in this issue:
hot button issues: CULTURE OF ME / STOPP / SUPREME COURT
abortion: CONSEQUENCES I / CONSEQUENCES II / MIFEPRISTONE (RU-486) / PRACTITIONERS / SOUTH DAKOTA
activism: REMEMBERING THE BABIES
personhood: RIGHT TO LIFE ACT
stem cell research / ethical: ARTHRITIS CURE / BRAIN INJURY / CORD BLOOD / DON HO / SEVERED NERVE REPAIR / SICKLE CELL DISEASE
stem cell research / unethical: HWANG SAGA CONTINUES / WISCONISN
web news: MOMMY LIFE
wisdom: POPE BENEDICT XVI
reflection for prayer: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
hot button issues
CULTURE OF ME: American Life League’s Judie Brown looks at motherhood, abortion and reproductive technology: “The true meaning of motherhood has been lost; the true value of a child — a single solitary life — has been overshadowed by self satisfaction.”
(Reading: “What women want,” American Life League commentary, 1/5/06)
STOPP: A new survey from American Life League’s STOPP International lists all Planned Parenthood offices in the United States and what types of abortions are performed at each facility.
(Reading: “Planned Parenthood abortion business exposed via new STOPP national survey,” American Life League news release, 1/5/06)
SUPREME COURT: American Life League’s new Approve Alito web site encourages citizens to sign a petition urging senators to approve the appointment of Judge Samuel Alito. An analysis of Alito is available online.
abortion
CONSEQUENCES I: Researcher Priscilla Coleman has studied more than 500 women and come to the conclusion that those mothers who aborted a child are more likely to physically abuse a subsequently born child.
(Reading: “Abortion linked to abuse,” Family News in Focus, 12/30/05)
CONSEQUENCES II: New Zealand researchers report that among mothers who aborted a child there is an increased likelihood of depression, anxiety disorders, alcoholism and drug abuse.
(Reading: “Abortion raises risk of depression,” World Net Daily, 1/3/06)
MIFEPRISTONE (RU-486): Researchers investigating the 607 adverse side effects reported by doctors treating mothers who have used mifepristone to abort their children “call for increased research into the allergic and fatal septic reactions associated with mifepristone. They also urge that ultrasound imaging be performed before use of the drug to rule out ectopic pregnancies and propose that a fetal registry be established to track birth defects in mifepristone survivors.”
(Reading: “First analysis of FDA’s mifepristone adverse event reports,” The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 12/27/05)
PRACTITIONERS: To find out what abortionists are being told and what they are saying to one another, see the Physicians for Reproductive Choice web site.
SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota’s abortion task force has issued a final report that calls for amending the state constitution to give preborn children the same protection as born children.
(Reading: “S. Dakota task force approves final report on abortion-related issues,” Medical News Today, 12/16/05)
activism
REMEMBERING THE BABIES: On the anniversary of the ruling that decriminalized abortion, Knights of Columbus councils from eleven Catholic parishes in southern New Hampshire are sponsoring a day of fasting and prayer for the Culture of Life. The type of fast may be selected by each individual, but it is suggested that participants abstain from solid foods for 24 hours starting at 7pm Saturday, Jan 21. The New Hampshire group is planning 24 hours of praying the rosary, ending with benediction.
COMMENT: Will this occur where you live? Will you be involved?
personhood
RIGHT TO LIFE ACT: This bill (HR 552) 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.” See Right to Life Act for details.
COMMENT: Is your member of Congress a co-sponsor? If not, ask!
stem cell research / ethical
ARTHRITIS CURE: Scientists who grew a half-inch piece of cartilage in the lab using adult stem cells from patients undergoing hip replacement surgery are predicting a possible cure for arthritis within a decade.
(Reading: “Stem cell breakthrough promises arthritis ‘cure,'” Telegraph, 12/20/05)
BRAIN INJURY: Houston doctors have received FDA approval to test a new treatment based on therapeutic abilities of adult stem cells to treat brain-damaged children.
(Reading: “Trials here first to use stem cells for brain injuries,” Houston Chronicle, 12/23/05)
CORD BLOOD: Please visit the Babies for Life Foundation web site to learn about ethical ways of using stem cells from cord blood.
DON HO: The famed Hawaiian singer has received life-saving experimental treatment using stem cells taken from his blood and injected into his heart. He says he’s “ready to go.”
(Reading: “Don Ho says he’s ready to go,” Mercury News, 12/23/05; “Don Ho recovering from stem cell procedure,” USA Today, 12/6/05)
SEVERED NERVE REPAIR: San Diego scientists have found that hair follicle stem cells from mice have great potential to produce nerve cells and many other types of cells.
(Reading: “Stem cells from hair follicles rival embryonic stem cells in their potential for regenerative medicine,” AntiCancer, Inc., news release, 12/19/05)
SICKLE CELL DISEASE: Researchers are encouraged by the results of a study to be published this month: “To prevent the production of the abnormal hemoglobin that causes sickle cell disease, a viral vector was introduced in cell cultures of patients who have the disease. … Tested in adult stem cells from SCD patients, researchers found that the newly formed red blood cells made normal hemoglobin and suppressed production of the sickle shaped hemoglobin typical of the disease.”
(Reading: “Sickle cell disease corrected in human models using stem-cell based therapy,” Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center news release, 12/25/05)
stem cell research / unethical
HWANG SAGA CONTINUES: While apologizing for the disappointment others expressed in him, South Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk maintained that the technology he had produced would prove to be correct and would belong to South Korea. Hwang is a veterinarian. Investigators now say there is no proof that Hwang actually succeeded in creating tailor-made stem cells.
(Reading: “Tests to prove whether Hwang cloned cells,” Associated Press, 12/23/05; “Hwang has no customized cells,” The Korea Times, 12/29/05)
WISCONSIN: Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created two new stem cell lines using human embryonic stem cells. The problem is that while the “new stem cells grew well for seven months before researchers froze them, both lines developed abnormal chromosomes.”
COMMENT: The other problem is that the headlines do not reflect the severity of this obvious failure.
(Reading: “UW scientists reveal stem-cell advance,” Wisconsin State Journal, 1/1/06)
web news
MOMMY LIFE: Noted writer Barbara Curtis now hosts an outstanding blog.
wisdom
POPE BENEDICT XVI: “The loving eyes of God look on the human being, considered full and complete at its beginning.” Referring to Psalm 139, the pontiff noted, “It is extremely powerful, the idea in this psalm, that in this ‘unformed’ embryo God already sees the whole future…. In the Lord’s book of life, the days that this creature will live and will fill with works during his time on earth are already written.”
(Reading: “Pope: God sees embryos as ‘complete’ humans,” Reuters, 12/28/05)
reflection for prayer
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR: St. Augustine wrote: “In loving your neighbor and caring for him you are on a journey. Where are you traveling if not to the Lord God, to him whom we should love with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind? We have not yet reached his presence, but we have our neighbor at our side. Support, then, this companion of your pilgrimage if you want to come into the presence of the one with whom you desire to remain forever.”
(Reading: Liturgy of the Hours, vol. 1, p. 513)