|
Year 2005 Promises to be busy as politicians set out
to redefine the world in which we live, i.e., the definition of marriage,family.
You can help by keeping in touch with the politician that represents you
in the hallowed halls of government.
Campaign Life Coalition Nova Scotia
|
Click Menu Item for More
Information |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Index of News Items
TOP
Urgent Poll Vote At Sound Off:
http://www.canada.com/national/globalnational/index.html
Do you think the same-sex debate is:
- A moral issue?
- A human-rights issue?
Please enter your vote at the above link. This is very important.
TOP
The Rt. Hon. Mr. Paul Martin, P.C., M.P.,
Prime Minister of Canada,
House of Commons, Parliament Buildings,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6.
Dear Prime Minister,
I understand the difficulty in which recent decisions of various Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada have left the Government of Canada regarding the traditional opposite-sex definition of marriage. Parliament is about to consider legislation to redefine marriage as a lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others, thus paving the way for same-sex marriages.
So far the debate has been among lawyers. It is time for there to be a debate in Canadian society as a whole. It is time for ordinary Canadians to be given a sufficient opportunity to discuss the issues and to reflect on the deeper implications before a debate occurs in Parliament and a decision is made that could irrevocably change the nature of marriage and the family in Canada.
My purpose in writing this open letter to you is to urge caution in taking this step towards the re-definition of marriage. We all would do well to pause reflectively before we alter social structures like marriage and the family that lie at the core of our society, and that represent the accumulated wisdom and experience of the ages.
The conjugal partnership of a man and a woman is the beginning and basis of human society and the family is the first and vital cell of society. Tampering with marriage and the family poses significant social risks.
Can we say with certainty what the social outcome of a re-definition of marriage would be? In all humility, none of us can do so. Human sexuality is a powerful force, which society has acknowledged through many of our laws and social customs.
If same-sex marriage receives the approval of Parliament, then what?
The law is a teacher. Does Canadian society as a whole, and do parents in particular, understand what the law will be teaching in this instance? It will be teaching that homosexual activity and heterosexual activity are morally equivalent. Public schools will be required to provide sex education in that light. Many parents, religious and non-religious, would not agree, nor would many, if not the majority, of Canadians. Is it fair to put children in the position of having to reconcile the values and beliefs of their parents with a novel state-sponsored understanding of marriage that may not be truly supported by the majority of Canadians?
Prime Minister, have you received assurances from provincial premiers that they are providing legislative protection for the right of religious officials and organizations to decline to celebrate same-sex marriages that are contrary to their faith? Are you prepared to pass legislation in the absence of such assurances?
An open and full public debate would explore these and other implications of the proposed re-definition of marriage.
I urge you, Prime Minister, to table a Bill that legislatively enacts the traditional opposite-sex definition of marriage, coupled with a clause that provides for the legislation to take effect notwithstanding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As you know, the so-called “notwithstanding clause” has a five-year life span. A five-year period will allow this national discussion sufficient time to occur and to ripen into a sober and careful decision. It will give time for Canada to observe the social experiments now under way in Belgium and the Netherlands, and in other places where legislation implementing same-sex marriage might occur.
Some will argue that the use of the notwithstanding clause in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is wrong in principle. I must respectfully disagree. The notwithstanding clause was inserted into the Charter to recognize parliamentary supremacy and the need for democratic oversight for courts. No Canadian can say that courts always get things right. Judges are not elected and are ultimately not accountable for their decisions. Fundamental social change should only occur with the consent of the people through their democratic institutions. This understanding of the role of Parliament led to the inclusion of the notwithstanding clause in the Charter. Its use in the context of same-sex marriage would be most appropriate.
Finally, Prime Minister, you will no doubt agree that freedom of conscience is fundamental to our society. Members of Parliament must be free to vote in accordance with their consciences on a matter as basic to our social structure as the definition of marriage. I urge you to permit all parliamentarians, Cabinet Ministers included, to vote their consciences on any legislation that is put to a vote in Parliament on the issue of marriage.
Wishing you a happy new year, I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Archbishop of Toronto
TOP
Catholic Bishops Call On Parishioners To Oppose Gay Marriage
Bishops call on parishioners to oppose gay marriage.
The Edmonton Journal
Wed 05 Jan 2005 - Page: A9
Byline: Bob Harvey
Source: Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service
OTTAWA - Ontario's Catholic bishops are enlisting parishioners in a campaign against gay marriage.
"This is a very important issue to the bishops. They want to remind Catholics of the meaning of marriage and suggest they should make their feelings known," said Tom Reilly, spokesman for the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops.
He said a group has also been established to press for a constitutional amendment that will enshrine the historical definition of marriage.
The executive of the bishops' conference has suggested the province's 16 dioceses send letters to parishioners, spelling out Catholic opposition to gay marriage and urging them to do their civic duty and tell MPs and the prime minister they oppose it.
Pastors will be asked to include inserts on gay marriage in their weekly bulletins, and include prayers about marriage at all Sunday masses until Easter.
The dioceses have also been requested to have married couples speak at weekend masses about the federal government's plan to change the definition of marriage and urge parishioners to make their opposition known.
Gilles Ouellette, the spokesman for the archdiocese of Ottawa, said Tuesday Archbishop Marcel Gervais "has already established a plan of action concerning the request from the Ontario bishops. He will present it to the English and French pastoral councils, and issue his plans and a press release after that."
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has urged all Canadians to participate in the debate over the definition of marriage and called on married Catholics to speak out.
The Supreme Court ruled in December the federal government has exclusive authority to define marriage.
Gay marriage has become an international issue for the Vatican.
Belgium and the Netherlands have legalized it, and, on Dec. 30, Spain became the third European country to approve it.
Seven of Canada's provinces have opened the door to it, as has the Massachusetts Supreme Court.
Pope John Paul II has called on Catholics to reject what he says is an attempt to legally undermine the family. Two weeks ago he said: "Who destroys this fundamental fabric causes a profound injury to society and provokes often irreparable damage."
TOP
Canadians Need A National Referendum On Marriage
Whether you support or oppose licensing homosexual marriage, one thing is clear. Canadians have strong opinions on both sides of this issue, yet the Bill coming into Parliament next month is a cynical farce which will not change anything.
If MPs approve the Martin government's Bill, gay marriage will then be legal in all 10 provinces. If it is defeated or withdrawn, gay marriage will remain legal in all provinces (except, for now at least, Alberta and New Brunswick) where it has already been approved and implemented by judges.
Stopping this Bill will not end same-sex marriage.
What is going on in Parliament on this issue is a cynical exercise in election-posturing by all parties, including the Conservatives.
The Citizens Centre is launching a national campaign to have the question put to a referendum.
The prime minister's stance that elected legislators must NEVER overrule judges on a matter of rights is legally false, politically treacherous, and democratically outrageous. He has repudiated Canada's constitution.
Regardless of which side in this debate you support, and regardless of which side you think would win a national referendum, you must surely agree with the principle of "government by consent of the governed."
Our politicians are about to set a destructive precedent that will set Canadian democracy back for generations.
Please use this link (www.marriagereferendum.ca) to tell Paul Martin, other party leaders, and the Supreme Court that it's time to ask Canadians whether they want to institute same-sex marriage.
If they do, Parliament should proceed.
If they don't, Parliament can and must to put a stop to it.
Either way, a national referendum is the only way to settle the question properly.
Please be sure to forward this message to everyone you know who may be interested.
Sincerely,
Link Byfield
Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy
www.citizenscentre.com
TOP
Papal Encyclical On Same Sex Marriage
TOP
Martin Threatens MPs and Betrays the Electorate.
Dr. McVety, President of Canada Family Action Coalition says "People of faith and good will across Canada are deeply disappointed and saddened that Prime Minister Paul Martin has breached their trust by once again breaking his word". Mr. Martin has broken his election promise to allow a free vote re-defining marriage and is now threatening Canadians with an expensive frivolous election and accosting Members of Parliament with loss of their position and the rigors of a campaign to regain their job. In addition Mr. Martin is threatening to fire Cabinet Ministers. He also seems to have plans to withdraw protection for Clergy in his proposed legislation. It appears that Mr. Martin's promises are not worth the paper they are written on.
On numerous occasions the Prime Minister gave his word to allow Members of Parliament to vote their consciences as he presents legislation to redefine marriage. Mr. Martin realizes that the majority of Canadians oppose his agenda and that he may lose the upcoming vote. Now he has panicked and threatens to force an election upon the nation. He knows the sitting members are tired and their resources depleted from the election a few months ago. They would then need to launch another election campaign to regain their post. Mr. Martin has broken his word again.
For Cabinet Members the threat is compounded by Mr. Martin's existing admonition that any defectors from his plan to redefine marriage will lose their cabinet post. McVety states "Several prominent Cabinet Ministers are forced, against their will to abandon their consciences, break their word and desecrate marriage." This new threat adds insult to injury.
For over one year Mr. Martin has been proclaiming that he would invoke the "Notwithstanding" clause to protect Clergy from being forced to marry same sex couples. Consequently he stood idly by as British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba forced marriage commissioners to agree to perform same-sex marriages under duress or lose their livelihood. McVety says "It now appears that Mr. Martin is preparing to fully abandon his word and withdraw the proposed clergy protection from the draft legislation to redefine marriage."
As Mr. Martin breaks his word, abandons his commitments and compromises his friends he wrongfully states that he is protecting the Charter of Rights. Mr. Martin knows that the Supreme Court denied his request to rule on the constitutionality of marriage and promptly demanded that Parliament decide whether or not to redefine marriage. Dr. McVety states "It is a shame that the Prime Minister of Canada has to resort to such tactics of subterfuge and that his word one day is opposite the next."
For Additional Information Contact
Dr. Charles McVety, President, Canada Family Action Coaltion
50 Gervais Drive, Toronto, Ontario M3C 1Z3 416.391.5000 Fax. 416.391.3969
Cell 416.434.8261 email: charles@canadachristiancollege.com
TOP
New Book From Parents of Aborted Babies - Empty Arms: Remembering the Unborn
Tim.Bloedow@rogers.com
19 January 2005
Federalist Patriot No. 05-03
Wednesday Chronicle
IMAGO DEI
"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government." - Thomas Jefferson
Saturday marks the 32nd year since the Supreme Court issued its infamous Roe vs. Wade decree (22 January 1973), a decision, which unleashed a holocaust on the preborn. By a vote of 7 to 2 the Court declared the "shedding of innocent blood" to be a constitutional right - the first case to cite no precedents in support of its decision. Since that time, millions of preborn infants have been victimized - sacrificed on the altar of convenience.
Roe v Wade notwithstanding, in affirmation of life created in the Image of God (Imago Dei), this week has been set aside as National Sanctity of Human Life Week. Much of the "pro-life" ministry focus that will be highlighted this week is dedicated to preserving the life of the most innocent among us. Some of that focus will be dedicated to the remembrance of the victims of abortion. But those little ones were not the only victims.
Crisis pregnancies often end in crisis abortions. Most post-abortion moms were encouraged to have abortions and convinced the decision was tantamount to having some unwanted tissue removed from their womb. But after abortion, many women experience grief, especially later when they desire pregnancy when starting a family. Most grieve in silence because of shame, often fearing condemnation from both their home and church families.
If you are one such woman, healing is at hand. It is difficult, if not impossible, to fully honor and love a wanted child without fully acknowledging the worth of an unwanted child. A good place to begin healing is in the company of words from other mothers and fathers of aborted children - Empty Arms: Remembering the Unborn - just released. This book contains 50 stories of hope and healing from across the nation. Each story is in reference to one of the thousands of plaques placed on a granite wall in the National Memorial for the Unborn.
We are donating 100% of the proceeds from sales of this book to the National Memorial for the Unborn - a special place dedicated to healing hearts by honoring unborn children in a tangible way.
If you, or someone you know, suffers silently the anguish of abortion, we encourage you to read Empty Arms http://PatriotShop.US/emptyarms.php
For more information about the National Memorial for the Unborn, link to http://MemorialfortheUnborn.org/
For additional information on post-abortion healing, contact Healing Hearts at http://www.HealingHearts.org/
For information on Post Abortion Trauma Syndrome and other medical and psychological pathology associated with abortion, link to the Elliot Institute at http://AfterAbortion.Info/
For a celebration of Imago Dei, link to http://federalistpatriot.us/news/imagodei2.html To see a child reaching out from his mothers womb, link to http://FederalistPatriot.US/news/imagodei.html
"I think we all have the same dream: We'd like to see Roe v. Wade overturned." - Norma McCorvey, "Jane Roe" of Roe v. Wade, who now runs a pro-life ministry in Dallas.
TOP
National Call to Prayer for Marriage
January 29 - 30, 2005
A joint message from the following national organizations:
Canada Family Action Coalition, Focus on the Family Canada, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, Christian Legal Fellowship, Evangelical Association of Churches, Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada, Real Women of Canada
Dear Fellow Canadians;
Marriage is on the frontlines - again. The attempts to redefine marriage are an affront to this God-ordained institution, its righteousness and sanctity.
We know that prayer has the power to change things. God's people are required to be a force of righteousness and the light. It is up to the church to lead and promote marriage. So we are issuing this email to invite you to join us in prayer in the days ahead, culminating in a national prayer weekend January 29 -30, 2005.
On December 9, 2004 our Supreme Court issued an opinion that Parliament may "broaden" the definition because it has the authority. However, it did not say it must do so. God's Word including instruction about marriage will not pass away regardless of what man decides. But we must realize the harmful consequences if we, the church, do nothing and allow man to redefine the institution of marriage.
We have chosen Jan 29-30 as a focal point for this call to prayer because Parliament is expected to go back to work about January 31. We are called to pray for our leaders. We are called to petition God on such matters. This is a critical matter that demands a concerted, unified corporate response.
A number of organizations in Canada who are defending marriage feel that we need to seek Him for direction. We must seek God with all of our heart and lean not unto our own understanding. Prayer is the spiritual trigger for this to happen.
We urge you - whether in churches, synagogues, small groups or privately - to join others across this nation for a weekend of fasting, prayer and repentance before God.
Would you as a spiritual leader in this nation take sufficient time in your service on Saturday January 29 or Sunday January 30 to call all people in the church to pray? Let us continue in prayer until we hear from God.
INFORMATION: http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/family/marriage/call-to-pray.htm
TOP
Progress Report on "Marriage - Let the People Decide"
Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy
January 21, 2005
The political controversy over same-sex marriage has been escalating all week (Globe and Mail news story below). Paul Martin didn't escape it even in India.
The Citizens Centre campaign for a referendum on the meaning of marriage is also steadily escalating.
We exceeded our e-mail target for the week, with over eleven thousand e-mail letters having now gone to Paul Martin, and CCs to nine other national decision-makers. That's 110,000 personalized e-mails.
If you haven't yet forwarded notice of this campaign to your on-line friends and family, please do so by going to http://www.marriagereferendum.ca.
There was also enough response to our appeal for on-line donations to enable us to start mailing paper printouts of the first ten thousand letters to the Prime Minister, key cabinet ministers, Opposition leaders, and the Supreme Court.
To help us continue this print-and-mail project, and give the referendum demand more visibility on Parliament Hill, you can contribute safely on line at http://www.citizenscentre.com/support.html.
Globe and Mail
January 21, 2005
TITLE: E-mails flying over same-sex marriage showdown - Opposing sides line up their support
By GLORIA GALLOWAY
With a report from Canadian Press
OTTAWA – MPs' e-mail boxes are flooded, ad campaigns are ramping up, churches are becoming more vocal and both sides are staking out what they see as the high moral ground in the next showdown of the same-sex marriage debate.
"If they [the politicians] think they're getting a lot of e-mails and letters now, it's nothing compared to what it's going to be over the month of February and however long it takes until there's a final vote," said Derek Roguski, vice-president of family policy for Focus on the Family Canada, a group trying to reserve marriage as a right for heterosexuals.
"We've seen some recent polling that reflects to us that we've got the majority on our side," he said.
"So it's just a matter of mobilizing those people and asking them to contact their MP and asking them to vote a certain way and making sure that the MP understands how important an issue it is to them."
In fact, both sides in the gay-marriage battle claim to represent the majority of Canadians as the federal government contemplates changing the traditional definition of marriage to include same-sex spouses.
Although it appears the Liberals have enough support to push a bill through the House, the final result is far from certain.
Many Liberal MPs will say only that they are "voting with the government," rather than state their personal beliefs when asked whether they support same-sex marriage.
Carolyn Bennett, the Public Health Minister who represents Toronto St. Paul's, which claims a large number of gay and lesbian constituents, is not one of them.
"This country is only as strong as the people who decide to look after one another in individual family units that they should get to define," Ms. Bennett said. "And if people want to formalize that in a way, then obviously we should support that."
Like many other MPs, Ms. Bennett has been inundated with e-mails from people on both sides of the issue.
But it is an ad campaign started this week by the Conservatives that has her "really annoyed," she said. "Whether people are comfortable or uncomfortable with same-sex marriage is not the issue any more. The issue is, are you prepared to turn human rights on and off like a light switch."
Courts in seven provinces and one territory have ruled that preventing same-sex couples from marrying is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
But Conservative Leader Stephen Harper told reporters in Quebec yesterday that, if the traditional definition of marriage is expanded, "radical" groups may begin launching constitutional battles arguing that it is legal for a man to marry more than one woman, or other types of marriages.
"As soon as they've got to attack one traditional idea, the next one is down the road," he said.
"I don't want to get into the polygamy debate, but I fear if we do this, the next thing on the Liberal agenda will be polygamy, and who knows what else."
Fears like that have pressed otherwise apolitical Canadians into action.
Inky Mark, another Conservative opposed to same-sex marriage, said his staff in Ottawa has been handling hundreds of e-mails a day on this issue since December.
He met with 54 religious leaders in his community two days ago -- all opposed to homosexual weddings -- to plot strategies for continuing their fight.
Mr. Mark said he advised them "to continue the lobby, what else can we do? Don't take anything for granted."
TOP
Definition of the Core of Society: The family represents this core! How?
Dr. McBride is a retired Political Science professor from St. Mary's University.
· Just as 'families have inherent and inviolable rights', families make indispensable and irreplaceable contribution to the common good of society.
· The family is the primary social unit. It is society's first school, first church, first medical clinic, first welfare agency, and first cultural center. One might add the first community.
· The family is society's first school, wherein children receive their primary intellectual formation.
· The family is society's first church, wherein children receive their primary spiritual formation.
· The family is society's first medical clinic, wherein children receive their primary health care.
· The family is society's first welfare agency, wherein children receive their primary sustenance of food, shelter and clothing.
· The family is society's first culture center, wherein children receive their primary sense of how high the human imagination can reach.
· The family is the first community, whereas children learn to co-operate and be tolerant of others and learn to adjust in a multi person environment.
· In society, the family comes first, and government correspondingly must put family first.
First, last, and always, the family is the most important part of society. The family is the first shelter for the helpless, the last refuge for the hopeless, and always the source of those ties of affection, recollection, and aspiration that bind the past, present and the future.
TOP
Experts Available for Comment on New Poll Regarding Teens and Sex
To: National Desk
Contact: Maryam Kubasek, Director of Communications for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, 513-521-6227, ext. 111
CINCINNATI, Jan. 20 /Christian Wire Service/ -- A landmark report has just been released that dives deep into the issue of teen sexuality. NBC News and People Magazine commissioned a poll surveying young teenagers about their intimate sexual attitudes and practices.
"Parents will want to read this report," said Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families. "Christian parents will be particularly interested in findings that indicate teens with a Catholic parent (72%) are more likely to not have sex because they are worried what their parents will think than those with a Protestant parent (63%) or another religious background (57%).
"This is a wake-up call to parents that they cannot stick their heads in the sand when it comes to their teens' attitudes and behaviors about sex," Schatz added. "It's time for parents to talk openly and honestly with their kids about this very important subject."
The National Coalition has several experts on hand to comment on the report's findings. Jack Samad, senior vice president for Strategic Partnerships and Internet Safety, is a nationally recognized expert on teens and sex. Producer of the curriculum Sex & Young America, Samad has interviewed teens around the nation regarding their attitudes about sex.
Michael Craven, vice president for Religious and Cultural Affairs, has authored several booklets in the organization’s Cultural Apologetics Series, including Modern Sex Education: The Indoctrination of a Generation. He can discuss the history of sex education and its current negative impact on teens.
To reach these experts, contact Maryam Kubasek, director of communications, at 513.521.6227.
TOP
PRI Weekly Briefing: OTC MAP is Back
Dear Colleague:
Greed-driven manufacturers of the morning-after pill (MAP) are hoping that the FDA will soon approve this abortifacient drug for over-the-counter sale. Eight months ago the FDA rightly rejected this very bad idea.
Nothing has changed since then. Call 888-463-6332 to urge them to do so again.
Steven W. Mosher, President, PRI Weekly Briefing, 20 January 2005, Vol. 7 / No. 3
OTC MAP is Back – By Joseph A. D'Agostino
Despite deciding against non-prescription sales of the morning-after pill (MAP) just last May, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could decide as early as today to effectively reverse that decision. Taken within 72
hours after intercourse, MAP prevents pregnancy-or so its advocates say. The American MAP's manufacturer has even proposed a novel, never-before-approved method for regulating the drug's sale in order to get it into the hands of as many women and girls as possible while satisfying the FDA's safety concerns. The campaign to expand MAP's availability, both in the United States and around the world, rests on two lies: That MAP is safe for women and girls, and that MAP only prevents pregnancy rather than killing unborn children.
The second lie is the more blatant. MAP is often called "emergency contraception," and under that misleading name it has been introduced around the world with government and international funds that are not supposed to go for abortion. Something called "contraception" should prevent conception from occurring--that's what "contraception" means – but MAP doesn't always do this. Instead, it prevents the implantation of an already conceived child, killing an unborn baby in the early stages of life.
The push for MAP (sold under the brand name "Plan B" in the United States) is so intense that pro-abortion experts have redefined pregnancy to begin at "implantation," rather than "conception," thus allowing them to claim that MAP has no abortifacient effect whatsoever. This Orwellian tampering with language is intended to deceive the public-including anti-abortion women who are willing to use contraceptives but not abortifacients-and is almost as disturbing as MAP itself.
If MAP kills unborn children, is it nonetheless safe for mothers, particularly the teenagers who will get their hands on MAP without medical supervision if it is sold over the counter? Plan B's manufacturer, Barr Laboratories, and leading American feminist organizations say yes. But as we noted in a 2004 report, Under the Table: Why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Should Not Approve the Over-the-Counter Distribution of
Morning-After Pills, "Berlin-based Schering, manufacturer of two MAP products primarily used in Western Europe... has refused to sell MAP in countries where it is available without a prescription."
As for Plan B itself, a "December 2003 FDA advisory committee meeting revealed that certain MAP research issues were not resolved," said the report. "These include evidence on long-term safety, especially as to ectopic pregnancy; safety in [already] pregnant women and MAP-exposed fetuses; use as primary form of contraception... and interactions with other drugs." Perhaps the greatest concern is that if MAP is available
over the counter, women and girls will use it repeatedly rather than take care to use contraception or abstain. This could lead to unknown consequences.
Plan B contains levonorgestrel, the same active ingredient in the contraceptive Norplant. Norplant has been yanked from the American market because it's so dangerous.
Barr says it wants pharmacies to keep MAP behind the counter and sell it only to those 16 years old and older. This is a dubious stratagem at best, one never before approved by the FDA. Does anyone doubt that minors
will easily be able to get their hands on it without their parents' knowledge? Younger girls will get older friends to buy the drug for them-or their boyfriends will, since so many studies show that many boys and men having relations with 13-, 14-, and 15-year-old girls are several years (or more) older than their girlfriends.
Even though there is little data on how MAP affects younger teenagers, feminists want 13-year-olds to get MAP. Referring to Barr's 16-year-old minimum, the National Organization for Women (NOW) said January 18, "The National Organization for Women opposes that restriction."
Over-the-counter sales of MAP will likely greatly increase its use, judging from other countries' experience. "Sales of the morning-after pill have soared 60% in the 12 months since the emergency contraceptive became available over the counter in pharmacies," reported the Australian on January 13. "The rise in sales sparked a warning from Australian Medical Association president Bill Glasson that Postinor-2 should not be used as a drug of convenience. Health Minister Tony Abbott [who is pro-life] last year expressed concern about reports girls as young as 13 had requested the emergency contraceptive." (Yes, there is the phrase "emergency contraceptive.")
If you oppose over-the-counter availability of MAP, please express your opinion politely but firmly to the FDA. Go to: http://www.fda.gov/cder/comment/commentdrug.htm
Or call the comment line, 888-463-6332. Do it now!
Joseph A. D'Agostino is Vice President for Communications at the Population Research Institute.
PRI, P.O. Box 1559, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA Phone: (540) 622-5240 Fax: (540) 622-2728
Email: jad@pop.orgMedia Contact: Joseph A. D'Agostino (540) 622-5240, ext. 204
© 2005 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required.
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to PRI, please go to https://pop.org/donate.cfm. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and appreciated.
To subscribe to the Weekly Briefing, send an email to: JOIN-PRI@Pluto.Sparklist.com or email pri@pop.org and say "Add me to your Weekly Briefing."
The Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of "overpopulation."
TOP
Pro-life Movement's Signs of Confidence (Part 1) – Father Frank Pavone on the Power of Its Message
NEW YORK, JAN. 19, 2005 (Zenit.org). - Father Frank Pavone sees a dead-end to the pro-abortion movement, as it contains the seeds of its own destruction. On the eve of major pro-life marches, the director of Priests for Life shared with ZENIT how he sees the movement. Part 2 of this interview will appear Thursday.
Q: A Walk for Life is scheduled this January in San Francisco, where until recently there were more abortions than live births. Last spring, pro-lifers were a big presence at the pro-abortion March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C. Is the pro-life movement taking a different direction, by going into "unfriendly territory" and reaching out to the many women who have had abortions?
Father Pavone: To go into unfriendly territory is, in fact, an essential element of the pro-life movement from the beginning because it is an essential element of evangelization. The message of respect for life means we respect even the lives of those who hate us, disagree with us and support what we detest. The fact that the Walk for Life is expanding into areas such as San Francisco, and that pro-life people are going into the heart of pro-abortion marches, is a sign of the movement's continued confidence in the power of its message. While standing with a pro-life sign at the March for Women's Lives, Janet Morana, our associate director at Priests for Life, had a pro-abortion woman come up to her and say, "I can't march with these people anymore – I want to join with you." The woman tore up the pro-abortion sign she had been carrying and started holding one of our pro-life signs. These events are also a sign of the youth of the movement, because many of the participants in both events are young people, carrying a new awareness of how abortion harms women and harms them. The outreach to those who have had abortions is particularly strong these days, because the evidence of the harmful effects of abortion is more plentiful than ever.
Q: The attention given to high-profile pickets outside clinics in years past seems to have subsided a bit. What has been happening with the clinic protests? What tactics are being used? What is their success in recent times?
Father Pavone: Physical presence at the clinics continues, and two of the most successful forms of that activity presently are the Helpers of God's Precious Infants and the Face the Truth tours. The Helpers, founded by my
colleague Monsignor Phil Reilly of Brooklyn, bring hundreds of people at a time out to abortion clinics. Usually led by a bishop, these vigils provide people a sense of safety and comfort because they start in church with Mass, are escorted by police, consist of the recitation of the rosary and lead back to church. The presence of a bishop, of course, also assures people that there is nothing about this activity that is contrary to the Church's
teaching. The carefully outlined series of rosary prayers also makes practicing Catholics feel at home. They know what to expect. The Face the Truth tours are also becoming more popular. Sometimes held in front of
clinics, but often on other streets as well, these tours consist of people prayerfully holding large signs that show what aborted babies actually look like. This is becoming more popular as people understand that there are
principles of social reform that are not hard to discern from the history of past social movements that worked to uproot injustice by visually portraying the victims of that injustice. The civil rights movement, the child-labor
reform movement and the abolitionist movement are just three examples of movements that have achieved their goals by forcing society to see the violence that those who permit it want to hide. We at Priests for Life sponsored a 10-day Face the Truth tour in all five boroughs of New York City in 2003. Women came up to us on a daily basis, saying that they were planning to have an abortion, but the signs changed their minds right then
and there.
Q: When has the movement been most successful in helping to limit and end abortion? Has the movement changed the culture, or simply achieved piecemeal limitation aimed at limiting access to the procedure?
Father Pavone: Actually, abortion itself has done more to turn people away from abortion than the pro-life movement has done. What I mean is that it contains the seeds of its own destruction, as all evil does. I believe in the "dead-end rule," which is that if you go down a dead-end road and ignore the signs that say it's a dead end; you will soon learn by personal experience that it's a dead end. Many have ignored the signs that the pro-life movement has set up, telling society that abortion is not a solution. But having gone down that road, they learned for themselves how devastating it is. Now they are coming back, repentant and healed, and they become the sign. That is why Priests for Life co-founded the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, to give women wounded by abortion the opportunity to bear witness to that pain and to that healing. The voices of these women are having a profound impact, undermining the stance of the pro-abortion groups, who all claim to be "pro-woman" and in favor of women's lives and health. The culture is changing in favor of life. The legislative and political victories have also been real, but are by definition incremental and gradual. The pro-life legislation signed by President George W. Bush has laid significant foundations in the law for the eventual restoration of protection to the unborn. [Thursday: The Church's role]
ZE05011924
ZENIT is an International News Agency.
To receive ZENIT News Services by e-mail, FREE Subscription at: http://www.zenit.org/english/subscribe.html
For reprint permission, please contact infoenglish@zenit.org. Visit our web page at http://www.zenit.org/
SEND US YOUR NEWS:
Please send press releases, statements and other information to our international news desk at:
news@zenit.org. Copyright (c) - Innovative Media, Inc.
TOP
Lifeissues.net Newsletter 211
jerry@lifeissues.net
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 00:14:42 -0500
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Enough is Enough: Texas Alliance for Life Executive Director Joe Pojman, Ph.D. condemned Senator Hutchison's support for embryonic stem cell research, writing that such research "requires the intentional destruction of living, human embryos to harvest embryonic stem cells." He continued, "If that isn't bad enough, you desire to use state public funds for this type of research."
The letter further states, "You point to California as the model of state-funded embryonic stem cell research and suggest that Texas follow its lead. California does not represent mainstream America; nor does it represent Texas values. We enthusiastically back Governor Perry's support for ethical and nondestructive medical research. He supports stem cell research, as does the pro-life community, when the stem cells are obtained without harming the donors - as from bone marrow and blood from adults.
"The list of diseases treated with adult stem cells is over 100 and growing. Many Texans, including leukemia patients, are alive today because of adult stem cell transplants. This proven track record contrasts with the fact that no disease today is treated with embryonic stem cells. Many believe that the success of adult stem cell research makes embryonic stem cell research unnecessary."
Mr. Pojman reminded Senator Hutchison, who is pro-abortion until viability, that "Each one of us was once a human being at the stage of embryo, a basic biological fact. Texas law recognizes this and protects unborn children as individuals from violent crimes of murder and assault from a third party. Our law now states that a person is 'a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.'"
In his closing admonition, Mr. Pojman writes, "As U.S. Senator, you are charged to represent Texas in Washington. Let Governor Perry and the state legislature do their job of running the state of Texas and setting policy." Amen!
*Maybe the time has arrived for us to communicate clearly to our leaders our views on embryonic stem cell research.
**It's been more than four weeks since an earthquake-induced tsunami devastated coastal communities in south east Asia. We ask for continued prayer support for the victims living in those communities. Thank you.
God Bless
Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI
"I fear the power of choice over life and death at human hands. I see no human being whom I could ever trust with such power -- neither myself not any other. Human wisdom, human integrity are not great enough." (Pearl S. Buck)
Lifeissues.net NEWSLETTER #211
January 23, 2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Fatherhood by a New Formula
2. Vatican Cardinal Denounces Abortion Lobbying in case of Raped Nine-Year Old Chilean
3. Is Newspaper Partnering with Porn Distributor?
4. New challenge for a new millennium
5. 'Consumer Reports' Refers to Unborn Children as "Uterine Content"
6. Paraplegic Improving After Adult Stem-Cell Implant
7. Nearly 3 in 10 young teens 'sexually active'
8. Turning back the clock
9. London Catholic Schools to Participate in Fundraiser for Embryo Research Supportive MS Society
10. Henry refuses to be silenced
11. Report: Abstinence takes hold at AISD
12. Catholic Doctrine and Merciful Choice
13. Comfortable Compassion?
"NEW" ARTICLES POSTED RECENTLY at http://www.lifeissues.net
– Ronald Rolheiser: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=ron
– Joyce C. Lick: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=loc
– Ron Panzer: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=pan
– Mark Oshinskie: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=osh
– Karen Malec: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mal
– Adam J. Hildebrand: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=hil
New Website: Life http://www.lifeuk.org/. We are a pro-life organisation and therefore committed to upholding the utmost respect for human life from fertilisation (conception). Our aim has always been to provide help and support to women, especially young women, who are faced with a problem pregnancy. This is exactly what we have done for over 30 years, and we have a network of services available nationwide. We help thousands of women (and men) every year.
ITEM #1. Fatherhood by a New Formula
It's a feeling the wealthy Washington entrepreneur likens to "stepping off into thin air," a gut-churning, middle-of-the-night realization that his life-changing choice is based on "some really big leaps of faith."
But most of the time, the single gay executive said, becoming a father using his sperm and eggs donated by a 24-year-old woman he met once in a downtown Starbucks to create embryos that were implanted in the uterus of a 22-year-old surrogate mother he barely knows, absolutely seems like the right thing to do.
COMMENT: One of the reasons we have this newer controversy is that legalized abortion has turned children into legal commodities, to be discarded or manufactured at will rather than people with inalienable rights even before birth. (Nancy Valko, RN)
Read article at Agape Press:
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/182005e.asp
ITEM #2. Vatican Cardinal Denounces Abortion Lobbying in case of Raped Nine-Year Old Chilean
(LifeSiteNews.com) - A highly placed Vatican cardinal, Jorge Medina, has denounced efforts by pro-abortion groups to use the case of a pregnant nine-year-old girl in Chile to legalize abortion in that country. Seven nongovernmental organizations are demanding authorities submit her to an abortion. They claim in a press release that, even though the girl is just weeks away from full term and the child can be safely delivered by cesarean section, that an abortion is necessary for the girl to "avoid the life-threatening risk she faces."
Cardinal Medina, formerly the head of the Vatican's office for liturgy, or Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, speaking to the daily, 'Ultimas Noticias,' said that both the life of the mother and the child, "must absolutely be respected." He said, "The fact that such a young girl has become pregnant and in such terrible circumstances does not take away the right to life of the baby in her womb."
"To take the life of that baby is a crime," he went on. "What has happened is truly sad and she must be helped in everyway. Of course this abuse is horrible. It is unqualifiedly an offense against the girl's dignity, but that does not mean that we should take the life of the only person who has no fault."
Chile's Health Minister, Pedro Garcia, on Friday refused to allow an abortion for the girl. After calling on Chileans to denounce the sexual abuse of children, pointed out that no human being deserves to be killed simply because of the manner of his or her conception. The girl, who has not been named is now seven months pregnant and is being cared for at Calama Hospital.
Read Catholic News Agency coverage:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=2864
ITEM #3. Is Newspaper Partnering with Porn Distributor?
The newspaper that sets the daily agenda for a many papers across the country is poised to become a business partner with a major European distributor of pornography.
If a planned business deal goes through to buy a Boston tabloid, The New York Times would become a business partner with the Modern Times Group. That company operates a TV network in Scandinavia that shows mainstream movies in the day, but schedules pornographic films at midnight, every night of the week.
Kevin Lee, a communications professor at Western Carolina University, is surprised the Times would risk its corporate image so soon after its journalistic image was tarnished by the Jayson Blair incident -- in which a reporter was found to have fabricated dozens of interviews for his stories.
"The New York Times, like many mainstream media, claims to be progressive regarding women's rights," Lee said. "And yet, women are the true victims of pornography."
A spokesman for the Times refused to comment.
View full article at Family News:
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0035237.cfm
ITEM #4. New challenge for a new millennium
As the faithful throughout the country prepare to gather for the 32nd anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's controversial ruling, Roe vs. Wade, ethicists, moral theologians and numerous political action groups are energizing for a new round of discussions and educational sessions about a critical life issue surrounding embryonic stem cell research and cloning.
"In the wake of the November 2004 elections, when the nation overwhelmingly indicated that moral issues were front and center, it becomes clear that now is the time to make the public aware of the dangers of embryonic stem cell research and cloning," said Tony Perkins, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, who was in Columbus and Cincinnati last week speaking with ministers about the issues. "The bottom line is this: Using these kinds of cells, or cloning, and then destroying life for any so-called therapeutic reason, is just plain wrong. And I believe people will stand behind that - as many have stood against abortion over the years - if only they can understand the issues."
(The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched a nationwide ad campaign in support of adult stem-cell research, with the theme "Let's find cures we can all live with." The first ad pictures a baby and says, "Only 270 days ago, Joshua was just an embryo." The second depicts a grizzled miner who says, "They tell me I may hold the cure for Parkinson's." Concerted efforts to provide education about the issues have renewed in January, coinciding with the 32nd anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision, which made abortion legal.)
View full text at The Catholic Telegraph:
http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/tct/jan2105/012105millennium.html
ITEM #5. Consumer Reports Refers to Unborn Children as "Uterine Content"
A series of articles in the February Consumer Reports magazine rates condoms, hormonal birth control and many other forms of artificial contraception and also gives advice on abortion options where it refers to unborn humans as "uterine content." The article gives short shrift to abstinence and betrays a misunderstanding of natural family planning, a surprise given Consumer Reports' reputation of high credibility and thoroughness.
The group of articles, called CR's Guide to Contraception, begins with an evaluation of 23 kinds of condoms. It calls condoms the "only method" of preventing pregnancy "that also can help prevent sexually transmitted diseases." The article fails to discuss the permeability of condoms to human papillomavirus (HPV) which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is the most common form of STD and can cause cervical cancer.
View article at MichNews.com:
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_6495.shtml
ITEM #6. Paraplegic Improving After Adult Stem-Cell Implant
A world of patients with spinal cord injuries is watching Erica Nader. Her recovery may be theirs, too, someday. Nader, 26, of Farmington Hills, Mich., was the first American to travel to Portugal, in March 2003, for experimental surgery for a spinal cord injury.
She was injured in July 2001 in an auto accident as she and her brother headed out on a fast-food run after their parents' 25th wedding anniversary celebration. The car flipped off the dark, winding road in the subdivision, and the air bag deployed. She was paralyzed from the top of her arms down.
Nader and her father, Fred, spent months checking out a Portuguese procedure before she underwent the five-hour surgery.
Read full article at Indystar.com:
http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/209449-5235-047.html
ITEM #7. Nearly 3 in 10 young teens 'sexually active'
NBC News and PEOPLE Magazine commissioned a landmark poll surveying young teenagers about their intimate sexual attitudes and practices. In one of the first surveys of its kind, teenagers as young as 13 reveal how much they know about sex and how much they are doing. The poll, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, questioned 13 to 16 year-olds about their sexual behavior, relationships, oral sex, STDs, and casual sexual partners (what's now known as "friends with benefits").
The findings provide important answers for parents struggling to cope with a newly promiscuous world. Below are the enlightening, and often surprising, answers to the NBC News/PEOPLE Magazine Poll....
Sexually active young teens
Nearly 3 in 10 (27%) thirteen to sixteen year-olds are sexually active and "have been with someone in an intimate or sexual way." Most of these sexually active teens have touched someone else's genitals and almost half had oral sex and/or had sexual intercourse. Sexual activity is much more common among 15 to 16 year-olds (41%) than 13 to 14 year-olds (14%).
View full text at MSNBC News:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6839072/
ITEM #8. Turning back the clock
Malcolm Muggeridge, the brilliant British journalist and satirist, said:
The sanctity of life is, of course, a religious or transcendental concept, and has no meaning otherwise; if there is no God, life cannot have sanctity. By the same token, the quality of life ethic is an earthly or worldly concept, and can only be expressed legalistically and in materialistic terms; the soul does not come into it.
In going from the sanctity of life to the quality of life, we have gone from theism to atheism, from spiritual to material, from Christian to pagan. And we've done it without most Americans ever even realizing it has happened.
The bitter fruit of this return to the ethic of ancient Rome has been the death of more than 44 million children and post-abortive women plagued by the physical, emotional, and psychological consequences of abortion.
Check article at WorldNetDaily.com:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42466
ITEM #9. London Catholic Schools to Participate in Fundraiser for Embryo Research Supportive MS Society
(LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic schools in Ontario have a history of often supporting dubious causes and schools in the London diocese are now being asked to participate in a Read-a-Thon for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, which supports destructive embryonic stem cell research (ESCR).
In recent years, pro-life advocates have repeatedly had to renew their efforts to stop Catholic schools in Ontario from collecting funds for UNICEF, because of the UN organization's support for abortion and other practices which violate Catholic moral principles.
When Bill C-6, was passed it allowed Canadian research organizations to use 'spare' or leftover embryos from in vitro fertilization to be used as living human test subjects. The MS Society applauded the passage of the bill that pro-life activists called one of the worst since the Omnibus bill that made abortion legal.
The MS Society website says, "Stem cell research has great potential for people with multiple sclerosis, because of the real possibility for breakthroughs that may lead to a cure for multiple sclerosis through research on adult and embryonic stem cells."
The belief that embryos can be used for therapies for diseases has often been discredited by leading researchers in the field. Though many diseases are being currently treated and even cured with the use of adult stem cells which are found in the patient's own body, thus far every attempt to introduce foreign tissue derived from a dead embryo has not produced positive therapeutic results.
London area parents, Alex and Susan Schadenberg have written to the school board and to Bishop Fabbro to protest the inclusion of the MS Society in the fundraiser and to ask that the involvement of the Catholic schools be reconsidered. Mrs. Schadenberg writes, "As Catholics, we cannot support this organization."
Write to Bishop Fabbro:
bketelaars@rcec.london.on.ca
Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
175 Bloor Street East, Suite 700, North Tower
Toronto, Ontario M4W 3R8
Telephone: (416) 922-6065
ITEM #10. Henry refuses to be silenced
Despite a national furor over his recent pastoral letter, Bishop Fred Henry will continue his fight against same-sex marriage unbowed.
The outspoken bishop has received hundreds of letters in the last week, including hate mail, filled with accusations and vulgarity.
"I would say probably the letters are running eight to one in favour of what I'm saying," he said in a Jan. 19 interview. "However those in the minority or dissenting camp are sometimes mean and vulgar and attempt to try and demonize me in order to kind of silence me."
Read article at Western Catholic Reporter:
http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2005/0124/henry012405.shtml
ITEM #11. Report: Abstinence takes hold at AISD
Fewer Amarillo middle-school students are having sex, and the change is thanks to an abstinence-based sex education program, officials said Wednesday.
Worth the Wait, a sex education program that stresses abstinence before marriage, has been in Amarillo Independent School District middle-school campuses since 2003. And since then, 30 percent fewer seventh- and eight-graders say they're sexually active, said Worth the Wait researcher and Baylor professor Dr. John Tanner Jr.
"A lot of folks may be surprised about sexual activity beginning in the middle school, but actually it does," Tanner said. "It is also a precursor to sexual activity later on that can be fairly risky."
Worth the Wait staffers are encouraged by the drop, he said.
"To see a 30-percent reduction in sexual intercourse among middle-school students is pretty exciting in just two years of the program's implementation," Tanner said. "What that says to me is that the efforts the program Worth the Wait has made towards reducing teen pregnancy and abstinence have been effective."
View the entire Article at amarillo.com:
http://amarillo.com/stories/012005/new_1070697.shtml
ITEM #12. Catholic Doctrine and Merciful Choice
Comment: Despite all the rhetoric and the philosophical gymnastics employed to try to fit Catholic doctrine to include such abortions, such articles are really about fear and lack of support. It's crucial that we understand where such a mother as Bridget is coming from so that we can offer her support. And we also need to confront priests (and ministers) like hers with the truth and educate them on real support and alternatives.
By the way, in this particular case, even the facts are wrong. Trisomy 21 is Down Syndrome and not only are heart surgeries possible and life-saving, such children are NOT automatically excluded from even heart transplants. I know, especially because I am a nurse and I also had a child with Down Syndrome and a serious heart defect. And of course I have to take issue with Bridget's defense that trying to save my daughter's life was somehow not as "loving" or "compassionate" as abortion.
And it's really alarming when websites like this A Heartbreaking Choice (www.aheartbreakingchoice.com) win awards and come up on internet searches by desperate parents. (The website is pretty defensive. Not this: "A WORD TO OUR VISITORS. For those of you who have come here for support, we are sorry this note has to be written. As stated above, this is a site for parents who have made the decision to end a much-wanted pregnancy due to severe or lethal birth defects. As we reach out to those parents, we also get site visitors who have not been through this tragedy. It is our hope that you will honor our wish to keep this place supportive and healing. We all make the decisions that are right for our families and every circumstance is unique.
Sending us condemning emails will not change the decisions our parents have made and only hurts everyone involved. So if you are going to send an unsupportive note, we respectfully ask you to consider going to a debate board or a site intended for politics.)
Instead, I would encourage everyone-especially parents facing the news that their child may have a problem-to visit Monica's website Be Not Afraid (www.benotafraid.net) which offers real support, many resources and a different perspective. It's also important that those of us in the community also offer continuing help and support. For example in my former parish, we started a Good Samaritan program to identify people with special needs and organized help.
Lastly, I've met women like Bridget and rationalizations offer little comfort after such an abortion. For example and as I've written before, many years ago a hospital contacted a miscarriage and neonatal death support group in St. Louis for its women who were suffering after having such "therapeutic abortions." This miscarriage group reluctantly said no because one of the greatest comforts they offered was the reassurance that the mothers did not cause their babies' deaths. The grief of losing a child cannot be truncated by abortion and the resulting guilt of causing that child's death makes that death enormously harder to bear no matter what the circumstances. It's important that such moms know about groups like Project Rachel and Rachel's Vineyard that offer post-abortion help and healing. (Nancy Valko, RN)
See article at A Heartbreaking Choice:
http://www.aheartbreakingchoice.com/catholic.html
ITEM #13. Comfortable Compassion?
Those of us who feel moved to care for those in need often find ourselves confronted with the harsh realities of this world and the perceived limitations of our own abilities. "How much can we help?" "Will it make a difference?" "What good does it really do," we ask ourselves.
View full text at Lifeissues.net:
http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/pan/pan_10compassion.html
ACTION:
(1) Pray that all may have the courage to be God's presence in society and support those who have been deemed "unworthy of life".
(2) Stay informed at Lifeissues.net website: http://www.lifeissues.net
(3) All past issues of Newsletter available online. Click here: http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0
SUPPORT US: consider a donation to LIFEISSUES.NET:
(1) Online: http://www.lifeissues.net/help_us.html
(2) Or by mail donation: Saint Kolbe Foundation, 25108 Marguerite Parkway, #B-250, Mission Viejo, CA 92692-2400, U.S.A. (or directly to Fr. Jerry Novotny OMI.)
CONTACT EDITOR: Jerry Novotny OMI, Akebono-cho 1-15-9, Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072;
tel/fax: 088-843-0406]; email: jerry@lifeissues.net (or) jerry@star.quolia.com
WEBSITES BY EDITOR
*English site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
*Japanese site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
*OMI site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html
TOP
Atlantic Marian Gathering - 2005
TOP
Parents May Be Victims of Tsunami - Two Year old Boy
Please pass on this information to everyone in your entire network. We are looking for this boy’s family.
He is about two years of age and was found in Khoa Lak without his parents. Nobody knows what country he comes from. If anyone known who this child is, please contact us by phone at 076-249400-4 Ext. 1336, Ext. 1339 or by E-Mail:
info@phuket-inter-hospital.co.th.
TOP
Aliant’s Support Of Tsunami Relief Efforts
Aliant is providing Free long-distance calls for their residential customers who have called, or will call, tsunami-hit countries between December 26th, 2004, and February 28th, 2005. The company announced it would also donate $25,000 to the Canadian Red Cross's relief fund, and match employee and pensioner donations to the same fund up to an additional $25,000.
"During this time of tremendous need and international support, we are taking action as a company to contribute to the relief efforts," Jay Forbes, the company's president and CEO, said.
Click here for more details and the list of countries applicable for the free long distance.
TOP
Sobey's Receipts Are Valuable
Please don't throw away your Sobey's receipts. Click here and see why!
TOP
Upcoming Link to Queenship of Mary Fraternity - Quarterly Newsletter
Secular Franciscan Order (SFO)
TOP
I have just sent off my letter in defense of marriage to my MP, the Prime Minister and a handful of other provincial and federal politicians through a simple process called "1 Click Lobbyist."
All it takes is five minutes to let your voice be heard at http://www.1clicklobbyist.ca/index.php?affid=216
I hope that you will visit the site and consider taking 5 Minutes to make a difference in the future of Canada.
TOP
NBC Shows Sad Reality . . . Kids Feel Trapped by World Adults Create
To: National Desk
Contact: April Kurtz of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, 605-335-3643
SIOUX FALLS, SD, Jan. 27 /Christian Wire Service/ -- In a heart-breaking special on NBC last night, Katie Couric talked with 20 teens gathered from around the United States on their attitudes about sexual activity. Two common threads drew all 20 youth together. One, the overwhelming majority did not have sexual experience, and two, most felt pressured by society and individuals to engage in sexual activity. These uniting ties were consistent with a national poll of 1,000 youth conducted by NBC and People Magazine in preparation for the show.
Watching teens admit feeling pressured to engage in sexual activity has many upset.
”Where is the outrage today?” asked Jessemyn Pekari, Communications Director for the Abstinence Clearinghouse. These kids admitted that they couldn't get away from sex; that it is everywhere and they feel they are becoming desensitized to it. This show was a desperate cry for help. Is anybody listening?
Janet Jackson, Desperate Housewives, MTV, and more are pushing dangerous behavior on an entire generation of teens and so few in the media seem to care. Even NBC, in their quest to understand teenage sexual activity, promoted it by showing graphic sexual videos to the teens during their time with Katie Couric.
Abstinence educators understand the real world facing teens today. Unlike others, they believe in empowering teens to feel good about waiting until marriage to engage in sexual activity.
Teens feel forced to grow up. “Our culture is pressuring them into sexual activity for which they are neither physically, emotionally, nor financially prepared to handle,” said Leslee Unruh, president of the Abstinence Clearinghouse. It's time for adults to behave like adults and to make our culture a safe place for kids to live.
Upton Sinclair, in his book The Jungle, wrote about child labor, and in so doing, challenged the entire world to rethink how children were treated during the time of the Industrial Revolution. It's time for another revolution on behalf of children. A Cultural Revolution. Abstinence educators have begun the battle. Who will join the fight?
The Abstinence Clearinghouse is a non-profit national educational organization that promotes the appreciation for and practice of sexual abstinence through distribution of age-appropriate, factual and medically-accurate materials. The Clearinghouse was founded to provide a central location where character, relationship and abstinence programs, curricula, speakers, and materials could be accessed. The Clearinghouse serves agencies on a national, state and local level, as well as international organizations.
To learn about the many benefits of becoming an affiliate of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, please visit the www.abstinence.net web site.
TOP
A Critical Decision for Canadians
The Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy is placing the above billboard message at strategic, high-traffic points across the country.
With Members of Parliament returning to Ottawa to debate gay marriage, Canadians must assert themselves NOW. As citizens we must demand a direct and decisive say in this important issue.
If we are ever to get control of our parties, judges and constitution, now is the time.
Billboards are a cost-effective way to broadcast the message, and the Citizens Centre has already selected prime billboard sites in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa. But we're a grassroots group and we can't do it without your support. You can donate securely on-line here (www.citizenscentre.com/support.html), in any amount.
WHO WE ARE
The Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy is a national non-profit organization based in Edmonton promoting “responsible government.” This means government that is honest, accountable and constitutional. www.citizenscentre.com
|
The Centre is chaired by Link Byfield, one of Alberta’s four senators-elect, and an award-winning journalist who was for many years editor and publisher of the high-profile Alberta and Western Report newsmagazines.
In 25 years of political journalism he has developed extensive contacts and personal relationships with national policy-setters. |
The operations manager is Craig Docksteader, who served in the same capacity for many years with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and later the Centre for Prairie Agriculture.
The Citizens Centre’s main activities at present are to promote a national referendum on marriage, greater public awareness of federal corruption, and provincial election of Senate candidates across Canada. |
|
THE REFERENDUM STRATEGY
In the past three weeks, over sixteen thousand Canadians have used the Citizens Centre's website to e-mail Paul Martin and nine other national policy-leaders (including the Supreme Court) on the need to settle the marriage question openly, fairly and democratically.
That’s over 160,000 e-mail messages to Ottawa. Paper copies of those e-mails are now being sent to all recipients.
However, the Referendum Campaign requires much higher public visibility.
Evidence abounds, and grows every day, that most Canadians want the government to settle this issue by referendum.
The most cost-effective way of making media and politicians deal with this issue properly is to place the message “let the people decide” on billboards along major traffic arteries across the country.
Like everyone else, jounalists and politicians notice billboards. They're too big to ignore.
THERE’S NO “FREE VOTE”
Paul Martin has said that as a Roman Catholic he personally is against gay marriage, but that the “courts” have forced him to introduce a law legalizing it. (In legal and constitutional fact, the “courts” have done nothing of the sort. He’s doing it for political gain. Still, since he’s ready to violate his own conscience for political gain, how long will it be before he violates yours?)
He says it will be a “free vote” in Parliament, even though he is forcing the entire 39-member Liberal cabinet to support the Bill, whether or not it violates their consciences or the clear wishes of their constituents.
By binding the cabinet, of course, Martin also binds the vote of any Liberal backbenchers with cabinet ambitions.
Jack Layton, meanwhile, says it will not be a “free vote” for his 19 MPs, because gay marriage is an established “Charter right.” It isn’t, of course, but in his effort to make it one he will force his caucus to toe the NDP party line.
With 58 Liberal and NDP MPs -- one fifth of the House -- under direct orders to vote in favor, how can anyone pretend this is a “free vote”? It isn’t.
Conservative leader Steve Harper holds a position that is more democratic. His party formally opposes the Bill, but individual Tory MPs will be free to vote as they please, and a few will support it. Still, Harper is hoping there are enough Tory and backbench Liberals to defeat it.
But even if there are, what then? Since 2003, gay marriages have been taking place in most provinces on orders from various lower courts. The Liberal Bill, if it passes, would make it legal everywhere. But even if the Bill is defeated or withdrawn, gay marriage will remain legal across most of the country.
REFERENDUM IS THE ONLY ANSWER
Under Canada’s constitutional system, Parliament may call a referendum -- as it did with the Charlottetown Accord in 1992. The results are not legally binding, but, as with Charlottetown, they are politically compelling.
In fact, referendums are a common method around the world to settle thorny constitutional questions.
Like Charlottetown, referendums have a way of answering questions for the long term. They give people a chance to discuss the issue, the motive to really think it through, and the power to dispose of it, one way or the other.
In the case of same-sex marriage, both sides claim to speak for the majority.
There’s only one way to find out which one does.
WE’LL KEEP YOU INFORMED
Events and opinions are changing daily on this issue, and at the Citizens Centre we’re following them closely. If you’d like us to keep you promptly informed of the key developments, you can use the following link to receive daily news and commentary from around the country. http://www.citizenscentre.com/subscribe.html. Be sure to select the "Daily National News on the Marriage Issue" which is third from the top.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Canada is approaching a key moment of decision. How we as Canadians decide this very important question will determine more than just the meaning of marriage. It will determine whether we will rule ourselves democratically or surrender all important decisions to party leaders and the judges they appoint to the courts.
But freedom and democracy depend on the willingness of citizens to act on their beliefs. Please contribute to the cost of this project. You can donate securely on-line here (www.citizenscentre.com/support.html), in any amount.
Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy
203, 10441 - 178 Street
Edmonton, AB T5S 1R5
1-866-666-6768
www.citizenscentre.com
|
TOP
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Even though abortion is illegal in Sri Lanka, abortion is widely practiced and the law enforcers turn a blind eye. Abortifacient drugs are freely available here and no one objects. The FPA do sex education programs in our schools and work places with the support of the ministry of education. The UNFPA have been working with the ministry of health for the last 20 years and there are programs where people are paid to come and get sterilized. Marie Stopes also operate here. There has been no resistance to all this in our country so far. We need your support very much. The immediate issue is the bill on women's rights, which has to be stopped. (Read #12 below)
In Ukraine, Pro Life takes a small step. On November 3, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law, which partially restricts abortion. The previously law had allowed abortion up to 28 weeks, now with the new law abortions are limited to 22 weeks. Further, previously a handicapped person could be sterilized against his or her will. Now this is a crime. This is a small step in the right direction as abortion in the Ukraine is the most popular method of family planning. But also it is very clear that one of the reasons that the Ukraine has such a catastrophically low birth rate is that it has one of the highest abortion rates in the world.
In Spain, morals are deteriorating. It has been six months since Socialists in Spain replaced the previous conservative government. Prime Minister Zapatero has proven to be an aggressive radical in seeking moral changes. He has made proposals to legalize homosexual marriages, to legalize abortion on demand and to allow the killing of human embryos to obtain embryonic stem cells for destructive research. He is also proposing simplifying divorce proceedings and drastically reducing religious instruction in schools. Not surprisingly, Spanish Catholic leaders who had enjoyed good relations with the previous government are shell-shocked and have protested vocally. To date, however, it seems that his radical anti-religious socialist agenda is moving ahead.
God Bless
Jerry Novotny, OMI
p.s. It's been more than five weeks since an earthquake-induced tsunami devastated coastal communities in south east Asia. We ask for continued prayer support for the victims living in those areas. Thank you.
"Whatever its motives or means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable. Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator." (Catechism 2277)
Lifeissues.net NEWSLETTER #212
January 30, 2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Philippines: government rejects artificial contraception
2. U.S. Bishops' Pro-Life Secretariat Office Launches Ads to Dispel Myths About Legal Abortion
3. India's HIV/AIDS Epidemic 'Bordering on Catastrophe,’
4. 'Roe': 'I don't want any more women ... injured by abortion'
5. Catholic Church Praises Woman Who Refused Cancer Treatment – Abortion
6. Martin vows to pursue Canada gay marriage law
7. Fresh wave of child soldiers in Sri Lanka after tsunamis
8. Mom, hospital fight for boy's future
9. Leukemia and Heart Patients Treated with Stem Cells
10. National Geographic Reports Human/Animal Hybrid Creatures being Created in Labs Around the World
11. Embryology: Inconvenient Facts
12. URGENT REQUEST: Dr. Eshan Dias, Sri Lanka
"NEW" ARTICLES POSTED RECENTLY at http://www.lifeissues.net
– Theresa Burke: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=bur
– Ronald Rolheiser: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=ron
– Jeff J. Koloze: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=kol
– Barbara Kralis: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=kra
– Germain Kopaczynski: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=kop
– Joyce C. Lock: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=loc
– Ron Panzer: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=pan
New Website: STOPP – http://www.all.org/stopp/scouts/. This website gives a picture of the relationship between the many Girl Scout councils and Planned Parenthood.
ITEM #1. Philippines: Government Rejects Artificial Contraception
The government of the Philippines has refused to endorse condom use as a means of family planning, the Asia News service reports.
The Philippines, with a population of 84 million people, has a population growth rate of 2.3 percent, one of the highest in the world. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said last year that she intends to bring the rate down to 1.9 percent, but has refused to endorse artificial contraceptives. Her government has instead opted for a policy "of natural family development."
Although acknowledging that condoms may prevent the spread of AIDS, government health minister Manuel Dayrit said that the government's population control program was separate from its AIDS prevention program.
Source: CWN http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=34829
ITEM #2. U.S. Bishops' Pro-Life Secretariat Office Launches Ads to Dispel Myths About Legal Abortion
The Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a major advertising campaign presenting basic facts about legal abortion.
The project, titled the "Second Look Project," is running ads in the Washington area as well as throughout the US, including over 500 transit ads in Washington, as well as spots in The Washington Post, the Washington Times, the National Catholic Register, America, Commonweal, the New Republic, and the National Review. "While abortion has been legal in the US for three decades," their web site explains, "polls continue to show that people do not have very basic information about abortion, such as when during pregnancy it is legal, or why it is generally performed. The Second Look Project offers information to help people make informed decisions based on fact rather than emotion."
"Three decades after Roe v. Wade, many people still do not understand basic facts about legal abortion – like the fact that abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy," said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Esq., Director of Planning and Information for the Secretariat.
"Recent polls showing support for Roe v. Wade describe Roe as the decision which legalized abortion in the first 3 months of pregnancy, a flagrant distortion of the truth," said Ruse. "Roe created an unlimited right to abortion and most people think an unlimited right to abortion is wrong."
"The Second Look Project is innovative because it provides basic facts about legal abortion, and lets the facts speak for themselves," said Ruse.
The ads direct viewers to a website with additional and supporting information: http://www.secondlookproject.org/
ITEM #3. India's HIV/AIDS Epidemic 'Bordering on Catastrophe,'
Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) last week after visiting India and areas affected by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami said the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country is "bordering on catastrophe" and renewed their commitment to provide funding for HIV treatment and prevention in the country, PTI/newkarala.com reports. Corzine and Pallone – who founded the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans – attended a meeting about India's response to the epidemic at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, with officials from CDC, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also attending, according to PTI/newkarala.com. "Over five million people in India are infected with HIV, a pandemic which is bordering on catastrophe," Corzine said, adding, "India's HIV/AIDS crisis is felt beyond its own borders and is heartbreaking to those of Indian recent in New Jersey, the U.S. and throughout the world.
This crisis requires an immediate infusion of international assistance, including increased surveillance and monitoring to create a better understanding of the scope of the global AIDS crisis and accelerated training of medical personnel." Pallone said that he "was heartened by the level of commitment" of the Indian Parliament to "stop the spread of this terrible disease." He added, "I am determined to parallel these efforts in the U.S. Congress" (PTI/newkarala.com, 1/22).
For More Information:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=27763
ITEM #4. 'Roe': 'I don't want any more women ... injured by abortion'
Jane Roe, whose 1973 Supreme Court case struck down state laws against abortion, petitioned the high court on Jan. 18 to vacate that decision or order a new trial on the grounds that abortion hurts women.
Norma McCorvey was joined on the steps of the high court by women who said the public needs to know about the mental and physical damage that their abortions caused them and other women. "I don't want any more women to be injured by abortion," said Miss McCorvey, who reversed her stance on the issue after having worked in abortion clinics and undergoing a religious conversion in 1995.
She says she is now "forgiven by Jesus" for her role in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case. "I plead with all that I am for the Supreme Court to take Roe v. Wade and reverse it," she said.
The petition Miss McCorvey wants the high court to hear was denied by a federal district court and a federal appeals court. It cites a federal rule that allows a party in a case to ask that the judgment be vacated if it is no longer equitable or there is some other reason the ruling shouldn't be in effect.
The Supreme Court granted such a request in 1997 in a religious liberties case, attorneys for Miss McCorvey said.
View full text at The Washington Times:
http://www.americasnewspaper.com/bottom.shtml
ITEM #5. Catholic Church Praises Woman Who Refused Cancer Treatment-Abortion
The Catholic Church is praising a pregnant woman who died recently after refusing to have cancer treatment that would have required her to have an abortion. Rita Fedrizzi gave birth to a health baby boy three months ago, but passed away this week.
The Vatican's newspaper (L'Osservatore Romano) says the 41 year-old woman was diagnosed with cancer about the same time she discovered she was pregnant.
Though she could have had an abortion and proceeded with the cancer treatment, Church officials applauded her for "the choice of welcoming new life, even at the cost of her own death.''
"She was aware that if she gave birth she wouldn't have had any hope of surviving," the Vatican newspaper wrote. "Despite that she went through with her choice."
The baby boy, Frederico, was born after six months of pregnancy, according to an AP report.
"Rita's choice, which I always shared, was a choice of faith," her husband, Enrico Ferrari, told the Italian news agency ANSA. He said Fedrizzi always considered Frederico "a gift."
"Whenever someone recommended abortion as the only way to escape (death), she would say, 'It's as if they're asking me to kill one of my other two children to save my skin," he said.
View article at LifeNews.com:
http://www.lifenews.com/nat1151.html
ITEM #6. Martin vows to pursue Canada gay marriage law
New Brunswick (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said Thursday that he would press ahead with legislation to permit same-sex marriage, but unhappy legislators in his Liberal Party predicted a long fight before it becomes law.
Dissident Liberals fear the issue could sink Martin's fragile minority government and the divisive issue looks set to dominate a new session of Parliament, which opens next week.
"Among the first pieces of legislation (introduced) will be the bill ... on the redefinition of marriage," Martin said.
"I am very confident that we will win the vote," he said at a news conference after a three-day meeting of Liberal legislators in the Atlantic province of New Brunswick.
Courts in seven of the 10 provinces and in one territory have ruled in favor of gay marriage, and Martin says a Canada wide law would prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Some who oppose the plan, primarily the main opposition Conservative Party, have suggested gay marriage could one day lead to the legalization of polygamy.
Read full article at CNN.com:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/01/27/canada.marriage.reut/index.html
ITEM #7. Fresh wave of child soldiers in Sri Lanka after tsunamis
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had taken three children from a relief centre for survivors in the northeastern region of Trincomalee and another from the neighbouring Batticaloa district, UNICEF said. The other children had been recruited from areas of the northeast held by the guerrillas, UNICEF spokesman Geoffrey Keele said. "We have 40 cases of confirmed child recruitment since the tsunamis," Keele said. "We had hoped that with such a disaster the LTTE would have ended this practice. But unfortunately no." A child as young as 13 was among the 22 boys and 18 girls recruited by the Tigers despite repeated international condemnation of the practice. Most of them were aged between 15 and 17.
View full text at Daily times:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-1-2005_pg4_26
ITEM #8. Mom, hospital fight for boy's future
A 4-month-old baby boy, diagnosed with a fatal, inherited skeletal disorder, is at the center of a rare court case that pits a mother's love against a hospital's medical judgment.
As a result, Texas Children's Hospital finds itself in the middle of a situation that hospital officials say they've never encountered before: The infant's mother, Wanda Hudson, is fighting to block the facility from shutting off the machines that keep her son alive.
COMMENT 1: Note that the article states the baby is "sedated for comfort" but then says he "is not conscious and doesn't move." These kinds of inconsistencies naturally raise suspicions, especially since Houston actually put its "futility policies" into law a few years ago. As the article states, "Texas law allows doctors and hospitals to make some decisions involving life support, even if they conflict with family wishes." So much for old "right to die" argument that everyone needs a "living will." Why bother when the hospital and ethicists can legally make such decisions despite your wishes? (Nancy Valko, RN)
COMMENT 2: We know about the case in Akron, Ohio involving an infant, and now this case in Houston. A court will now make the decision as to whether this infant will be euthanized or not. Rest assured, there are many, many more out there we do not hear about. This pitting of hospitals against the patients or their guardians will create an atmosphere of mistrust. For some, that has already occurred. Since this parent disputes this hospital's diagnosis, where is the second opinion in all this? We should not be appalled that this "team of specialists" concluded "it would be unethical to continue with care that is futile and prolongs Sun's suffering." The keyword is futile. One paragraph notes there are ethical dilemmas created by medical technology. What are the technologies? The reader is not told. The reader is not told that this medical technology is responsible for the drugs they ingest, the machines that are used on them, even a simple blood pressure cuff and stethoscope, and the research, which improves drugs, machines, and bodies.
Check article at Houston Chronicle:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3009228
ITEM #9. Leukemia and Heart Patients Treated with Stem Cells
(LifeSiteNews.com) - Stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood from four Hawaiian newborns has been matched to four Asian patients on the mainland with aggressive forms of leukemia. "These four people had a second chance from something we would have tossed in the trash," said Dr. Randal Wada.
Dr. Wada, founder and medical director of the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank is trying to convince Hawaiian mothers to donate the umbilical cords of their children at the time of birth. The umbilical cord blood bank he opened in 1998 is the only one operating in the Pacific Rim.
Despite the fact that cord blood is well known to be one of the richest sources of stem cells, there are fewer than two dozen cord blood banks in the US and even fewer in Canada. The stem cells available from cord blood have many of the same qualities as embryo stem cells that make them particularly useful for medical application, without any of the moral or medical problems of embryonic stem cells.
In related news, a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Asociacion Espanola Primera de Socorros Mutuos in Montevideo, Uruguay, the Benetti Foundation in Rosario, Argentina, and Baylor University in Texas, announced they have repaired damaged heart tissue using adult stem cells.
The research team told a meeting of the Society for Thoracic Surgery in Florida, that they were not sure exactly how it worked, but that stem cells inserted into the hearts of fifteen patients had adhered to the damaged areas and restored heart function to nearly healthy levels. "All patients were discharged home within two days," the researchers said in a statement. "Early echocardiograms showed a 35 percent improvement in ejection fraction for patients who received the cells, versus only 5 percent for the control group."
The cells, derived from the patients' bone marrow, were injected into a small slit in the chest, and obviated the necessity of heart transplant surgery, which is painful and dangerous.
These breakthroughs are being accompanied by detailed examination of the complex internal system of stem cells. A study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center funded by the National Institutes of Health has discovered an intricate set of chemical signals that stem cells use to regulate their environment.
The findings, available online in today's issue of Current Biology will help researchers understand and manipulate the complex chemical system that tells a stem cell to turn on or off certain genes. These signals determine if a cell will become some particular type of tissue, or remain a stem cell.
"We want to understand the biochemistry behind stem cells that distinguishes them from other types of cells," said Dr. Dennis McKearin, associate professor of molecular biology and associate dean for the Medical Scientist Training Program at UT Southwestern. "This work aids in understanding general stem cell biology."
Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
http://starbulletin.com/2005/01/23/news/story6.html
Reuters coverage of heart research:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-01-26T020845Z_01_N25382662_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-HEALTH-HEART-CELLS-DC.XML
Innovations Report:
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-39405.html
ITEM #10. National Geographic Reports Human/Animal Hybrid Creatures being Created in Labs Around the World
(LifeSiteNews.com) - The January 25 edition of National Geographic News features a story on new research being done around the world to create hybrids of humans and animals.
In the last few years, legislation has been passed in various countries that pro-life leaders worry will allow experiments to create embryos made from human and animal cells. Such artificial creatures are, revealingly, called by scientists "chimeras," a word, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, which means "a wild, impossible scheme or unreal conception."
That scientists have no name for what they are creating in laboratories does not seem to deter them. National Geograph
