in this issue:
activism: SCANDAL
chemical abortion: METHOTREXATE OR MIFEPRISTONE?
comatose patients: WITHDRAWING LIFE SUPPORT
dark side: AGI ON THE ATTACK
legislation: CALIFORNIA / RHODE ISLAND / U.S. HOUSE
palliative care: DIGNITY IN DEATH
reminder: WORLD FAMILY CONFERENCE
reflection for prayer: JEREMIAH 32:27
activism
SCANDAL: The Cardinal Newman Society is asking Catholics to protest “17 inappropriate commencement speakers and awardees at 14 Catholic colleges and universities.” The schools include Boston College and Georgetown. The society’s Patrick Reilly notes that these institutions are simply not listening to the bishops’ call for reform in Catholic higher education.
(Reading: “Catholic colleges invite ‘scandalous’ commencement speakers, awardees,” Cardinal Newman Societynews release, 5/16/02)
chemical abortion
METHOTREXATE OR MIFEPRISTONE? Researchers find that abortions under 50 days’ gestation induced with mifepristone followed by misoprostol complete faster than those induced by methotrexate followed by misoprostol, but the overall success rates, side effects, and complications are similar.
(Reading: “Comparison of abortions induced by methotrexate or mifepristone followed by misoprostol,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 5/02, pp. 813-819; article not on line)
comatose patients
WITHDRAWING LIFE SUPPORT: Robert Wendland was comatose, on a feeding tube. While a case involving the question of withdrawing his feeding tube (an act that would starve him to death) was making its way through the California court system, Wendland died of pneumonia. The California Supreme Court eventually ruled that he could not be starved. The pivotal point was that there was no clear and convincing evidence that Wendland would have wanted to die prematurely by having feeding tubes withdrawn. In response, a New England Journal of Medicine article calls for “legal reforms that both safeguard incompetent patients and avoid imposing undue burdens on close family members who could appropriately make decisions about life-sustaining interventions.”
COMMENT: The slippery slope toward subjective life-and-death decisions is apparent in the commentary’s rhetoric.
(Reading: “The Wendland case – withdrawing life support from incompetent patients who are not terminally ill,” New England Journal of Medicine, 5/9/02, pp. 1489-1493, paid subscribers only)
dark side
AGI ON THE ATTACK: The Guttmacher Report takes aim at CPCs, Catholic Bishops and abstinence in the current issue. Relying heaving on “Catholics” For a Free Choice “studies” the report accuses the USCCB of ignoring the Catholic Health Association requests and putting sterilization on a par with abortion [they do not note that both are sins, of course]. The USCCB describes sterilization as “intrinsically immoral” and thus bars it from all Catholic hospitals.
(Reading: “Hierarchy crackdown clouds future of sterilization, EC provision at Catholic Hospitals,” The Alan Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, Vol. 5, No. 2; “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 6/15/01)
legislation
CALIFORNIA: SB 1301, the Reproductive Privacy Act, sponsored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles), would guarantee access to abortion as a “fundamental right” even if Roe v. Wade is overturned. The bill passed the state senate and is now under consideration in the state assembly.
COMMENT: It also allows greater access to the RU-486 chemical abortion regime by authorizing non-physicians to administer the drugs.
(Reading: Reproductive Privacy Act, California SB 1301; bill history)
RHODE ISLAND: SB 2335, the Noninterference in Reproductive Health Care Act, sponsored by Sen. Rhoda Perry (D-Providence), would prohibit the state from interfering with a woman’s decision about abortion and contraception. This bill would also guarantee access to abortion even if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
(Reading: Noninterference in Reproductive Health Care Act, Rhode Island SB 2335)
U.S. HOUSE: Michael O’Dea, the director of the Christus Medicus Foundation, is asking members of Congress to support HR4691, the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.). O’Dea notes that the bill “strengthens current law by providing that health care entities should not be forced by government to pay for abortions.”
(Reading: “Urgent need to support HCRC- HR4691 Abortion Non-Discrimination Act,” Christus Medicus Foundationnews release, 5/17/02; “Abortion Non-Discrimination Act of 2002,” HR4691, go to U.S. House and search by bill number)
palliative care
DIGNITY IN DEATH: A psychiatrist has studied the tenets of palliative care and determined that what defines “dignity” for each patient is unique. The article details how the patient’s final days can be lived in dignity while those in attendance do nothing to hasten death. “Affirmation can remind the dying of their dignity … [which] is precisely what it means to comfort the dying.”
(Reading: “Dignity: conserving care – a new model for palliative care,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 5/1/02)
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 online.
reflection for prayer
JEREMIAH 32:27: I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Nothing is too difficult for me.