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News Ticker provided by LifeSiteNews.Com
Index of News Items
TOP
Poll - Majority Of Canadians Would Support Conservative Government Restricting
Abortion
By John-Henry Westen
OTTAWA, February 15, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Ipsos-Reid poll released
by CanWest Global has revealed that a majority of Canadians would oppose opposition
parties toppling the Conservative government over abortion restrictions. The
poll also found that, by an even larger margin, Canadians would oppose ousting
the Conservatives if they tried to pass a law making same sex 'marriage' illegal.
Even though the poll used language biased in favour of abortion and homosexual
'marriage' support, the results found Canadians unwilling to harbour a government
ouster based on the measures.
Rather than speaking of offering protection for unborn children, or even fetuses,
the poll asked, "Would you support or oppose the opposition parties voting
the Conservatives out if they try to pass a law that limits a woman's access
to abortion."
50% of the 1000 Canadian adults surveyed by phone from January 31 to February
2, said they would oppose it, while 45% said they would support it.
On the marriage question, rather than asking about the restoration of the traditional
definition of marriage, the poll asked, "Would you support or oppose the
opposition parties voting the Conservatives out if they try to pass a law that
makes same-sex marriages illegal."
54% of respondents said they would oppose ousting the government over it and
45% said they would support the ouster.
Far more contentious, according to the poll, was the issue of private health
care. Should the Conservative government "move to give private for profit
health care a bigger role in Canada"; a majority of Canadians (48%) would
support their ouster, while only 46% would oppose it.
The poll's margin of error was listed as 3.1%.
TOP
South Dakota Governor Signs Historic Human Rights Legislation Banning Most
Abortions
Hurray - It's a mighty start in a long road ahead.
South Dakota Governor Signs Historic Human Rights Legislation Banning Most
Abortions. "Abortion profiteers will work to subvert the will of the people
of South Dakota through legal challenges..." states prominent Roman Catholic
Priest.
FRONT ROYAL, Va., Mar. 6 /Christian Newswire/ - The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President of Human Life International (HLI), responds to the Signing of legislation
banning most abortions in South Dakota.
"The people of South Dakota have spoken, and they have demanded an end
to the killing of pre-born babies by groups like Planned Parenthood in their
backyard."
"Planned Parenthood along with other abortion profiteers will work to
subvert the will of the people of South Dakota through legal challenges, but
the inevitable march toward complete legal protection for persons from conception
to natural death has been advanced one more step."
"Governor Rounds is a hero, and all Americans should be proud of his moral
courage and integrity. As a Catholic Priest I am delighted to see a Roman Catholic
play such an important role in the creation of a culture of life in the United
States..." concluded the Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer.
Founded in 1981, Human Life International is the world's largest pro-life,
pro-family organization that is dedicated to defending life, faith and the family,
with branches and affiliates around the world.
Christian Newswire (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qjehmtbab.0.gaxitrbab.tuqepibab.948&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiannewswire.org)
To: National & International Desks
Contact: Jason Jones, Media Director for Human Life International, 540-551-0217,
jjones@hli.org
Human Life International - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qjehmtbab.0.ylhnxrbab.tuqepibab.948&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hli.org%2F
Forward this press release to another reporter or news producer.
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Christian Communication Network | 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW | Washington
| DC | 20006
TOP
Lifeissues.net Newsletter #264 - February 26, 2006
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
What is the hidden story behind EC Pills? The answer: they increase pregnancy.
There has been a major push across the US and in many other countries to sell
so-called emergency contraception (EC) pills over-the-counter without a prescription.
The claim has been that this will reduce abortion and pregnancy rates. New information
from Britain has now confirmed a January study in the Journal of the American
Medical Association. These report that selling EC over the counter has not reduced
pregnancy or abortion. In fact, both have risen in Britain since these were
made available. It is also noted that "sexually transmitted diseases"
have increased sharply since these were made available. What is obvious is that
older men now find it easier to exploit younger women by merely giving them
pills after their Saturday night sexual encounter.
There's strong objection to EU's Embryonic Stem Cell Funding and rightly so.
According to LifeSiteNews.com 29 Nov., officials from six European countries
have registered objections to the European Union funding embryonic stem cell
research. These include Malta, Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovakia and Poland.
These countries have petitioned the European Union to support adult stem cell
research instead and to leave decisions about embryonic stem cell funding to
the individual states. We note once more that the only way to obtain embryonic
stem cells is to directly kill a 5-day-old living human embryo and to extract
these cells from the interior of his or her tiny forming body.
According to the prestigious British journal, the Lancet, 4 June, this pro-abortion
medical journal ran an editorial entitled, Stem Cell Research Hope and Hype.
It declared, "No safe and effective stem cell therapy will be widely available
for at least a decade, and possibly longer." They were referring to embryonic
stem cells not adult ones. In the same issue, Dr. Neil Scolding at Bristol University
stated, "An increasing appreciation of the hazards of embryonic stem cells
has rightly prevented the immergence or immediate prospect of any clinical theories
based on such cells. The natural propensity of embryonic stem cells to form
tumors, their exhibition of chromosomal abnormalities and abnormalities in cloned
mammals all present difficulties."
God Bless, Jerry Novotny, OMI
QUOTE: "Too often have sins against humanity been justified in the name
of 'justice' to women. Too often have we heard women claim to be working for
'women's rights,' when they are actually working for 'women's wrongs.'"
- Helen Hull Hitchcock
Lifeissues.net NEWSLETTER #264 - February 26, 2006
Table Of Contents:
1. HIV and AIDS: Creating Child Headed Households
- The Reality of Taking Over Responsibility
2. Mandatory abortion proposed in Holland
3. Let's Fight This Terrible Crime Against Our Children
4. Breast Cancer Rates and Deaths to Increase, Women's Group Blames Abortion
5. UK Out of Wedlock Births: 1980 12%, 2004 42%
6. Russia's abandoned HIV children
7. Asia awakening to the realities of HIV/AIDS epidemic
8. The future of making babies
9. There is no stop button in the race for human re-engineering
10. France's Baby Boom Isn't Enough to Reverse Aging Population
11. Stanford Bioethics Consultants for "Research Ethics" Include Weissman
and NIH as Their Clients - Connect the Dots
12. United Nations Pushing Abortion Politics in Peru
"New" Articles Posted Recently at http://www.lifeissues.net)
- John B. Shea: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=she
- Dianne N. Irving: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=irv
- Hank Mattimore: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mat
- Dot McGinnis: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mcg
- Brian Clowes: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=clo
- Karen Malec: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mal
- David C. Reardon: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=rea
[Website: The Howard Center] http://www.profam.org/.
This website emphasizes the Home for solutions. Every human life is a gift to
the person, the family and society. Loving families cherish and serve all their
members, including the weak, aged and handicapped. Taking innocent human life
through abortion and euthanasia is wrong; respect for human life demands that
we choose the life-protecting options of adoption and palliative care. The destruction
of embryonic human beings, lethal human embryo experimentation and abortifacients
also involve wrongful takings of human life. All experimentation and research
on human beings should be beneficial to the particular human subject. Trafficking
in the organs and limbs of aborted children and other human beings, cloning
humans and human-genetic engineering treat human life as a commodity and should
not be allowed. Animal-human genetic experimentation is a crime against humanity.
Policy should respect the inherent dignity of human life.
Item #1. HIV And AIDS: Creating Child Headed Households
- The Reality Of Taking Over Responsibility
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has robbed many young people of their childhood.
Losing both or one parent to AIDS has catapulted them into taking over the
responsibility of parenting that demands they become the providers for siblings
and deal with all issues that parents have to deal with.
It begins with the children being witness to the effects of the virus on their
parents, often being part and parcel of providing care. Then they have to deal
with the passing of a parent and the realization of the immense responsibility
they are left with, to take care of the family.
Although there are cases where boys have had to take on this responsibility,
it is more common that the oldest girl child within a family, who is able, will
then become the mother to the family.
This has led to orphaned young girls trying to be a mother as well as trying
to continue with their education. The demand at home is so great that many drop
out of school in order to give their full attention to caring for the family.
The financial demands of the family can become so immense that with no assistance
available from other family members, opting for commercial sex becomes any easy
solution for many young girls.
The future for such girls is bleak. They find it difficult to provide financially
for the family and become more involved in commercial sex, putting themselves
at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
View full article at allAfrica.com: http://allafrica.com/stories/200602200246.html
Item #2. Mandatory Abortion Proposed In Holland
(Official calls for debate to deal with issue of unwanted children)
A health official in the Netherlands has called for a debate on the idea of
forced abortion and contraception to deal with what she sees as a crisis of
unwanted children.
Alderman Marianne van den Anker of the Leefbaar Rotterdam Party wants specifically
to target communities of Antilleans and Arubans where she sees the biggest problems
of unwanted children.
Her comments have stirred protest by a health foundation working with those
communities in Rotterdam. The group, which called the comments degrading, is
asking Mayor Ivo Opstelten and other politicians to distance themselves from
Van den Anker's views.
Van den Anker is a mother of two children and the official in charge of Rotterdam's
health and security portfolios.
In an interview in a newspaper Saturday, she said she had tried everything
to prevent child abuse.
"I fail, I fail," she told the interviewer as she outlined her controversial
idea for a debate on compulsory abortion and contraception.
The target groups for her program are Antillean teenage mothers; drug addicts
and people with mental handicaps, she said, according to a report in Expatica.
According to the report, Van den Anker said children from these groups run
an "unacceptable risk" of growing up without love and with "violence,
neglect, mistreatment and sexual abuse."
View full commentary at WorldNetDaily.com: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48930
Item #3. Let's Fight This Terrible Crime Against
Our Children
Statistics show that child pornography is the fastest-growing of all Internet
businesses, estimated to bring in several billion dollars a year. But while
such information may enrage or frighten us, it changes nothing. Our knowledge
of cold statistics will not alter the conduct of those who take pleasure or
profit in the exploitation of children. Instead, if we are to wage war, we must
know our enemy. We need to know more about those who create this unspeakable
"product," why they do it and the various ways it is used.
The term "pornography" may give rise to discussions about what constitutes
art. It may invoke issues of free speech or censorship. But no matter how you
feel about pornography in general, child pornography does not belong in that
debate. No child is capable, emotionally or legally, of consenting to being
photographed for sexual purposes. Thus, every image of a sexually displayed
child - be it a photograph, a tape or a DVD - records both the rape of the child
and an act against humanity.
Child pornography has become a business so profitable that it is no longer
limited to pedophiles. Demand exceeds supply and always will. (Some pedophiles,
if they had the resources, would acquire a copy of every single piece of child
pornography ever produced.) The risk/gain ratio is extremely favorable. And
the return on investment is extraordinary. What crime syndicate would pass up
such an opportunity?
View full text at parade.com: http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2006/edition_02-19-2006/Andrew_Vachss
Item #4. Breast Cancer Rates And Deaths To Increase,
Women's Group Blames Abortion
The number of women who have contracted breast cancer and are dying from the
disease is on the rise and a women's group is blaming abortion for causing the
problem.
Leading breast cancer awareness groups say they expect 5,170 more breast cancer
cases and 560 more deaths than last year. In 2006, there are 274,900 expected
cases of breast cancer and just under 41,000 women are expected to die from
the disease this year.
One reason the numbers keep increasing is that such groups are failing to inform
women that avoiding abortions and carrying a pregnancy to term can help reduce
the risk of contracting the disease.
Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, blamed the
government's National Cancer Institute (NCI) and breast cancer awareness groups
for lying about the abortion-breast cancer link.
Harvard researchers showed two decades ago that increased childbearing, starting
at an earlier age, decreases risk, Malec explained. Meanwhile research shows
that having an abortion, especially as a teenager or before a woman carries
her first pregnancy to term, increases the breast cancer risk.
View full text at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/nat2095.html
Item #5. UK Out Of Wedlock Births: 1980 12%, 2004
42%
(LifeSiteNews.com) - The number of children born outside of marriage has skyrocketed
to 42% from 12% previously in 1980, according to statistics released from the
UK's Office for National Statistics.
"Although most children are born to married couples, this substantial
rise in births outside marriage is a reflection of the rising trend in cohabiting
parents," said ONS editor Hayley Butcher, according to a BBC report.
The UK is fourth in Europe for number of births outside marriage, after Sweden,
Denmark and France. The trend not only reflects higher rates of unwed partnering,
but also higher rates of single mother parenthood.
Dr Peter Brierley, executive director of Christian Research, commented to the
UK's Telegraph that if current trends continue, more than half of UK children
will be born out of wedlock by 2012. "If we get to the stage where more
than half of children are born outside marriage, we are fundamentally changing
the basis on which society has worked for centuries," he warned. "A
whole range of traditional thoughts about 'home,' 'marriage' and 'living together'
will have to be re-examined."
Dr Brierley cautioned that the big problem is the effect that unstable families
will have on children. "Psychologists say the children from single-parent
families do not achieve so much or behave so well as those raised by married
families," he said. "There is much more at stake here than statistics,"
he added. "The implications are quite frightening."
Children born from cohabiting couples are half as likely to be raised by both
parents as those born to married parents, according to Essex University professor
John Ermisch, who wrote a report for the Economic and Research Council.
Item #6. Russia's Abandoned HIV Children
Russia has one of the fastest growing Aids epidemics in the world, with 100
new infections every day. Increasingly, women and their infants are being affected.
Latest figures show 22,000 babies have been born to HIV-positive women. And
many are being abandoned by their mothers into the care of the state.
View full article at BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4735006.stm
Item #7. Asia Awakening To The Realities Of HIV/AIDS
Epidemic
Chu Minh Chinh, 31, feels like he is carrying the weight of the world on his
shoulders. Certainly, he has the track marks on his arms to prove it.
Chu, a motorbike taxi driver, has HIV. He also has an all-consuming heroin
habit. The only way to feed it is to keep working. Explaining his twice-daily
trips to score from a central city dealer, Chu says he's in a Catch-22 situation.
"If I run out of drugs, I get a high fever and really tired. I can't work,"
he says.
He adds, though, that he realizes the dangers of injecting. That's how he contracted
HIV in the first place - by sharing needles.
View full article at asahi.com: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200602220167.html
Item #8. The Future Of Making Babies
We will soon be able to determine our children's personalities, as well as their
gender and health, says Gregory Stock. Indeed, it might be considered reckless
not to
When people ponder the challenges that technology will pose in the generations
ahead, they typically think of global warming or globalization. Such issues,
however, pale beside the question of how we will change ourselves using advancing
technology in the life sciences. The idea that humans might one day transform
their biology seems strange and disturbing - if not downright preposterous -
but genetics and biology are at our core and as we begin to understand and adjust
them, we are changing ourselves.
Two unprecedented revolutions are under way today. The first is the silicon
revolution. Here, we are breathing into inert sand - the silicon at our feet
- a complexity that rivals life itself. The second is the biotechnology revolution.
As we plumb the workings of life to untangle our very substance, we are beginning
to manipulate its underlying processes and take control of our evolutionary
future. Our science has slammed evolution into "fast forward", and
no one can say where we will end up.
View full text at Global Agenda: http://www.globalagendamagazine.com/2006/Stock.asp
Item #9. There Is No Stop Button In The Race For
Human Re-Engineerin
Science will soon give some of us the tools to make ourselves cleverer and stronger.
What will it mean for our humanity?
Read entire article at The Guardian [UK]: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1698020,00.html
Item #10. France's Baby Boom Isn't Enough To Reverse
Aging Population
France, where the government has promoted large families for 200 years, doesn't
have enough babies.
Cash payments, tax breaks and subsidized childcare have helped make France's
fertility rate the second highest in Europe. It still isn't high enough to rescue
the country from an aging population that threatens state spending on pensions
and health.
"Even France, with its great juggernaut of family policies, can't say
they are a success," said Jonathan Grant, director of Rand Europe, a research
institute based in Cambridge, England, and the author of a 2004 report on fertility
in Europe.
Aging populations are straining government budgets throughout the region, as
the number of workers supporting each pensioner declines. The working-age population
of Europe will drop to 57 percent in 2050, from 67 percent today, according
to Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency in Luxembourg.
France's fertility rate, or the number of children per woman of child-bearing
age, rose to 1.94 last year, second only to Ireland among European Union nations.
Germany, with Europe's largest population, had a fertility rate of 1.37, below
the EU average of 1.5. Italy, Spain, Greece and seven countries in Eastern Europe
reported even lower rates.
View full text at Bloomberg.com: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aUK_fW2GrWcg&refer=europe
Item #11. Stanford Bioethics Consultants
For "Research Ethics" Include Weissman And NIH As Their Clients -
Connect The Dots
When human embryologist Dr. Ward C. Kischer and I co-authored a book several
years ago entitled, The Human Development Hoax: Time To Tell The Truth! (1995,
revised 1997), we referred to the false science being used then and the decades
before in the human embryo research debates as "the hoax of the century".
We could have never imagined in our wildest dreams the explosion of false and
decadent science that was to come in the human cloning and human embryonic stem
cell research debates - what I would call "the hoax of the millennium".
Enough is enough. This has got to stop. - Dr. Dianne N. Irving, M.A., Ph.D.
View full text at LifeIssues.net: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_119connectdots.html
Item #12. United Nations Pushing Abortion Politics
In Peru
(LifeSiteNews.com) -
A United Nations representative in Peru is urging presidential candidates to
include platforms to legalize the abortifacient morning-after pill (MAP) in
their upcoming April 9 election.
UN envoy Jairo Palacio argues erroneously that the MAP does not constitute
abortion because some groups define pregnancy as occurring after a newly formed
human embryo implants into a mother's womb - one process through which the so-called
emergency contraception acts.
The morning-after pill has been shown conclusively to prevent the already created
child from implanting in the lining of the uterus. The myth of "emergency
contraception" has been very successful in marketing the drug in North
America and Europe where there is little popular perception of abortion as being
wrong. However, public perception in such historically Catholic countries as
Peru, has not allowed such an easy acceptance. Despite public opposition, government
forces have routinely acted to promote the abortifacient.
A 2004 study produced by the World Health Organization, the UN population fund
(UNFPA), and the United Nations Development Program presents their plan for
overcoming resistance to morning-after pills from more "conservative Catholic"
countries. Interestingly, the article commends the "progressive" Catholic
milieu in Brazil which, allows the use of the abortifacient in its national
health programs.
The study identifies the target groups as lower class adolescents and teenage
mothers in "economically deprived areas." Historically, the population
control movement has made no secret of its intention to eradicate the poor as
a solution to poverty.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: World Health Organization Campaigning
with False Science to open Peru to Abortifacients - http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/sep/04090904.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".
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3. All past issues of LifeIssues.net Newsletter available online. Click here:
http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
(These newsletters are an extension of the Website.)
Assistance:
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Contact Editor:
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TOP
Canada Scores Low On Sex Trafficking
Canada an "International Embarrassment" on Sex Trafficking - By Terry
Vanderheyden
MONTREAL, March 2, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Canada and the United Kingdom
have been singled out in an international study for failing to meet their obligations
for the protection of victims of human trafficking, while other developed countries
received praise for their efforts. The study comes at a time when the UK government
is considering an overhaul of its policy in this area, and a new Conservative
Government has taken power in Canada.
The 40-page study, titled "Falling Short of the Mark: An International
Study on the Treatment of Human Trafficking Victims", was released Wednesday
by The Future Group, a leading Canadian non-partisan, non-governmental organization
founded in 2000 that specializes in combating human trafficking and has worked
with victims in Southeast Asia and West Africa.
Of the countries evaluated: Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden,
the United Kingdom and the United States, only Canada and the UK failed to meet
their obligations to protect victims under the United Nations Trafficking Protocol
and international best practices.
"Canada's record of dealing with trafficking victims is an international
embarrassment and contrary to best practices," wrote principal author Benjamin
Perrin. "Canada has ignored calls for reform and continues to re-traumatize
trafficking victims, with few exceptions, by subjecting them to routine deportation
and fails to provide even basic support services."
The situation in Canada is so bad that individual law enforcement officers
are reportedly approaching local hospitals and NGOs to cobble together funding
to provide the most basic medical assistance for victims in major cities.
"People have been threatened and told that if they co-operate with law
enforcement their families back home will be killed," said Perrin. "What
Canada has typically done is detain these victims without medical care, then
deport them. It's a practice that we've seen in some authoritarian and despotic
countries and it has no place in a civilized, just society like our own."
The report criticizes former Liberal cabinet ministers Irwin Cotler, Joe Volpe
and Pierre Pettigrew for "passing the buck" on the issue. Conservative
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg told Sun Media, "It's
very damning, and if there are obvious legislative or regulatory fixes that
need to be done, those have to become priorities, given especially that we're
talking about very vulnerable people."
"I am delighted to endorse the report by The Future Group," said
Gregory Carlin, Director of the Irish Anti-Trafficking Coalition, "Governments
should act by implementing their international obligations. Police officers
should not have to collect money to fund basic prerequisites for the victims
of trafficking."
The study found that contrary to the practice in other developed countries;
trafficking victims in the UK and Canada are dealt with on a case-by-case basis
and are routinely deported. Only minimal support has been provided to victims
in recent years, and only general laws exist for their protection during investigations.
It also found there is no evidence that providing legal status to victims would
result in abuses of the system.
TOP
CBC Resurrects Latimer Case As Justification For Euthanasia
Prof says strong media bias "accelerates the forces that ensure future
violence and more deaths" - By Terry Vanderheyden
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, March 1, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Robert Latimer
is appealing to the newly elected Conservative government and the Supreme Court
to revisit his conviction for killing his disabled daughter in 1993 - with the
CBC complicit in his quest.
The CBC revealed today that it is airing an exclusive Melissa Fung interview
with the killer from his prison cell. The full interview will air on CBC's 'The
National' tonight. Speaking to CBC radio this morning, Fung said that Latimer
blames his prison sentence on religious fundamentalists such as right to life
groups having influenced the Canadian Supreme Court.
Meanwhile a Calgary Sun newspaper poll last year revealed that over 92% of
500 people said Latimer was justified in killing his disabled 12-year-old daughter,
who had cerebral palsy. In that same month, 11 jurors on a Saskatchewan court
unanimously found Latimer guilty of second-degree murder. The probability of
such a discrepancy is less than one in 10,000, according to University of Alberta
professor Dick Sobsey.
Prof. Sobsey contends that the only explanation for such a discrepancy is that
the Canadian media "systematically distorted the information from the trial
that they provided to the public."
Approaching the Latimer issue from his perspective as a disability and violence
researcher, Prof. Sobsey argues that "the attitudes that justify 'mercy
killing' of people with disabilities are viewed not only as a symptom of discrimination
and violence, they are also viewed as a fundamental cause of future violence.
The bias of the Canadian news media not only trivializes the murder of one child
with a disability, it also accelerates the forces that ensure future violence
and more deaths," he adds.
See Prof. Sobsey's article, "The Medi and Robert Latimer" at:
http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:fStsiIA_6A0J:http://www.pcs.mb.ca/~ccd/ch7.html
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: Protecting the Lives of People with
Disabilities: The Robert Latimer Case
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020117a.html
Ten years minimum: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/feb/010220a.html
Disabled Rights Activist Mark Pickup: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/1997/oct/97102803.html
The Effect of Latimer Examined After His First Year in Prison: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/02011803.html
TOP
Catholic Charity Development And Peace Lenten Calendar Links To Abortion
Groups
Calendar of Canadian bishops charity contains bizarre reflections on evolution
- By Terry Vanderheyden
TORONTO, March 2, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A calendar distributed to Canadian
Roman Catholic parishes and meant to be used as a devotional Lenten aid to create
solidarity with the poor of the Third World has links to pro-abortion groups
and reflections that are generally bizarre.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops charity, Canadian Catholic Organization
for Development and Peace, introduced its Share Lent calendar recently, which
among other things encourages Catholics to learn more about environmental issues
raised in their calendar by visiting a number of web sites.
Some web site examples include: the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Sierra Club,
the David Suzuki Foundation, KAIROS Canada, Greenpeace, and others. Many of
these groups have strong pro-abortion and depopulationist agendas.
The Sierra Club of Canada is known to be a strong proponent of population control
measures as supposedly essential to protect the environment. It also formally
labels itself as "pro-choice". Spokesman Elizabeth May warned Canadians
during the recent federal election to vote against Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
because "Harper, like [US President George W] Bush, would challenge a woman's
right to choose."
The WWF in 1998 claimed to find scientific evidence for the need for mass population
control.
Environment Canada in 2002 posts questions and answers about the human population
on its official government website claiming that overpopulation is the reason
for our environmental woes. "The environmental impact of humans... unlike
that of other species, has increased greatly over time," they said. The
official government group rehashed the fallacy that human population is growing
too quickly, and that for the survival of our environment, depopulation is a
necessity: "Stopping population growth will not do away with environmental
degradation, but not stopping population growth will make the situation very
much worse." The group then recommends "access to family planning
services" (abortion and contraception) as a solution for thwarting population
growth.
Reflections included in the calendar are bizarre, such as two references to
Darwinian evolution and the origins of the world: "The water that formed
4 billion years ago is the same water around today. No more can be added. We
drink the same water that dinosaurs once swam in!" Another reflection for
Holy Saturday claims, "Ocean water is salty and undrinkable. The salt in
our blood is the history of the emergence of life from the oceans - literally."
Another reflection states that, "Most toilets use over 40% more water
than needed." Share Lent suggests each household donate $1.50 for each
"non 'low-flush' toilet" per home.
With Development and Peace entering into donation mode during Lent, Catholics
are advised to consider carefully the recipients of their donations. Traditionally,
a large portion of the Share Life/Lent donations go to support Development and
Peace. Although the amount given to the organization by many dioceses has been
cut back, it still receives sizable funds despite its history of strong political
leftist leanings and its indifference to the church's moral teachings - especially
on abortion and contraception, and its support over the years for some objectionable
or questionable programs.
View the calendar: http://www.devp.org/testA/current/campaign/SL2006/SL06-PDF/SL06CAL-LifesAware.pdf
See the Canadian government's Biodiversity Information Network statement on
human population: http://www.cbin.ec.gc.ca/cbs/18.cfm?lang=e
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CWA Applauds Scheidler Victory Against NOW
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 /Christian Newswire/ - Concerned Women for America (CWA)
applauds the Supreme Court decision in the case of NOW v. Scheidler, which ruled
that peaceful demonstrations outside of abortion clinics could not be deemed
extortion. Joseph Schiedler and other pro-life demonstrators were exonerated
of all allegations after today's 8-0 ruling.
Concerned Women for America (CWA) is the nation's largest public policy women's
organization.
Christian Newswire (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=erklgtbab.0.gaxitrbab.tuqepibab.948&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiannewswire.org)
Concerned Women for America - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=erklgtbab.0.5qiturbab.tuqepibab.948&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cwfa.org%2Fmedia.asp
Forward this press release to another reporter or news producer.
http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1100869681811&ea=clcns%40clcns.com&a=1101229566500
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Debate Over So-Called 'Reciprocal Benefits' For Gay Partners Is Far From
Over
We have often said and have heard that Marriage by another name is still marriage,
as a Rose by another name 'tis still a Rose. What is if it is called legislation
i.e. SB 166, I maintain it is still a rose by another name. I have yet to receive
any clarification from FOTF. - Herm
Cameron: 'It's Not a Wrap!' - Debate Over So-Called 'Reciprocal Benefits' for
Gay Partners is Far From Over
COLORADO SPRINGS, Co., Mar. 2 /Christian Newswire/ - Paul Cameron - president
of the Family Research Institute, a Colorado-based 'think tank' said today that
the debate over so-called 'reciprocal benefits' for gay partners is far from
over.
He was referring to SB 166, a bill, introduced by Colorado State Senator Shawn
Mitchell that would give homosexual couples in Colorado some rights currently
reserved to married couples. These new rights would include survivor benefits
under workman's compensation, potential access to health insurance, and rights
of inheritance.
The measure gained momentum when James Dobson's Focus on the Family, a conservative
ministry, endorsed the bill and aggressively lobbied for its passage. The Dobson
endorsement shocked some members of the pro-family movement and led to a rare
challenge by activists to Dobson's authority and a potentially significant split
in the movement.
Cameron was one of the first to disagree with Focus's position, which, he said,
constituted an unacceptable concession to the gay rights movement. The bill
failed to win approval of the Business, Labor and Technology Committee, when
three Republicans voted to send it to the entire Senate and three Democrats
voted 'no.'
"It's NOT a wrap", Cameron said. "Even though the bill failed
to get out of committee, Senator Mitchell
still hopes to bring it before the entire Colorado Senate. Besides, you can
be certain the measure will spread like bird flu to other states. And Dr. Dobson's
support will aid in its passage. I hope that Dr. Dobson will listen to the reasonable
voices of pro-family activists who are bewildered and distressed at the new
direction his ministry has taken."
Dr. Dobson, in an angry response on his radio show, claimed that he had 'never
in any context' said he favored homosexuals receiving 'the same benefits that
are reserved for the traditional family.' Also, a Focus spokesperson claimed
that all benefits granted under the bill could currently be obtained by hiring
a lawyer. Cameron refuted both of these assertions, citing examples in the original
Mitchell bill, including access to health insurance benefits for partners and
automatic inheritance, and 'in a later version' survivor benefits under workman's
compensation.
"In light of these examples," Cameron said, "I can only conclude,"
Cameron that Dr. Dobson's legal advisors have done a poor job explaining the
bill to him."
Christian Newswire: (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=tv7vitbab.0.gaxitrbab.tuqepibab.948&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiannewswire.org)
To: National Desk: Contact: Dr. Paul Cameron, Family Research Institute, 303-681-3113,
info@familyresearchinst.org
Family Research Institute - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=tv7vitbab.0.khujrsbab.tuqepibab.948&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.familyresearchinst.org%2F
Forward this press release to another reporter or news producer.
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Christian Communication Network | 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW | Washington
| DC | 20006
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Woman Wins $105,000 From Doctor Who "Failed" Abortion Of Her Son
- By Gudrun Schultz
VICTORIA, Australia, March 2, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A mother who sued her
doctor for failing to complete the abortion of her son has been awarded $104,800,
in what is believed to be a landmark ruling this week.
The court's decision to award her damages was based on her physical and psychological
trauma at the time of the failed abortion in 1997, reported the Advertiser.
The cost of raising her son, who is now seven years old, was also a factor in
the decision.
Judge Susan Cohen, for the Melbourne County Court, said specialist Dr. Michael
Kloss had failed in his duty of care when he left the woman with a living child.
The child's mother, almost 40, now has two additional children. At the time
of the attempted abortion she was suffering from anxiety and depression.
The woman's lawyer, Brad Cunningham, said his client loves her son and does
not regret having him, even though she sued for damages against his "wrongful
birth."
Email to a Friend - http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/sendtofriend.html?articleid=06030204
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Senator Sharon Carstairs States - "Canada Is Not Ready For Assisted
Suicide Debate"
By: Alex Schadenberg, executive director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
On Friday, March 3, 2006; Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs spoke to the Canadian
Catholic Bioethics Institute on the State of Palliative Care in Canada: End
of Life Care.
Senator Carstairs was the Chair of the Special Senate Committee on Euthanasia
and Assisted Suicide that tabled its report in June 1995 titled: Of Life and
Death. She also chaired the follow up report to Of Life and Death titled: Quality
End-of-Life Care: The Right of Every Canadian that was tabled in June 2000.
She also chaired the recent report titled: Still not there: Quality End-of-Life
Care which was tabled in June 2005 that made 10 new recommendations for improved
end of life care in Canada. Senator Carstairs has committed that past 3 years
of her life.
In the past Senator Carstairs has supported the legalization of Euthanasia
and Assisted Suicide but during her presentation she confirmed that she has
moderated her position.
On the question of legalizing euthanasia and/or assisted suicide Senator Carstairs
was very clear. She stated that people can determine the amount and type of
treatment that they wish to have. That pain management medication and techniques
have improved significantly over the past 10 years. But, she stated: "Canada
is not ready for a debate on assisted suicide or euthanasia." She then
stated: "Unless every single Canadian can be guaranteed quality end of
life care in which they have a legitimate choice to make, then I would suggest
that we cannot start that other debate. We aren't there yet. We are a long way
from being there yet."
Senator Carstairs responded to the desire someone might have to commit suicide.
"If a person says that they want to commit suicide, she would ask them
what their needs are. People fear unbearable pain and loss of personal dignity.
The real challenge is to change public attitudes towards illness and dying."
She said: "Why have they lost their dignity? Is it because we have made
them fell undignified? It is a dreadful societal failure when someone feels
the need to commit suicide.
Bloc Québécois MP Francine Lalonde should take notice of the
comments made by Senator Carstairs. Lalonde was the author of Bill C-407, a
bill that would have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada, a
bill that died on the order paper when the last election was called.
Media reports claim that Lalonde is preparing a new bill for parliament which
was confirmed by Senator Carstairs and recently also by a Conservative Cabinet
Minister. If Sharon Carstairs, who is Canada's political expert on end of life
care opposes, even if only for now, the legalization of euthanasia and/or assisted
suicide then politicians of all stripes should defeat the bill.
Senator Carstairs talk was on the State of Palliative Care in Canada. In reference
to palliative care, Senator Carstairs spoke about the fact that Canadians wish
to die at home, wherever home is. She stated that Canadians do not want to die
alone; they are part of a community and need community. She stated that the
Compassionate Care benefit that was introduced by the Liberal government in
January 2004 needs revamping in order to be effective.
With respect to palliative care training. In 1995, the average medical student
received 1 hour training for palliative care; in 2008 every single undergrad
medical student will have had a core program in palliative care.
We celebrate the birth of a child. Senator Carstairs said that: "we need
to celebrate the end of life by being there and being supportive. We should
consider it a joy to care for our dying family members."
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition o Box 25033 o London o Ontario o N6C 6A8
Phone: 1-877-439-3348, email: info@epcc.ca
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EWTN
Dear Friends;
· I'd like to recommend this Lent season - EWTN
· Please read about the Canadian Adaptation in the last paragraph (Censored)
For the past ten years we have had EWTN in our home. We have been strong advocates
of having Catholic TV that nourishes the soul. As a convert my knowledge of
the Church Fathers and those who have been declared saints was nearly limited.
Their stories and the continual education by EWTN presenters has been most remarkable
and the influence in our home and with our neighbors.
EWTN is available via the Internet, (Data Steaming and so too is EWTN Radio),
and a huge source of recorded materials. EWTN is available via C Band Satellite,
DTH Direct to Home Satellite (In Canada, Bell Express VU and Star Choice), available
on Cable Television (Rogers and Eastlink), EWTN Radio via Shortwave and Satellite
Radio (Sirius) Maybe.
· Content: Daily Mass and Devotionals
· Global Catholic News (Both positive and negative)
· Documentaries
· Movies (Usually of the Saints)
· Explanation of the faith from scholarly persons
· Talk shows (Life on the Rock - Youth, Fr. Benedict Groeshel - Faith
based items, Journey Home-interviews with people who have converted from other
faith backgrounds)
· Church and Papal Events
· Children's Programming
· Music
Last year at the Atlantic Marian Gathering Fr. Francis Mary Stone was a keynote
speaker and his vocation is with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal
Word. This years Atlantic Marian Gathering with have Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. as
the keynote speaker, Fr. Mitch is on EWTN daily with the Rosary, EWTN Live (interviews)
and John Paul II' Threshold of Hope. Since Mother Angelica had a severe stroke
a year ago last December, he has been called forward to help fill the void left
by her illness.
Adaptation for Canadian Television
If you were watching C Band or DataStreaming on the net, on March 2nd at 9PM,
Life on the Rock with Fr. Francis Mary Stone, you would have seen Stephen Bennet
and his wife. Who is Stephen Bennet? Stephen has a special ministry to homosexuals,
you see Stephen came out of the homosexual life style and he explains how it
happen to him and now is married with two children. He now offers help to those
who wish to rediscover who they are and move into the heterosexual life style
or away from the homosexual lifestyle. On CANADIAN TV you would have seen the
March for Life in San Francisco held last January. Earlier this year on a program
(LHLA Living His Life Abundantly, Johanne Benhovic was interviewing Mary Jo
Anderson about her book on the Homosexual agenda and lifestyle, this program
too was pre-empted by another program.
Perhaps this was the condition of being able to get EWTN into Canada. But it
too points to censorship on the homosexual issue, in that not many Canadians
really know that most Homosexually is an addictive lifestyle and can be reversed
according to some renowned experts in the field of Reparative Therapy.
I intend to write my MP and the Minister of Justice and the Minister responsible
for the CRTC.
In Faithful Service, Herm Wills
TOP
Lifeissues.net Newsletter #265 - March 5, 2006
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute has recently pointed out that
the two-child policy which is stalled in the Filipino Congress lacks support.
Proposed legislation in the Philippines that would impose radical limits on
the number of children that families can have appears to have less support in
the Congress than was once reported. But pro-family opponents of the bill warn
that it remains on the legislative calendar and remains a threat despite the
fact that the proposed act is very unpopular in the majority Catholic country.
In January the Institute reported that some Filipino legislators, arguing that
the Philippines needs a much more aggressive policy of population control, introduced
a bill that is strikingly similar to the one-child policy of Communist China.
The "Responsible Parenting and Population Control Act of 2005" includes
a preference in education for two-child families, free access to abortifacients,
mandatory sex education for children as young as 10-years-old and imprisonment
penalties for health care providers who refuse to perform or provide sterilization
services for a population that is 87 percent Catholic and 5 percent Muslim.
At that time one sponsor of the act reported that he had the votes of 135 of
238 members of the Filipino House. It was thought that the bill could be debated
and voted on at any time. It now appears that this particular statement was
hyperbole. According to Eileen Macapanas Cosby, Executive Director of the Filipino
Family Fund, the act was not debated, let alone passed, by the Filipino House
last January. Nevertheless, Cosby warns that the bill remains a threat. She
said supporters of the "two-child" policy have pressed on. According
to Cosby, the act is "still on the schedule" of the House's legislative
calendar, listed as "unfinished business," which means that it can
be brought up for debate and a vote at any time during the early days of the
work-week during any one of the next few weeks.
If passed the act would provide for a centralized bureaucracy that would be
run by three non-elected officials from NGOs. This new bureaucracy would oversee
the implementation of the legislation. Cosby said the bill "paves the way"
for "the kind of human rights nightmare that is already" taking place
"in China, with its coercive sterilization and contraception practices."
She calls the proposed bill "China-lite."
Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is likely to veto the proposed act
if it passes both houses of Congress. As in the American system, the act would
then return to Congress where it must receive two thirds of the vote in both
chambers to override the veto.
God Bless, Jerry Novotny, OMI
Quote: "Too often have sins against humanity been justified in the name
of 'justice' to women. Too often have we heard women claim to be working for
'women's rights,' when they are actually working for 'women's wrongs.'"
- Helen Hull Hitchcock
Lifeissues.net NEWSLETTER #265 - March 5, 2006
Table Of Contents:
1. First National Women And Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day
2. UNICEF, Baylor Partner To Expand Treatment To HIV-Positive Children In Africa
3. Australia: Life Office Applauds PM's Pregnancy Hotline
4. Catholic Democrats Assert "Primacy Of Conscience" Over Church Teaching
5. Nano-Medicine Center Strives To Develop Technologies For Regenerative Medicine
6. Suicide Groups Make Switzerland A Final Destination
7. Common Complaint From Elderly People
8. India Official Saves Baby Girls By Shaming Parents Who Consider Abortion
9. Mississippi Votes To Abort Roe; Joins Growing Movement To Ban Abortion
10. Human Embryo Is A Child
11. How Abortion Hurts Women: The Hard Proof
12. The Myths And Reality Of Living Together Without Marriage
"New" Articles Posted Recently at http://www.lifeissues.net)
- Doug McManaman: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mcm
- John B. Shea: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=she
- Dianne N. Irving: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=irv
- Brian Clowes: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=clo
- Karen Malec: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mal
- David C. Reardon: http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=rea
[Website: No Room for Contraception] http://www.noroomforcontraception.com/.
Issues surrounding emergency contraception have brought the issue of birth control
to the forefront. More and more women are seeking advice regarding contraception
and family planning. Yet at the same time more and more women are coming forward
with stories of regret for the use of artificial contraception and surgical
sterilization, stating that it had negative effects on their marriage. No Room
for Contraception believes that there are many unspoken negative effects to
the use of contraception that must be brought to the forefront and exposed.
On this website, you will find articles, resources, links, news and more on
the potential problems contraception brings to marriage and society.
Item #1. First National Women And Girls HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day
March 10th, 2006 marks the first National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day aimed at raising awareness of the increasing impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
on women and girls. In the United States, women represent a rising share of
AIDS cases, increasing from only 8% of new AIDS diagnoses in 1985 to 27% by
2004. In advance of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the Kaiser
Family Foundation has an updated fact sheet that provides the latest data on
women and HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
View recent Women Fact Sheets on HIV/AIDS at Kaiser: http://www.kff.org/content/factsheets.cfm?topic=hivaids
(Other key resources on women and the HIV/AIDS epidemic include:)
Women's Health on KaiserEDU: http://www.kaiseredu.org/topics.asp?id=72&tuID=35&refID=36&sidenav=251&isID=52
- This site includes narrated slide tutorials, background reference libraries,
and issue modules on current topics and policy debates related to women's health.
StateHealthFacts.org: http://www.statehealthfacts.org/cgi-bin/healthfacts.cgi?action=compare&welcome=1&category=HIV%2FAIDS
- This site includes data on the HIV/AIDS epidemic broken down by state.
Women and Health Care; A National Profile: http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/whp070705pkg.cfm
- This national survey of women on their health also examines women's health
care costs, insurance, access to care, prevention, and their role in family
health care.
Women and HIV/AIDS in the United States: http://www.kff.org/hivaids/hiv102303package.cfm
- Setting an Agenda for the Future: This package of resources includes a discussion
of the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic among women and the video "Hidden Crisis:
Women and AIDS in America," a documentary created by Rory Kennedy and Moxie
Firecracker films that profiles three women living with HIV/AIDS.
Item #2. UNICEF, Baylor Partner To Expand Treatment
To HIV-Positive Children In Africa
UNICEF and the Baylor College of Medicine on Tuesday announced they formed a
partnership to expand access to antiretroviral drugs and other treatments for
HIV-positive children in Africa, the Houston Chronicle reports (Hopper, Houston
Chronicle, 2/28). UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Per
Engebak and Michael Mizwa, Vice President of International Affairs with the
Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative, signed the agreement, which
will expand Baylor's operations to 20 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa
(UNICEF release, 2/27). The partnership is open-ended and does not involve a
specific project. Instead, Baylor will draft initiatives and goals and look
to UNICEF to finance them. Such initiatives could include building more pediatric
HIV/AIDS clinics; training lay people in home health care and providing dirt
bikes for health workers to reach remote villages. UNICEF also will help Baylor
forge formal links to already-established primary care centers, the Chronicle
reports. UNICEF has "political and advocacy roles we don't have and ...
fundraising capabilities we don't have," Mark Kline, BIPAI founder and
director, said, adding, "We are implementers" (Houston Chronicle,
2/28). BIPAI has clinics in Romania, Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi that aim to
treat 80,000 HIV-positive children in five years. The program plans to open
centers in Burkina Faso and Uganda in 2007 (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/28).
The partnership with UNICEF could help Baylor more than double the number of
children in treatment in Botswana -- the site of its first clinic -- to 3,000
(Houston Chronicle, 2/28).
For more information view links in article: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=35768
Item #3. Australia: Life Office Applauds PM's Pregnancy
Hotline
Prime Minister John Howard yesterday announced a new Medicare payment for pregnancy
support counselling and a 24-hour hotline to give help to those wishing to "explore
pregnancy options".
Women who had been pregnant in the previous 12 months would also be eligible
for the counselling service. The counselling would be "non-directive"
and would include advice on "all options available, including adoption",
Howard said.
Mr. Howard hopes that the measures would reduce Australia's high abortion rate.
The Life Office of the Archdiocese of Sydney said professional counselling,
independent of abortion providers, would "provide women with the information
and space that might not otherwise be available to them".
Referring to a study by the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, the Life Office
said that a majority of the community would not know where to refer a woman
for alternative advice on abortion during pregnancy.
"This package will begin to address this discrepancy by improving knowledge
of, and access to, a range of support services", the Life Office said.
For more information and resource articles: http://www.cathnews.com/news/603/24.php
Item #4. Catholic Democrats Assert "Primacy
Of Conscience" Over Church Teaching
A group of Catholic members of the US House of Representatives has issued a
"Statement of Principles" in which they claim a "commitment to
the basic principles at the heart of Catholic social teaching," but refuse
to accept the Church's opposition to legal abortion.
The "Statement of Principles" was released on February 28, and signed
by 55 of the 72 Catholic Democrats in the House of Representatives. The group
professes its commitment to carrying out Catholic social teaching in many ways:
"reducing the rising rates of poverty; increasing access to education for
all; pressing for increased access to health care; and taking seriously the
decision to go to war."
The Democratic group goes on to acknowledge "the undesirability of abortion--
we do not celebrate its practice." But the statement says that although
they recognize the Church's teaching authority the lawmakers "believe also
in the primacy of conscience." Acknowledging the "tension that comes
with being in disagreement with the Church in some areas," the legislators
leave it clear (if not explicitly stated) that they will not attempt to end
legal abortion.
The "Statement of Principle" does not mention other controversial
issues on which Democratic lawmakers have often clashed with Church teachings,
such as euthanasia, embryonic research, and government recognition of same-sex
unions.
The statement was issued from the office of Connecticut's Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
The others signing the statement were: http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=42716
[Note: Apparently these "Catholic" U.S. Representatives were never
taught real Catholic teachings about a "well-formed" conscience -
which morally requires personal investigation of the objective scientific facts
before making a decision. There is no such thing in the Catholic Church as a
pure subjective "primacy of conscience" to allow abortion once the
person knows the objective scientific fact that abortion is the intentional
killing of an innocent human being. These "Catholic" Representatives
are either ignorant of the real Catholic Church teachings, or they are purposefully
"Catholic" in name only, depending on how the political wind is blowing.
Sounds like they are in need of some non-Jesuitical pastoral care. - Dianne
N. Irving, Ph.D.]
Item #5. Nano-Medicine Center Strives To Develop
Technologies For Regenerative Medicine
Columbia University is a major contributor to the Nano-Medicine Center for Mechanical
Biology, a multi-disciplinary initiative aimed at developing new technologies
for regenerative medicine and treating human diseases that involve mechanical
malfunction, such as cancer.
[Note: Here it is, "Nano-Medicine" and "regenerative medicine"
(which often involves human cloning). Given that great good can be accomplished
by some of these advances in "nano-medicine", the issue that is yet
to be addressed is the "means" to get there. E.g., if the biological
source of the "nano-particles", or the humans used to investigate
and/or test the system, are human embryos or fetuses (cloned or otherwise) that
are damaged or killed in the process, then such research is unethical because
of the means used in the research. For a few foundational articles to help readers
get a handle on what nanotechnology is, identify some of the key issues, and
evaluate its application to the general practice of medicine, see:
- Legal article identifying many of the issues - including nano-cloning of
human embryos - excellent: Joel Rothstein Wolfson, "Social and Ethical
Issues in Nanotechnology: Lessons from Biotechnology and Other High Technologies",
22 Biotechnology Law Report 376 Number 4 (August 2003), at: http://www.blankrome.com/publications/Articles/WolfsonNanotechnology.pdf.
- Nano/bio/info/cogno Report on "converging technologies" - very
gnostic, blueprint for how it will be done: "Converging Technologies for
Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology
and Cognitive Science", NSF/DOC-sponsored report, edited by Mihail C. Roco
and William Sims Bainbridge, National Science Foundation (June 2002), at: http://wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies/Report/NBIC_report.pdf
- To see the direct influence of "bioethics" on genetic engineering
and nanotechnology in medicine, see The Hastings Center Report: "Reprogenetics",
which offers "ethical" guidelines to use to "regulate" these
technologies: "Reprogenetics" is coined in a recent "Special
Supplement" of The Hastings Center Report (July/August 2003) at: (http://www.thehastingscenter.org/news/features/repro%20supplement.pdf),
the first sentence of which refers to reprogenetics as "one big embryo
experiment".
- PubMed bibliography documenting human genetic engineering already done, including
for medical procedures for "infertility treatments": Irving, "Scientific
References, Human Genetic Engineering (Including Cloning): Artificial Human
Embryos, Oocytes, Sperms, Chromosomes and Genes" (May 25, 2004), at: http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_25scientificrefer1.html
- Dianne N. Irving, Ph.D.]
Item #6. Suicide Groups Make Switzerland A Final
Destination
Long famous for secretive banks and soaring peaks, Switzerland is now gaining
a reputation as a death destination, a country where desperately ill people
can come to kill themselves with help from organizations.
"What we do is no secret; we're proud of our work," said Ludwig Minelli,
founder of Dignitas, a Zurich-based group that assists ailing Germans, Britons,
and others who want to die.
"Our purpose is to fight for the freedom of people to end their lives
when their lives become unendurable" because of painful illness or old
age, he said.
The question of whether doctors should be allowed to aid in suicides is as
bitterly disputed in Europe as in the United States, where a landmark Supreme
Court ruling last month upheld Oregon's Death With Dignity Act. Oregon is the
first American jurisdiction to legalize physician-assisted suicide.
In Germany, the discussion carries the weight of the country's horrific mid-20th-century
history. Under Hitler, doctor-administered death was official policy of a state
obsessed with "genetic health." More than 250,000 infants, children,
and adults with severe physical or mental disabilities were killed during the
Nazi era, ostensibly to purify the Aryan race, according to historians.
View full article at boston.com:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/02/26/suicide_groups_make_switzerland_a_final_destination/
Item #7. Common Complaint From Elderly People
A beloved former Brooklyn judge says he's a virtual prisoner in a Bronx nursing
home where he has been confined by a court order for more than a year while
his appointed guardian sells his assets.
The former judge, John Phillips, 82, wears a monitoring wristband and cannot
leave or receive telephone calls at the East Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation
Center - but spoke to The Post via a tape recorder carried by a friend during
a visit.
"It's lousy what they did to me," Phillips told The Post. "I've
got to get out of here and get back to Brooklyn. They're stealing from me. I'm
going to get my life back. I've got no business being here."
Comment: This is a common complaint we hear about: an elderly person is forced
into a nursing home through a guardianship proceeding and their estate plundered.
This time it's a former judge who's the victim. This is a widespread problem
occurring throughout the USA. - Ron Panzer for HPA
View full article at nypost.com: http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/64355.htm
Ron Panzer, President, Hospice Patients Alliance - http://www.hospicepatients.org
Item #8. India Official Saves Baby Girls By Shaming
Parents Who Consider Abortion
(LifeSiteNews.com) - An Indian official's personal campaign to halt the disastrous
abortion rates of baby girls in the Punjab state has been successful.
Khrishan Kumar, deputy commissioner in the Nawan Shahar district of Punjab
state, began publicly shaming parents who aborted, or consider aborting, baby
girls for no other reason than their gender.
"What kind of society are we building?" said Mr. Kumar, reported
the Telegraph. "One without any girls? One where parents kill their own
child in the womb just because she's a girl?"
Ultrasounds for gender determination have been illegal in India since 1994,
and gender abortion has been banned, but cultural preferences for male children
overrides the laws. The Punjab is suffering from a drastic loss of female births
- fewer than 600 girls are born for every 1,000 boys in the northern state.
Normal ratios are 1,050 girls for every 1,000 boys.
Mr. Kumar started a list of women who had obtained ultrasounds or were known
to be considering abortion, and then, along with a group of volunteers, staged
surprise visits and phone calls to deter them. Public humiliation is a strong
measure to embark on, but it is having an effect.
In December 2004, the birth rate in Khothran had risen to the equivalent of
787 girls for every 1,000 boys. By December 2005, the number was at 897.
Item #9. Mississippi Votes To Abort Roe; Joins
Growing Movement To Ban Abortion
Mississippi joins South Dakota and an increasing number of states that are attempting
to ban abortion at the state level, hoping to force litigation that will challenge
Roe v. Wade and restore the legal protections of personhood to the pre-born.
Other states include Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
"These are exciting times for those who support the sanctity of human
life," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "The current movement
to ban abortion in the states and challenge Roe v. Wade is an historic and unprecedented
one - and it is picking up steam. We do not believe that Roe can withstand wave
after wave of frontal attacks from so many states. We are convinced that an
end to child- killing in America though abortion is no longer a possibility,
but an inevitability."
Read entire article at Christian Newswire: http://www.earnedmedia.org/or0303.htm
Item #10. Human Embryo Is A Child
The Pope has told the general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life that
human life is good, "always and definitively." Benedict XVI said:
"The love of God does not distinguish between the newly-conceived infant
still in its mother's womb, the baby, the youth, the grown adult or the elderly,
because in each of them He sees the sign of His own image and likeness."
The church had always proclaimed the inviolability of human life from conception
till its natural end. [Vatican Information Service, 27 February] Bishop Elio
Sgreccia, president of the academy, told a conference in Rome: "In [every]
case, the embryo is a child: a boy or a girl, [who] has a special relationship
with his parents and, for those who are believers, also has a special relationship
with God." [Zenit, 24 February] Professor Adriano Bompiani, director of
the International Scientific Institute of the Sacred Heart Catholic University,
Rome, spoke of the need to promote an ontological study of the human embryo,
since "In order to attribute a 'juridical status' to the embryo ... it
is necessary to 'understand' its nature". [Vatican Information Service,
24 February] The conference, entitled "The human embryo prior to implantation:
scientific aspects and bioethical considerations", was convened by the
academy.
View resources: Vatican Information Service, 27 Feb: Each Human Being is a
Reflection of Divine Reality
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/d7_en.htm
Zenit, 24 Feb: Human Embryo Is a Child, Says Bishop Sgreccia: http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=85053
Vatican Information Service, 24 Feb: Design Policies to Favor
Women http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/c2_en.htm
Item #11. How Abortion Hurts Women: The Hard Proof
In order to persuade the "personally opposed" pro-choicer we must
address this 1970s feminist fallacy that abortion is necessary for women's sexual
equality and well-being. In point of fact, medical evidence, sociological data,
and the lived experience of many women, proves that abortion harms women physically,
psychologically, relationally, and culturally.
View full text at CERC: http://catholiceducation.org/articles/abortion/ab0102.html
Item #12. The Myths And Reality Of Living Together
Without Marriage
In the United States, living together instead of marrying has become the norm
for couples - half of young adults aged 20-40 are cohabiting instead of getting
married. Cohabitation has increased nearly 1,000 percent since 1980, and the
marriage rate has dropped more than 40 percent since 1960.
Some see substituting living together for marriage as an insignificant shift
in family "structure." Those who are better informed realize that
the shift has disastrous ramifications for the individuals involved, as well
as for society and public policy.
The faulty reasoning leading young adults to make such a poor choice must be
exposed. Here are four myths surrounding the shift.
Myth #1: Living together is good way to "test the water."
Many couples say that they want to live together to see if they are compatible,
not realizing that cohabitation is more a preparation for divorce than a way
to strengthen the likelihood of a successful marriage -- the divorce rates of
women who cohabit are nearly 80 percent higher than those who do not. In fact,
studies indicate that cohabiting couples have lower marital quality and increased
risk of divorce. Further, cohabiting relationships tend to be fragile and relatively
short in duration; less than half of cohabiting relationships last five or more
years. Typically, they last about 18 months.
Myth #2: Couples don't really need that "piece of paper."...
View full text at CWA: http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10218/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm
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 LifeIssues.net Newsletter available online. Click here:
http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
(These newsletters are an extension of the Website.)
Assistance: Please consider financially helping our work to spread the
Life Issues message, Thank you:
Donation may be sent directly to:
Fr. Jerry Novotny OMI,
LifeIssues.net, Editor,
Akebono-cho 1-15-9,
Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072.
Contact Editor:
Jerry Novotny OMI,
Akebono-cho 1-15-9,
Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072;
[Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406];
E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net
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Franciscan Order (SFO)
Please be patient with me while I complete
the Newsletter for the First Quarter of 2006 which should have been completed
by mid-December 2005.
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