in this issue:
activism: WICHITA
birth control and health insurance: CONGRESS
birth control pill: RISKS
bush watch: EMBRYOS AS PRODUCTS
catholics for excommunication: PETITION
catholic voters: HOW CATHOLIC?
condoms: UNRELIABLE
human embryo: DISPOSITION, SEEDING THE WORLD
misoprostol: LABOR INDUCTION
organ donations: TATICS WITH FAMILIES
pta: EXPOSED
web news: VACCINE POLICY INSTITUTE
zinger: BABY IS SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
reflection for prayer: ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH
activism
WICHITA: A week of peaceful prayer, picketing, sidewalk counseling and pro-life rallies ended as it began, with no incidents. For a detailed report on Operation Save America’s Summer of Mercy Renewal, presented by organizer Rev. Flip Benham and his organization, visit Operation Save America.
birth control and health insurance
CONGRESS: House action on an amendment that would provide contraceptive coverage for federal employees in their health insurance plan could come as early as July 27. Congresswoman Nita Lowey’s amendment requires health insurance coverage for chemicals and devices that will not treat an illness, but will kill a preborn person.
COMMENT: Members of Congress who vote for this amendment are voting for death by abortion. Contact your representative and tell him or her to vote “no” on Lowey. Innocent lives are at stake.
(Reading: “Protect Contraception Equity for Federal Employees,” 7/21/01, NARAL Action Alert; for detailed arguments AGAINST this deceptive amendment, designed to force government health insurance plans to cover chemical abortions, see the document hundreds of pro-life physicians have signed, the Declaration of Life)
birth control pill
RISKS: Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of studies involving connections between the birth control pill and venous thrombosis, finding that there is a definite increased risk when a woman takes the second-generation pill.
(Reading: “Third Generation Oral Contraceptives and Risk of Venous Thrombosis: Meta-analysis,” British Medical Journal, 7/21/01, pp. 323:121, search by author or title; also see “The Pill: A Human Time Bomb“)
bush watch
EMBRYOS AS PRODUCTS: The human embryonic stem cell debate heats up, and awaits a decision from the Bush Administration that will ultimately define his presidency as either pro-life or pro-death. There is no compromise, which is why we were appalled to learn that one-time pro-life U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. supports research that involves killing an embryonic baby.
(Reading: “Senators Urge Bush to Fund Stem Cell Research,” Reuters, 7/20/01; “Bush Ally Supports Stem Cells,” Associated Press, 7/19/01)
catholics for excommunication
PETITION: Read and sign the petition to be presented to Pope John Paul II, seeking relief from pro-abortion politicians who claim to be Catholic.
catholic voters
HOW CATHOLIC? Associated Press reports that the “Catholic vote” in 2000 was split, 49% for Gore, 47% for Bush. “Among churchgoing Catholics, Bush got 57% to Gore’s 43%.”
(Reading: “U.S. Leaders Often Seek Pope’s Advice,” Associated Press, 7/20/01)
condoms
UNRELIABLE: A draft report prepared by federal health officials indicates that the condom is not reliable in preventing STDs though they insist it is effective in protecting people from AIDS.
(Reading: “Myths or Facts? Federal Study: Not Enough Evidence Condoms Prevent Some STDs,” Associated Press, 7/20/01)
human embryo
DISPOSITION: Klock, et al, (Letters) “The disposition of unused embryos is a pressing problem for in vitro fertilization programs. Although cryopreservation of embryos gives couples the chance to make additional attempts at pregnancy [sic], unused frozen embryos create a storage problem and require couples to make difficult decisions regarding their disposition. Divorcing couples have had contentious disputes over embryos. In addition, interest in the use of these omnipotent cells [sic] for genetic research raises concern about unauthorized or inappropriate use.”
(Reading: “The Disposition of Unused Frozen Embryos,” New England Journal of Medicine, 7/5/01, pp. 69-70; subscriber only)
SEEDING THE WORLD: As the world awaits the Bush decision of taxpayer funding for destructive embryo research that will harvest stem cells (private funding is not even a question to President Bush), JAMA commentator Brian Vastag focuses attention on a privately funded coventure of the Singapore Economic Development Board and a group of Australian investors. He points out that because researchers in Australia are forbidden to destroy embryos, the “cell lines growing at Monash (Australia), therefore, were seeded with stem cells gleaned from embryos by researchers at the National University of Singapore.”
(Reading: “Seeding the World with Stem Cells,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 7/4/01, pp. 33-34)
misoprostol
LABOR INDUCTION: The dangerous aspects of inducing labor by using misoprostol (Cytotec) are being ignored, according to one physician who comments “the Food and Drug Administration has never approved misoprostol induction and has received more than 50 reports of serious consequences from misoprostol induction. Many of the reported cases have been of uterine rupture and some of neonatal death and maternal death.”
COMMENT: So why do pro-aborts use Cytotec with the RU-486 abortion regimen?
(Reading: “Misoprostol and the Politics of Convenience,” The Lancet, 6/30/01, p. 2142)
organ donations
TACTICS WITH FAMILIES: Researchers point out that public education is needed to “modify attitudes about organ donation prior to a donation opportunity.” Included in the recommendations are helping family members understand brain death and clarification on when the moment of death occurs.
(Reading: “Factors Influencing Families’ Consent for Donation of Solid Organs for Transplantation,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 7/4/01, pp. 71-77, abstract)
pta
EXPOSED: The Parent Teachers Association is examined in depth in the August, 2001 issue of Citizen, a publication of Focus on the Family.
web news
VACCINE POLICY INSTITUTE: The latest web site in the battle to end childhood vaccines manufactured using parts of aborted babies. Also links to additional valuable web sites.
zinger
BABY IS SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE! At a recent meeting of the Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Stanley Gall, M.D., of the University of Louisville School of Medicine, who represents the ACOG (American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) characterized all pregnant women as having an “STD on board.” Kristine Severyn, R.Ph., Ph.D., founder of the Vaccine Policy Institute, was also in attendance, and complained that Dr. Gall’s comments were an affront to women and lacked sensitivity.
(Reading: 7/6/01 letter from Kristine Severyn to Thomas Purdon, M.D., President, ACOG; copy available from American Life League via mail)
reflection for prayer
ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH (50-117 AD): All things have an end, and two things, life and death, are side by side set before us, and each man will go to his own place. Just as there are two coinages, one of God and the other of the world, each with its own image, so unbelievers bear the image of this world, and those who have faith with love bear the image of God the Father through Jesus Christ. Unless we are ready through his power to die in the likeness of his passion, his life is not in us.