in this issue:
birth control: SO MUCH FOR CONSCIENCE
faith: PRAY TO END ABORTION
human rights: POPE JOHN PAUL II
imposed death (euthanasia): DOCTORS CAN KILL / DOCTORS CAN SAY NO / FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
in vitro fertilizatrion: BRAIN PROBLEMS
planned parenthood: STOPP INTERVIEWS
zinger: TURTLE-FREE SHRIMP
reflection for prayer: PSALM 140:12-13
birth control
SO MUCH FOR CONSCIENCE: A Canadian physician will be hauled before an ethics panel for refusing to prescribe birth control pills to unmarried women. Dr. Stephen Dawson of Barrie, Ontario, is accused of professional misconduct. Louise Hanvey, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada, said, “We see this as a human rights issue. Women and men are entitled to their reproductive rights.” Dawson could lose his medical license.
COMMENT: We would prefer, of course, that doctors refrain from prescribing birth contol pills, period. But we wanted to pass along the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada viewpoint that contraception is a “human right.”
(Reading: “MD under fire for denying birth control,” National Post, 2/22/02)
faith
PRAY TO END ABORTION: A Catholic reader suggests that on the 22nd of every month, Masses should be offered for the intention of an end to abortion. The 22nd is chosen because January 22 was the date of the Supreme Court decisions that decriminalized abortion. Since Mass intentions are listed in most parish bulletins, even people who do not attend daily Mass would be aware that the church was praying on a regular basis for an end to abortion. Our reader hopes this idea spreads throughout the country.
human rights
POPE JOHN PAUL II: From his address to the Pontifical Academy of Life: “The rights of man must refer to what man is by his nature and by reason of his dignity and not … to the subjective choices of those who enjoy the power to participate in social life or who manage to obtain the consensus of the majority. … This false interpretation of the rights of man … can also lead democratic regimes to a form of substantial totalitarianism.”
(Reading: “Human rights do not depend on majority consent,” Vatican Information Service, 2/28/02)
imposed death
DOCTORS CAN KILL: In a commentary, two physicians complain about Attorney General John Ashcroft’s order that punitive action be taken against doctors who prescribe medication for patients desiring a hasty onset of death. The doctors argue that if Ashcroft’s order withstands court challenge, even off-label use of misoprostol (an ulcer treatment drug) for abortion could be outlawed. “At present, physicians may provide treatment in accordance with state laws, their patients’ requests, and their own consciences. It is chilling to contemplate the prospect that the attorney general would have the power to change by edict many aspects of medical practice.”
COMMENT: We disagree. The attorney general does not want any medical professional killing patients. Murder is not health care.
(Reading: “The U.S. attorney general’s intrusion into medical practice,” New England Journal of Medicine, 2/7/02, pp. 447-448)
DOCTORS CAN SAY NO: A survey of osteopathic physicians say doctors in this group are more likely to have received a request for assisted suicide. They are also, however, more likely to consider the practice immoral. The osteopathic oath states: “I will give no drugs for deadly purposes to any person though it may be asked of me.”
(Reading: “DOs disagree with assisted suicide,” American Medical News, 3/4/02; “Attitudes of osteopathic physicians toward physician-assisted suicide,” Journal of the American Osteopath Association, 1/02)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Lynn Smith, R.N., passes along the following web pages concerning imposed death: “West Virginia men implicated in Irish assisted suicide,” from the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide; “Physicians for Compassionate Care friend of the court brief on Oregon v. Ashcroft et al,” from Physicians for Compassionate Care; and “An illusion of autonomy: Questioning physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia,” from Dick Sobsey of the University of Alberta Developmental Disabilities Centre.
in vitro fertilization
BRAIN PROBLEMS: A Swedish study finds that children born through in vitro fertilization have an increased risk of cerebral palsy, developmental delay, and even vision problems. Researchers say the risk is even greater when multiple embryos are implanted in the mother’s womb. Their observation: “Almost 50,000 children are now born after IVF, yet the effects of IVF on long-term health of infants are unknown.”
(Reading: “Neurological sequelae in children born after in-vitro fertilisation: a population-based study,” The Lancet, 2/9/02, subscription required)
planned parenthood
STOPP INTERVIEWS: Ed Szymkowiak, national director of ALL’s STOPP International division, will talk about Planned Parenthood’s agenda during two interviews that can be heard online. On March 1, he will be a guest on the Veritas Hour on WCBM 680 AM in Baltimore at 7:30 p.m. EST. To listen, go to WCBM and click on “listen live.” On March 5, Szymkowiak will be heard on KMCD 1570 AM in Fairfield, Iowa. The program airs at 4 p.m. CST. To listen, go to KMCD (Windows Media Player is required).
zinger
TURTLE-FREE SHRIMP: The package for Contessa frozen shrimp has all the usual information about thawing and cooking, nutritional data and the like. But it also contains small insignia that notes, “100 percent turtle-safe. Contessa is committed to the continued preservation and conservation of the sea turtle.”
COMMENT: If only everyone adopted equal concern about guaranteeing an environment that’s 100 percent safe for the babies!
reflection for prayer
PSALM 140:12-13: Lord, I know that you defend the cause of the poor and the rights of the needy. The righteous will praise you indeed; they will live in your presence.