in this issue:
hot button issues: JUDIE BROWN’S BOOK / ULTRASOUND VIDEO
abortion: BREAST CANCER / RECOVERY FROM ABORTION
activism: LIFE CHAIN
catholic bishops: CURTISS
catholic information: GREAT WEB SITES
culture of death: ATTITUDES / ORWELLIAN
euthanasia: WHAT’S IN A NAME?
incrementalism: FAILURE
miracles: JESSE RAMIREZ
persistent vegetative state: MISDIAGNOSIS
personhood: COLORADO
physicians: MALPRACTICE
pro-life politics: BAD FRUIT / BIBLICAL
stem cell research / unethical: THE EGG UNFERTILIZED
victory: OHIO
wisdom: SUSTAINING LIFE
zinger: PROTECTING ANIMALS IN MICHIGAN
reflection for prayer: HEBREWS 11:1-3
hot button issues
JUDIE BROWN’S BOOK: Of “Saving Those Damned Catholics,” Fr. Thomas Euteneuer of Human Life International writes, “Judie Brown has never been one to sit back and let the devil have his way. Her great new work, “Saving Those Damned Catholics,” tells it like it is. I thank Judie for her forthright analysis of the state of the Church. She is not just telling us what is wrong – she is giving us our marching orders.”
TO ORDER: “Saving Those Damned Catholics” is available from ALL in hardcover or paperback. Call 866-LET-LIVE or purchase online.
ULTRASOUND VIDEO: “Baby Steps: Live from the womb, 16 stages of pre-birth development,” is an amazing new video from American Life League that many in the pregnancy center movement say is certain to save lives. The video features dramatic 4-D ultrasound images of preborn babies from 8 to 34 weeks development.
TO ORDER: The “Baby Steps” DVD is available from ALL for $9.95 plus shipping and handling. Call 866-LET-LIVE toll-free, or purchase online.
abortion
BREAST CANCER: Joel Brind, PhD, has written an excellent analysis of a recent Harvard study.
Reading: “Induced abortion and breast cancer risk: A critical analysis of the report of the Harvard Nurses Study II,” Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, 6/07
RECOVERY FROM ABORTION: The Abortion Recovery International Network has an outstanding array of material for those suffering after abortion as well as services for those who are ministering to the mothers, fathers and others negatively affected by abortion.
activism
LIFE CHAIN: Mark your calendars now for October 7. If you have not made plans to host or participate in a life chain in your area, see Life Chain.
catholic bishops
CURTISS: We send thanks to God for Archbishop Elden Curtiss of Omaha, Nebraska, who has ended the relationship between his office and the Creighton Center for Marriage and Family based on their publication of an article suggesting that living together outside of marriage is not a sin.
Reading: “Archbishop calls CU professors’ essay contrary to Catholic doctrine,” Omaha World-Herald, 6/28/07
catholic information
GREAT WEB SITES: Check out Les Femmes, Women of Truth and Catholic Media Coalition.
culture of death
ATTITUDES: A recent Gallup poll addressing the attitudes of 1,007 American adults found that nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe small families — two children or fewer — is ideal. Among those responding, Catholics reflected the same attitude. When Gallup asked the same questions during the period between 1936 and 1967, the majority of those polled “preferred a large family, consisting of three or more children. Over those four decades, the percentage preferring three or more children ranged between 61% and 77%.
Reading: “Americans: 2.5 children is ‘ideal’ family size,” Gallup News Service, 6/26/07
ORWELLIAN: The American Medical Association says that soon doctors will be keeping track of your medical condition by placing a computer chip under your skin.
Reading: “Doctors back plan to store medical info under your skin,” AFP, 6/26/07
euthanasia
WHAT’S IN A NAME: Replacing the term “physician assisted suicide” with “aid in dying” appears to be picking up momentum. As commentator Cheryl Eckstein recently pointed out, “Sadly, the ordinary Joe probably surmises there is nothing wrong with AID in dying.”
Reading: “For aid-in-dying laws,” New York Times, 6/9/07
incrementalism
FAILURE: Pro-life Dave discusses many things on his web site, including the “limited abortion” coalition.
miracles
JESSE RAMIREZ: ABC News reports, “Two short weeks after the culmination of a legal battle between his wife and family over whether to maintain his life support, Jesse Ramirez of Arizona appears to be on the road t recovery.”
Reading: “Pulling the plug: Ethicists debate Ramirez case,” ABC News, 6/30/07
persistent vegetative state
MISDIAGNOSIS: An analysis of current medical literature dealing with the proper diagnosis of PVS indicate that extreme caution should be exercised prior to rendering the diagnosis in view of the fact that perhaps as many as 40 percent of patients were wrongly diagnosed as in a vegetative state, “when they in fact registered the awareness levels of minimal consciousness.”
Reading: “High rate of misdiagnosis in patients in an acute vegetative state,” Medical Studies/Trials, 6/20/07
personhood
COLORADO: Colorado for Equal Rights, the organization promoting a personhood amendment to the Colorado state constitution, has established a web site.
physicians
MALPRACTICE: A survey is developing based on responses from pro-life physicians and their level of malpractice claims. According to Deal Hudson, initial results show that those physicians who are pro-life have as many as 75 percent fewer malpractice claims.
Additional information: K&B Underwriters
Reading: “Historic survey indicates pro-life physicians have fewer malpractice claims,” Deal W. Hudson, 5/29/07
pro-life politics
BAD FRUIT: Ambassador Alan Keyes’ analysis of the National Right to Life Committee’s dismissal of Colorado Right to Life is of interest.
Reading: “Bad fruit: Rational debate of Carhart called for,” Renew America, 6/24/07
BIBLICAL: Pastor Bob Enyart enunciates the reasons why the “open letter to Dr. Dobson” is a Biblical action.
Reading: “Open letters, aka ‘epistles,’ are Biblical,” Bob Enyart Live, 6/26/07
stem cell research / unethical
THE EGG UNFERTILIZED: Scientists claim they can develop human embryonic stem cells that will match the genetic identity of a female whose egg they use for the research. However, a Catholic bioethicist, Father Tad Pacholczyk, points out that “if these grow as organized embryos for the first few days and then arrest, they may just be very short-lived human beings.”
Reading: “Scientists: Stem cells created from eggs,” Associated Press, 6/28/07
victory
OHIO: A federal judge has ruled that employees whose religious beliefs conflict with the political positions of their labor union cannot be forced to pay dues.
Reading: “Union members can opt out of dues based on religious beliefs,” Associated Press, 6/26/07
wisdom
SUSTAINING LIFE: Paul Byrne, M.D., writes: “Sustaining the life of the human person, providing food and water, nurturing, comforting and loving the innocent are not medical interventions, rather, they are extending the mercy and grace of our Lord. Observe the example of Mother Teresa. The spiritual communication, this Holy Communion between the patient, His child, and the Holy Spirit, is not to be interrupted! This time of grace for our Lord to speak into the heart of the human person extending His invitation to His kingdom and life eternal with Him should be the focus of those assuming the responsibility of providing physical care to the ‘least of these.’ Hastening death by any means and not allowing this Divine appointment to transpire, this call of the Holy Spirit and the Comforter to bring joy, peace and hope, is a crime being perpetuated by many, even those in the church! … Our responsibility, as physicians and others in medicine, is to protect and preserve the life of the person and to lead others, especially relatives, friends and clergy, to likewise protect and preserve life and never to impose death. How long do we wish to live? Long enough for God’s mercy!”
zinger
PROTECTING ANIMALS IN MICHIGAN: The executive director of the Humane Society of Huron Valley, commenting on a new piece of state legislation that will punish those who harm animals, said, “Right now someone could hurt or kill one innocent animal or 10 and the penalty would be the same.”
Comment: But an abortionist in Michigan faces no sanctions whatsoever.
Reading: “House acts on animal abuse in wake of mutilation cases, bills stiffen penalties,” Ann Arbor News, 6/17/07
reflection for prayer
HEBREWS 11:1-3: Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. … It is by faith that we understand that the world was created by one word from God, so that no apparent cause can account for the things we can see.