in this issue:
hot button issues: MISSOURI
abortion: BURNING BODIES / MAIL ORDER / RISK OF DEPRESSION
action: CALIFORNIA / KENTUCKY
birth control patch: LAWSUIT
birth control pills: BREAST CANCER
catholic bishops: MICHIGAN
reproductive technology / ethical: POPE PAUL VI INSTITUTE
south dakota: COURT RULING / RAPE AND ABORTION / THE TRIBES
stem cell research / ethical: LIVER
stem cell research / unethical: EGG DONATIONS / PARKINSON’S DISEASE
unicef: ABORTION LAW IN NICARAGUA
victory: NEW YORK
wisdom: CARDINAL PATRICK HAYES
reflection for prayer: PSALM 68:1-3
hot button issues
MISSOURI: American Life League’s Anita Crane discusses Missouri’s stem cell referendum, actor Michael J. Fox’s deceptive ads and living with a serious medical condition: “a cure isn’t worth the expense of even one single human being’s life.”
(Reading: “A diabetic on Michael J. Fox and Amendment 2,” American Life League, 11/2/06)
abortion
BURNING BODIES: Addenbrooke Hospital in Cambridge, England issued a statement saying that it was no longer able to afford the dignified disposal of fetuses from unwanted pregnancies and was now throwing the babies into the same incinerator used for rubbish.
(Reading: “Hospital admits to burning aborted babies in waste incinerator,” Daily Mail, 10/26/06)
MAIL ORDER: Cytotec is an abortion drug that is readily available. One survey found that more than a third of Latina immigrants in New York City were familiar with the drug. Pfizer, the drug company that manufactures Cytotec for ulcer treatment, avoids discussing the drug’s widespread use as an abortion chemical.
(Reading: “Mail-order abortions,” Mother Jones, 11/06)
RISK OF DEPRESSION: According to a recent study, women who have abortions are three times as likely to suffer depression and other mental illness.
(Reading: “Study shows abortion triples risk of depression,” Daily Mail, 10/27/06)
action
CALIFORNIA: The pastor of St. Mark’s Parish in Richmond, California is working with Planned Parenthood to “educate” students. Father Ramiro Flores, the pastor, is seriously misguided in his effort to support Planned Parenthood’s programs.
ACTION: For additional background, see “The state of things on the eve of All Hallows.” The group is asking pro-lifers to advise Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron of their concerns about Father Flores’ actions and ask him to intervene. The bishop may be contacted by “>e-mail
KENTUCKY: The Diocese of Covington, Kentucky has banned Right to Life of Northern Kentucky materials, saying that they disapprove of some of the tactics used by the group’s leaders. But attorney Fred Summe responded that if the diocese did have a problem, no one ever came to Northern Kentucky Right to Life to discuss it.
ACTION: Communicate your support for Right to Life of Northern Kentucky and its efforts to get this situation remedied and request that you be kept updated on this evolving story. The Diocese of Covington’s contact information is available online.
(Reading: “Diocese bars area right to life group from Churches,” Lexington Herald Leader, 10/25/06)
birth control patch
LAWSUIT: A group of 40 women filed suit against Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of the Ortho-Evra birth control patch. The suit says the patch has caused serious illness and death.
(Reading: “Women sue over popular birth control patch,” Associated Press, 11/2/06)
birth control pills
BREAST CANCER: A new meta-analysis research study lead by Chris Kahlenborn, M.D. reveals that pre-menopausal women who are on the pill have a 44% higher risk of having breast cancer.
(Reading: “Major U.S. study shows oral contraceptives increase breast cancer risk 44%,” Life Site News, 10/25/06)
catholic bishops
MICHIGAN: Bishop Robert Carlson of Saginaw writes: “The direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being (abortion and euthanasia) is always gravely immoral. When the unborn are not protected, the “very foundations of the state based on law are undermined.”
(Reading: “Speak with a moral voice,” Diocese of Saginaw, 2006)
reproductive technology / ethical
POPE PAUL VI INSTITUTE: In an interview with the Washington Post, Thomas Hilgers, MD, says “Our system works cooperatively with the natural fertility cycle and enables doctors to treat women and married couples, especially catholic married couples, in a way that allows them to live their faith.”
(Reading: “Institute practices reproductive medicine — and Catholicism,” Washington Post, 10/31/06)
south dakota
COURT RULING: Just one week before the vote on the state’s abortion ban the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down the notification and consent components of the state’s abortion statute.
(Reading: “Ruling may affect South Dakota abortion vote,” CBS News, 10/31/06)
RAPE AND ABORTION: Geri Riggs, who became pregnant through rape and had an abortion, writes about the suffering she experienced as a result of taking her child’s life: “If I could do one thing over again in my life, it would be to go back and save my child’s life! There is ‘no excuse’ to ever take an innocent life. As one woman asked, ‘Does a child conceived in rape look any different in ultrasound than a child that is conceived during consensual sex?’ How can we say that the innocent have to die for their father’s sins?”
(Reading: “I could endure another rape, but not another abortion,” Dakota Voice, 11/1/06)
THE TRIBES: The Native American vote could be the difference in Tuesday’s abortion referendum. “In our culture, they put children number one. That’s still there, it always will be there,” says Mabel Two Lance of Pine Ridge.
(Reading: “Tribes might sway abortion vote,” Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 10/31/06)
stem cell research / ethical
LIVER: British scientists have grown the world’s first artificial liver using umbilical cord blood stem cells.
(Reading: “British scientists grow human liver in a laboratory,” Daily Mail, 10/31/06)
stem cell research / unethical
EGG DONATIONS: Women in California who are participating in the egg donation program that is part of California’s three billion dollar human embryonic stem cell research program may face psychological and health risks. Studies on women who have donated eggs to infertile couples found that 17 percent to 25 percent later regretted donating or had a negative emotional reaction.
(Reading: “Egg donors may face unknown pitfalls, stem cell researchers say,” Contra Costa Times, 9/28/06)
PARKINSON’S DISEASE: At the University of Rochester in England, researchers who had apparently cured rats of Parkinson’s disease by using embryonic stem cells found that ten weeks into the trial these same rates developed brain tumors.
(Reading: “Embryonic stem cell research suffers another setback,” Baptist Press, 10/30/06)
unicef
ABORTION LAW IN NICARAGUA: Joining with other agencies, UNICEF tried to oppose a proposed law that would ban abortion for any reason. Their statement urged lawmakers to “promote joint meetings to consult, dialogue and permit a deep and unhurried reflection, before the final decision.” The law passed unanimously.
(Reading: “UNICEF attempts to intervene in Nicaraguan abortion debate,” Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, 10/31/06)
victory
NEW YORK: Congratulations to Expectant Mother Care of New York for winning a lawsuit against an abortion provider. The abortion provider has agreed to stop advertising its services in the “abortion alternatives” business section of phone directories.
(Reading: “Yonkers anti-abortion group claims victory in ad suit,” White Plains, N.Y., Journal News, 10/31/06)
wisdom
CARDINAL PATRICK HAYES: The 1921 Christmas pastoral letter from the archbishop of New York states, in part, “Heinous is the sin committed against the creative act of God, Who through the marriage contract invites man and woman to co-operate with Him in the propagation of the human family. To take life after its inception is a horrible crime; but to prevent human life that the Creator is about to bring into being is satanic. In the first instance, the body is killed, while the soul lives on; in the latter, not only a body but an immortal soul is denied existence in time and in eternity. It has been reserved to our day to see advocated shamelessly the legalizing of such a diabolical thing.”
(Reading: “A pastor’s voice at Christmas,” Cardinal Patrick Hayes, 12/14/21)
reflection for prayer
PSALM 68:1-3: Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before God. But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; yes, let them rejoice with gladness.