Reminder

American Life League's sixth annual National Pro-Life T-shirt Day is April 29! ALL has invited Associate groups not only to participate in NPLTSD, but also to partner with ALL in promoting it. Discounts on bulk quantities of the NPLTS t-shirt, flyers, website banners and legal advice are all available to our Associates.

By participating and/or partnering with ALL in this event, your organization can raise awareness about the personhood of the preborn as well as the tragedy of abortion while at the same time garner recognition and raise funds for your organization.

For further information, contact Leslie Tignor at LTignor@ALL.org.

Tip of the month – Media Relations
"Back Talk" from Pro-Life Media Handbook by Judie Brown

While biased reporting necessitates a complaint, we should all be cautioned never to over-react. Be cool! Be professional! Your smooth style will not be ignored, especially since you will have to deal with these people in the future.

Complaining directly to the "offending" media outlet or to a third party (who has clout with the media outlet) about the mistreatment can sometimes result in a correction of the situation and may avert future discriminatory practices.

As a rule, potential media critics should only fight with the facts and should never level charges haphazardly. Always be able to fully substantiate every aspect of your case with the necessary documentation.

The most appropriate way to initiate any complaint proceeding is to confront the alleged offender. This may involve a meeting with a reporter responsible for the story in question, and perhaps may include an editor, publisher or station manager. Some daily newspapers employ an ombudsman whose primary responsibility is to review the performance of the media outlet in terms of objectivity and professional ethics. If a newspaper has an ombudsman on hand, he or she should be brought into the discussion.

Regardless of the tack pursued, however, letters to the editor and an op-ed piece should be quickly composed and sent in to provide an immediate public response to the controversy.

Do not allow yourself to be drawn into any controversy over individual persons—stick to facts. Many times, when they cannot refute your facts, they will start attacking individuals, including you. Insist that all discussions stick to the facts. Complaints can also be written and sent to such places as the National News Council for newspaper, the Federal Communications Commission for electronic media and other organizations. Prior to going this far with a complaint, however, one should evaluate the importance of the complaint versus the ongoing relationship which one might hope to have with the newspaper, radio or television station in question. Problems are far better solved at the local level.

News

• Two U.S. dioceses continue to discourage support for Komen breast cancer foundation

The St. Louis and Lafayette dioceses recently reaffirmed their opposition to support for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, despite the Little Rock diocese's decision to retract previous discouragement of Komen funding.

Both dioceses cited Komen local affiliates' funding of Planned Parenthood, the group's denial of the connection between abortion and breast cancer, and the organization's endorsement of embryonic stem cell research as grounds for continuing to discourage support for Komen.

• Early research suggests umbilical cord blood cell therapy may reduce progression of Alzheimer's disease

Stems cells derived from umbilical cord blood are showing early potential in fighting Alzheimer's disease, according to results from a new preclinical study published in the March issue of Stem Cells and Development. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of South Florida and Saneron CCEL Therapeutics, Inc., found that targeted immune suppression using stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood reduced Alzheimer's disease progression in a mouse model.

• Hair follicles possible stem cell source

University of Buffalo engineers said stem cells from hair follicles have the potential to be engineered into new blood vessels for bypass surgery. The researchers said stem cells from sheep hair follicles contain the smooth muscle cells that grow new vasculature. Stem cells from human hair follicles also differentiate into contractile smooth muscle cells, the university said in a release. The findings are published in the journal Cardiovascular Research.

• We have created human-animal embryos already, say British team

Embryos containing human and animal material have been created in Britain for the first time, a month before the House of Commons votes on new laws to regulate the research. A team at Newcastle University announced that it had successfully generated "admixed embryos" by adding human DNA to empty cow eggs in the first experiment of its kind in Britain.

• Doctor says about "brain dead" man saved from organ harvesting - "brain death is never really death"

Zack Dunlap, a man who was diagnosed as "brain dead" and was mere minutes away from having his organs harvested, now says, four months after the accident that brought him to the brink of death, that he feels "pretty good."

While Zack's case is being touted in the media as a "miracle," a neonatologist and expert on brain-death has told LifeSiteNews.com that Zack's case, while remarkable in a sense, is not as rare as the mainstream media's reporting makes it seem.

"The young man was never dead," said Dr. Paul Byrne, a former president of the Catholic Medical Association who began writing about brain death in 1977. What makes Dunlap's case unusual, though not unheard of, says Byrne, is that Zack was lucky enough to be found out to be alive before his vital organs were removed.

Closing thought