Numerous opinions have appeared in the media recently deriding the Catholic Church with regard to embryonic research and the Plan B pill.
As John Paul II reminded us, faith and reason are the two wings upon which man rises to the truth. Guardian and teacher of Christianity, the Catholic Church has been both pioneer and preserver of learning throughout Her two-thousand-year history; indeed, members of Her clergy and laity are among the great names of science.
But all inquiry must respect the dignity of the human person and the good of society. Harvesting the unborn violates both, as do the disunitive and lethal effects of so-called morning after drugs. Those who countenance such abuses accede to the prevailing materialism of our time, a philosophy of self-interest at odds with the most fundamental Christian truths and moral imperatives.
Unfortunately, most Americans have successfully divorced faith from morality, reinventing God as necessary to meet their needs. Lost is the understanding that freedom follows from truth, not the unfettered exercise of will, and that fulfillment lies not in possessing, but only in the unconditional gift of self.
In the light of Catholic doctrine, it's appallingly clear that contrary to popular myth, America is anything but predominantly Christian; it is, in fact, overwhelmingly pagan. How else could a nation embrace the self-destruction of contraception, sterilization, abortion and euthanasia? Why else would it clamor for medical experiments every bit as monstrous as those once performed in Nazi death camps?
Sincerely,
John Francis Borra
Hays, KS
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
American Chronicle writes about the Christian Coalition
"Three disgruntled state affiliates have severed ties with the Christian Coalition of America, one of the nation's most powerful conservative groups during the 1990s but now buffeted by complaints over finances, leadership and its plans to veer into nontraditional policy areas.
'It's a very sad day for our people, but a liberating day,' said John Giles, president of the coalition's Alabama chapter, which announced Wednesday that it was renaming itself and splitting from the national organization. The Iowa and Ohio chapters took similar steps this year.
Giles said he and his Alabama colleagues have 'a dozen hard reasons' for the action but would elaborate on only one - a perception that the coalition's leadership was diverting itself from traditional concerns such as abortion and same-sex marriage to address other issues ranging from the environment to Internet access." To read more visit American Chronicle:
'It's a very sad day for our people, but a liberating day,' said John Giles, president of the coalition's Alabama chapter, which announced Wednesday that it was renaming itself and splitting from the national organization. The Iowa and Ohio chapters took similar steps this year.
Giles said he and his Alabama colleagues have 'a dozen hard reasons' for the action but would elaborate on only one - a perception that the coalition's leadership was diverting itself from traditional concerns such as abortion and same-sex marriage to address other issues ranging from the environment to Internet access." To read more visit American Chronicle:
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Has political pressure finally induced the Bush administration to betray women's health with the morning after pill?
FDA Prepares Sell-Out on Morning After Pill (MAP)
By Joseph A. D’Agostino
After resisting for years feminists determined to make high-dosage steroids available to women and girls without a prescription, it seems that the Bush Administration is about to cave in to political pressure and make the morning-after pill (MAP) accessible over the counter to those over 18. Not only will this result in the deaths of more unborn children since MAP often acts after conception, but it will seriously harm the health of women and girls who will use the now-easy-to-get MAP repeatedly. The FDA did not officially announce its decision this week, but statements from it and Barr Laboratories, the makers of the “Plan B” brandof MAP, clearly indicate the FDA’s intention to allow OTC distribution ofMAP.
No one, pro-life or pro-abortion, pro-family or pro-contraception, should favor this change. The FDA’s own experts, when MAP was approved for prescription-only sales, said that repeated use could have serious health effects on women and girls. MAP should only be used very rarely, in an emergency (thus the term “emergency contraception,” even though the latter word of that term is dishonest). By making MAP prescription-only, the FDA required women and girls to go through a doctor and pharmacist who would query their patient’s health history and steer them away from MAP if medically indicated.
This safeguard will soon be gone. Anyone over 18 will be able to walk into a grocery store or pharmacy and buy MAP any time he or she pleases, no questions asked. Can anyone doubt that many young women will end up using MAP over and over? The FDA’s experts warned of serious health consequences from such use, but could not provide solid examples since there have been no studies of repeated MAP use. No one knows what the repeated dosing with these powerful steroids might do to women’s bodies. Many women, particularly college co-eds, are likely about to find out.
If history is any guide, disastrous health effects won’t make any difference once MAP is distributed over the counter. After all, the Clinton Administration rushed the prescription-only approval of the abortion pill, RU-486, and with its fatal side effects, it has been killing mothers at ten times the rate that surgical abortion does. Yet feminists and other so-called women’s advocates don’t want RU-486’s approval revoked.
Bush’s nominee for FDA Commissioner, Acting Commissioner Dr. Andrew vonEschenbach, recently announced the re-opening of the case for OTC MAP after radically pro-abortion senators such as Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) put a hold on his nomination. The message from Clinton et al was clear: Approve OTC MAP or no permanent appointment for you. It seems vonEschenbach is complying.
The debate over OTC MAP continues to be surrounded by obvious lies. One is that MAP is contraception, not abortion. But scientists agree that the Morning After Pill often stops an already-conceived child from implanting, making it something other than contraception—and something that kills. Another obvious lie: MAP is safe for the woman using it. Yes, the FDA’s experts concluded that MAP is safe, but no one has studied the effects of repeated use, and the FDA’s experts warned that repeated use could be seriously harmful.
Yet another lie is that MAP will only be accessible to adult women over the counter. Anyone possessing passing familiarity with American society knows that young teenagers have easy access to cigarettes and alcohol, which are supposed to be sold only to adults. Why should anyone think the Morning After Pill will be different?
Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman often provides an excellent summary of all the lies of the left. In a typically dishonest column August 10, she not only claimed that MAP is contraception that prevents abortion and thus pro-lifers as well as pro-abortionists should favor it, but she condemns “the truly bizarre"' idea offered by opponents such as the Concerned Women for America, that a predator or rapist could ‘buy the drug in order to cover up his abuse.’” Goodman ridicules this very likely proposition.
Many underage girls are having relations with adult boyfriends. These men, guilty of statutory rape, often transport their victims for abortions, which is one reason why the Child Custody Protection Act is needed. Soon, MAP will be as near as the corner drug store, and who can doubt these men will buy it and pressure their young teen girlfriends to take it repeatedly, whenever standard “protection” was not used or failed? After all, these fellows haven’t exactly demonstrated their great concern for the well-being of the fair sex, have they?
And how old are these guys? Men 25 or older sire more children of school-age California girls than do boys, according to congressional testimony from Professor Teresa Stanton Collett of the University of St.Thomas School of Law in Minnesota. Nationally, two-thirds of teen mothers have boyfriends over 20. And among California girls 15 or younger who give birth, the boyfriends are usually 6 to 7 years older. That’s right—the father of a 15-year-old’s child is usually at least 21. Thanks to Hillary Clinton and a craven FDA, he will soon be able to legally pickup a package of the Morning After Pill to go with the 12-pack he will use to get his teen girlfriend drunk.
“Politicians are trying to push FDA approval through with strong-arm tactics that have no place in evaluations of women's health and safety. ..,” Christian Medical Association (CMA) Executive Director Dr. David Stevens said today. “This move by the FDA appears to be based on political expedience and ideology rather than science. It makes no medical sense to offer over-the-counter access to a powerful hormonal drug when lower doses of those hormones in contraceptives require a physician's prescription.” There is still hope that von Eschenbach will make the right decision.
Joseph A. D'Agostino is Vice President for Communications at the Population Research Institute Visit their Website: www.pop.org
_________
(c) 2006 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required.
Thanks to Mr. D'Agostino for use of this article. To learn more about the work of the Population Research Institute visit www.pop.org. Or to subscribe to their Weekly E-Mail Briefing please visit http://pop.org/subscribe-weekly.cfm
By Joseph A. D’Agostino
After resisting for years feminists determined to make high-dosage steroids available to women and girls without a prescription, it seems that the Bush Administration is about to cave in to political pressure and make the morning-after pill (MAP) accessible over the counter to those over 18. Not only will this result in the deaths of more unborn children since MAP often acts after conception, but it will seriously harm the health of women and girls who will use the now-easy-to-get MAP repeatedly. The FDA did not officially announce its decision this week, but statements from it and Barr Laboratories, the makers of the “Plan B” brandof MAP, clearly indicate the FDA’s intention to allow OTC distribution ofMAP.
No one, pro-life or pro-abortion, pro-family or pro-contraception, should favor this change. The FDA’s own experts, when MAP was approved for prescription-only sales, said that repeated use could have serious health effects on women and girls. MAP should only be used very rarely, in an emergency (thus the term “emergency contraception,” even though the latter word of that term is dishonest). By making MAP prescription-only, the FDA required women and girls to go through a doctor and pharmacist who would query their patient’s health history and steer them away from MAP if medically indicated.
This safeguard will soon be gone. Anyone over 18 will be able to walk into a grocery store or pharmacy and buy MAP any time he or she pleases, no questions asked. Can anyone doubt that many young women will end up using MAP over and over? The FDA’s experts warned of serious health consequences from such use, but could not provide solid examples since there have been no studies of repeated MAP use. No one knows what the repeated dosing with these powerful steroids might do to women’s bodies. Many women, particularly college co-eds, are likely about to find out.
If history is any guide, disastrous health effects won’t make any difference once MAP is distributed over the counter. After all, the Clinton Administration rushed the prescription-only approval of the abortion pill, RU-486, and with its fatal side effects, it has been killing mothers at ten times the rate that surgical abortion does. Yet feminists and other so-called women’s advocates don’t want RU-486’s approval revoked.
Bush’s nominee for FDA Commissioner, Acting Commissioner Dr. Andrew vonEschenbach, recently announced the re-opening of the case for OTC MAP after radically pro-abortion senators such as Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) put a hold on his nomination. The message from Clinton et al was clear: Approve OTC MAP or no permanent appointment for you. It seems vonEschenbach is complying.
The debate over OTC MAP continues to be surrounded by obvious lies. One is that MAP is contraception, not abortion. But scientists agree that the Morning After Pill often stops an already-conceived child from implanting, making it something other than contraception—and something that kills. Another obvious lie: MAP is safe for the woman using it. Yes, the FDA’s experts concluded that MAP is safe, but no one has studied the effects of repeated use, and the FDA’s experts warned that repeated use could be seriously harmful.
Yet another lie is that MAP will only be accessible to adult women over the counter. Anyone possessing passing familiarity with American society knows that young teenagers have easy access to cigarettes and alcohol, which are supposed to be sold only to adults. Why should anyone think the Morning After Pill will be different?
Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman often provides an excellent summary of all the lies of the left. In a typically dishonest column August 10, she not only claimed that MAP is contraception that prevents abortion and thus pro-lifers as well as pro-abortionists should favor it, but she condemns “the truly bizarre"' idea offered by opponents such as the Concerned Women for America, that a predator or rapist could ‘buy the drug in order to cover up his abuse.’” Goodman ridicules this very likely proposition.
Many underage girls are having relations with adult boyfriends. These men, guilty of statutory rape, often transport their victims for abortions, which is one reason why the Child Custody Protection Act is needed. Soon, MAP will be as near as the corner drug store, and who can doubt these men will buy it and pressure their young teen girlfriends to take it repeatedly, whenever standard “protection” was not used or failed? After all, these fellows haven’t exactly demonstrated their great concern for the well-being of the fair sex, have they?
And how old are these guys? Men 25 or older sire more children of school-age California girls than do boys, according to congressional testimony from Professor Teresa Stanton Collett of the University of St.Thomas School of Law in Minnesota. Nationally, two-thirds of teen mothers have boyfriends over 20. And among California girls 15 or younger who give birth, the boyfriends are usually 6 to 7 years older. That’s right—the father of a 15-year-old’s child is usually at least 21. Thanks to Hillary Clinton and a craven FDA, he will soon be able to legally pickup a package of the Morning After Pill to go with the 12-pack he will use to get his teen girlfriend drunk.
“Politicians are trying to push FDA approval through with strong-arm tactics that have no place in evaluations of women's health and safety. ..,” Christian Medical Association (CMA) Executive Director Dr. David Stevens said today. “This move by the FDA appears to be based on political expedience and ideology rather than science. It makes no medical sense to offer over-the-counter access to a powerful hormonal drug when lower doses of those hormones in contraceptives require a physician's prescription.” There is still hope that von Eschenbach will make the right decision.
Joseph A. D'Agostino is Vice President for Communications at the Population Research Institute Visit their Website: www.pop.org
_________
(c) 2006 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required.
Thanks to Mr. D'Agostino for use of this article. To learn more about the work of the Population Research Institute visit www.pop.org. Or to subscribe to their Weekly E-Mail Briefing please visit http://pop.org/subscribe-weekly.cfm
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Federal Legislation - Legislative Action Center
"WASHINGTON (Updated August 3, 2006) -- Despite a 65 to 34 vote in the U.S. Senate on July 25 to pass a bill to prohibit transporting minors across state lines for abortions in violation of parents' rights, the Senate Democratic leadership immediately erected a procedural roadblock in an attempt to kill the bill." To find out what you can do to help visit:
Federal Legislation - Legislative Action Center:
To learn more about the Child Custody Protection Act (S.403) and protecting parent's rights visit National Right to Life's page on parentalnotification. Visit: Parental Notification
Federal Legislation - Legislative Action Center:
To learn more about the Child Custody Protection Act (S.403) and protecting parent's rights visit National Right to Life's page on parentalnotification. Visit: Parental Notification
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