10/8/99
abortion
CONFERENCE: The international abortionists' conference will take
place in Sydney, Australia, from November 12 to the 15. Right to Life
Australia is asking you to write the hotel where this meeting will occur,
the Coolum Hyatt, General Manager Mr. Kamahl Chaoui, and express your
disdain that they are hosting these professional killers:
coolum@hyatt.com.au. It wouldn't hurt to let corporate headquarters in
Chicago know about your feelings either: fax 312-750-8579. Speakers
include abortionists George Tiller
and Warren Hern.
MISSOURI: Governor Mel Carnahan, who vetoed a bill that is
described as banning infanticide, says "the bill bans virtually all
abortions back to the sixth week of pregnancy." The bill, HB427,
the Infant's Protection Act, says "partial separation of a child from the
mother with the child's head intact with the torso" is a partially born
child, and the bill allows the taking of the life of this partially born
child when "a physician using procedures consistent with the usual and
customary standard of medical practice to save the life of the mother
during pregnancy or birth" proceeds to end the child's life. The bill also
allows the taking of the life of one baby if deemed necessary to save the
life of another child (a twin).
(Reading: "End the Annual Legislative Battle," St. Louis Post
Dispatch, 10/3/99)
emergency contraception
TRAVELLING? The Los Angeles Times health columnist Kathleen Doheny
recommends taking along "emergency contraception," which "may be needed
during a trip in a variety of situations besides unprotected sex with a
stranger."
COMMENT: Strangers in the night?
(Reading: "Thinking Ahead About Emergency Contraception," L. A. Times,
9/26/99; for the facts about these abortive chemicals, see "What part of ‘emergency
contraception’ is not abortion?")
eugenics
MARCH OF DIMES: Randy Engel, founder of The Michael Fund, has
written an outstanding update on the March of Dimes, their "eugenic
spirit," and what can be done about it. Visit or write The Michael Fund, 500A Garden City
Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15146; for interviews call Mrs. Engel, 724-823-6380.
frozen embryonic babies
ILLINOIS: A Catholic couple seeking a divorce are divided over the
fate of frozen embryos created during fertility treatments. The father of
these tiny ones "wanted them destroyed or perhaps used for medical
research, saying he cannot be forced to be a father against his will."
COMMENT: He is a father!
(Reading: "Divorced Catholic Couple Fight over Embryos Raises Legal
Issues," CWNews, 10/1/99)
health care
HOME CARE: During a survey of 988 terminally ill patients,
researchers found that family members, "usually women, provided the
majority of assistance with nonmedical care. Although many people received
assistance from paid caregivers, very few had assistance from volunteers."
Researchers warn that restrictive policies on what will be paid by
Medicaid are "likely to have adverse effects on many terminally ill
patients, especially those who are most likely to rely on paid
assistance-women, blacks, widowed patients and the elderly."
(Reading: "Assistance
from Family Members, Friends, Paid Care Givers, and Volunteers in the Care
of Terminally Ill Patients," The New England Journal of Medicine,
9/23/99, pp. 956-963)
homosexual rights
McDONALDS: Concerned
Women for America has issued an alert about McDonald's newest addition
to their diversity program: sexual orientation.
human experimentation
THE WEEK OF HORRORS:
(Reading: "No Retreat, No Surrender," California Lawyer, 9/99; see Mad Nation)
(Reading: "Ethics of Drug Testing Probed-Emergency-Room Patients
Used," New York Newsday, 9/9/99)
(Reading: "Death of Gene-Therapy Patient Prompts Federal Probe of
Other Experiments," Philadelphia
Inquirer, 9/30/99; http://www.philly.com)
(Reading: "Doctors Drill Into Patients' Heads in Placebo Surgery," Independent News, United
Kingdom, 9/29/99; "The Ethical
Problems with Sham Surgery in Clinical Research," New England
Journal of Medicine, 9/23/99) COMMENT: When the dignity of a single human being is denied, what can
we expect? After more than 40 million abortions, is anyone listening
anymore?
personhood
CLONING: In a review of Lori B. Andrews' new book, "The Clone Age,"
John Turner of the New York Times says "it requires a strong sense of
abstract ethics to see a ball of eight embryonic cells as a human being."
Andrews would agree, of course. And Turner writes, "Personhood and human
uniqueness do not reside in a unique sequence of DNA but in some
phenomenon within the developed mind."
COMMENT: Strange to what lengths man will go to avoid God!
(Reading: Review of The Clone Age by John R. G. Turner; New York Times
Book Reviews, 9/19/99; for a basic primer on the lack of moral ethics
involved in efforts to clone human beings, see "When Word Games Kill" by
Dianne Irving, Ph.D.)
CONGRESS: What if every member of Congress who voted for the
Unborn Victims of Violence Act (254 in all) became co-sponsors of the
Right to Life Act of 1999 (HR 639; S907)? Learn more about this genuine
pro-life proposal from the U.S.
Congress web site.
planned parenthood
VIRGINIA CHARITY? The university florists of Charlottesville
distributed ten thousand roses to "community service organizations"
including Planned Parenthood. Is this happening in your community?
(Reading: "Thank You Charlottesville," Daily Progress [Charlottesville,
Va.], 9/22/99)
stem cell research
BRIGID HOGAN: Dr. Hogan, who is the principal author of the
National Institutes of Health report on human embryo research (a report
that favored destructive research on embryonic babies) said during a
recent interview: "I carry a picture of a mouse embryo in my wallet to
look at if I'm feeling low, like people carry pictures of their family."
(Reading: "Scientist at Work: In the Ethics Storm on Human Embryo
Research," New York Times, 9/28/99; for background on Dr. Hogan's work
with mouse embryos: Cell-Cell
Interactions and Pattern Formation in the Mammalian Embryo; and The
Hogan Laboratory)
web news
DEATH ON LINE: Derek Humphry, founder of the Hemlock Society, has
signed an exclusive digital publishing agreement with
PublishingOnline.com. This electronic publishing company is privately
held, is based in Seattle, and features various works, pays high royalty
rates and charges low fees to readers.
POPULATION CONTROL: The Population Research Institute is
tracking the anti-life agenda of the United Nations Population Fund with
onsite reporting from Kosovo.
reflection for prayer
"But even here on earth, we may speak of seeing God by faith, as the
foundation for our hope and love. We are to grow in faith, and the
divinely ordained means of this growth are sinlessness and chastity. As
we become less sinful, the eyes of our mind perceive God's presence more
clearly and deeply. As we grow in chastity, which means chastity of mind
and body, our perception of God becomes more vivid and our seeing him,
more profound."
–Retreat with the Lord, John Hardon, S.J., p. 99
|