in this issue:
hot button issues: NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY
abortion: LOWER MATERNAL MORTALITY / PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT / SEX SELECTION IN INDIA
birth control pill: LACK OF DATA / STROKE
catholic bishops: TAX STATUS
ethics: CON MEN IN LAB COATS
euthanasia: END OF LIFE MODEL / HOSPICE
facts: DEATH PENALTY OR ABORTION?
in vitro fertilization: RISKS
organ donation: BRAIN DEATH
personhood: RIGHT TO LIFE ACT
web news: SEARCHING
zinger: BISHOPS ORDERED TO PERMIT HOMOSEXUAL ADOPTIONS
reflection for prayer: LOVE AND FREEDOM
hot button issues
NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY: American Life League is sponsoring this event for the fourth year. On April 25, ALL is asking pro-life students to wear a pro-life message to class. All are invited to participate, but public schools are especially invited. The official shirt of ALL’s National Pro-life T-shirt Day is available online for $5 plus shipping and handling. Other details are available at www.NationalProLifeTshirtDay.comwww.NationalProLifeTshirtDay.com.
abortion
LOWER MATERNAL MORTALITY: According to a recent United Nations Population Division report, those countries where abortion is not legal have lower maternal mortality rates than countries such as Russia and the United States, where abortion is protected by law.
(Reading: “UN Data show banning abortion doesn’t increase material mortality,” Friday Fax, 2/17/06)
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: Pro-abortion research suggests that while abortion rates among teens may drop in states where parental consent or parental notice is the law, there is a higher rate of out of state abortions, usually done later in pregnancy. They cite Missouri as one example: “The abortion rate for adolescents aged 17 and under declined by 20%; the likelihood of a young woman in this age group traveling out of state for abortion care increased by 50%.”
COMMENT: We cannot prove this claim, but if true, it should give pro-lifers cause to reflect. Perhaps this is why pro-life efforts should be focused on ending the slaughter rather than requiring grandparents to give “consent” before the killing.
(Reading: “Mandating parental involvement in adolescents’ abortion: implications of a short-sighted policy,” Contraception, 73 (2006) 211-213)
SEX SELECTION IN INDIA: Research reveals that “prenatal sex determination followed by selective abortion of female fetuses is the most plausible explanation for the low sex ratio at birth in India. … based on conservative estimates, the practice accounts for about 0.5 million missing female births annually, translating over the last 2 decades into the abortion of some 10 million female fetuses.”
(Reading: “Low male-to-female sex ration of children born in India: national survey of 1.1 million households,” The Lancet, 1/21/06)
birth control pill
LACK OF DATA: Research indicates that even though an argument is made that the pill does not act as an abortive chemical, there is a “lack of standard measurement of ovulation and difficult in discerning how ovulation resulting from late or missed COCs (combined oral contraceptives) corresponds to the risk of conception.”
COMMENT: If such basic information is still not known, how can researchers argue that the pill does not affect the child prior to implantation?
(Reading: “Effective use of hormonal contraceptives,” Contraception 73 (2006) 115-124)
STROKE: Research reveals that women who did not have their blood pressure measured before initiating birth control pill use are at higher risk for ischemic stroke and acute myocardial infarction.
(Reading: “Combined oral contraceptive use among women with hypertension: a systematic review,” Contraception, 73 (2006) 179-188)
catholic bishops
TAX STATUS: In response to the question of whether or not a bishop might lose the Church’s tax status if he denied Holy Communion to pro-abortion Catholic public figures, one canon law expert responded: “This is open to speculation because as far as I know it has not happened on the national level. There have been instances of penalties declared on the diocesan level and to the best of my knowledge there were neither lawsuits nor loss of tax-exemptions. Even if there were, this would be no excuse for inaction. All Catholics, especially bishops, are called to lay down their lives if it comes to that rather than compromise on matters of faith and morals.”
(Reading: Letter to Judie Brown from Chuck Wilson of St. Joseph’s Foundation)
ethics
CON MEN IN LAB COATS: Scientific American offers outstanding analysis of the Hwang scandal and the growing problem of financial gain versus fact.
(Reading: “Con men in lab coats,” Scientific American, 3/06)
euthanasia
END OF LIFE MODEL: The government’s Centers for Disease Control has entered into a project with the Center for Practical Ethics for the purpose of developing an end-of-life model for public health departments nationwide. The director of the Center for Practical Ethics, Myra Christopher, formerly of the Midwest Bioethics Center, supports euthanasia, commonly called a “right to die,” and was involved in the past with the Nancy Cruzan case. Christopher says her organization will help the Centers for Disease Control develop end-of-life curriculum tailored for the public health community.
(Reading: “Center launches project with Centers for Disease Control,” Center for Practical Bioethics news release, 2/8/06)
HOSPICE: Ted Stith, Sr., died after eights days without nutrition or hydration. Stith, who had suffered a stroke, was 73 years old and died because his son decided that his father would not have wanted to be kept alive. This occurred in a Florida hospice.
(Reading: “Ted Stith dies in hospice after 8 days without food and water,” North Country Gazette, 2/1/06)
facts
DEATH PENALTY OR ABORTION? Late last year, the number of murderers executed in the United States since 1977, when the death penalty was re-introduced, reached 1,000. In the United States, it takes 28 years to execute a thousand convicts and six hours to execute that many preborn babies.
(Reading: “Which toll is worse: Death penalty or abortion?” Family and Life, 1/06, p. 8)
in vitro fertilization
RISKS: Researchers studied 144 couples, some of whom had gone three cycles without getting pregnant. The study found significantly higher rates of anxiety and “depressive symptoms, poorer marital functioning and higher levels of non-communication” among couples not getting pregnant. They recommend psychotherapy.
COMMENT: Seems that the reproductive technology industry is creating a new client base for psychiatrists.
(Reading: “Psychosocial burden of infertility and assisted reproduction,” The Lancet, 2/4/06, p. 379-380)
organ donation
BRAIN DEATH: When asked if there could be a legitimate heart transplant, John Shea, M.D., said, “We have no agreement on determination of death soon enough to harvest the heart before its determination.”
(Reading: “Questions answered on organ donation,” Life Site News, 2/17/06)
personhood
RIGHT TO LIFE ACT: This bill (HR 552) states, “The terms ‘human person’ and ‘human being’ include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including, but not limited to, the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.” See www.RightToLifeAct.org for details.
COMMENT: Is your member of Congress a co-sponsor? If not, ask!
web news
SEARCHING: Pro Life Search is the Internet’s first pro-life search engine. Check it out.
zinger
BISHOPS ORDERED TO PERMIT HOMOSEXUAL ADOPTIONS: Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has advised Massachusetts Catholic bishops that their institutions may not be exempt from placing foster children with same-sex parents. Romney claims the bishops’ request actually requires legislation and is not something he authorized to do on a personal basis. Over the past 20 years Catholic Charities has already placed children with same sex couples and expressed “shock” with the bishops’ request.
COMMENT: So what is it about the sin of sodomy that some Catholics do not understand?
(Reading: “Massachusetts tells Catholic Church it must permit homosexual adoption,” Life Site News, 2/20/06; “Bishops dealt setback in pursuit of gay adoption exemption,” Boston Globe, 2/17/06)
reflection for prayer
LOVE AND FREEDOM: G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Many popular writers tell us they only want an atmosphere of love and freedom, and Catholics can join in this — if they give up their faith.”
Prayer: Lord, give me the courage to never deny you. Amen.