in this issue:
hot button issues: AMA AND HUMAN CLONING / RACHEL’S VINEYARD
abortion: RISKS / ROE SUES
activism: ARGENTINA / KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS / PARENTS UNITE
birth control: CONTROLLING MENSTRUATION
birth control pill: FISHY
exceptions: NEVER PERMITTED
morning-after abortion pill: ABORTS
pediatricians: ACPED
politics: ST. THOMAS MORE
preimplantation genetic diagnosis: MISCARRIAGE
zinger: GLORIA FELDT
reflection for prayer: THOMAS A KEMPIS
hot button issues
AMA AND HUMAN CLONING: American Life League notes that the AMA is dancing with death by endorsing human cloning. ALL “opposes all forms of human cloning and urges the U.S. Congress to amend its current legislative proposals so that a total, precise and airtight ban on all forms of human cloning is passed.”
(Reading: “AMA backs cloning for research purposes,” Associated Press, 6/18/03; “AMA human cloning endorsement bogus,” American Life League news release, 6/18/03)
RACHEL’S VINEYARD: A training conference is scheduled in Palm Beach, Florida, the weekend of July 11-13. The curriculum is designed to enhance knowledge of the psychological and spiritual techniques used in Rachel’s Vineyard retreats and post-abortion healing.
(Reading: “Rachel’s Vineyard leadership conference“)
abortion
RISKS: Two research articles appear in the summer issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons: Karen Malec on how politics trumped science, and Brent Rooney and Byron Calhoun, M.D., on “Induced abortion and risk of later premature birth.”
(Reading: “The abortion-breast cancer link: How politics trumped science and informed consent,” Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Summer 2003; “Induced abortion and risk of later premature births,” Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Summer 2003)
ROE SUES: Norma McCorvey, represented by the Justice Foundation, has filed a motion in federal court to reopen Roe v. Wade, the infamous 1973 Supreme Court decision. For details on the case, and the affidavits filed, see Operation Outcry.
One of the affidavits filed in the case was compiled from material provided by Rachel’s Vineyard, an American Life League project.
(Reading: “Norma ‘Jane Roe’ McCorvey is right: Abortion hurts women,” Rachel’s Vineyard news release, 6/19/03)
activism
ARGENTINA: Letters of support are urgently needed for the judge in Argentina, Dra. Maria Cristina Garzon Serrano de Lascano Villafane, who banned the pill, the IUD and the morning-after pill regimen because they abort babies. The judge has not received public support from the bishops thus far. You can make the difference. To read Father Tom Euteneuer’s letter to the judge and get ideas for your letter, see Vida Humana. The letter to the judge can be sent to the HLI affiliate in Argentina (http://www.profamlia.com.ar), c/o .
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: Are you aware of a politician in your area who is a member of the K of C and also supports abortion? If so, we would like to hear from you. Please e-mail , director of ALL’s Crusade to Defend our Catholic Church.
PARENTS UNITE: Have you used vaccines derived from aborted fetal tissue without knowing the truth? Do you feel your religious rights have been violated since 48 of 50 states allow religious exemptions? Do you want to see this practice changed? Children of God for Life intends to file a class action suit seeking to protect parents’ rights of informed consent. They need to hear from you at once! Please respond to and provide the following: name, address, telephone or e-mail, religious affiliation, date your child was vaccinated, vaccines received. If all unite, this practice can be changed.
(Updates: To learn what you can do to fight back against pharmaceutical firms that put profit ahead of ethics, request Children of God for Life’s monthly vaccine update by e-mailing )
birth control
CONTROLLING MENSTRUATION: The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP) has designed a continuing medical education program called “Choosing when to menstruate: the role of extended contraception.” A recent ARHP news release stated: “Three recent surveys found that many women, regardless of age, would prefer to eliminate menses completely or reduce the frequency to less than once a month if they had a choice. The percentage of women desiring to stop having their periods increased with age, with more than half of menstruating women over the age of 45 preferring no periods at all.”
(Reading: “Majority of women want fewer periods according to new clinical monograph,” Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, 4/29/03)
birth control pill
FISHY: Over the years, Communique has presented scientific reports linking estrogen to decreasing male fish fertility. Most recently a Seattle study found that “trace residue from synthetic estrogen used in many oral contraceptives” winds up in waterways and may still be potent enough to hamper the ability of male rainbow trout to fertilize eggs.
COMMENT: One wonders why nobody in the birth control pill industry is concerned about possible adverse effects on the future children of females who ingest large quantities of these artificial steroids.
(Reading: “Study: trace estrogen lowering male fish fertility,” Associated Press, 6/11/03)
exceptions
NEVER PERMITTED: The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published “Declaration on Euthanasia” on May 5, 1980. In the document, the following statement appears: “Nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying. Nor can any authority legitimately recommend or permit such an action. For it is a question of the violation of the divine law, an offense against the dignity of the human person, a crime against life, and an attack on humanity.”
(Reading: “Declaration on Euthanasia,” Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 5/5/80)
morning-after abortion pill
ABORTS: Contraceptive advocate David Grimes, M.D.’s The Contraception Report details emergency contraceptive (sic) modes of action, and reports “it may inhibit implantation by altering the endometrium.” The report does not admit that pregnancy begins when the human being’s life begins, at fertilization. In fact, the report deceptively claims, “In 2000, an estimated 50,000 U.S. abortions were prevented by emergency contraception use.”
(Reading: “Emergency contraception: an update,” The Contraceptive Report, 6/03)
pediatricians
ACPED: The American College of Pediatricians is fighting the mainstream pro-death advocacy within the medical community. ACPED “recognizes that there are absolutes and scientific truths that transcend relative social considerations of the day.”
politics
ST. THOMAS MORE: “Though subjected to various forms of psychological pressure, St. Thomas More refused to compromise, never forsaking the ‘constant fidelity to legitimate authority and institutions’ which distinguished him; he taught by his life and his death that ‘man cannot be separated from God, nor politics from morality.'”
(Reading: “Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life,” Vatican News Service, 11/02)
preimplantation genetic diagnosis
MISCARRIAGE: Researchers claim that “screening” “fertilized eggs” for “genetic flaws” helps them to place only unflawed human beings in their mothers for purposes of implantation, thus avoiding the possibility of miscarriage. “Fertility specialists say that preimplantation screening is now becoming common at cutting-edge clinics. In about three out of four cases, it is used not to choose disease-free babies, but to help women who are older or who have reported miscarriages to produce viable babies.”
COMMENT: Sounds like a miscarriage of justice whereby imperfect babies are trashed. Note the reporter’s use of the word “babies,” indicating awareness that the planned execution results in a human being’s death.
(Reading: “Screening of embryos helps avert miscarriage,” Boston Globe, 6/13/03, go to NewsBank and search)
zinger
GLORIA FELDT: According to the Planned Parenthood president, “Roe v. Wade enabled women to participate in the social, financial and political life of this country.”
(Reading: “Roe seeks to overturn abortion law,” Reuters, 6/17/03)
reflection for prayer
THOMAS A KEMPIS: The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom, and dost thou seek rest and joy? Thou errest, thou errest, if thou seekest any other thing than to suffer tribulations; for this whole mortal life is full of miseries and beset on all sides with crosses. And the higher a person is advanced in spirit the heavier crosses shall he often meet with, because the pain of his banishment increases in proportion to his love.
(Reading: “Imitation of Christ,” Book II, Chapter 12, Section 7)