in this issue:
hot button issues: BOOK / DVD / GARDASIL
abortion: ACTIVISM ON WHEELS / TECHNIQUES TO KILL
eugenics: DOWN SYNDROME / MICROARRAY GENETIC SCREENING / PRENATAL SCREENING
euthanasia: CALIFORNIA / HAWAII / VERMONT
freedom of conscience: OREGON
practice of medicine: PATIENT EMPOWERMENT
reminders: NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY / PETITION
reflection for prayer: SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE?
hot button issues
BOOK: Judie Brown’s new book, “Saving Those Damned Catholics,” provides an eye-opening account of the connections between dissent and current trends among many Catholics today. The numbers are startling and the result has been millions of preborn children lost under the mantra of “choice.”
TO ORDER: “Saving Those Damned Catholics” is available from ALL in hardcover or paperback. Call 866-LET-LIVE or purchase online.
DVD: “Baby Steps: Live from the womb, 16 stages of pre-birth development,” is an amazing new video from American Life League, featuring dramatic 4-D ultrasound images of preborn babies from 8 to 34 weeks development. Said ALL’s Judie Brown, “There is no way that anyone can look at these pictures and not immediately recognize that the preborn child is one of us, and fully human in every way. I am convinced that these pictures will save lives.”
TO ORDER: The “Baby Steps” DVD is available from ALL for $9.95 plus shipping and handling. Call 866-LET-LIVE toll-free, or purchase online.
GARDASIL: Merck’s new HPV vaccine is being touted as a miracle drug. ALL’s Judie Brown says the facts tell a different story: “Gardasil will not protect against a myriad of other sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis as well as health problems like HIV and infertility. Gardasil is quite specific and limited in its effectiveness.” She adds there is no convincing reason to mandate this vaccine for girls as young as 9 years of age.
(Reading: “Gardasil is not a cancer vaccine and is not necessary,” American Life League, 2/23/07)
abortion
ACTIVISM ON WHEELS: Three cheers for Chris Slattery’s Expectant Mother Care for devising the brilliant strategy of “free sonograms in front of South Bronx abortion clinics.”
(Reading: “It’s abortion activism on wheels in Bx,” New York Daily News, 2/26/07)
TECHNIQUES TO KILL: The current issue of the medical journal Contraception concentrates on the “safety” of a wide variety of abortion techniques. Among the titles are: “Effect of placenta previa on blood loss in second-trimester abortion by labor induction using gemeprost,” “Vaginal vs. sublingual misoprostol with mifepristone for cervical priming in second-trimester abortion by dilation and evacuation” and “Predictors of acceptability of medication abortion.” Each of the articles concludes with a mention of relative safety, but of course does not address the reality of who dies during the procedure. While these articles are not on line, a précis of each can be requested from American Life League.
eugenics
DOWN SYNDROME: A recent study involving “217 women who had their pregnancy terminated for various fetal anomalies” revealed that most women have a “self-interest” that results in the decision to abort the baby, though guilt usually follows. Of the 217 women in this study, 44% said they had no religious preference, 27% identified themselves as Catholic and the remainder was of varying religious groups.
(Reading: “Maternal decision to terminate pregnancy after a diagnosis of Down syndrome,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2/07)
MICROARRAY GENETIC SCREENING: Screening for thousands of genetic disorders is now possible because of the new DNA microarray technologies. As one commentator noted, “Unless physicians take a firm position against the use of microarray technologies in the contested terrain of prenatal screening, they will probably have to surrender to parental requests for more screening – either because they (incorrectly) view consumer choice as equivalent to autonomy or because of (unjustified) concern about wrongful birth lawsuits.
(Reading: “Microarray genetic screening: a prenatal roadblock for life?” The Lancet, 2/10/07)
PRENATAL SCREENING: Nicolas Journet, a screenwriter who has Marfan’s disease, wrote in a recent opinion column, “They are now talking of making prenatal screening automatic for this disease, my disease,” This will enable these children to receive better treatment from birth. “But they first need to be born,” adds Journet. “Who will explain to parents that genetic disease and happiness are not antonymous?”
(Reading: “PGD and Prenatal screening or the temptations of eugenics,” Gene Ethique, 2/23/07)
euthanasia
CALIFORNIA: Wesley J. Smith points out, “If the new bill to legalize assisted suicide passes, Catholic nursing homes will be legally required to permit assisted suicide to be committed within their premises, even though doing so would be a profound violation of Catholic moral teaching.”
(Reading: “Catholic nursing homes to be forced to permit assisted suicide,” First Things, 2/26/07)
HAWAII: A physician assisted suicide bill failed to pass the Hawaii House Health Committee. The vote was 6-1.
(Reading: “Assisted suicide bill in death throes,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 2/8/07)
VERMONT: A bill that would legalize physician assisted suicide is being debated under the title “patient choice and control at end of life act.” It is also known as the “death with dignity” act.
(Reading: “Vt. Legislature preparing for emotional assisted suicide debate,” Associated Press, 2/21/07)
freedom of conscience
OREGON: Life Support of Oregon opposes HB 2700 because the proposal would require insurers to cover prescription contraceptives, some of which are abortive.
practice of medicine
PATIENT EMPOWERMENT: Examining the question of how public pressure has influenced the practice of medicine, Dr. Nancy Tomes notes, “Since the 1970s, patient activists in the USA and Europe have aggressively asserted their claims to be regarded as experts on their own illnesses and to play a more active part in health-care decision making. Patient initiatives have resulted in monumental changes in the practice of medicine, including the legalization of abortion, living wills, hospice care …”
(Reading: “Patient empowerment and the dilemmas of late-modern medicalisation,” The Lancet, 2/24/07)
reminders
NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY: April 24 is the date for ALL’s fifth annual National Pro-life T-shirt Day. The day provides an opportunity for all pro-life people, especially students, to make a public stand on behalf of preborn children.
TO ORDER: The official shirt of ALL’s National Pro-life T-shirt Day is available for $6 plus shipping and handling. Call 866-LET-LIVE or order online. Additional information is available at NationalProLifeTshirtDay.com.
PETITION: An American Life League petition asks Catholic bishops to address the scandal caused by political figures who claim the Catholic faith but support abortion. Church law states that those “who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to communion.”
ACTION: All Catholics are invited to sign the petition that will be delivered to U.S. bishops in June.
reflection for prayer
SEPARATION OF CHURH AND STATE? It is not true that there is opposition between being a good Catholic and serving civil society faithfully. In the same way there is no reason why the Church and the State should clash when they proceed with the lawful exercise of their respective authorities, in fulfillment of the mission God has entrusted to them. Those who affirm the contrary are liars, yes, liars! They are the same people who honor a false liberty, and ask us Catholics “to do them the favor” of going back to the catacombs. (Furrow, 301)
(Reading: “There is no reason why the church and the state should clash,” Opus Dei, 2/24/00)