in this issue:
abortion: FIRST TRIMESTER / MANUAL VS. ELECTRIC
bioethics: ETHICAL CODE
birth control: SWITZERLAND
defining death: PROPER CRITERIA
fetal targeting: DOWN’S SYNDROME
planned parenthood: REDEFINING SCIENCE
polls: CONFUSION
web news: TOURING ROME / VIDA HUMANA INTERNACIONAL
zinger: CHILD OR FETUS
reflection for prayer: JOHN CARDINAL O’CONNOR
abortion
FIRST TRIMESTER: Researchers claim that of the 36 – 53 million abortions that occur annually in the world, 20 million are unsafe. “Most induced abortions should be done in the first trimester because the risk of complications increases 10-fold in the second trimester.” Misoprostol possibly starts the abortion process prior to the use of the vacuum aspirator, and the researchers studied the use of the drug as part of an ongoing research effort to improve first trimester abortions.
(Reading: “Role of sublingual misoprostol for cervical ripening prior to vacuum aspiration in first trimester interruption of pregnancy,” Contraception, 67 (2003) 213-217, not on line)
MANUAL VS. ELECTRIC: “Of the 1.3 million abortions performed annually in the United States, 77% occur at a gestational age of ten weeks or less.” In a recent study 288 women less than ten weeks gestational age presented for abortion; 186 of the women were eligible and received an abortion by either manual or electric vacuum aspiration. “Although patients were more likely to notice and be bothered by noise from electric vacuum aspiration, no one was very disturbed by it. Nor did noise disturbance have any effect on patient satisfaction.”
(Reading: “Acceptability of manual versus electric aspiration for first trimester abortion: a randomized trial,” Contraception, 67 (2003) 201-206, not on line)
bioethics
ETHICAL CODE: The Pontifical Academy for Life concluded its annual meeting with a “Proposal of an Ethical Commitment for Researchers in the Biomedical Field.”
birth control
SWITZERLAND: Swiss college students are exposed to “contraceptive” counseling as part of the information provided during sex education classes. In Switzerland, the morning after pill regimen is given out by family planning and maternity services without prescription. Because of the various reasons why women choose to abort, researchers recommend taking the reason into account when attempting to talk the woman into using birth control after her abortion. Some of the reasons for choosing abortion included partner relationship, socio-economic, to complete education or professional projects before becoming a mother and too old or too young to assume pregnancy. Researchers conclude that the most important selling point for birth control after abortion is the prevention of “unwanted pregnancy” and protection against sexually transmitted disease.
(Reading: “Contraceptive practice before and after termination of pregnancy: a prospective study,” Contraception, 67 (2003) 107-133, not on line)
defining death
PROPER CRITERIA: Michael Potts, Ph.D., head of the philosophy and religion department at Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C., says, “The proper criteria for the death of the human organism should refer to these key systems: Death should only be declared after the destruction (not just the loss of function) of the circulatory, respiratory, and nervous systems. How long after the cessation of function such destruction occurs is a matter for medical science to determine.” “The main problem with organ donation from beating-heart, braid-dead donors, Potts argues, is that if such donors are alive – there is good reason to believe they are – removing an unpaired vital organ (heart, liver) or both paired vital organs (both lungs or both kidneys) kills the patient.”
(Reading: “Consciousness vs. physiology: When is death really death?” Medical Ethics Advisor, 3/03, pp. 25-36, available to paid subscribers)
fetal targeting
DOWN’S SYNDROME: Researchers have found that serum screening during the early part of the second trimester is far more effective in determining whether or not the preborn child has Down’s. “Only 216 of 501 (43%) women with risks of 1 in 250-300 had an amniocentesis, whereas 105 of 141 (74%) did so if they had risks higher than 1 in 50. Among women who tested positive and had affected pregnancies (who tended to be at very high risk) 87% had an amniocentesis (62 of 71), and of these 95% (59 of 62) had a termination of pregnancy.” The researchers recommend a quadruple test to confirm the presence of “affected pregnancy.”
(Reading: “Antenatal screening for Down’s syndrome with the quadruple test,” The Lancet, 3/8/03, pp. 835-836, search by title or researcher name)
planned parenthood
REDEFINING SCIENCE: A Planned Parenthood medical advisor claims that the “morning-after” pill can be taken up to 120 hours — 5 days — after intercourse to prevent pregnancy. She then defines pregnancy as commencing at implantation of the “fertilized egg” in the uterine lining.
COMMENT: There’s no such thing as a “fertilized egg.” At this point, there exists a human being.
(Reading: “How soon after sex can pregnancy be detected?” Planned Parenthood)
polls
CONFUSION: “Less than half of Americans say abortion should be permitted in all cases, and yet most say the decision should be left up to a woman and her doctor?. Strong majorities support parental consent laws and mandatory waiting periods. But at the same time, more than half of Americans say the government should stay out of the issue entirely.”
(Reading: “City File,” Chicago Reader, 2/14/03, article available for payment)
web news
TOURING ROME: Papal Rage designs unique and comprehensive walking tours in Rome (maximum 6 persons) upon both a private and semi-private basis. They are a not-for-profit Catholic cultural coalition of lay American bilingual Roman/Pontifical Theological master’s and doctoral students. You can contact them at or fill out one of their online application forms directly when you visit their site.
VIDA HUMANA INTERNACIONAL: Magaly Llaguno has updated the Spanish Human Life International web site.
zinger
CHILD OR FETUS: Early editions of the February 6 Boston Globe reported, “The conditions of the mother and unborn child were not available last night.” But later editions reported, “The fetus of a 29-year-old passenger on the Orange Line died last night after the woman was shot.”
(Reading: “‘Child’ degraded to ‘fetus,'” Notable Quotables, Media Research Center, 2/17/03)
reflection for prayer
JOHN CARDINAL O’CONNOR: Perhaps the cleverest ploy of the anti-life movement has been to insist that the issue has nothing to do with religion, nothing to do with God. And many of us, with the best of intentions, have agreed. We are afraid of being branded, afraid of being ridiculed. So we devise ways to avoid having to say what we believe—that God is life and all life comes from Him, that a culture of death is simply a culture without God, who is life. We must change this.
(Reading: “In God’s Image: Building a Culture of Life,” John Cardinal O’Connor)