in this issue:
adolescents: ONLINE SEXUAL SOLICITATION
bioethics: CONJOINED TWINS
birth control pills: RISKS I, RISKS II
chemical abortion: WHAT THE LAW ALLOWS
condom: REDUCING RISK OF HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPE 2
fetus as patient: SURGERY IN UTERO
human embryos: PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS
miscarriage: FETAL DNA, GRIEF
morning-after abortion pills: PLANNED PARENTHOOD
prenatal diagnosis: CONGENITAL CMV INFECTION
spina bifida: WHAT IS IT?
web news: FLYING THE SICK
final word:WHICH ETHICS? reflection for prayer: COLLOSSIANS 1:24-5
adolescents
ONLINE SEXUAL SOLICITATION: A study examines the risks posed to young people who use the internet and discover sexually explicit material. In a survey of 1501 youth, it is reported that “nineteen percent of youth who used the internet regularly were the targets of unwanted sexual solicitation in the last year.” The study encourages “health care professionals, educators, and parents” to urge young people to discuss and report such incidents.
(Reading: “Risk Factors for and Impact of Online Sexual Solicitation of Youth,” Journal of the American Medical Assn., 6/20/01, pp. 3011-3014, abstract)
bioethics
CONJOINED TWINS: An analytical article exposes the bias toward eugenic abortion of “malformed” preborns. Such pregnancies are “normally terminated before 20 weeks’ gestation. Conjoined infants who make it through the minefield of early abortion and natural selection, enter a world where their status both surgically and ethically remains one of the most controversial in contemporary medicine.”
(Reading: “Bioethical Issues in Caring for Conjoined Twins and Their Parents,” The Lancet, 6/16/01, pp. 1968-1971)
birth control pills
RISKS I: It is reported that young women who exercise regularly and use the pill “may not get the boost in bone strength seen in women who exercise and do not use oral contraceptives.”
(Reading: “Use of OCs May Negate Benefit of Exercise in Building Bone,” Reuters Medical News, 6/21/01; “Impact of Exercise on Bone Health and Contraindication of Oral Contraceptive Use in Young Women,” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise)
RISKS II: A recent study suggests that women who take the pill and also are taking Trovafloxacin, an antibiotic, may experience a less than optimum effect from the antibiotic.
(Reading: “Oral Contraceptives May Influence Effectiveness of Trovafloxacin,” Reuters Medical News, 6/26/01; study published in Clinical Drug Investigation, available by subscription only)
chemical abortion
WHAT THE LAW ALLOWS: Did you know that it is legal in 30 states for pharmacists to give injections? Did you know that this includes injecting abortion-causing chemicals like Lunelle? The 30 states are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
(Reading: “Pilot Pharmacy Program Gives Injections a Shot,” Contraceptive Technology Update, 7/01, paid subscribers only)
condom
REDUCING RISK OF HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPE 2: Comparing those who became infected by the virus versus those who did not, in a study of 528 monogamous couples, researchers find some preventive results from condom use.
COMMENT: But there is no overwhelming finding that the use of a condom is a foolproof way of avoiding HSV-2.
(Reading: “Effect of Condoms on Reducing the Transmission of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 from Men to Women,” Journal of the American Medical Assn., 6/27/01, pp. 3100-3106, abstract)
fetus as patient
SURGERY IN UTERO: At 19 weeks gestational age, ultrasound revealed a cyst on a preborn’s bladder. At 22 weeks fetal cystoscopy was performed to correct the problem, and the pregnancy progressed without complication.
(Reading: “In-utero Treatment of Fetal Bladder-outlet Obstruction by a Ureterocele,” The Lancet, 6/16/01, pp. 1947-1948)
human embryos
PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS: “In most scientific circles an embryo is considered to be rudimentary. Embryos are regularly discarded in other circumstances, such as unwanted frozen embryos from IVF and in the natural selection process of loss of fertilized eggs in menstrual cycles” writes Marian D. Damewood, M.D. Damewood also says, “the use of the technology for sex selection for ‘family balancing’ raises questionable issues and would, in most cases, result in strong arguments opposing the use of [preimplantation genetic diagnosis] for these purposes… Selection for any reason other than disease prevention does give cause for serious ethical caution.”
COMMENT: Embryo selection for any reason AT ALL is unethical, PERIOD. Why is that so hard for these educated scientists to understand?
(Reading: “Ethical Implications of a New Application of Preimplantation Diagnosis,” Journal of the American Medical Assn., 6/27/01, pp. 3143-3144)
miscarriage
FETAL DNA: Researchers studied 25 women who experienced miscarriage in the first trimester and determined that fetal DNA is present in material circulation after a spontaneous abortion.
(Reading: “Fetal DNA in Material Circulation of First-trimester Spontaneous Abortions,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 3/10, pp. 460-463, paid subscription only)
GRIEF: From a study of the components of grief after natural miscarriage or loss of a baby in the womb, the conclusion is made that “high levels of self-criticism and later gestational age at time of loss are predictors of increased grief… Given women’s physical and psychologic relationship to the fetus, women may interpret a loss as a person failure.”
QUESTION: What about procured abortion — planned killing?
(Reading: “Psychologic and Obstetric Predictors of Couples’ Grief During Pregnancy After Miscarriage or Perinatal Death,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 4/01, pp. 597-602, paid subscription only)
morning-after abortion pills
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: A three-month media campaign, paid for by Planned Parenthood of New York, focuses on the theme “Accidents Happen” in urging use of morning-after chemicals.
(Reading: “New York Program Boosts EC Awareness,” Contraceptive Technology Update, 7/01)
prenatal diagnosis
CONGENITAL CMV INFECTION: Researchers find that “optimal means” for identifying fetal infection and those fetal people at risk of “severe sequalae” involve amniocentesis and fetal blood sampling. Defining the identification of a preborn who has CMV [cytomegalovirus] infection as a “disease burden,” researchers look forward to a vaccine but currently condone helping the patient decide “whether her pregnancy can be continued with a high level of confidence.”
(Reading: “Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 3/01, pp. 443-448, paid subscription only http)
spina bifida
WHAT IS IT? JAMA presents a description of the condition, treatment and resources for further information on their web site at Spina Bifida.
web news
FLYING THE SICK: Angel Flight provides “air care alliance” for patients in need.
final word
WHICH ETHICS? From Dianne N. Irving, Ph.D.: “White House spokesman Ari Fleischer calmly assures us that President George W. Bush’s decision on stem cell research will be based on a thorough, nonpartisan consideration of the ‘ethics’ and ‘science’ involved. But, which ‘ethics’ and which ‘science’?”
(Reading: “The Stem Cell Decision in the Labs: Beware of Flawed Ethics and False Science,” Newsday, 7/15/01, p. B5, http://www.newsday.com/)
reflection for prayer
COLLOSIANS 1:24-5: It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church.