in this issue:
hot button issues: NORTH DAKOTA / ROCK FOR LIFE / ROE V. WADE ANNIVERSARY
abortion: CDC FAILURE
bioethics: DIANNE IRVING, PhD
congress: RIGHT TO LIFE ACT OF 2005
conscience: CALIFORNIA
ethical stem cell research: HEARTS / PARALYSIS
eugenics: POPULTION CONTROL
euthanasia: COMPASSION / DUTCH DOCTORS / PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE
lifelines: ABORTION
pregnancy: BABY IN CHARGE
pro-life groups: SPAIN
reflection for prayer: IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD
hot button issues
NORTH DAKOTA: American Life League points out that a bill filed in the North Dakota legislature, which would ban all abortions in that state, is “solid legislation.”
(Reading: “North Dakota abortion ban right on target,” American Life League news release, 1/14/05)
ROCK FOR LIFE: American Life League’s youth outreach brought the pro-life message to the inauguration in Washington. “For several years, President Bush has issued proclamations for National Sanctity of Human Life Day,” said Rock for Life director Erik Whittington. “It is time for the president to make a full commitment to the spirit of these proclamations and work tirelessly to bring an end to abortion on demand.”
(Reading: “President Bush, take action to protect babies from abortion,” American Life League news release, 1/18/05)
ROE V. WADE ANNIVERSARY: A schedule of American Life League’s activities in the Washington, D.C. area this weekend is posted online.
abortion
CDC FAILURE: A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control fails to point out that women with a history of abortion are five times more likely to use illicit drugs and twice as likely to consume alcohol during pregnancy compared to women who had not had an abortion.
(Reading: “CDC ignores abortion link in report on women drinking during pregnancy,” The Elliot Institute News, 1/12/05)
bioethics
DIANNE IRVING, PhD: If you are interested in a comprehensive list of articles Professor Irving has written, we have a Word file containing all titles and URLs. Please send your request to .
congress
RIGHT TO LIFE ACT OF 2005: This bill (which will be identical to the previous version) 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.”
COMMENT: Is your member of Congress a co-sponsor? He or she should be. Ask!
conscience
CALIFORNIA: If Assemblyman Lloyd Levine’s bill passes, pharmacists would be required to fill all prescriptions for birth control, including abortifacients, regardless of their moral or religious beliefs.
(Reading: “Bill would require birth control sales,” Los Angeles Daily News, 12/31/04)
ethical stem cell research
HEARTS: Scientists have found that adult stem cells from bone marrow can be injected into damaged heart tissues, where they are growing into healthy heart muscle.
(Reading: “Researchers race to heal injured hearts with adult stem cells,” Harvard Health Publications news release, 1/14/05)
PARALYSIS: It is reported that patients with spinal cord injuries have hopes of walking again, following treatment with adult stem cells.
(Reading: “Non-embryonic stem cells continue to show progress,” Baptist Press, 1/14/05)
eugenics
POPULATION CONTROL: Paul Jalsevac has traced the history of population control from Malthus through Darwin, Margaret Sanger the United Nations and more.
(Reading: “The inherent racism of population control,” LifeSiteNews.com, 1/04)
euthanasia
COMPASSION: Ron Panzer of the Hospice Patients Alliance has written an insightful commentary.
(Reading: “Comfortable Compassion,” Hospice Patients Alliance, 1/15/05)
DUTCH DOCTORS: A new report commission by the Royal Dutch Medical Association argues that doctors should be able to help patients end their lives even if they may not be ill but are “suffering through living.”
(Reading: “Dutch euthanasia law should apply to patients ‘suffering through living,’ report says,” British Medical Journal, 1/8/05)
PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE: A new article exposes the confusion surrounding this often misapplied term.
(Reading: “First-person: ‘Persistent Vegetative State’ is often confusing,” Baptist Press, 1/14/05)
lifelines
ABORTION: A direct abortion constitutes an intrinsically disordered act, the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. It is an evil act. There can be no right to commit an evil act.
(Reading: D.Q. McInerny, PhD., Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, 4/04)
pregnancy
BABY IN CHARGE: John Wilks recently reviewed a published American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology study on fetal interleukin-1 receptions and writes, “Consistent with previous studies by other researchers, this paper yet again proves that the fetus is the master of its own destiny. Contrary to the abortion mantra, the fetus is not part of the woman’s body.”
(Reading: Memo from John Wilks; “Fetal interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene polymorphism,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 10/04, pp. 1318-1323)
pro-life groups
SPAIN: Unidos pro la vida has inaugurated a “Garden of the Absent” to remember those babies killed by abortion. These gardens are in several cities in Spain and are designed to call attention to the “collateral damage of abortion.”
reflection for prayer
IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD: The most sacred humanity of Christ casts a light that enlightens the being and the life of each of us, because it is only in Christ that we can recognize the totally immeasurable value of a man…. The greatness of the human person derives from the spiritual reality of his soul, his divine filiation, his eternal destiny, all of which he has received from God.
(Reading: “In Conversation with God,” Vol. 2, p. 66)