Skip to content
Home » News » Communique – Sep. 1, 2000

Communique – Sep. 1, 2000

abortion

CALL TO ACTION FROM LUTHERAN PASTOR: Pastor Russ Saltzman of Kansas City, Missouri, reports: “The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) health plan covers pastors, church workers, their dependents and other beneficiaries. The health plan will also pay for elective abortions. The health plan will not pay for an elective nose job, but it will pay to eliminate an unwanted pregnancy. I have written about this in Forum Letter, an independent Lutheran publication.” For details please visit Sanctity of Life.

adolescents

HEALTH CARE & RIGHT TO CONSENT: The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) has published a study of state laws, minors and their rights in the areas of contraceptive services, prenatal care, STD services, substance abuse, mental health services, abortion etc. The federal government under a grant funded the study, in part. “Notably, more than half of the states that require parental involvement for abortion (31) permit a pregnant minor to make the decision to continue her pregnancy and to consent to prenatal care and delivery without consulting a parent.” AGI advocates total confidentiality for the minor.

(Reading: “Minors and the Right to Consent to Health Care,” The Guttmacher Report, 8/00, pp. 4-8)

STDs and TEENS: Joe S. McIlhaney, M.D., Medical Institute for Sexual Health, focused attention on inadequacies afforded by condoms in the case of the three most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): human papilloma virus, type 2 herpesvirus and chlamydia. He urges encouraging teens to “delay their sexual debut.”

(Reading: McIlhaney, “Sexually Transmitted Infection and Teenage Sexuality,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 8/00, pp. 334-339, paid subscribers only; Medical Institute for Sexual Health; e-mail “>Joe S. McIlhaney, M.D.)

brain death

REALLY DEAD? A recent news report regarding the use of anesthesia when removing organs from the brain dead patient cited an editorial “in the Royal College of Anesthetists’ journal ‘Anesthesia’ as saying both muscle movements and increases in blood pressure and the heart rate, which occur in some cases of organ removal, distress medical staff witnessing the operation.”

(Reading: “Call for Anesthesia for Brain Dead UK Organ Donors,” Excite news, 8/19/00; “Transplants ? Are the Donors Really Really Dead?“)

culture of death

NOTRE DAME: The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture is sponsoring a conference on the “culture of death” including speaker H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr. of Rice University, who wrote in “The Foundations of Bioethics,” Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 104: “Persons, not humans, are special. Adult competent humans have much higher intrinsic moral standing than human fetuses or adult frogs.” The brochure promoting the event states that Notre Dame is “the world’s premier Catholic university.”

COMMENT: So why is Engelhardt, an architect of the culture of death, on the program?

(Reading: Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture; comments to “>.

imposed death

MISSOURI: For a contrast in views regarding the humanity of the PVS patient, Steven Becker, and the right of a PVS patient as a human being to be treated with dignity as long as he is alive, see opposing viewpoints by pro-lifers Nancy Valko, R.N., and Sandy Caspersen versus Father Kevin O’Rourke, S.J.

(Reading: See archived editorials for St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/24/00)

in vitro fertilization

BLASTOCYST TRANSFER: Avoiding fetal reduction by waiting until the fifth day of an embryo’s growth and then transferring the selected babies to the mother’s womb, is recommended in a recently published study. Researchers claim that the results of fetal reduction when the parents do not wish the procedure due to “genetic reasons” is “guilt, grief and mourning, emotional pain, depressive reactions, fear and stress.” The alternative of using “highly viable blastocysts” through extended culture appears to provide an alternative.

COMMENT: The blastocyst is an embryonic baby at her fourth or fifth day of life after conception; she is no less a human being that any other person from fertilization onward. The blastocysts who do not meet criteria for transfer die or are frozen (cryopreserved) for later use or destructive research.

(Reading: “Blastocyst Transfer: A Useful Tool for Reduction of High-order Multiple Gestations in a Human Assisted Reproduction Program,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 8/00, pp. 377-382, paid subscriptions only; for accurate information on the reality of the embryonic person, see: “When Does a Human Being Begin?” by Dianne Irving, Ph.D.)

politics

AL GORE SAYS: “And we’ll support the right of parents to decide that one of them will stay home longer with their babies if that’s what they believe is best for their families. … And let there be no doubt: I will protect and defend a woman’s right to choose. The last thing this country needs is a Supreme Court that overturns Roe v. Wade.”

(Reading: Gore acceptance speech)

DEMOCRATS FOR LIFE OF AMERICA, INC: See this website.

population control

AUDUBON SOCIETY: Touting the pro-population control PLANet campaign is the focus of the July/August 2000 “Population and Habitat” newsletter of the National Audobon Society.

CHINA: Steven Mosher, president of Population Research Institute, has published a new book concerning China’s intention at the world scale. “Hegemon: China’s plan to dominate Asia and the World” is available from PRI; 295 pages, $24.95 plus $5 shipping/handling.

prenatal diagnosis

COST-BENEFIT and DOWN SYNDROME: (See communiqué 4/28/00) Commenting on a study published in April of this year, Mark Walker, M.D., wrote: “We question what the authors deem a benefit–the termination of Down syndrome fetuses. Firstly, the purpose of screening is not to terminate Down syndrome fetuses, but rather to supply accurate information on the health of the fetus, enabling individuals to make a decision on what is right for them morally, socially and ethically. … Placing a value on life where termination is viewed as an economic benefit has a questionable role in any economic analysis.”

(Reading: “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Prenatal Diagnosis for Down Syndrome Using the British or the American Approach,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 9/00, p. 481, subscription only)

stem cell research

PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LIFE SAYS NO! In a prepared statement on the subject of destroying embryonic babies by taking their stem cells for research and experimentation, the Academy issued a statement which says, in part: “On the basis of a complete biological analysis, the living human embryo is ? from the moment of the fusion of the gametes ? a human being with a well defined identity. … Consequently, the ablation of the internal cell mass of the blastocyst, an act that seriously and irreparably damages the human embryo, interrupting its development, is a seriously immoral act, and consequently, seriously illicit.” Citing a series of ethical problems, the statement continues, “Is it morally right to use stem cells, and the differentiated cells obtained therefrom, when supplied by other researchers or available on the market? The response is negative because, apart from sharing ? explicitly or otherwise ? in the morally illicit intention of the principal agent, in this case close material cooperation also exists in the production and manipulation of human embryos by the producer or supplier.”

(Reading: “Declaration on Production and Use of Embryonic Cells,” EWTN News, 8/25/00; the full text of the declaration is on the Vatican web site — in Italian only, though English version should be added soon)

zinger

MORAL LEADERSHIP? The editorial in the August 2000 edition of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology speaks of physicians providing moral leadership in their communities. Dr. Gambrell, the writer, says “Physicians always want to do what is best for their patients, particularly obstetricians, because we care for two lives.” Accompanying the issue is a second “Supplement” devoted entirely to “medical abortion” and sponsored by the National Abortion Federation.

COMMENT: Oxymoronic?

(Reading: “Physicians should provide moral leadership to their communities,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 8/00, pp. 261-270, paid subscription only)

reflection for prayer

Be strong and stand firm and be careful to keep all the Law which my servant Moses laid on you. Never swerve from this to right or left, and then you will be happy in all you do. Have the book of this Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may carefully keep everything that is written in it. Then you will prosper in your dealings, then you will have success. Have I not told you: Be strong and stand firm? Be fearless then, be confident, for go where you will, Yahweh, your God is with you.

-Joshua 1:7-9

CALL TO ACTION FROM LUTHERAN PASTOR: Pastor Russ Saltzman of Kansas City, Missouri, reports: “The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) health plan covers pastors, church workers, their dependents and other beneficiaries. The health plan will also pay for elective abortions. The health plan will not pay for an elective nose job, but it will pay to eliminate an unwanted pregnancy. I have written about this in Forum Letter, an independent Lutheran publication.” For details please visit Sanctity of Life.

adolescents

HEALTH CARE & RIGHT TO CONSENT: The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) has published a study of state laws, minors and their rights in the areas of contraceptive services, prenatal care, STD services, substance abuse, mental health services, abortion etc. The federal government under a grant funded the study, in part. “Notably, more than half of the states that require parental involvement for abortion (31) permit a pregnant minor to make the decision to continue her pregnancy and to consent to prenatal care and delivery without consulting a parent.” AGI advocates total confidentiality for the minor.

(Reading: “Minors and the Right to Consent to Health Care,” The Guttmacher Report, 8/00, pp. 4-8)

STDs and TEENS: Joe S. McIlhaney, M.D., Medical Institute for Sexual Health, focused attention on inadequacies afforded by condoms in the case of the three most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): human papilloma virus, type 2 herpesvirus and chlamydia. He urges encouraging teens to “delay their sexual debut.”

(Reading: McIlhaney, “Sexually Transmitted Infection and Teenage Sexuality,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 8/00, pp. 334-339, paid subscribers only; Medical Institute for Sexual Health; e-mail “>Joe S. McIlhaney, M.D.)

brain death

REALLY DEAD? A recent news report regarding the use of anesthesia when removing organs from the brain dead patient cited an editorial “in the Royal College of Anesthetists’ journal ‘Anesthesia’ as saying both muscle movements and increases in blood pressure and the heart rate, which occur in some cases of organ removal, distress medical staff witnessing the operation.”

(Reading: “Call for Anesthesia for Brain Dead UK Organ Donors,” Excite news, 8/19/00; “Transplants ? Are the Donors Really Really Dead?“)

culture of death

NOTRE DAME: The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture is sponsoring a conference on the “culture of death” including speaker H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr. of Rice University, who wrote in “The Foundations of Bioethics,” Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 104: “Persons, not humans, are special. Adult competent humans have much higher intrinsic moral standing than human fetuses or adult frogs.” The brochure promoting the event states that Notre Dame is “the world’s premier Catholic university.”

COMMENT: So why is Engelhardt, an architect of the culture of death, on the program?

(Reading: Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture; comments to “>.

imposed death

MISSOURI: For a contrast in views regarding the humanity of the PVS patient, Steven Becker, and the right of a PVS patient as a human being to be treated with dignity as long as he is alive, see opposing viewpoints by pro-lifers Nancy Valko, R.N., and Sandy Caspersen versus Father Kevin O’Rourke, S.J.

(Reading: See archived editorials for St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/24/00)

in vitro fertilization

BLASTOCYST TRANSFER: Avoiding fetal reduction by waiting until the fifth day of an embryo’s growth and then transferring the selected babies to the mother’s womb, is recommended in a recently published study. Researchers claim that the results of fetal reduction when the parents do not wish the procedure due to “genetic reasons” is “guilt, grief and mourning, emotional pain, depressive reactions, fear and stress.” The alternative of using “highly viable blastocysts” through extended culture appears to provide an alternative.

COMMENT: The blastocyst is an embryonic baby at her fourth or fifth day of life after conception; she is no less a human being that any other person from fertilization onward. The blastocysts who do not meet criteria for transfer die or are frozen (cryopreserved) for later use or destructive research.

(Reading: “Blastocyst Transfer: A Useful Tool for Reduction of High-order Multiple Gestations in a Human Assisted Reproduction Program,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 8/00, pp. 377-382, paid subscriptions only; for accurate information on the reality of the embryonic person, see: “When Does a Human Being Begin?” by Dianne Irving, Ph.D.)

politics

AL GORE SAYS: “And we’ll support the right of parents to decide that one of them will stay home longer with their babies if that’s what they believe is best for their families. … And let there be no doubt: I will protect and defend a woman’s right to choose. The last thing this country needs is a Supreme Court that overturns Roe v. Wade.”

(Reading: Gore acceptance speech)

DEMOCRATS FOR LIFE OF AMERICA, INC: See this website.

population control

AUDUBON SOCIETY: Touting the pro-population control PLANet campaign is the focus of the July/August 2000 “Population and Habitat” newsletter of the National Audobon Society.

CHINA: Steven Mosher, president of Population Research Institute, has published a new book concerning China’s intention at the world scale. “Hegemon: China’s plan to dominate Asia and the World” is available from PRI; 295 pages, $24.95 plus $5 shipping/handling.

prenatal diagnosis

COST-BENEFIT and DOWN SYNDROME: (See communiqué 4/28/00) Commenting on a study published in April of this year, Mark Walker, M.D., wrote: “We question what the authors deem a benefit–the termination of Down syndrome fetuses. Firstly, the purpose of screening is not to terminate Down syndrome fetuses, but rather to supply accurate information on the health of the fetus, enabling individuals to make a decision on what is right for them morally, socially and ethically. … Placing a value on life where termination is viewed as an economic benefit has a questionable role in any economic analysis.”

(Reading: “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Prenatal Diagnosis for Down Syndrome Using the British or the American Approach,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 9/00, p. 481, subscription only)

stem cell research

PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LIFE SAYS NO! In a prepared statement on the subject of destroying embryonic babies by taking their stem cells for research and experimentation, the Academy issued a statement which says, in part: “On the basis of a complete biological analysis, the living human embryo is ? from the moment of the fusion of the gametes ? a human being with a well defined identity. … Consequently, the ablation of the internal cell mass of the blastocyst, an act that seriously and irreparably damages the human embryo, interrupting its development, is a seriously immoral act, and consequently, seriously illicit.” Citing a series of ethical problems, the statement continues, “Is it morally right to use stem cells, and the differentiated cells obtained therefrom, when supplied by other researchers or available on the market? The response is negative because, apart from sharing ? explicitly or otherwise ? in the morally illicit intention of the principal agent, in this case close material cooperation also exists in the production and manipulation of human embryos by the producer or supplier.”

(Reading: “Declaration on Production and Use of Embryonic Cells,” EWTN News, 8/25/00; the full text of the declaration is on the Vatican web site — in Italian only, though English version should be added soon)

zinger

MORAL LEADERSHIP? The editorial in the August 2000 edition of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology speaks of physicians providing moral leadership in their communities. Dr. Gambrell, the writer, says “Physicians always want to do what is best for their patients, particularly obstetricians, because we care for two lives.” Accompanying the issue is a second “Supplement” devoted entirely to “medical abortion” and sponsored by the National Abortion Federation.

COMMENT: Oxymoronic?

(Reading: “Physicians should provide moral leadership to their communities,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 8/00, pp. 261-270, paid subscription only)

reflection for prayer

Be strong and stand firm and be careful to keep all the Law which my servant Moses laid on you. Never swerve from this to right or left, and then you will be happy in all you do. Have the book of this Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may carefully keep everything that is written in it. Then you will prosper in your dealings, then you will have success. Have I not told you: Be strong and stand firm? Be fearless then, be confident, for go where you will, Yahweh, your God is with you.

-Joshua 1:7-9