in this issue:
abortion: IRAQ / ORAL MISOPROSTOL
congress: PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION
culture of death: REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM
euthanasia: TERRI SCHIAVO
hollywood: ABORTION
hospice: HOSPICE FOR HEMLOCK
model law: NRLC STARVATION AND DEHYDRATION
politics: PLANNED PARENTHOOD
pro-life news sources: ELLIOT INSTITUTE / INTERNATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE NEWS
web news: SPAIN
reflection for prayer: THOMAS A KEMPIS
abortion
IRAQ: It is reported that since the onset of the war in Iraq, women are seeking illegal abortions rather than face their families with the fact that they have become engaged in prostitution.
(Reading: “Home abortions soar in Iraq as unwanted pregnancies rise,” The Telegraph (U.K.), 10/26/03)
ORAL MISOPROSTOL: A recent news report suggests that oral misoprostol is as effective as vaginal misoprostol for “second trimester pregnancy termination.” The study involved only 43 women.
(Reading: “Oral misoprostol as effective as vaginal for second-trimester pregnancy termination,” Medscape medical news, 10/10/03)
congress
PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION: A bill that has passed both houses of Congress is making its way to President Bush for signature.
COMMENT: The bill contains a “life of the mother” exception and thus cannot truly be described as a pro-life victory, though groups such as the Pro-Life Activities Office of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Priests for Life have celebrated the bill’s passage. A commentary by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) focuses on the ways in which pro-life politics is getting farther off track with the passage of time. Judie Brown also offers commentary on the subject for the Washington Dispatch.
(Reading: “Pro-life action must originate from principle,” Rep. Ron Paul, 6/4/03; “The Partial Birth Abortion Act: Rue it or celebrate it?” American Life League, 10/31/03)
culture of death
REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM? The Center for Reproductive Rights offers a newsletter focused on tactics the pro-abortion lobby uses to protect abortion and population elimination programs worldwide.
(Reading: Reproductive Freedom News, 10/03)
euthanasia
TERRI SCHIAVO: The most recent intervention sent to Washington, pleading for help from the federal government, is posted on the Children of God for Life site.
hollywood
ABORTION: The following quote appears in “Open Secret: Gay Hollywood 1928-1998,” by David Ehrenstein (William Morrow and Co., New York, 1998, p. 97): In order to keep its top stars in the unpregnant state, MGM in the 1930s “had an abortion provider on staff. Known within the industry circles, this fact was never noted even by the ‘scandal’ press,” says Ehrenstein.
(Acknowledgement: Thanks to Randy Engel for the material)
hospice
HOSPICE FOR HEMLOCK: Hospice professionals have put together a web site advocating support for the so-called right to die movement.
model law
NRLC STARVATION AND DEHYDRATION: The National Right to Life Committee has developed a Model Starvation and Dehydration of Persons with Disabilities Prevention Act. However, an ethics expert notes flaws in the language. For example, the bill defines “nutrition” but not “hydration”; the bill restricts the subject to food and hydration administered through the gastrointestinal tract and not also an I.V.; a mere attending physician could determine the competency of the patient even if that physician did not have the credentials to do so. Further comments include:
- The model bill makes it seem that the pro-life movement has no qualms about withholding or withdrawing nutrition and hydration so long as there is “clear and convincing evidence” that the person would want them withheld or withdrawn.
- Even if it is argued that state advance directive laws already permit withholding or withdrawal of nutrition and hydration from those who refuse it, that does not legitimize the practice. By including Section 4, B and C in its proposal, NRLC lends such laws legitimacy in the eyes of people who trust NRLC to lead them. Section 4, C could even be interpreted to mean that persons such as Nancy Cruzan, Terri Schiavo, etc. could be starved and dehydrated to death under this law. After all, courts have found “clear and convincing evidence” to be a casual conversation in which a person purportedly said she wouldn’t want to have tubes, or simply “wouldn’t want to live like that.”
- This flawed proposed law could do more harm than good. It is better not to propose any law at all than to propose one that contains a section contrary to God’s law. For, insomuch as this law would seem to endorse the withholding or withdrawal of nutrition and hydration in order to cause death, a grave moral evil, such a law is no law at all.
politics
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: The organization’s political arm will endorse a presidential candidate next year. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s Gloria Feldt told a Florida audience, “we need to stand up for choice. Right now we have an administration, both houses and many state legislatures and increasingly federal courts that are all anti-choice and are all ready to take away choice.”
(Reading: “Group fights parent notification,” Miami Herald, 10/30/03)
pro-life news sources
ELLIOT INSTITUTE: The most recent issue of the Elliot Institute News focuses on RU-486 as the cause of Holly Peterson’s death, the real risks of abortion and more.
INTERNATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE NEWS: The September/October issue is posted online.
web news
SPAIN: Pro-lifers in Spain have established a new bilingual web site in reaction to sharply increasing abortion rates. “Abortion is now accepted or tolerated in Spanish society, traditionally anti-abortion, and more and more women, many of them almost children, are having irresponsible sex and using abortion freely,” said site manager Jose Manuel Mendez. “We think that it can reach both people in Spain and in America, including the Spanish-speaking population of the United States.”
reflection for prayer
THOMAS A KEMPIS: Oh, that Thou, the most mighty God of Israel, the zealous lover of faithful souls, wouldst behold the labor and sorrow of Thy servant, and stand by me in all my undertakings. Strengthen me with heavenly fortitude, lest the old man, the miserable flesh, not fully subject to the spirit, prevail and get the upper hand, against which we must fight as long as we breathe in this most wretched life.
(Reading: “Imitation of Christ,” Book III, Chapter 20, Section 3)