in this issue:
abortion: COLORADO
activism: FR. WEST / THOMAS MORE LAW CENTER / VACCINES
birth control pill: RISKS
birth control pill and health insurance: PRESSURE MOUNTS
bush watch: INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT / UNITED NATIONS
cloning humans: MORAL?
euthanasia: POTASSIUM CHLORIDE
futility: WHO DECIDES?
preimplantation genetic diagnosis: EUGENICS IN THE IVF LAB
reproductive issues: CERVICAL CANCER
subscribe: SOCIAL JUSTICE REVIEW
web news: ABORTION HIGHER THAN BIRTHS / ADOPTION / OPPOSING SEX INSTRUCTION
zinger: CLARENCE PAGE SAYS
reflection for prayer: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:21, 25
abortion
COLORADO: The state senate killed a “born alive” bill because attempting to save a child who survives an abortion could be “torture” since the baby is going to die anyway.
COMMENT: Clearly personhood by constitutional amendment is the only goal worth pursuing.
(Reading: “Senate panel kills ‘born alive’ bill,” Rocky Mountain News, 5/4/02; for background, see “What is personhood?”)
activism
FR. WEST: Monitoring what goes on in Catholic hospitals and on Catholic campuses is part of what Fr. Peter West of Priests for Life does on a regular basis. Join his e-mail list to take action in defense of life. Contact .
THOMAS MORE LAW CENTER: An “abortion is homicide” T-shirt case in Texas has received wide attention. High school student John Denton was ordered to remove his sweatshirt and leave it in the school office. This violated Denton’s constitutional rights. For details on this case and many others, see Thomas More Law Center. For information on the T-shirt, see ALL’s Pro-Life Store.
VACCINES: To receive regular updates on childhood vaccines and other matters pertinent to stopping traffic in baby body parts, contact and join the mailing list, or visit their web site.
birth control pill
RISKS: Club Direct travel insurance reports that women who are pregnant or who are on the pill run a greater risk of developing deep vein thrombosis on longer airline fights.
(Reading: “New report links pill to DVT,” 5/5/02, BBC News; also see Club Direct and click on news)
birth control pill and health insurance
PRESSURE MOUNTS: Three female Dow Jones employees filed discrimination charges because insurance coverage for contraception is not covered “as [it] is offered for other prescriptions and medical services.”
COMMENT: Or, a health insurance benefit should be payment for the chemical or surgical killing of a human being. Is mandatory coverage for all killing far off?
(Reading: “Dow Jones charged in complaint to EEOC for discrimination in health insurance coverage,” Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, 5/8/02; to see a declaration signed by hundreds of doctors affirming that the pill kills embryonic babies, see A Declaration of Life by Pro-Life Physicians)
bush watch
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: The Bush administration opposes the ICC. A comprehensive statement reflecting the policy can be found online. Letters of thanks may be sent to for his firm stand against international judicial tyranny.
UNITED NATIONS: The Bush administration is credited with joining the Vatican and Muslim nations in a successful campaign at the United Nations Child Summit. Some delegates wanted to include references to a so-called right to abortion in the summit’s final documents, but in the end these European Union and Latin American nations failed in their attempt.
(Reading: “Bush administration stops abortion at U.N. child summit,” Catholic Family and Human Rights Institutenews release, 5/13/02)
cloning humans
MORAL? As the battle rages, Ken Connor of the Family Research Council educates on precisely why a cloned human being is no different than any other human being who is but a single cell in size when his life begins. See “Medical cloning is anti-life.”
euthanasia
POTASSIUM CHLORIDE: Lance Wilson lost his medical license for using potassium chloride to move a patient forward toward death. Now a court judge has overturned the decision and Wilson has his license back. Wilson is reported to have said “he felt an obligation to ease [his patient’s] pain and push him over the edge into unconsciousness so the 69-year-old man would not struggle, aware of his own suffocation.”
(Reading: “Wilson ready to sue over lost medical license,” Daily Southtown, 4/22/02)
futility
WHO DECIDES? A recent “Mercy Minute” ethics “dilemma” regarding whether or not to perform surgery on a possible Trisomy 18 infant queried the futility of treatment and asked who should make the decision. The case prompted Paul Byrne, M.D., to instruct the editors of “Mercy Minute: “The object of medical treatment and care is to protect, preserve and prolong life and postpone death. These principles would lead the surgeon and others treating this infant with surgery and whatever else would be indicated to aid and to heal this infant. It seems that the concept of ‘a dilemma’ is propagated only if one wants a reason not to treat.” For the background on the case and Dr. Byrne’s complete commentary, e-mail and our office will mail you a copy. The material is not on the web.
preimplantation genetic diagnosis
EUGENICS IN THE IVF LAB: An updated and easy to use fact sheet can be found at Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis.
reproductive issues
CERVICAL CANCER: The number of sexual partners a woman has had may be a key factor that helps doctors determine whether precancerous cervical changes should simply be closely watched or surgically treated, according to a new study.
(Reading: “Number of sex partners key in cervical cancer risk,” Reuters, 5/7/02)
subscribe
SOCIAL JUSTICE REVIEW: A bi-monthly publication loaded with insights into the philosophy of the culture of life versus the culture of death, this publication is available only by mail for $20 per year. For more information, e-mailor call 314-371-1653. Fr. John H. Miller, C.S.C., S.T.D is the editor.
web news
ABORTION HIGHER THAN BIRTHS! The Project Reach website has lots of good statistics for the state of New York. For instance, there are more abortions than live births in the Bronx. This web site contains facts and help for expectant mothers in New York.
ADOPTION: For the Children Ministry provides adoption information including how to get started, and what to expect from the process.
OPPOSING SEX INSTRUCTION: An excellent resource for parents who want to protect their children can be found at Veil of Innocence. Dietrich von Hildebrand is among those who are quoted and whose essays appear on this site.
zinger
CLARENCE PAGE SAYS: “Some anti-abortion groups, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, have opposed morning-after pills because of the possibility that a fertilized egg [sic] might be destroyed. Yet, even some abortion opponents agree that the possibility that a fertilized egg [sic] is destroyed pales next to the certainty that millions of abortions could be prevented by avoiding the pregnancy in the first place.”
COMMENT: A “fertilized egg” is a human embryo, Clarence. And, if one of them dies because of the morning-after pills’ mode of action, that IS abortion!
(Reading: “Morning-after pill out of the shadows?” Washington Times, 3/26/02)
reminder
WORLD FAMILY CONFERENCE: American Life League’s Celebration of Life World Family Conference is scheduled for July 10-14 in New Orleans. The program includes special tracks focusing on pro-life activities in the Latino and African-American communities. Deadline for reserving hotel rooms at special convention rates is June 6. Conference outlines and online registration information may be found at online.
reflection for prayer
1 CORINTHIANS 1:21, 25: Do you see how God has shown up the foolishness of human wisdom? … For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.