in this issue:
hot button issue: PLANNED PARENTHOOD
abortion: PHYSICIANS
bush watch: PRESIDENT SUPPORTS BIRTH CONTROL
condoms: EFFECTIVE?
contraception: CATHOLICS / NOT THE ANSWER
culture of death: ABORTION
euthanasia: CALIFORNIA / FINE LINE OR THE SAME THING?
morning-after abortion pill: ASK ME
personhood: RIGHT TO LIFE ACT
politics: OREGON
post-abortion healing: ENTERING CANAAN
schiavo: RETRIBUTION?
sex educators: ABSTINENT TEENS KICKED OUT
stem cell research: PARALYSIS / SPERM AND EGGS
zinger: CLERGY CONFUSION
reflection for prayer: FOOLS
hot button issue
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Planned Parenthood of Colorado will be distributing free packets of Plan B, commonly known as emergency contraception, at clinics across the state this Friday. The pill giveaway is in protest of Gov. Bill Owens” veto of a bill that would allow the over-the-counter sale of the drug throughout Colorado. “Planned Parenthood is once again putting women”s and children”s lives at risk in an attempt to make a radical political statement,” said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League.
(Reading: “Planned Parenthood”s risky Colorado giveaway,” American Life League news release, 6/28/06; “Clinic to give out free ”morning after” pills,” Associated Press, 6/28/06)
abortion
PHYSICIANS: Physicians for Reproductive Choice issued a statement on state abortion bans. It states, in part, “We who practiced medicine before Roe v. Wade can say with certainty that abortions won”t stop just because they”re made illegal.”
(Reading: “Physicians denounce new state bans on abortion,” Physicians for Reproductive Choice news release, 6/19/06)
bush watch
PRESIDENT SUPPORTS BIRTH CONTROL: Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) released a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services stating, for the record, that the Bush administration supports Title X Family Planning Programs and the products provided.
(Reading: “Finally an answer on birth control: Administration breaks its silence, affirms president”s support for birth control,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney news release, 6/22/06)
condoms
EFFECTIVE? The news media is reporting that a recent study claims condoms are effective at preventing the transmission of the human papillomavirus. However, Focus on the Family was quick to point out that since only 82 people were involved in the study, the results are dubious at best.
(Reading: “Study claims condoms effective barrier against HPV,” Focus on the Family, 6/22/06; “Condoms, STDs, teenagers and international case studies showing condom ineffectiveness against HIV/AIDS,” Life Issues; “Condom use and the risk of genital human papillomavirus infection in young women,” New England Journal of Medicine, 6/22/06)
contraception
CATHOLICS: A recent poll found that 88 percent of those surveyed who identified themselves as Catholic support access to birth control information; 53 percent favor sales of the morning-after pill.
(Reading: “US public — Catholics Included — strongly favor contraception, poll finds,” Catholic World News, 6/23/06)
NOT THE ANSWER: Veteran activist Joe Scheidler believes it is “time for the pro-life movement to squarely confront the issue of contraception.” Scheidler”s Pro-life Action League will be doing just that at a “Contraception is not the answer” conference in the Chicago area September 22-23. Speakers will include Fr. Tom Euteneuer of Human Life International and Dr. Janet Smith.
(Reading: “The deception of contraception,” Pro-life Action News, Spring 2006)
culture of death
ABORTION: “Some issues — and abortion is one of them — do not easily lend themselves to sound bites. The fact is that the world of abortion is too mired in the complicated real world lives of women to be able to match the abstract moral absolutes of opponents of abortions.”
(Reading: “Morality and the abortion provider,” Contraception, 74 (2006) 1-2)
euthanasia
CALIFORNIA: A legislative committee defeated a bill that would have permitted doctors to provide “terminally ill” patients with drugs designed to end the patients” lives.
(Reading: “Assisted suicide bill rejected by Senate committee,” Associated Press, 6/27/06)
FINE LINE OR THE SAME THING? Ram Rajagopalan attempts to draw a line between euthanasia and “treatment limitation.” He writes: “The act of treatment limitation provides relief by minimizing or eliminating treatment options that do not enhance survival. While, as noted, the cessation of certain processes (for example, mechanical ventilation) may accelerate the death of the patient, this is not the intended goal nor is it an inevitable outcome. Thus it is the intent of the act of treatment limitation (to enhance comfort and to respect patient preferences) that morally distinguishes it from euthanasia (that intends to terminate a life). This is the principle enshrined in the doctrine of ”double effect” that has been used by jurists and ethicists worldwide to justify the limitation of futile treatments while simultaneously rejecting euthanasia.” He argues that euthanasia is an act aimed at ending a life while “treatment limitation” is not.
COMMENT: A wise priest once warned us that those who seek to justify evil propositions by pointing to the “double effect” principle have lost sight of what that principle really means. This does not seem to be such a case.
(Reading: “Care for the terminally ill,” The Hindu, 6/25/06)
morning-after abortion pill
ASK ME: The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has launched the “ask me” campaign, focused on educating women on the reasons why they should have an “advance prescription” for the morning-after pill regimen.
(Reading: “Group backs emergency contraception,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 6/21/06)
personhood
RIGHT TO LIFE ACT: This bill (HR 552) states, “The terms ”human person” and ”human being” include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including, but not limited to, the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.” See www.RightToLifeAct.org for details.
COMMENT: Is your member of Congress a co-sponsor? If not, ask!
politics
OREGON: Constitution Party candidate Mary Starrett, director of Oregonians for Life, former TV show co-host, and former Christian radio talk show host, appears to be the only pro-life candidate running for governor of Oregon at this time.
post-abortion healing
ENTERING CANAAN: Theresa Bonopartis, director of Entering Canaan, a project of the Sisters of Life, has a story worth reading. To learn more about their retreats, see Entering Canaan.
(Reading: “Divine mercy in my soul,” Post-abortion Review, 10-12/00)
schiavo
RETRIBUTION? The Florida State Nursing Board is reportedly threatening nurse Carla Iyer”s license for breach of confidentiality. Iyer was one of Terri Schiavo”s nurses in the mid-1990s, and once provided an affidavit about Schiavo”s plight. “My legal fees are more than I can afford,” she said. “I cannot believe they are doing this to me. I have done nothing wrong.”
ACTION: Letters of support may be sent to Carla Iyer, R.N., 502 Sugar Creek Dr., Plant City, FL 335623.
(Reading: “Florida State Nursing Board is threatening,” Compassionate Healthcare Network news alert, 6/28/06; “Schiavo nurse”s license in jeopardy for giving interview,” North Country Gazette, 6/25/06)
sex educators
ABSTINENT TEENS KICKED OUT: Project Reality reports on the actions of SIECUS leadership in asking capitol security to escort out of the building abstinent teens who were protesting.
(Reading: “Abstinent teens kicked out of capitol by comprehensive sex education advocates,” Project Reality news release, 6/14/06)
stem cell research
PARALYSIS: Scientists using embryonic stem cells from mice claim that they were able to restore function in the legs of paralyzed mice. Researchers admit that duplicating such success in humans is a long way off. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
COMMENT: What is not reported is whether the human study would require human embryonic stem cells.
(Reading: “Stem cells help repair paralysis in mince; a recipe for humans?” Bloomberg.com, 6/20/06)
SPERM AND EGGS: “Stem cells from a mouse embryo have been coaxed into producing both eggs and sperm in the same dish. The eggs and sperm are the most mature yet grown in the lab, and the advance brings researchers closer to their ultimate aim: producing human eggs and sperm from adult body cells so that infertile men and women can have their own children.”
(Reading: “Mature sperm and eggs grown from same stem cells,” Nature, 6/23/06)
zinger
CLERGY CONFUSION: Black ministers, meeting in Dallas, are reported to have said that they will work to “combat Christian conservatives they say have used gay marriage and abortion to distract from larger moral issues such as the war, voting rights, affirmative action and poverty.”
COMMENT: Since when is murdering preborn babies NOT the largest moral “issue” ever to face this nation! Wonder where the IRS was at this meeting.
(Reading: “Black leaders kick off clergy conference,” Associated Press, 6/27/06)
reflection for prayer
FOOLS: St. Francis de Sales writes, “The world holds us to be fools; let us hold it to be mad.”
(Reading: “Introduction to the Devout Life“)