in this issue:
activism: SCHIAVO I / SCHIAVO II / VIRGINIA
birth control: SEASONALE
congress: PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION
end-of-life care: INTENT
organ transplant: BRAIN DEAD
stem cell research: ADULT
zinger: LOUISIANA
reflection for prayer: BISHOP DANIEL R. JENKY, CSC
activism
SCHIAVO I: Additional legal wrangling has led to further delays in the case of Terri Schiavo, the disabled Florida woman whose husband wishes to remove her feeding tube. If the tube is removed, she will die of starvation. Her parents are trying to keep her alive, and have asked the court to order spoon-feeding for Terri once the tube is withdrawn. Attorney Pat Anderson noted, “The guardian [husband Michael Schiavo] is not free to treat his ward [Terri] as a piece of chattel. She has been treated for years as though she is already dead.”
(Reading: “Schiavo case delayed again,” Tampa Tribune, 9/12/03; “Terri’s Fight,” Schiavo family’s web site)
SCHIAVO II: The fact that the courts have again delayed an action that would lead to Terri Schiavo’s death is truly reflective of the outpouring of prayer that has been offered in her behalf. However, please don’t stop praying! Her life still hangs in the balance as this issue of Communique is posted. Please be encouraged by the following powerful words written by Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington, Va:
“The Church has taught consistently and without compromise that every human life has a value and dignity that cannot be measured by standards of productivity, competence, or even physical health. Each human life is incomparably precious and inviolate. Such is the case with Theresa Schiavo. As the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities has stated (April 2, 1992), decisions about patients who are diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state ‘should be guided by a presumption in favor of medically assisted nutrition and hydration.’ The inherent worth of the life of Theresa Schiavo obligates all concerned to provide her with care and support and to reject any omission of nutrition and hydration intended to cause her death.”
(Reading: 8/13/03 letter to American Life League)
VIRGINIA: The Diocese of Arlington is leading a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Oct. 18. The theme of the event is “The Rosary: Our Spiritual Treasure.”
(Reading: “Diocesan pilgrimage 2003,” Diocese of Arlington, Va.)
birth control
SEASONALE: The Food and Drug Administration approved the latest in the early abortion arsenal: Barr Lab’s Seasonale. The pill would allegedly “eliminate menstruation” and was developed with the collaboration of the pro-population elimination Population Council and Eastern Virginia Medical School.
(Reading: “FDA approves new birth-control pill,” Associated Press, 9/6/03; “Seasonale: A eugenicist’s dream,” Washington Dispatch, 8/8/03)
congress
PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION: The Republican National Coalition for Life reports a conference committee will attempt to work out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
(Reading: “Efforts to strip re-affirmation of Roe v. Wade from PBA ban act to begin soon,” Republican National Coalition for Life Fax Notes, 9/5/03)
end-of-life care
INTENT: A study of European ICUs and the defining of end of life practices brought researchers to the conclusion that “Although shortening of the dying process is rare, clarity between withdrawing therapies and shortening of the dying process and between therapies intended to relieve pain and suffering and those intended to shorten the dying process may be lacking.”
An accompanying editorial recommends that areas of end-of-life care should be culturally determined, and consensus needs to be sought in areas of practice that constitute “good quality care…”
COMMENT: Lest we forget, the Michigan bishops made a powerful statement on “the dying process” in 1997: “I will enter the dying process with all its mysteries with trust in God and in solidarity with my brothers and sisters; I will die with the dignity of letting myself be loved unconditionally.” Trust in God is superior to consensus!
(Reading: “End-of-life practices in European intensive care units,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 8/13/03, pp. 790-797; “Caring for the dying in the intensive care unit,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 8/13/03, pp. 820-822; “Living and dying according to the voice of faith,” Michigan Catholic Conference, 1997)
organ transplant
BRAIN DEAD: Researchers report identifying 18,524 “brain-dead potential organ donors” during a review of ICU records from 1997 to 1999 in the service areas of 36 organ-procurement organizations. They report a “lack of consent to a request for donation” as the primary cause of “the gap between the number of potential donors and the number of actual donors. A patient was considered to meet the criteria for brain death if evidence of any or all of the following was found in the hospital chart: the absence of spontaneous respiration and two additional brain-stem reflexes; a physician’s note declaring brain death; a flat electroencephalogram; or other brain studies indicating irreversible destruction of the brain.”
(Reading: “Estimating the number of potential organ donors in the United States,” New England Journal of Medicine, 8/14/03, pp. 667-674)
(Background: “Understanding brain death,” American Life League; “When is a person really dead?” American Life League)
stem cell research
ADULT: Maggie Gallagher’s recent column, “Stem cells heal hearts” covers all the bases on why adult stem cells are far superior to human embryonic stem cells. She extends the challenge, “Let’s shut the door on cloning and embryo consumption.”
(Reading: “Stem cells heal hearts,” Maggie Gallagher, 9/2/03)
zinger
LOUISIANA: Attorneys for a woman who was denied an abortion while in jail are now appealing that ruling. Linda Rosenthal of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the group appealing the decision, said, “Being forced to carry a pregnancy to term is more than any woman should have to bear as a condition for her incarceration.”
COMMENT: Why on earth would we provide inmates with the right to commit murder?
(Reading: “Court considers inmate abortions,” Times Picayune, 9/4/03; “Fifth Circuit set to hear case involving prison inmate forced to carry pregnancy to term,” Center for Reproductive Rights news release, 9/2/03)
reflection for prayer
BISHOP DANIEL R. JENKY, CSC: “Are you ready and willing to defend the faith? Are you absolutely committed with care and determination to pass that faith on undiminished to your children and to your children’s children?
“Will you tolerate the holiest things of our religion on a daily basis being mocked and ridiculed on TV in the press in the movies? What do you say, what will you do, when commentators attack our saintly and heroic pope? What do you say, what will you do, when even the Most Blessed and Glorious Mother of God becomes a joke for comedians and sports writers?
“Why is it, in this era of political correctness, that it is perfectly okay to viciously attack Catholicism and nobody else? How can any politician without any fear of consequence, de-certify our Catholic schools in Illinois that do so much enormous good for the whole state and save taxpayers an absolute fortune? And why do we as Catholics not stand up and fight, and defend our faith? What will it take to finally get us mad?”
(Reading: “Full text of homily at Erin Feis: Rise up, stand with our God,” The [Peoria] Catholic Post, 9/7/03)