abortion
NARAL: The pro-abortion organization is currently conducting an online survey regarding the crises women face due to “unintended” pregnancy. The campaign is designed specifically to discredit pro-life efforts to dissuade mothers from abortion their babies. Please visit this NARAL page and make the pro-life success stories known.
NRLC CONUNDRUM: The Chicago Tribune quotes National Right to Life Committee Executive Director David O’Steen on the personhood of the child at conception/fertilization: “There is a living human being in the womb of a pregnant human female. The recognition of that will weaken and ultimately overthrow Roe.” In the same article O’Steen also says “I firmly believe that the day will come when there will be a majority of at least five intellectually honest justices on the Supreme Court who will recognize that there is nothing in the Constitution to prohibit states from regulating abortion and strike Roe and return this matter to the people.”
COMMENT: HUH? Even though there is “a living human being in the womb of a pregnant human female,” a state’s electorate should be able to express its choice regarding how and when and where or if the killing of that “living human being” takes place? Overturning Roe, after all, will only provide state lawmakers with the choice of criminalizing, decriminalizing or regulating the killing of a living human being. So much for logic.
(Reading: “When Exactly Do Human Cells Become a Person?” Chicago Tribune, 5/10/00, pp. 1, 14)
adolescent pregnancy
REPEAT PREGNANCY RATE LOWER: Based on the statistical findings that 70 percent of adolescent women report sexual activity by age 19 and that each year 8-10 percent of them become pregnant, and that 17-35 percent will become pregnant a second time within a year of delivery, researchers compared effectiveness/user results between those on the pill versus those using injectable depot medroxyprogesterone acetate. The outcome among the 122 postpartum women studied indicates that there is a lower incidence of repeat pregnancy due to higher method continuation among those using the injectable. The study makes no mention of chemical side effects, chemical abortion or the value of secondary virginity.
(Reading: “Postpartum Contraceptive Use Among Adolescent Mothers,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 5/00, pp. 770-776)
bioethics
ETHICAL WEB SITE? The Lancet (5/6/00, p. 1655) describes Bioethics.Net as a “truly ethical website.” Our visit to the site did not provide us, however, with any viewpoints from natural law experts in bioethics like Dianne Irving, Ph.D. or Father Joseph Howard, Jr. (director of the American Bioethics Advisory Commission). Well-balanced it is not.
birth control pill
BONE MINERAL DENSITY: A research study conducted with support from UNFPA, WHO, World Bank and other groups committed to population control indicates that hormonal contraceptive use by young adult women is associated with small changes in bone mineral density, but that such changes are reversible. In seven centers in three regions in developing countries, 2,474 women were studied. The women ranged in age from 30 to 34.
(Reading: “Steroid Hormone Contraception and Bone Mineral Density: A Cross-sectional Study in an International Population,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 5/00, pp. 736-744)
ENDOMETRIOSIS: Research studying 817 women found that “oral contraception is associated with an increased risk of endometriosis” but warns that the study is based on a select population, and cannot be generalized for all women with endometriosis.
(Reading: “Oral Contraceptive Use and Risk of Endometriosis,” British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 7/99, pp. 695-699 – paid subscriptions only)
FACTS: Pharmacist “>Paul Weckenbrock has prepared an excellent analysis of the medical and scientific facts regarding the pill, “The Pill: How Does It Work? Is It Safe?.”
VENOUS THROMBOSIS: The Canadian Medical Association Journal reports that “venous thrombosis develops more often and sooner in women taking oral contraceptives who have inherited clotting defects than in women without these defects.” The original study is in Archives of Internal Medicine 2000:160, pp. 49-52.
(Reading: “Clotting Defects Raise Risk of Venous Thrombosis from the Pill,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, 4/18/00)
gobbledygook
HARRIS POLL: A May 2 wire story reports that a poll of 15,351 people reveals that among those who describe themselves as pro-life, 88 percent say that life begins at conception, while among those who describe themselves as pro-choice, only 23 percent believe life begins at conception. Dianne Irving, Ph.D., notes, “Among those who are pro-choice, only 23 percent believe life begins at conception.” And the earth is flat. It is unfortunate that such “fundamental questions” and basic public policy in this country are based solely on “opinion,” and that the objective scientific facts, which pro-lifers now KNOW, are totally and utterly ignored by this “poll” and by our political and social leaders. If our citizens were educated in the correct Biology 101 required to answer this fundamentally simple question, all those who claim to be “pro-abortion” would have to agree that scientifically there is no question whatsoever that the life of every human being normally begins at fertilization/conception. If an engineer were testifying before Congress under oath that he thought that all of our bridges should be built with candy canes and marshmallows, we would kick him out and lock him up for his own good and for fundamentally endangering the “public health and welfare.” It is not necessary or mentally healthy to answer this poll with mere ill-conceived “opinions” or “feelings”; it should be answered with the concrete objective scientific facts that are available to everyone in this country.
COMMENT: For the hard cold biological facts as agreed to by essentially every human embryologist worldwide, see “When Do Human Beings Begin? ‘Scientific Myths’ and Scientific Facts,” by Dr. Irving. Check out the references in your local libraries. It is time to stop fooling around with the truth. Bad public policies are the result.
(Reading: “When Does Life Begin?” Business Wire, 5/2/00; for details visit the Harris site)
in vitro fertilization
LAW & TECHNOLOGICAL CONCEPTION: Harvard Law Review has published Marsha Garrison’s “Law Making for Baby Making: An Interpretive Approach to the Determination of Legal Parentage.” According to this article, “Professor Garrison argues that cases of sexual and technological conception should be governed by similar rules because, despite mechanical differences between these two reproductive methods, there are no significant differences in the parent-child relationships that they produce.”
(Reading: “Law Making for Baby Making: An Interpretive Approach to the Determination of Legal Parentage” – complete text must be ordered from the journal and paid for at the time of order.)
norplant
“NEWS” REPORTING: An interesting study of media reporting over a five-year period 1992-1996) in the UK shows how media bias can affect the rise and fall of a contraceptive.
(Reading: “The Case of Norplant as an Example of Media Coverage over the Life of a New Health Technology,” The Lancet, 5/6/00, pp. 1633-1636 – requires paid subscription)
planned parenthood
CLONES ITSELF: Planned Parenthood of New York City has created the Othmer Institute, which “promotes the advancement of reproductive freedom and healthy sexuality through innovative programs and ideas.” The current project list includes a series of ads, one per month, in the New York Times.
(Reading: Othmer Institute ad, New York Times, 4/25/00)
selective reduction
AMNIOCENTESIS SAFE? A study reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology was based on the premise that “multifetal pregnancy reduction has emerged as a staple of infertility therapy.” Researchers therefore set out to determine if it was safe to administer amniocentesis after the fetal reduction had occurred. The conclusion of this study involving 508 patients who underwent multifetal pregnancy reduction is that fetal loss following amniocentesis performed after the fetal reduction was no riskier than the multifetal reduction alone.
(Reading: “Amniocentesis After Multifetal Pregnancy Reduction: Is It Safe?” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 4/00, pp. 962-965)
sexually transmitted disease (a.k.a. venereal disease)
LOUISIANA: A policy in the state provides STI (sexually transmitted infection, a.k.a. STD, VD) testing for 14-17 year old school children and “does not provide the results of tests directly to parents.” Louisiana State University professors write, “Because of the stigma associated with STIs and the right to privacy between a patient and a physician, test results are only given to the students.”
(Reading: “School-based Screening for STI,” correspondence, The Lancet, 5/13/00, pp. 1729-30; “Is There a Case for School-Based Screening for Sexually Transmitted Diseases?” correspondence, The Lancet, 355:3/11/00:864 – requires paid subscription)
training
LIFE SERVICES INTERNATIONAL ABSTINENCE 2000: For details regarding the Advanced Training Institute on chastity June 16 and 17 in Wichita, Kansas, call Ruth Philips at 909-676-3005 or visit the web site and leave a request for information there.
reflection for prayer
God thirsts not for blood, but for self-surrender; God is appeased not by slaughter, but by the offering of your free will.
-Peter Chrysologus, Bishop, AD 450
NARAL: The pro-abortion organization is currently conducting an online survey regarding the crises women face due to “unintended” pregnancy. The campaign is designed specifically to discredit pro-life efforts to dissuade mothers from abortion their babies. Please visit this NARAL page and make the pro-life success stories known.
NRLC CONUNDRUM: The Chicago Tribune quotes National Right to Life Committee Executive Director David O’Steen on the personhood of the child at conception/fertilization: “There is a living human being in the womb of a pregnant human female. The recognition of that will weaken and ultimately overthrow Roe.” In the same article O’Steen also says “I firmly believe that the day will come when there will be a majority of at least five intellectually honest justices on the Supreme Court who will recognize that there is nothing in the Constitution to prohibit states from regulating abortion and strike Roe and return this matter to the people.”
COMMENT: HUH? Even though there is “a living human being in the womb of a pregnant human female,” a state’s electorate should be able to express its choice regarding how and when and where or if the killing of that “living human being” takes place? Overturning Roe, after all, will only provide state lawmakers with the choice of criminalizing, decriminalizing or regulating the killing of a living human being. So much for logic.
(Reading: “When Exactly Do Human Cells Become a Person?” Chicago Tribune, 5/10/00, pp. 1, 14)
adolescent pregnancy
REPEAT PREGNANCY RATE LOWER: Based on the statistical findings that 70 percent of adolescent women report sexual activity by age 19 and that each year 8-10 percent of them become pregnant, and that 17-35 percent will become pregnant a second time within a year of delivery, researchers compared effectiveness/user results between those on the pill versus those using injectable depot medroxyprogesterone acetate. The outcome among the 122 postpartum women studied indicates that there is a lower incidence of repeat pregnancy due to higher method continuation among those using the injectable. The study makes no mention of chemical side effects, chemical abortion or the value of secondary virginity.
(Reading: “Postpartum Contraceptive Use Among Adolescent Mothers,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 5/00, pp. 770-776)
bioethics
ETHICAL WEB SITE? The Lancet (5/6/00, p. 1655) describes Bioethics.Net as a “truly ethical website.” Our visit to the site did not provide us, however, with any viewpoints from natural law experts in bioethics like Dianne Irving, Ph.D. or Father Joseph Howard, Jr. (director of the American Bioethics Advisory Commission). Well-balanced it is not.
birth control pill
BONE MINERAL DENSITY: A research study conducted with support from UNFPA, WHO, World Bank and other groups committed to population control indicates that hormonal contraceptive use by young adult women is associated with small changes in bone mineral density, but that such changes are reversible. In seven centers in three regions in developing countries, 2,474 women were studied. The women ranged in age from 30 to 34.
(Reading: “Steroid Hormone Contraception and Bone Mineral Density: A Cross-sectional Study in an International Population,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 5/00, pp. 736-744)
ENDOMETRIOSIS: Research studying 817 women found that “oral contraception is associated with an increased risk of endometriosis” but warns that the study is based on a select population, and cannot be generalized for all women with endometriosis.
(Reading: “Oral Contraceptive Use and Risk of Endometriosis,” British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 7/99, pp. 695-699 – paid subscriptions only)
FACTS: Pharmacist “>Paul Weckenbrock has prepared an excellent analysis of the medical and scientific facts regarding the pill, “The Pill: How Does It Work? Is It Safe?.”
VENOUS THROMBOSIS: The Canadian Medical Association Journal reports that “venous thrombosis develops more often and sooner in women taking oral contraceptives who have inherited clotting defects than in women without these defects.” The original study is in Archives of Internal Medicine 2000:160, pp. 49-52.
(Reading: “Clotting Defects Raise Risk of Venous Thrombosis from the Pill,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, 4/18/00)
gobbledygook
HARRIS POLL: A May 2 wire story reports that a poll of 15,351 people reveals that among those who describe themselves as pro-life, 88 percent say that life begins at conception, while among those who describe themselves as pro-choice, only 23 percent believe life begins at conception. Dianne Irving, Ph.D., notes, “Among those who are pro-choice, only 23 percent believe life begins at conception.” And the earth is flat. It is unfortunate that such “fundamental questions” and basic public policy in this country are based solely on “opinion,” and that the objective scientific facts, which pro-lifers now KNOW, are totally and utterly ignored by this “poll” and by our political and social leaders. If our citizens were educated in the correct Biology 101 required to answer this fundamentally simple question, all those who claim to be “pro-abortion” would have to agree that scientifically there is no question whatsoever that the life of every human being normally begins at fertilization/conception. If an engineer were testifying before Congress under oath that he thought that all of our bridges should be built with candy canes and marshmallows, we would kick him out and lock him up for his own good and for fundamentally endangering the “public health and welfare.” It is not necessary or mentally healthy to answer this poll with mere ill-conceived “opinions” or “feelings”; it should be answered with the concrete objective scientific facts that are available to everyone in this country.
COMMENT: For the hard cold biological facts as agreed to by essentially every human embryologist worldwide, see “When Do Human Beings Begin? ‘Scientific Myths’ and Scientific Facts,” by Dr. Irving. Check out the references in your local libraries. It is time to stop fooling around with the truth. Bad public policies are the result.
(Reading: “When Does Life Begin?” Business Wire, 5/2/00; for details visit the Harris site)
in vitro fertilization
LAW & TECHNOLOGICAL CONCEPTION: Harvard Law Review has published Marsha Garrison’s “Law Making for Baby Making: An Interpretive Approach to the Determination of Legal Parentage.” According to this article, “Professor Garrison argues that cases of sexual and technological conception should be governed by similar rules because, despite mechanical differences between these two reproductive methods, there are no significant differences in the parent-child relationships that they produce.”
(Reading: “Law Making for Baby Making: An Interpretive Approach to the Determination of Legal Parentage” – complete text must be ordered from the journal and paid for at the time of order.)
norplant
“NEWS” REPORTING: An interesting study of media reporting over a five-year period 1992-1996) in the UK shows how media bias can affect the rise and fall of a contraceptive.
(Reading: “The Case of Norplant as an Example of Media Coverage over the Life of a New Health Technology,” The Lancet, 5/6/00, pp. 1633-1636 – requires paid subscription)
planned parenthood
CLONES ITSELF: Planned Parenthood of New York City has created the Othmer Institute, which “promotes the advancement of reproductive freedom and healthy sexuality through innovative programs and ideas.” The current project list includes a series of ads, one per month, in the New York Times.
(Reading: Othmer Institute ad, New York Times, 4/25/00)
selective reduction
AMNIOCENTESIS SAFE? A study reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology was based on the premise that “multifetal pregnancy reduction has emerged as a staple of infertility therapy.” Researchers therefore set out to determine if it was safe to administer amniocentesis after the fetal reduction had occurred. The conclusion of this study involving 508 patients who underwent multifetal pregnancy reduction is that fetal loss following amniocentesis performed after the fetal reduction was no riskier than the multifetal reduction alone.
(Reading: “Amniocentesis After Multifetal Pregnancy Reduction: Is It Safe?” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 4/00, pp. 962-965)
sexually transmitted disease (a.k.a. venereal disease)
LOUISIANA: A policy in the state provides STI (sexually transmitted infection, a.k.a. STD, VD) testing for 14-17 year old school children and “does not provide the results of tests directly to parents.” Louisiana State University professors write, “Because of the stigma associated with STIs and the right to privacy between a patient and a physician, test results are only given to the students.”
(Reading: “School-based Screening for STI,” correspondence, The Lancet, 5/13/00, pp. 1729-30; “Is There a Case for School-Based Screening for Sexually Transmitted Diseases?” correspondence, The Lancet, 355:3/11/00:864 – requires paid subscription)
training
LIFE SERVICES INTERNATIONAL ABSTINENCE 2000: For details regarding the Advanced Training Institute on chastity June 16 and 17 in Wichita, Kansas, call Ruth Philips at 909-676-3005 or visit the web site and leave a request for information there.
reflection for prayer
God thirsts not for blood, but for self-surrender; God is appeased not by slaughter, but by the offering of your free will.
-Peter Chrysologus, Bishop, AD 450