in this issue:
abortion: MURDER / WRONGFUL DEATH
birth control and health insurance: STATE LAW
bush watch: BANGKOK STATEMENT
congress: FRIST
euthanasia: COURSE FOR NURSES / WITHDRAWING LIFE SUPPORT
human embryo: KISCHER
humor: ANONYMOUS
infanticide: GARDEN OF ANGELS
in vitro fertilization: BRITAIN / RISKS
nurses: SHORTAGE
politics: SHELL GAME
pregnancy: MULTIFETAL PREGNANCY REDUCTION / SELECTIVE TERMINATION
wisdom: J. BUDZISZEWSKI
zinger: GRANDMA’S A JEWEL
reflection for prayer: UNITY
abortion
MURDER: “As to the ‘medical and therapeutic indication’ to which, using their own words, we have made reference, venerable brethren, however much we may pity the mother whose health and even life is gravely imperiled in the performance of the duty allotted to her by nature, nevertheless what could ever be a sufficient reason for excusing in any way the direct murder of the innocent? This is precisely what we are dealing with here. Whether inflicted upon the mother or upon the child, it is against the precept of God and the law of nature: ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ The life of each is equally sacred, and no one has the power, not even the public authority, to destroy it.”
(Reading: “Casti Connubii,” encyclical letter of Pope Pius XI, 12/31/30)
WRONGFUL DEATH: A judge has ruled that women claiming emotional distress after abortion can sue the abortionist only when certain information is denied them and, the court suggested, the content of that information is not a settled question. The court also stated that the state’s wrongful death statute does not apply to a fetus.
(Reading: Marie v. McGreevey et al., Third US Circuit Court of Appeals, 12/24/02; “Overview of the Santa Marie litigation project,” National Foundation for Life Litigation Project)
birth control and health insurance
STATE LAW: Twenty states now require coverage of birth control by health insurance companies, and of those, ten have some type of “religious exemption.” To see how the opposition is slowly winning the battle, visit “Cover My Pills.” To learn what you can do to stop the spread of this concept, see “Pill Bill.”
bush watch
BANGKOK STATEMENT: “The United States understands that none of these terms [reproductive rights, reproductive health care and services, family planning services and sexual health:], or any other terms used in this document or in previous UN or UN Conference documents, should be interpreted to constitute support, endorsement, or promotion of abortion or abortion-related services or the use of abortifacients. Because the United States supports innocent life from conception to natural death, the United States does not support, promote, or endorse abortion, abortion-related services or the use of abortifacients. The United States does, however, support the treatment of women who suffer injuries or illnesses caused by legal or illegal abortion, including for example post-abortion care, and does not place such treatment among abortion-related services.”
COMMENT: Will U.S. lawmakers, in concert with President Bush, act on laws to reflect this lofty statement, or was the statement rhetorical only?
(Reading: The U.S. General Reservation statement, not on internet but available upon request from ALL; “Bush administration must live up to its Bangkok statements,” Washington Dispatch, 12/27/02)
congress
FRIST: Sen. Bill Frist, a known supporter of embryonic stem cell research (“with strict conditions”), is conducting an opinion poll on his web site regarding human cloning and human embryo research cloning.
COMMENT: If the senator were really pro-life, why would he ask opinions about a practice that is clearly unethical, immoral and supportive of an intrinsically evil act?
(Reading: “Human cloning,” Sen. Bill Frist)
euthanasia
COURSE FOR NURSES: The “Nursewise” site offers an example of “soft sell” euthanasia promotion for health care providers.
WITHDRAWING LIFE SUPPORT: A commentary on involving families in “treatment” withdrawal decisions notes that healthcare providers must acknowledge and deal with “complex cultural and emotional associations raised by limiting nutrition and hydration.” The authors use one case to illustrate the point that when conflict arises over the decreased provision of nutrition and hydration, discussions of ethics are helpful in assisting family decision-making. Unfortunately the writers equate the provision of nutrition and hydration with “therapy.”
(Reading: “Withdrawal of life support,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 12/4/02, pp. 2732-2738, paid subscribers only)
human embryo
KISCHER: A recent letter in Fertility and Sterility is co-authored by C. Ward Kischer, Ph.D., chairman of the American Bioethics Advisory Commission, and Richard Thorne, M.D. The letter makes it clear that the human embryo is not a thing. “The marvel of the continuum demonstrated in embryonic life should never be undermined by reducing the human essence to a function or some arbitrary pseudo-scientific stage. Human development does not end at birth. Just as in embryonic life, all of life is a continuum. To assign varying moral values at anytime during life is simply arbitrary and has nothing to do with science.”
(Reading: “Embryos, preembryos and stem cells,” Fertility and Sterility, 12/02, p.1355, paid subscribers only)
humor
ANONYMOUS: Statistics show that more people watch television than any other appliance.
infanticide
GARDEN OF ANGELS: Please note the Garden of Angels web site dedicated to children whose mothers abandoned them shortly after birth — children who died because nobody knew they existed. Theresa Burke, Ph.D., founder of Rachel’s Vineyard, writes, “I think this web site describes a beautiful ministry incorporating corporal works of mercy — to bury the dead — and honor the lost lives as a community and in a central place that lets people know this is not an occasional and obscure happening, but a tragic and horrific violence targeted toward infants that is more of an epidemic than we think.”
in vitro fertilization
BRITAIN: According to an Associated Press report, “British regulators lack the authority to let couples select test-tube baby embryos to match tissue types of a sick brother or sister.” The case against the practice was brought by Comment on Reproductive Ethics founder Josephine Quintavalle.
(Reading: “British fertility regulators can’t authorize embryo screening, judge rules,” Associated Press, 12/20/02)
RISKS: Scientists from Johns Hopkins and Washington University School of Medicine have discovered that in vitro fertilization may be associated with a rare combination of birth defects characterized by excessive growth of certain tissues.
(Reading: “Association of in vitro fertilization with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and epigenetic alterations of LIT1 and H19,” American Journal of Human Genetics, 1/03, pp. 156-60, abstract)
nurses
SHORTAGE: An analysis of currently published data concludes that declining numbers are entering the nursing profession, some nurses are not retaining hospital jobs and others are retiring early. The author recommends that numbers and diversity of individuals entering nursing must increase, working conditions must be improved and incentives designed to retain nurses once on the job should be developed.
(Reading: “Why this hospital nursing shortage is different,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 12/4/02, pp. 2742-44, on line for paid subscribers only)
politics
SHELL GAME: Columnist Dave Franklin writes, “It’s been thirty years since Roe v. Wade. And Republicans have had the White House with control over Supreme Court appointments for eighteen of those years. They’ve appointed seven out of the nine justices on the court. To this day, Republican politicians will stand there and tell you everything you want to hear about how horrible abortion is and how much they hate it. But when the time comes to really do something about the ongoing murder of little babies, the GOP folds like a cheap suit.”
(Reading: “Right-to-life shell game,” Ether Zone, 12/22/02)
pregnancy
MULTIFETAL PREGNANCY REDUCTION: A study reveals that the loss rate for those mothers who choose MPR do not experience “unintended loss” of surviving fetuses as compared to those “nonreduced pregnancies.”
(Reading: “A single center experience with 1000 consecutive cases of multifetal pregnancy reduction,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 11/02, pp. 1163-1167)
SELECTIVE TERMINATION: Researchers claim “the incidence of structural and chromosomal abnormalities is higher in multifetal pregnancies than in singletons” and point out that selective termination is one of the options women have in addition to terminating the entire pregnancy, including those babies who are healthy.
(Reading: “Selective termination of anomalous fetuses in multiple pregnancies: Two hundred cases at a single center,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 11/02, pp. 1168-1172)
wisdom
J. BUDZISZEWSKI: “Rationalization is the homage paid by sin to guilty knowledge.”
(Reading: “Natural born lawyers,” Weekly Standard, 12/20/99)
zinger
GRANDMA’S A JEWEL: The cremated remains of an 80-year-old Canadian woman were compressed into a 3-gram sample and flown to Italy where a firm used the carbon in her remains to create a diamond, which was then presented to her family.
COMMENT: Earl Appleby, founder of CURE, Ltd. (Citizens United Resisting Euthanasia) said, “This story was inevitable given society’s commodification of life — and death — and the treatment of one’s family members as ‘goods.'”
(Reading: “Family turns Grandma into diamond,” Associated Press, 12/31/03)
reflection for prayer
UNITY: In extending her wish for a blessed New Year, a great pro-life leader wrote, “So many things to wish for and pray for — let us unite in the Blessed Sacrament.”
(Reading: letter to Judie Brown from Sister Mary Pillar Verzosa, founder of Pro Life Philippines)