in this issue:
hot button issues: CATHOLIC BISHOPS / PETERSON VERDICT / RU-486 / STOPP
abortion: TRAUMA
activism: PRAY FOR LIFE
birth control: SPRAY
catholic politicians: MASSACHUSETTS
lifelines: ARCHBISHOP SHEEN
morning-after abortion pill: POLITICS
stem cell research: ETHICAL
the dark side / christmas shopping: FEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION / PLANNED PARENTHOOD
the dark side / election analysis: CFFC / IPAS / PLANNED PARENTHOOD
the dark side / pseudoreligion: PLANNED PARENTHOOD
reflection for prayer: COLOSSIANS 1:12-13 / POPE JOHN PAUL II
hot button issues
CATHOLIC BISHOPS: The election is over, but the scandal caused by pro-abortion ‘Catholic’ political figures continues. American Life League asked for decisive leadership from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which met this week in Washington, but was disappointed with the response.
(Reading: ‘Ad highlights ongoing scandal caused by pro-abortion Catholics,’ American Life League news release, 11/16/04; “U.S. bishops’ group apparently misses the point,” American Life League news release, 11/18/04)
PETERSON VERDICT: Following Scott Peterson’s conviction for the murders of his wife and preborn son, American Life League’s Judie Brown noted that the child’s death would not have been considered a crime if his death had been caused by abortion. She cited the need to ‘continue to educate the American people and our legislators to the simple truth that all preborn babies’ civil right to life must be defended from all acts of murder, no matter what the method.’
(Reading: ‘ALL applauds Peterson conviction,’ American Life League news release, 11/12/04)
RU-486: According to ALL’s Judie Brown, the FDA ruling modifying the warning on the RU-486 abortion pill is too little, too late. Only a complete ban is justified: “The fact that there have been additional maternal deaths attributed to this so-called medication makes a strong case for total removal from the market. Yet the FDA’s only response is to require a warning label that the abortion cartel will roundly ignore.”
(Reading: ‘FDA ruling on RU-486 puts bandage on gaping wound,’ American Life League news release, 11/17/04)
STOPP: Among Planned Parenthood’s “sexuality educators” is an Indiana woman whose background includes time spent as an adult bookstore clerk, an escort service phone dispatcher, and a “dungeon monitor.” Jim Sedlak of ALL’s STOPP International said, “It is intolerable that Planned Parenthood would consider a person with this background as someone suitable to teach our young people.”
(Reading: “Planned Parenthood has ‘dungeon monitor’ oversee some Indiana youth outreach programs,” American Life League news release, 11/18/04)
abortion
TRAUMA: According to a new study, ?American women were more likely to attribute to their abortion subsequent thoughts of suicide (36 percent), increased use of drugs or alcohol (27 percent), sexual problems (24 percent), relationship problems (27 percent), guilt (78 percent), and an inability to forgive themselves (62 percent).?
(Reading: ?Trauma symptoms after abortion are common, new study shows,? Elliot Institute news release, 11/16/04; ?Induced abortion and traumatic stress: a preliminary comparison of American and Russian women,? Medical Science Monitor, 2004:10 (10) SR5-16)
activism
PRAY FOR LIFE: On December 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, pro-lifers around the world will be asking her to intercede for preborn babies. To learn more about how to organize a public prayer vigil in your community, visit Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission.
birth control
SPRAY: Australian researchers will be testing a spray-on birth control chemical described as ?easy as putting on perfume.? It would be sprayed on the forearm once a day. Australian pharmaceutical company Acrux Limited and the New York based Population Council are behind the test. Backers say the spray could be on the market in four years.
(Reading: ?Aussies to trial contraceptive spray,? Seven News, 11/15/04)
catholic politicians
MASSACHUSETTS: A pro-abortion state legislator is complaining to the media after her pastor asked her to step down as cantor and youth choir leader at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Andover. State Rep. Barbara L?Italien says Fr. William Cleary?s request ?has upset my whole home,? adding that she is an ?unlikely and undeserving target.? She told reporters she has her own views on abortion but is sworn to uphold the law. Responded Fr. Cleary, ? We?re dealing with a person who is against the church’s position. I can’t allow her to be in a public posture — to be standing up at the pulpit singing or directing singing.”
(Reading: ?Lawmaker: priest asked me to quit choir,? Eagle Tribune [Lawrence, Mass.], 11/16/04)
lifelines
ARCHBISHOP SHEEN: As we look at Christ on the cross we see the ugliness of sin.
morning-after abortion pills
POLITICS: Pro-abortion physician David Grimes responds to a suggestion that providing morning-after pills to teens will promote risky sexual behavior by writing, ?personal behavior is not the purview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Drug safety and efficacy are. Second, easy access to emergency contraception through advance provision does not lead to risky behavior. Several randomized controlled trials ?. Concur in this assessment.?
COMMENT: Over the years it has become increasingly clear that studies focused on politically popular abortion-causing chemicals are usually designed to report results favorable to the culture of death.
(Reading: ?Emergency Contraception: politics trumps science at the U.S. FDA,? Obstetrics and Gynecology, 104:5:1:1103-4)
stem cell research
ETHICAL: American researchers in collaboration with Italian scientists are suggesting that there is hope for heart patients because initial tests with pig heart stem cells suggest that a patient?s stem cells or parent cells could be used to assist in creating new heart tissue.
(Reading: ?Stem cell treatment offers hope for cardiac patients,” The Guardian, 11/9/04)
the dark side / christmas shopping
FEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION: The group?s new online store features a ?reproductive rights? section, which includes pro-abortion videotapes, bumper stickers, and a ?Rock for Choice? knit cap.
COMMENT: The cap bears some resemblance to the one sold by American Life League?s Rock for Life youth outreach (see ProLifeGear.com).
(Reading: Feminist Online Store, Feminist Majority Foundation)
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: The ?choice on earth? holiday greeting card is back in Planned Parenthood?s online store. The 2004 edition features snowflakes on the front, with the message ?Warmest wishes for a peaceful holiday season? on the inside. A 2005 wall calendar is also available, featuring photos from last spring?s ?death march? in Washington.
(Reading: ?2004 Choice on Earth holiday card,? Planned Parenthood)
the dark side / election analysis
CFFC: Frances Kissling of the pro-abortion group ?Catholics? for a Free Choice worries that a second presidential term will see a continuation of George W. Bush?s ?war on women.? Says Kissling, ?the most troubling aspect of all this is the extent to which Bush’s victory will further empower an incredibly arrogant, intolerant, anti-woman and anti-religious freedom faction in my church. It solidifies the alliance between the administration, the Vatican and that ultra-conservative segment of the American church that both Rome and Bush have used to keep women ? and dissenters ? in their place.?
(Reading: ?Election 2004,? Catholics for a Free Choice, 11/3/04)
IPAS: Elizabeth Maguire of IPAS, an organization that sells abortion kits overseas, also has a take on the election: ?We must demand that the president uphold a woman?s right to choose. IPAS urges everyone to tell their elected officials to only support a nominee for the Supreme Court who supports reproductive rights and health.?
(Reading: ?Without pressure, president will fail to confront global problem of unsafe abortion,? IPAS news release, 11/3/04)
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: In a post-election look at the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned, Planned Parenthood lawyer Roger Evans told the Boston Globe, “The most extreme thing imaginable is that the Congress goes kind of hog-wild and enacts laws to prohibit abortion across the country.”
(Reading: ?What happens if Roe is overturned?? Boston Globe, 11/14/04)
the dark side / pseudoreligion
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: In an attempt to show solidarity with religion, Planned Parenthood is telling clergy that sex education can be both faith-based and ?comprehensive,? which is a code word for programs that teach contraception. A Planned Parenthood article quotes author Leslie Watson, who says, ?we need to provide every blessing that God has given to us to inform our young people how to better take care of themselves and love their bodies.” The article also claims Watson?s ?Keeping It Real? program is used in African-American Catholic Churches, though no specific parishes are mentioned.
COMMENT: Planned Parenthood apparently considers condoms and abortifacient birth control chemicals ?blessings.? The Catechism of the Catholic Church prefers the term ?intrinsically evil.?
(Reading: ?From the classroom to the congregation: Faith-based sex education,? Planned Parenthood, 10/28/04)
reflection for prayer
COLOSSIANS 1:12-13: Let us give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.
POPE JOHN PAUL II: It is easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm; it is difficult to be so in the hour of tribulation. And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole of life can be called faithfulness.
(Reading: Pope John Paul II, 1/26/79, quoted in “In Conversation with God,” Vol. 5)