in this issue:
hot button issues: PETITION SEN. SPECTER / PRO-LIFE MEMORIAL DAY / VACCINE UPDATE
abortion: MIFEPRISTONE (RU-486)
birth control: DEPO-PROVERA
catholic bishops: CANON 915 / DENUNCIATIONS
dark side: PLANNED PARENTHOOD
ethics: HUMAN EMBRYOS
euthanasia: PAIN PATCH
history: STERILIZATION
morning-after abortion pills: ABORTION / INTERNET QUESTIONS / NEW YORK
sex education for parents: SEXUAL WISDOM
stem cell: ALZHEIMERS / HUMAN HEART / PARKINSON’S
wisdom: ARCHBISHOP CHARLES CHAPUT
reflection for prayer: LEAVEN
hot button issues
PETITION SEN. SPECTER: American Life League is leading a petition drive, seeking Sen. Arlen Specter’s cooperation in providing a fair, honest hearing in his Senate Judiciary Committee for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. Sign the petition online.
PRO-LIFE MEMORIAL DAY: American Life League has set aside October 3 as the first Pro-life Memorial Day to recognize the 46 million babies surgically aborted since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. ALL is petitioning President Bush to officially proclaim the first Monday in October as National Pro-life Memorial Day. The official T-shirt of American Life League’s National Pro-life Memorial Day is available online.
VACCINE UPDATE: Debi Vinnedge of Children of God for Life (an American Life League associate group) says Catholic News Service reported inaccurately on the response she received from the Vatican on the question of vaccines manufactured with tissues from aborted babies, an action that “completely undermines the importance of the Vatican document which strongly advocates the need to bring ethical alternatives to the market – the very heart of our mission.”
(Reading: “CNS deceptive reporting undermines Vatican statement – retraction demanded,” Children of God for Life news release, 7/25/05)
abortion
MIFEPRISTONE (RU-486): The dangers of ingesting this drug include septic shock due to a disruption of the female immune system that “impairs the body’s ability to fight off ‘c. sordellii’,” a bacteria that has toxic by-products.
(Reading: “Mechanism proposed for link between RU-486 and fatal infections,” Annals of Pharmacology, 7/26/05)
birth control
DEPO-PROVERA: Researchers find that among 176 women in a study group who completed a questionnaire, 33 percent would not want to inject themselves with Depo-Provera, 62 percent have a fear of needles and 43 percent are concerned about making a mistake while attempting to administer the drug themselves.
COMMENT: One wonders when a time will come when all abortive birth control is available over the counter.
(Reading: “The acceptability of self-administration of subcutaneous Depo-Provera,” Contraception, 72 (2005) 14-18)
catholic bishops
CANON 915: Cardinal Francis Arinze of the Vatican once again emphasized the importance of enforcing Canon Law 915. When asked about whether or not a “hypothetical ‘unambiguously pro-abortion’ politician should receive, Arinze said such a person ‘should not be given’ Communion.”
(Reading: “Visiting Vatican official’s light touch leaves abortion policy issue to bishops,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/25/05)
DENUNCIATIONS: The Saint Joseph Foundation continues to help grassroots pro-lifers file formal denunciations regarding those public figures you support abortion and continue to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
(Reading: “Tired of pro-abortion politicians in your diocese?” Saint Joseph Foundation, 4/15/04)
dark side
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: A local group in Washington, D.C., wants to respond to “Christian fundamentalist” protests organized by American Life League’s Crusade for the Defense of Our Catholic Church. An online notice said, “The Crusade for Life is a group of lying, sexist, anti-abortion bigots” whose “destructive message cannot go unopposed.” This response followed ALL’s announcement that college students would be praying outside Planned Parenthood’s Washington abortion facility.
(Reading: “Protest the Crusade for Life’s attack on Planned Parenthood,” DC Indymedia, 7/26/05)
ethics
HUMAN EMBRYOS: Prof. Dianne Irving has prepared an analysis of human cloning and human embryonic stem cell research. Section IV covers “alternative methods” and the reasons why such proposals must not be taken at face value.
(Reading: “Framing the debates on human cloning and human embryonic stem cells: pluripotent vs. totipotent,” Life Issues, 7/23/05)
euthanasia
PAIN PATCH: The government has warned that pain-killing skin patches could cause drug overdoses and is currently investigating serious side effects that have been reported as well as 120 deaths that might have occurred because of the patch.
COMMENT: Registered nurse Nancy Valko comments that some nurses have told her that the patches are used in nursing homes as “end of life” comfort even when the patient has no pain.
(Reading: “Feds warn of pain patch overdose risk,” Web Pro News, 7/16/05)
history
STERILIZATION: Lesley Hall tells the history of sterilization in a recent article. She points out that females unable to conceive were looked down upon because fertility was valued. “Infertility was stigmatized or at best pitied.” In Nazi Germany sterilization was used to prevent those in “mental institutions” from getting pregnant. Today sterilization has lost its stigma.
(Reading: “Historical keywords: sterilization,” The Lancet, 7/23/05)
morning-after abortion pills
ABORTION: Research finds that the use of the morning after pills may not reduce surgical abortion rates, as there was no difference in pregnancy rates between those who use the pills and those who do not.
COMMENT: Of course the research does not admit that the pills themselves abort.
(Reading: “Advanced provision of emergency contraception to postnatal women …” Contraception, 72 (2005) 111-116)
INTERNET QUESTIONS: Researchers studying messages received on the www.not-2-late web site find that there is a need for further research on the pills since questions “such as bleeding after EC use” cannot presently be addressed based on the medical literature.
(Reading: “The morning after on the internet…” Contraception, 72 (2005) 5-13)
NEW YORK: The state legislature has approved a bill that would allow pharmacists to supply morning-after pills in conjunction with authorization from “a standing physician,” but without a prescription from the patient’s primary physician. Gov. George Pataki has yet to sign it into law.
(Reading: “Proposed emergency contraception bill,” WROC-TV, 7/19/05)
sex education for parents
SEXUAL WISDOM: Endorsed by Cardinal Trujillo of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Sexual Wisdom is a book that is useful to everyone, “from parents to educators, priests and young adults.”
stem cell news
ALZHEIMERS: “Researchers at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children have found that babies’ discarded foreskins can yield stem cells, which could potentially be used to treat conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s disease to spinal cord injury.”
(Reading: “Discarded foreskins yield stem cells,” Macleans, 7/21/05)
HUMAN HEART: Prof. Stephen Houser of Temple University is convinced that the heart does contain stem cells.
(Reading: “Does the heart contain stem cells,” Science Blog, 7/21/05)
PARKINSON’S: Researchers at Tel Aviv University are using adult stem cells to create a potential treatment for Parkinson’s.
(Reading: “BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics announces adult stem cell breakthrough for neurodegenerative diseases,” BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics news release, 7/18/05)
wisdom
ARCHBISHOP CHARLES CHAPUT: Democracy and pluralism depend on people of conviction fighting for what they believe through public debate — peacefully, legally, charitably and justly; but also vigorously and without excuses. Divorcing our personal convictions from our public choices and actions is not “good manners.” On the contrary, it can be a very serious kind of theft from the moral treasury of the nation, because the most precious thing anyone can bring to any political conversation is an honest witness to what he or she really believes.
(Reading: “Renewing our hearts and renewing our world,” Archdiocese of Denver, 5/20/05)
reflection for prayer
LEAVEN: If leaven is not used for fermenting, it rots. There are two ways leaven can disappear, either by giving life to dough or by being wasted, a perfect tribute to selfishness and barrenness. The Christian wastes away when he gives in to lukewarmness, that being a distaste for the things of God and a preoccupation with self. A Christian acts as leaven when his faith is proved by deeds.
(Reading: In conversation with God, Vol. 4, p 247)