in this issue:
american life league: HOT BUTTON ISSUES
abortion: PARTIAL BIRTH
euthanasia: ADVANCE DIRECTIVES / FLORIDA I / FLORIDA II / HAWAII
human papillomavirus: CANCER
humor: THANKSGIVING
in vitro fertilization: FROZEN HUMAN EMBRYOS
media: CBS’ SECRET
politics: STRANGER THAN FICTION
pregnancy: DIABETES
reproductive technology: SUCCESS RATES
stem cell research: ETHICS
reflection for prayer: POPE JOHN PAUL II
american life league
HOT BUTTON ISSUES:
HOT BUTTON ISSUES:
HOT BUTTON ISSUES:
Judie Brown asks San Francisco Archbishop William Levada to address pro-abortion congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s alleged claim to be a “conservative Catholic.”
(Reading: “Nancy Pelosi is not a ‘conservative Catholic’; anti-life stance creates scandal within Church,” American Life League news release, 11/18/02)
Planned Parenthood’s “Choice on Earth” holiday card is taken to task by STOPP International’s Jim Sedlak.
(Reading: “Planned Parenthood mocks Christmas; greeting card proclaims ‘choice on earth,'” STOPP International news release, 11/18/02)
Rock for Life’s Sara McKalips challenges Messiah College to rethink its hosting of pro-abortion musician Aimee Mann.
(Reading: “Christian college hosts pro-abortion musician,” Rock for Life news release, 11/19/02)
abortion
PARTIAL BIRTH: Life Advocacy Briefing quotes Family Research Council’s Ken Connor: “To paraphrase President Lincoln on slavery, if partial birth abortion is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
COMMENT: So why does the partial birth abortion legislation contain an exception that permits the act? Maybe every partial birth abortion is not wrong, which means that nothing is wrong.
(Reading: Life Advocacy Briefing, 11/18/02; for a the text of the bill, go to Library of Congress and search for H.R. 4965)
euthanasia
ADVANCE DIRECTIVES: Research indicates that some elderly patients are uninformed about procedures involved with CPR and can therefore die prematurely because a proper explanation of such treatments is not provided to them. Health care professionals, it is claimed, have varying attitudes toward DNR orders based on “training and personal religious beliefs.”
(Reading: “Increasing use of DNR orders in the elderly worldwide: whose choice is it?” Journal of Medical Ethics, 10/1/02, pp. 303-307)
FLORIDA I: The Terri Schiavo case has not received the coverage it deserves and as we prepare Communique, her life hangs in the balance. Terri is defined by those who want her to die as “hopeless” and “comatose.” To those who realize that she is not terminally ill, Terri “is responsive and deserves to live.” A judge has chosen to wait until Thanksgiving to decide whether she lives or dies.
(Reading: “The hearing to save Terri Schiavo’s life,” Ragged Edge, 11/02; Terri’s family maintains a carefully documented web site, Terri’s Fight)
FLORIDA II: A 59-year-old Lakeland man pleaded guilty to suffocating his 81-year-old mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease, because “she was driving him crazy.” A Tampa television station reported that Gary Pierson told police it was a “mercy killing.”
(Reading: “Man pleads guilty to suffocating ill mother,” WFTS-TV, 11/14/02)
HAWAII: The Hemlock newsmagazine touted the electoral primary victory of gubernatorial candidate Mazie Hirono. However, Hirono lost her general election bid to become the state’s first female governor. Her opponent, Linda Lingle, is a staunch opponent of pro-death legislation.
(Reading: “Republican Lingle defeats Hirono for Hawaii governor, becoming first woman chief,” Associated Press, 11/6/02; also see “Dying-with-dignity supporter wins Hawaii primary contest,” Hemlock Society News, 9/22/02)
human papillomavirus
CANCER: Researchers studying HPV Type 16 infection in the USA found that the existence of the virus is ten percent higher in women, age 12-59, than it is in men. Infection with “HPV type 16 accounts for about half of cervical cancers worldwide.”
(Reading: “Seroprevalence of human papillomavirus type 16 infection in the United States,” Journal of Infectious Diseases, 11/15/02, pp. 1396-1402, abstract online)
humor
THANKSGIVING: An old man in Phoenix called his son in New York, and said, “I hate to ruin your day. But I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough.” “Pop, what are you talking about? ” the son screamed. “We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,” the old man said. “We’re sick and tired of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her.” Then he hung up. Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. “Like heck, they’re getting a divorce,” she shouts. “I’ll take care of this.” She then called her parents and screamed at her dad, “You are NOT getting divorced. Do not do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing. DO YOU HEAR ME?” She hung up at that point. When the old man hung up the phone, he turned to his wife and said: “Okay! They’re coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.”
in vitro fertilization
FROZEN HUMAN EMBRYOS: An ethicist claims that “the main purpose of requesting advance directives for the disposition of cryopreserved embryos is to extend the autonomy and control of the intentional parents.” He blames fertility centers for using such directives to assure a final destination for each stored embryo.
(Reading: “The validity of contracts to dispose of frozen embryos,” Journal of Medical Ethics, 10/1/02, pp. 295-298, abstract)
media
CBS’ SECRET: On 11/20/02, the network aired “The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” which, as American Family Association pointed out, meant discarding any semblance of television decency for the sake of achieving high ratings. The American Family Association, is striving to collect signatures to protest this outrageous assault of the femininity of woman as bestowed by God, the Creator of all. To join in the effort see American Family Association.
politics
STRANGER THAN FICTION: Republican National Coalition for Life’s weekly observes: “the voters were not stupid.”
(Reading: “Candidates co-endorsed by pro-abortion and pro-life groups defeated,” Republican National Coalition for Life FaxNotes, 11/15/02)
pregnancy
DIABETES: It is often alleged that “life of the mother” situations occur because the mother has diabetes and her preborn child is threatening her life. A recent study contradicts that claim and queries the problems preborn children may face because the mother is a diabetic either before or during the pregnancy. “Women with pregestational diabetes or gestational diabetes plus fasting hyperglycemia have a three- to four-fold increased risk of infant malformations, whereas women with mild gestational diabetes have malformation rates no different than the general nondiabetic obstetric population.”
(Reading: “Maternal diabetes mellitus and infant malformations,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 11/02, pp. 925-930, paid subscribers only)
reproductive technology
SUCCESS RATES: Survey results based on reports from 360 fertility treatment programs show delivery rates (successful procedures) varied from 18.6% to 29.4% depending on the procedure used. The summary did not address costs to families, either financial or psychological.
(Reading: “Assisted reproductive technology in the United States…” Fertility and Sterility, 11/02, pp. 918-931, paid subscriptions only)
stem cell research
ETHICS: The ethics committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has determined that the destruction of spare human embryos for the purpose of obtaining stem cells is ethical as long as their guidelines are followed. The guidelines are published in the November 2002 issue of Fertility and Sterility. The guidelines are not on line.
(Reading: “Donating spare embryos for embryonic stem-cell research,” Fertility and Sterility, 11/02, pp. 957-960, paid subscriptions only)
reflection for prayer
POPE JOHN PAUL II: In the proclamation of this Gospel, we must not fear hostility or unpopularity, and we must refuse any compromise or ambiguity which might conform us to the world’s way of thinking (Cf. Romans 12:2).
(Reading: “Evangelium Vitae [The Gospel of Life],” Section 82)