in this issue:
hot button issues: CONSCIENCE / GARDASIL / JUDIE BROWN’S BOOK / LAST CHANCE TO SIGN PETITION TO BISHOPS / PLANNED PARENTHOOD
abortion: MICHIGAN
catholics: GISELE
catholic bishops: AUSTRALIA’S CARDNIAL PELL
euthanasia: CANADA / PALLIATIVE CARE AND ORGAN DONATION
politics: COLORADO / PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS AND FAITH
stem cell research / ethical: ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH / TISSUE CELLS
reflection for prayer: ARCHBISHOP SHEEN
hot button issues
CONSCIENCE: ALL’s Judie Brown comments on legislative efforts that would force pharmacists to fill prescriptions for abortion-causing drugs–despite their moral objections.
ACTION: Let your elected officials know your views.
Reading: “As simple as ABC,” American Life League, 6/14/07 / “Proposal could fine pharmacists $500,000,” World Net Daily, 6/8/07
GARDASIL: ALL’s Jim Sedlak takes a look at the controversy over the new HPV vaccine and the rush to mandate its use for young girls across the country.
Reading: “None dare call it a conspiracy,” Celebrate Life, 5-6/07
JUDIE BROWN’S BOOK: Of Judie Brown’s Saving Those Damned Catholics, one reader writes, “A great book long overdue. It should be in the hands of every bishop in the land. We are lost sheep crying to heaven for leaders. I recommend this book to every Catholic.”
TO ORDER: “Saving Those Damned Catholics” is available from ALL in hardcover or paperback. Call 866-LET-LIVE or purchase online
LAST CHANCE TO SIGN PETITION TO BISHOPS: An American Life League petition asks American Catholic bishops to address the scandal caused by political figures who claim the Catholic faith but support abortion. Church law states that those “who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to communion.”
ACTION: All Catholics are invited to sign the petition that will be delivered to U.S. bishops next week.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: A new financial report shows clinic income is down, donations are down, but taxpayer funding is up. ALL’s STOPP International provides a full analysis.
Reading: “Planned Parenthood releases latest annual report,” American Life League, 6/13/07
abortion
MICHIGAN: A federal appeals court unanimously agreed that Michigan’s Legal Birth Definition Act is unconstitutional in spite of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on partial-birth abortion. The court stated its hesitancy to interfere with what the legislature had done, but pointed out the law “appears to have cast a wide net that would prohibit virtually all methods of abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detectable despite knowing that some of these procedures were constitutionally protected.” Michigan Right to Life is pondering an appeal.
Reading: “Late-term abortion ban illegal,” Detroit News, 6/5/07
catholics
GISELE: A super model of Victoria’s Secret fame has lashed out at the Catholic Church.
ACTION: You can let her know your views by writing Gisele Bundchen, c/o IMG, 304 Park Ave. South, New York, NY 10010
Reading: “Gisele Bundchen blasts Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to condom use, abortion,” Associated Press, 6/7/07
catholic bishops
AUSTRALIA’S CARDINAL PELL: The cardinal has been compared to controversial Muslim leaders because of his strong statements in opposition to human embryonic stem cell research and his warning that Catholic lawmakers who vote for such a bill will face “consequences.”
ACTION: You can send Cardinal George Pell an for his courageous efforts
Reading: “New South Wales votes for cloning; cardinal stands fast,” Life Site News, 6/8/07
euthanasia
CANADA: Research involving 379 patients who had cancer reveals that 63 per cent of palliative care cancer patients believe that “assisted deaths should be legalized.”
Reading: “Many cancer patients approve of assisted suicide,” Canadian Press, 6/07
PALLIATIVE CARE AND ORGAN DONATION: There is a rather ominous article in the Journal of Palliative Medicine dealing with the administration of palliative care to a patient who has been pronounced “cardiac dead” but apparently still shows signs of life. One line in the article states “PC [palliative care] skills and principles applicable to the DCD [declaration of cardiac death] process include communication, coordination and skillful ventilator withdrawal.”
COMMENT: Pardon my ignorance, but if a patient is actually dead, why would he require pain killers?
Reading: “Palliative care consultation in the process of organ donation after cardiac death,” Journal of Palliative Medicine, 2/07
politics
COLORADO: Colorado Right to Life was kicked out of National Right to Life due, in part, to its participation in a newspaper ad focusing on Dr. James Dobson and others who had claimed that the recent Supreme Court decision on partial birth abortion was a victory for the pro-life movement. Colorado Right to Life vice president Leslie Hanks made herself available for interviews; NRLC would not comment.
COMMENT: Bravo, Colorado Right to Life. Personhood before politics is the only way to go.
Reading: “Right to life says it’s been ousted from national group,” Associated Press 6/13/07
Background: “Open letter to Dr. James Dobson,” Colorado Right to Life, 5/07 / “Politics of appeasement,” American Life League, 6/4/07
PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS AND FAITH: A very interesting Associated Press analysis of the candidates currently vying for the presidency can be found online.
Reading: “Faith part of 2008 campaign,” Associated Press, 6/2/07
stem cell research / ethical
ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH: An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association is the basis for an analytical article to be published by the Heartland Institute. In that analysis, David Prentice, PhD, says, “Heart disease is the largest killer in the United States and there are hundreds of people walking around in the world with better hearts because of adult stem cells.”
Reading: “Adult stem cells a success in diabetes trial,” Health Care News, 7/1/07
TISSUE CELLS: Scientists are reporting that normal tissue cells can be reprogrammed to exhibit many of the properties that are characteristic of embryonic stem cells, including the ability to give rise to multiple cell types and contribute to the germ line. These findings were recently published in the journal, Cell.
Reading: “A twist of fate–reprogrammed fibroblasts resemble embryonic stem cells,” Medical News Today, 6/10/07
reflection for prayer
ARCHBISHOP SHEEN: Charity, then, is not a mild philosophy of ‘live and let live,’ it is not a species of sloppy sentiment. Charity is the infusion of the Spirit of God, which makes us love the beautiful and hate the morally ugly.
Reading: “Lift up your heart,” Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, p. 237