in this issue:
activism: PETITION TO PRESIDENT BUSH, PETITION TO REVERSE ROE
birth control and health insurance: NARAL CAMPAIGN
birth control: USE
catholic politicians: VOTING FACTS
determination of death: LEGAL VIEW
down syndrome: SCREENING TEST UNSAFE
fetal tissue: GURU ALAN FANTEL
intrauterine device: RISKS
nonoxynol-9: HIV RISKS
xenotransplantation: EXPLAINED
zinger: SEMI PRO-LIFE
reflection for prayer: THOMAS A KEMPIS
activism
PETITION TO PRESIDENT BUSH: The Pro-Life Activist Club presents a petition calling on President Bush to appoint a presidential blue ribbon committee to study and implement a plan to restore legal protection to every “unborn American child from the moment of conception.”
PETITION TO REVERSE ROE: Operation Outcry has launched a petition drive to collect signatures in support of the efforts of Norma McCorvey (former “Roe”) and Sandra Cano (former “Doe”) to challenge the factual evidence presented in the original Roe v Wade and Doe v. Bolton cases decided by the Supreme Court in 1973.
birth control and health insurance coverage
NARAL CAMPAIGN: The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League of Pennsylvania has launched a project to pressure health insurance companies and lawmakers for insurance coverage of birth control chemicals and devices, claiming that “unintended pregnancies exact a great cost from women, families and societies.”
COMMENT: In other words, pregnancy is a disease, children are a disaster, and women do not need to know that the most popular “contraceptives” really can kill people.
(Reading: Campaign for Contraceptive Coverage)
birth control
USE: According to a recent study involving 22 women, the reason women do not use birth control is that “they trust their partner.” Dr. Sherry Dyche Ceperich, who presented her findings at an American Psychological Association conference, explained these women “are giving up the responsibility of protecting themselves from an unwanted pregnancy or getting a sexually transmitted disease.”
(Reading: “Trust in partner plays role in birth control use,” Reuters, 8/27/01)
catholic politicians
VOTING FACTS: Jim Sedlak, founder of Stop Planned Parenthood International, calculates the following: Catholics make up 30 percent of the U.S. House of Representatives (124 out of 415). By far, they are the largest faith group in the House. However, 48 percent of these lawmakers vote with Planned Parenthood over half the time, and 30 percent vote with Planned Parenthood all the time.
determination of death
LEGAL VIEW: In a letter to the editor in the New England Journal of Medicine, law professor Michael J. Broyde, J.D., comments: “A determination of death is a legal determination that a collection of living cells is no longer entitled to the rights granted to human beings, rather than a scientific or medical determination that all biologic life has ended.”
(Reading: “The diagnosis of brain death,” New England Journal of Medicine, 8/23/01, p. 617, subscribers only on web)
down syndrome
SCREENING TEST UNSAFE: Researchers report that screening for Down syndrome “based on maternal age, the second trimester double test, and the first trimester serum test was less effective, less safe, and more costly” than other first trimester options.
(Reading: “Screening for Down’s syndrome: Effects, safety, and cost effectiveness of first and second trimester strategies,” British Medical Journal, 8/25/01, p. 423)
fetal tissue
GURU ALAN FANTEL: Alan Fantel, a pediatrics professor at the University of Washington, operates the largest fetal tissue dispensing lab in the United States. Since the repeal of the federal ban on fetal tissue research in 1993, the University of Washington has become the country’s largest research facility in this specialty. Fantel’s facility, the National Institutes of Health’s Laboratory for Embryology, is described as “offering a 24-hour collection service at abortion clinics and hospitals throughout the country.” A recent report reveals that local abortion clinics are used to fill nearly 3,000 orders for such tissue on an annual basis.
(Reading: “Bills would limit UW’s fetal-tissue research for profit, Planned Parenthood Votes Washington; “Unholy Harvest,” Focus on the Family Citizen, 3/00; “UW lab in eye of fetal-research storm,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/20/01)
intrauterine device
RISKS: Researchers state that while the IUD does not appear to aggravate some conditions such as tubal occlusion, it is directly associated with the infection Chlamydia trachomatis. However, buried in the article the same researchers state that some tests do not “indicate whether exposure to C. trachomatis preceded the onset of tubal disease, although it is likely that it did.”
(Reading: “Use of copper intrauterine devices and the risk of tubal infertility among nulligravid women,” New England Journal of Medicine, 8/23/01 pp. 561-567, abstract)
nonoxynol-9
HIV RISKS: The use of vaginal spermicides containing nonoxynol-9 can increase the risk of HIV-1 transmission by causing inflammation of cervicovaginal epithelial cells, according to a recent study.
(Reading: “Vaginal inflammation induced by nonoxynol-9 increases HIV risk,” Reuters Health, 8/31/01; the Centers for Disease Control warned of this risk in a letter dated 8/4/00)
xenotransplantation (transplantation of animal organs to humans)
EXPLAINED: Father Joseph Howard, Jr., director of the American Bioethics Advisory Commission: “Due to a shortage of organs, xenotransplantation [the use of organs from animals such as chimpanzees or baboons or pigs] has been proposed as one possible source of organs for transplantation. Much attention has been given to the use of pigs as organ donors since many of their organs approximate the size needed for human beings. One problem noted early on is that pigs often carry retroviruses called porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV). Retroviruses are exemplified by HIV and can be associated with various cancers. They are” latent,” meaning the symptoms or disease may not show up for years after infection. There is some evidence that the retrovirus HIV arrived in humans from a primate host. There is a possibility that these retroviruses might be able to infect human recipients. A few transplants involving skin and pancreatic tissue from pigs have been performed in humans. While we know that PERV can infect human cells growing in culture in the lab, there appears to be no evidence that any of these people exposed to pig tissue have become infected. Recent experiments have been conducted involving the unethical co-mingling of human embryonic stem cells with mouse cells. It is possible that mouse cells contain viruses that might be able to infect the human cells they are cultured with in the lab. For this reason alone, one must be extremely cautious in all efforts involving transplant of cells/tissues/organs from animals to humans or any commingling of human cells with animal cells where such cells or their products may be administered to human beings.”
(Reading: For background on xenotransplantation, see “Xenotransplantation: Animal organs to save human lives,” Duke University News Service)
zinger
SEMI PRO-LIFE: Frank Rich, writing about the flawed Bush decision on embryonic stem cell research, observed:
“The pro-life cause (and the Republican platform that parrots it) has staked its moral rectitude on the belief that life begins at conception. As Douglas Johnson of the National Right to life Committee said in July, ‘We’re opposed to federal funding of research if it kills embryos, whether the killing took place yesterday or today.’
“Well, that was yesterday. By the time the president gave his go-ahead for federal funds to underwrite research on previously killed embryos, the White House had smartly romanced the National right to Life Committee to the point where it declared itself ‘delighted’ with the news. A few spoilsports who disagreed with this retreat — such as the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — were drowned out and marginalized by pro-life politicos like James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Jerry Falwell, who also enthusiastically endorsed the Bush speech. Pat Robertson went so far as to dismiss ‘ethical dilemmas’ as secondary to the ‘practical reality’ of a ‘very useful science.’
“Pro-choicers should welcome all these former pro-lifers into the fold.”
(Reading: “The genius of George W. Bush,” New York Times, 8/18/01)
reflection for prayer
THOMAS A KEMPIS: O my God, give me fortitude that I may stand my ground; patience, that I may endure, and constancy, that I may persevere.
(Reading: Imitation of Christ, 3:26:3)