in this issue:
hot button issues: BUSH AND PLAN B / PRO-LIFE MEMORIAL DAY
abortion: FLORIDA
activism: CONTRACEPTION IS NOT THE ANSWER
culture of death: CLERGY AND ABORTION
down syndrome: BIASED LANGUAGE
eugenics: PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS
politics: SAY WHAT?
stem cell research / ethical: HUMAN BRAIN CELLS
stem cell research / unethical: RETINA REPAIR
vaccines: HPV
zinger: GODLIKE HUMANKIND
reflection for prayer: REJECTING REDEMPTION
hot button issues
BUSH AND PLAN B: When asked about the Plan B “emergency contraceptive” at a White House news conference, President Bush responded that it “ought to require a prescription for minors.” ALL’s Judie Brown asked, “What happened to President Bush’s campaign promises of respecting the dignity of every human person and creating a culture of life?”
(Reading: “Bush’s comment on Plan B contradicts pro-life stance,” American Life League news release, 8/21/06)
PRO-LIFE MEMORIAL DAY: For the second year, American Life League is sponsoring Pro-life Memorial Day on October 2. Please join us as we pause to remember the 47 million innocent lives lost through surgical abortion. Ordering information for the official T-shirt of Pro-life Memorial Day is available online.
abortion
FLORIDA: Abortionist James Pendergraft’s license has been suspended, and subsequently five abortion facilities have closed. The abortionist’s spokesperson claims the charges are wrong and that Pendergraft is the “target of government agencies trying to limit the access to safe and legal late term abortions.”
(Reading: “Florida abortion clinics close,” WFOR-TV, 8/17/06)
activism
CONTRACEPTION IS NOT THE ANSWER: Teleseminars are being hosted by Pro-Life Action league for those who cannot go to Chicago to attend the complete “Contraception is not the answer” conference. For details on the free teleseminars see http://www.prolifeaction.org/cinta/teleseminars.htm. You may register for the complete conference September 22-23 online.
culture of death
CLERGY AND ABORTION: The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the Network for Spiritual Progressives sponsored a seminar addressing how clergy should address “divisive” issues such as abortion.
(Reading: “Church leaders discuss how to talk about abortion rights with congregations,” Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 8/18/06)
down syndrome
BIASED LANGUAGE: Brian Skotko assesses words used to counsel parents who might deliver a baby with Down syndrome. He suggests that biased language may predispose parents to have tests they might not otherwise consider. For example, the word “handicap” is “an obsolete English word that is labeled in most English dictionaries as offensive.” He suggests that using the word “risk” predicts “the likelihood of an undesired outcome,” while the word “chance” does not.
(Reading: “Letter to the editor,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 195:2:625-6)
eugenics
PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS: Peter Braude writes that PGD has become an alternative to prenatal diagnosis for those couples who seek to become pregnant using reproductive technologies. He explains that after PGD is performed on the human embryos in the lab, “up to two mutation-free embryos are considered for transfer back to the uterus.” He then proceeds to decry the strict regulatory controls addressing “a three-day-old, eight-cell embryo” when physicians can perform prenatal diagnosis at any time and perform a “pregnancy termination” without the strict controls.
(Reading: “Preimplantation diagnosis for genetic susceptibility,” New England Journal of Medicine, 4/17/06, pp. 541-543)
politics
SAY WHAT? Congressman James R. Langevin (D-R.I.) is running for reelection. Says he: “I am pro-life, but I respect a mother’s right to choose in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.”
COMMENT: How can anybody be pro-life and favor killing specific babies?
(Reading: “Langevin: there can be no national security without ‘family security,’ which includes universal health care,” Providence Journal, 8/20/06)
stem cell research / ethical
HUMAN BRAIN CELLS: Researchers have found that “ordinary brain cells may exhibit qualities of self-renewal and adaptability normally associated with stem cells.”
(Reading: “Human brain cells capable of self-renewal,” ANI, 8/17/06)
stem cell research / unethical
RETINA REPAIR: Using embryonic stem cells to repair mouse retinas could, according to researchers, help treat people who suffer from macular degeneration. However, research has not been done on mice that are blind and the research has yet to be published. In addition, the research employs the use of human embryonic stem cells from “a line that existed before President Bush barred federal funding for research on additional cell lines.”
(Reading: “Researchers repair retinas with stem cells,” Oregon Public Broadcasting, 8/15/06)
vaccines
HPV: Human Papillomaviruses are a group of at least 100 viruses that are implicated in causing the HPV infection. HPV spreads through sexual contact. Recognizing these facts, an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control has voted to support inclusion of the Gardasil vaccine in the list of routine shorts to be given to 11- and 12-year-old girls. Gardasil is the vaccine designed to prevent genital warts and cervical cancer caused by HPV.
(Reading: “CDC advisory panel supports routine HPV vaccination for girls and women,” Food Consumer, 6/29/06)
zinger
ARROGANCE: Albert Mohler reports on an article in the Times of London discussing preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the heritable conditions that can be detected and subsequently eliminated by killing the human embryo. The writer opines, “Nature is astonishingly cruel. Science, by contrast, has the power of mercy.”
COMMENT: Dr. Mohler concludes: “This vision of a ‘godlike humankind’ is truly frightening,” to which we say, “Amen!”
(Reading: “Go ahead and play God? Scientific hubris on display,” Albert Mohler, 6/27/06; “Scientists playing God? We should rejoice,” The [London] Times, 6/25/06)
reflection for prayer
REJECTING REDEMPTION: Pope John Paul II wrote in Dominum et vivificantem “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, then, is the sin committed by the person who claims to have a ‘right’ to persist in evil — in any sin at all — and who thus rejects Redemption. One closes oneself up in sin, thus making impossible one’s conversion, and consequently the remission of sins, which one considers not essential or not important for one’s life.”
(Reading: “On the Holy Spirit and the life of the church in the world,” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 5/18/86)