in this issue:
hot button issues: DRINAN DOES VILLANOVA / OBAMA GOES CATHOLIC?
abortion: MISOPROSTOL I / MISOPROSTOL II
bioethics: PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS
birth control: DEPO PROVERA / ORTHO EVRA / PILL RISK
catholic bishops: AMARILLO / NEWARK
cloning humans: CONGRESSIONAL FAIRY TALES?
euthanasia: TERRI SCHIAVO
human embryonic stem cell research: CALIFORNIA / DICKEY AMENDMENT / PRO-ABORT SPECTER
politics: PUBLIC SCANDAL
vegetative state: CATHOLIC ETHICS
postscript: PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT
reflection for prayer: IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD
hot button issues
DRINAN DOES VILLANOVA: Pro-abortion Jesuit Robert Drinan addressed students at Villanova Sept. 21. American Life League organized a protest.
(Reading: “ALL to protest Villanova University appearance by Fr. Robert Drinan, pro-abortion Jesuit priest,” American Life League news release, 9/20/04)
OBAMA GOES CATHOLIC? Pro-abortion legislator Barack Obama will speak at Benedictine University in Illinois on Oct 5.
(Reading: “Pro-abortion Barack Obama speaks at Catholic college: Outrageous!” American Life League news release, 9/22/04)
abortion
MISOPROSTOL I: Research indicates that sublingual (under the tongue) misoprostol (400mg) is significantly more effective in facilitating cervical dilation prior to surgical abortion than vaginal misoprostol.
(Reading: “A randomized comparisons of sublingual and vaginal misoprostol for cervical priming before suction termination of first-trimester pregnancy,” Contraception, 70 (2004) 117-120)
MISOPROSTOL II: Research indicates that “early medical abortion” can be accomplished at 8 weeks gestational age or less with two doses of 800 mg misoprostol. Of 440 women who underwent the process, 373 completed the medical abortion.
(Reading: “Misoprostol as the primary agent for medical abortion in a low-income urban setting [Boston], Contraception, 70 (2004) 121-126)
bioethics
PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS: Buried within commentary in a recent issue of the Lancet is the concept that PGD provides “control and choice” to those who wish to “conceive” using in vitro fertilization but do not wish to accept a defective child. PGD allows the choosing of “embryos likely to survive, and to engage in sex selection when that choice is not prohibited by regulation.”
COMMENT: Bioethics is becoming but another term for evil.
(Reading: “Review and opinion: Bioethics, health and inequality,” The Lancet, 9/18/04; “Analysis and interpretation: Bioethics, health and inequality,” The Lancet, 9/18/04)
birth control
DEPO PROVERA: Reports once again link the use of injectible DMPA to an increased risk of STDs and a decrease in bone-protecting estrogen.
(Reading: “Contraceptive may triple STD risk,” Reuters, 9/1/04)
(Background: Bone density problems were previously reported in Communique, 8/16/02; Communique, 10/19/01, and Communique, 5/4/99)
ORTHO EVRA: Reports that the birth control patch has been linked to 17 deaths, according to reports acquired by the New York Post. The BBC assures women that the report is “unconfirmed” and that the patch is “safe.”
(Reading: “Sex patch tied to 17 deaths: FDA,” New York Post, 9/19/04; “Birth Control patch ‘safe to use,'” BBC News, 9/20/04)
PILL RISK: A new study shows a further relationship between the ingestion of the pill and the onset of venous thromboembolism.
(Reading: “Interleukin-6 and antiphospholipid antibodies in women with contraceptive-related thromboembolic disease,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 104:3:564-570; “Effect of four oral contraceptives on haemostatic parameters,” Contraception, 70:2:97-106)
catholic bishops
AMARILLO: Bishop John Yanta has asked the people of his diocese to inform him if they are aware of any pro-abortion public figures who claim to be Catholic, saying that if they persist once he has provided them with pastoral counseling, the politician will be denied Holy Eucharist. Bishop Yanta says his position is moral, not political
(Reading: “Election 2004 religion and politics: Name in vain?” Amarillo Globe News, 9/19/04)
NEWARK: Archbishop John Myers writes in the Wall Street Journal:
Thus for a Catholic citizen to vote for a candidate who supports abortion and embryo-destructive research, one of the following circumstances would have to obtain: either (a) both candidates would have to be in favor of embryo killing on roughly an equal scale or (b) the candidate with the superior position on abortion and embryo-destructive research would have to be a supporter of objective evils of a gravity and magnitude beyond that of 1.3 million yearly abortions plus the killing that would take place if public funds were made available for embryo-destructive research.
Frankly, it is hard to imagine circumstance (b) in a society such as ours. No candidate advocating the removal of legal protection against killing for any vulnerable group of innocent people other than unborn children would have a chance of winning a major office in our country. Even those who support the death penalty for first-degree murderers are not advocating policies that result in more than a million killings annually.
(Reading: “A voter’s guide,” Wall Street Journal, 9/17/04)
cloning humans
CONGRESSIONAL FAIRY TALES? A new so-called human cloning “ban” awaits the new Congress. It is currently H.R. 916 and the sponsor is Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.). The terms make this bill more dangerous than others that preceded it. An analysis can be reviewed online.
euthanasia
TERRI SCHIAVO: Florida’s supreme court has invalidated the law Gov. Jeb Bush used to order a feeding tube restored for Terri Schiavo, a disabled woman whose husband had been granted a court order permitting the tube’s removal. The court said the Florida legislature overstepped its authority.
(Reading: “Florida’s high court tosses out Terri’s law,” Tampa Tribune, 9/24/04)
human embryonic stem cell research
CALIFORNIA: Millionaire Bob Klein has joined the call for Californians to approve a measure that would provide more funding to destroy embryonic persons than even the federal government currently provides. $3 billion is what is on the state ballot.
(Reading: “Millionaire fighting for stem cell research,” Associated Press, 9/19/04)
(Action: To get more information and details on how to counteract this measure, visit California Life Advocates or email . Also see California Right to Life)
DICKEY AMENDMENT: Pro-human embryonic stem cells research commentators are bemoaning the Dickey Amendment because the claim is that the amendment prohibits federally funded scientists from deriving lines that model human disease.
COMMENT: The Dickey Amendment does not prohibit asexually produced human embryos (i.e., human cloning).
(Reading: “Missed opportunities in embryonic stem-cell research,” New England Journal of Medicine, 8/12/04, pp. 627-628)
PRO-ABORT SPECTER: Commenting on a letter to President Bush signed by International Society for Stem Cell Research conference attendees who favor killing the human embryonic person, Sen. Arlen Specter said, “This is not a matter of using a human embryo that has the potential to produce life. Rather, these otherwise discarded embryos have the potential to save lives.”
COMMENT: Senator, thank God your mother did not choose to discard you!
(Reading: “Researchers make the case for human embryonic stem cell research,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 9/18/04)
politics
PUBLIC SCANDAL: The Ave Maria School of Law sponsored a symposium focused on Catholic politicians and various errant positions.
(Reading: “Public witness, public scandal,” Catholic Exchange, 9/18/04)
vegetative state
CATHOLIC ETHICS: Nancy Valko, RN, sets the record straight on Pope John Paul II’s statement and how it should be applied.
(Reading: “The pope’s address on feeding and the ‘vegetative’ state,” Voices, 2004)
postscript
PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT: American Life League’s online store features a new shirt with the message, “Vote 100% pro-life.” To order, visit ProLifeGear.com.
reflection for prayer
IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD: There may be occasions when out of prudence or charity we should keep quiet. But prudence and charity are not the result of cowardice or self-comfort. It will never be prudent to keep quiet when keeping quiet may cause scandal or confusion, or when such behavior may have an adverse effect on the faith of others.
(Reading: In conversation with God, Vol. 4, pp. 112-113)