in this issue:
activism: ALABAMA
human cloning: DUELING LEGISLATION / FLORIDA
morning-after abortion pill: ARGENTINA / UNITED STATES
pill bill: MASSACHUSETTS
planned parenthood: NEW HAMPSHIRE / NEW YORK / RHETORIC
ru-486: ROUSSEL GUILTY
reminder: WORLD FAMILY CONFERENCE
reflection for prayer: ROMANS 12:1
activism
ALABAMA: Sales are going slowly in the latest state to offer “Choose Life” license plates. But Alabama pro-lifers say cost may be a factor. The specialty plates are $50 more expensive than the basic license. So far, only 133 have been ordered. The state will not start issuing the plates until it receives a minimum of 1,000 orders.
(Reading: “Abortion foes seek orders for Alabama’s ‘Choose Life’ tag,” Associated Press, 3/11/02)
human cloning
DUELING LEGISLATION: Congress is considering several bills related to human cloning. S.1758, sponsored by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) is called the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001. S.1893, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), is called the Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Research Protection Act of 2002. Despite what the titles might imply, both of these bills both promote a “clone and kill” option that would let researchers clone human embryos for experimentation, with the proviso that the embryos will not be implanted in a woman’s uterus and allowed to develop.
A third bill, S.1899, sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), is also called the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001. The Brownback bill would ban “human asexual reproduction, accomplished by introducing nuclear material from one or more human somatic cells into a fertilized or unfertilized oocyte whose nuclear material has been removed or inactivated so as to produce a living organism (at any stage of development).”
(Reading: “Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001,” S.1758; “Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Research Protection Act of 2002,” S.1893; “Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001,” S.1899; go to US Senate and search by bill number)
FLORIDA: On a 70-42 vote, the state House okayed HB805, a bill described as a total ban on human cloning. Human cloning would be a felony punishable by 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. One lawmaker is wary of the bill because she believes that as written, it could also ban in vitro fertilization. Opponents say the bill goes too far by banning so-called therapeutic cloning, that is, the “clone and kill” option described in the previous item.
(Reading: “House passes bill banning cloning,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, 3/13/02)
morning-after abortion pill
ARGENTINA: So-called emergency contraception is now forbidden in Argentina, thanks to a ruling from that nation’s supreme court. The morning-after abortion pill had been allowed in Argentina for more than five years. But the court ruled that it is, in fact abortion. According to a BBC report, “The judges defined human life as beginning at the moment of fertilization, rejecting a previous interpretation that life is created when the embryo reaches the uterus.”
(Reading: “Day-after pill outlawed in Argentina,” BBC News, 3/6/02)
UNITED STATES: The Congressional “Pro-Choice Caucus” is pushing a plan that would earmark $10 million in taxpayer funds each year for the next five years for promoting “emergency contraception.” The bill (S.1990 — go to Library of Congress and search by bill number) claims this regimen “prevents pregnancy, by preventing ovulation, fertilization of an egg, or implantation of an egg in a uterus.”
COMMENT: It is not implantation of an “egg” which the morning-after abortion pill inhibits, but the implantation of a living human embryo. This action kills the child. Apparently, the Argentine supreme court can easily understand simple biology, but certain members of the US Congress cannot.
(Reading: “Bill seeks to boost ‘morning after pill’ use in US,” Reuters Health, 3/6/02)
pill bill
MASSACHUSETTS: Even pro-life groups could be forced to cover birth control pills in their employee health programs under a bill signed by Gov. Jane Swift. Marie Sturgiss of Massachusetts Citizens for Life noted, “Here we are a pro-life group against abortion and we’re going to be forced to have this very thing provided for in our health plans for our employees. That’s how ludicrous this thing is.” Sturgiss’s group opposed the bill because it would require coverage for “contraceptives that are known abortifacients.”
(Reading: “New law forces pro-life groups to pay for contraceptives,” Cybercast News Service, 3/8/02)
planned parenthood
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Planned Parenthood’s new Manchester office is now open. Pro-lifers had convinced city government to reject building permits, but Planned Parenthood sued and prevailed in both state and federal court. A Planned Parenthood spokesman said abortions are not being done at the new “state of the art facility.” But she hinted that one day that could change: “When you think of comprehensive reproductive health care services, they do include abortions.”
(Reading: “Planned Parenthood opens clinic doors,” Manchester Union Leader, 3/13/02)
NEW YORK: “I’m so proud of what we’re doing,” said Shelley D. Stuchell of Planned Parenthood of Niagara County, New York, after her facility began offering first-trimester abortions. Pro-lifers are planning a Good Friday prayer service outside the clinic on March 29.
(Reading: “Reproductive issues rise anew,” Buffalo News, 3/10/02)
RHETORIC: Planned Parenthood Federation of America is actively campaigning against Federal Judge Charles Pickering’s nomination to serve on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. A Planned Parenthood action alert reads: “Judge Pickering’s record reveals deep-rooted opposition to reproductive rights and hostility toward other civil rights. Judge Pickering poses a clear and present danger to all people’s participation in the economic, social and political life of our nation.”
(Reading: “Oppose the nomination of anti-choice Judge Charles Pickering!” Planned Parenthood Action Center)
ru-486
ROUSSEL GUILTY: A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the French pharmaceutical firm Roussel Uclaf, pioneer of the RU-486 abortion pill, to pay a $33 million fine. According to the Food and Drug Administration, Roussel pleaded guilty to charges of “conspiracy and introducing adulterated drugs into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead.” The case involved cefaclor, an antibiotic. “Some of the essential ingredients used to manufacture cefaclor were obtained from unapproved sources,” according to the FDA report.
(Reading: “Foreign drug firm pleads guilty to felony charges,” FDA Consumer, 1-2/02)
reminder
WORLD FAMILY CONFERENCE: Plans are unfolding for American Life League’s next Celebration of Life World Family Conference, scheduled for July 10-14 in New Orleans. Speakers include former ambassador Alan Keyes, Life Dynamics founder Mark Crutcher and Omaha Archbishop Elden Curtiss. Conference outlines and registration information may be found online.
reflection for prayer
ROMANS 12:1: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer.