found and mapped a gene that helps determine the number of adult stem cells in bone marrow – a discovery that promise to help cancer patients in the future.”
(Reading: “UK researcher makes stem cell discovery,” Louisville Courier-Journal, 1/14/07)
stem cell research / politics
NEW YORK: Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Lt. Gov. David Paterson will pressure the state’s voters. A bond issue of up to $2 billion is proposed, $1billion of which will go to human embryonic stem cell research. The politicians are doing all they can to sell the idea..
(Reading: “Stem cell research plan could go before voters,” Gannett News Service, 1/13/07)
zinger
TAKE THAT RISK: Commenting on ACOG’s recommendation that all women be screened for Down syndrome, Dr. James Golberg said that a 29-year-old woman and her partner might now choose amniocentesis instead of a blood test. For some couples, he said, “losing a normal pregnancy secondary to the procedure is not as problematic as the birth of a Down syndrome child, so they’re willing to take that risk.”
(Reading: “Screen all pregnancies for Down syndrome, doctors say,” New York Times, 1/9/07)
reflection for prayer
2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-10: We are in difficulties on all sides but never cornered; we see no answer to our problems, but never despair; we have been persecuted, but never deserted; knocked down, but never killed; always, wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body.