International Right to Life Federation, Inc.
Vol. 12 No. 5
(September/October, 2001)
Nepal Again
A U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESRC) has
demanded that Nepal legalize abortion. It “urges the state party to reinforce
reproductive and sexual health programs, particularly in rural areas,
and to allow abortion when pregnancies are life threatening or a result
of rape or incest.” This demand has been made in spite of the fact that
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights does
not include any mention of abortion or of reproductive health services.
As of this writing, the lives of unborn children in Nepal are still protected.
Canadian Woman Dies in RU 486 Test
The pro-abortion Population Council has reported that a Canadian woman
died during official testing of RU 486. RU 486 has not yet been approved
in Canada. Enrollment in the study, which was to total almost 700 women,
has been suspended. Initial report indicates that the cause of death was
septic shock.
A Baby Pad
A convent in Germany has revived a practice from the 15th
century. It has provided a hatch through which mothers can place their
unwanted newborns. On the outside is a fingerprint pad so that mothers
can leave proof of their identity in case they want to reclaim their babies
later. If 8 weeks pass without the mother returning, the child will be
put up for adoption. Inside the hatch are a warm bed and a bell to alert
the sisters in the convent who have prepared this new little welcome bed.
Singapore – Still Low Birthrate
After two decades of propaganda to lower birthrate and permit abortions,
the government of Singapore totally reversed its policy a decade ago.
It did this because of a dramatic drop in births. Since then, the government
has tried many incentives to increase the birthrate. These include a government-sponsored
baby bonus scheme offering financial incentives to couples who have a
second or third child. It has extended maternity leave for both mother
and father, but, in spite of this, the birthrate has not gone up and there
are still 23 abortions for every 100 known pregnancies. This, according
to Family Planning Perspectives.
Poland’s Babies in Jeopardy
Elections are over and the Polish people have elected a new left wing
government. Happily, it did not receive an absolute majority. This ex-communist
Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) has joined with a smaller Labor Union Party
(UP) to issue a statement saying, “We believe abortion should be allowed
when the woman faces hardship.” Clearly, if this is carried out, there
will once again be abortion on request in Poland. Such reversal of present
legislation, however, is not a sure thing, as most of the other parties
generally oppose abortion. Further, even if abortion is again legalized,
it would face a very significant constitutional challenge.
Reproductive or Therapeutic Cloning
There’s a major effort afoot in Europe to create an international
convention to ban reproductive cloning. This is the type that would create
a new human by cloning and then attempting to bring him or her to full
term delivery.
The European Union opposes this type of cloning but has been silent about therapeutic cloning. Germany has banned both reproductive and therapeutic cloning, a German politician, for instance, stating: “We don’t want to repeat the dreadful genetic experiments made by the Nazi regime.”
Therapeutic cloning is the very same creation of a new human, but then the imposition of a “clone and kill” rule, being sure that this new living human is killed prior to implantation in a woman’s womb. Britain has approved such therapeutic cloning, but the European parliament has passed a resolution asserting that there is no moral distinction between the two types of cloning, being merely a “linguistic slight of hand.” In the meantime the European Union pushes for a ban on therapeutic cloning stating that to attempt to ban both types would “bog down negotiations” and delay such a ban for years.
Britain Up, U.S.A. Down
In London, the Office for National Statistics has released figures
showing that the abortion rate is steadily rising in Britain. The British
Pregnancy Advisory Service further says that the increase is likely to
continue. Nearly one woman in five, by age 40, is now childless, and the
average age for delivering her first child is 29. Further, fewer couples
are marrying, and those who don’t are less likely to have pregnancies
and more likely to have abortions. Overall, in 1990, 20% of pregnancies
were aborted. In 1999 it was 22.6%.
In contrast, in the United States the abortion rate is decreasing. It has dropped a full 15% nationwide, with a number of the states recording drops of as much as 40%. Further, the birthrate in the U.S. is almost at replacement level and, when immigration is added, the population grows steadily. In Britain, the birthrate is only two-thirds what it must be for replacement level, but it is also experiencing some immigration.
Judgment Day
When the time comes, as it surely will, when we face that awesome
moment, the final judgment, I’ve often thought, as Fulton Sheen wrote,
that it is a terrible moment of loneliness. You have no advocates. You
are there alone standing before God, and the terror will grip your soul
like nothing you can imagine. But I really think that those in the pro-life
movement will not be alone. I think there will be a chorus of voices that
have never been heard in this world, but are heard beautifully and clearly
in the next world. They will plead for everyone who has been in this movement.
They will say to God, “Spare him because he loved us.” And God will look
at you and not say, “Did you succeed?” Rather, He will say, “Did you try?”
Congressman Henry Hyde
Suit Against Third Generation Pills
The London law firm, Haughton and Company, has filed a multi-million
dollar lawsuit on behalf of 123 women against the pharmaceutical companies
Schiering, Organon and Wyeth. All of these companies manufacture third
generation birth control pills. The women filing the lawsuit have died
or suffered disability from these types of contraceptives. The lawsuit
claims that the third generation pill has increased the risk for pulmonary
embolism, deep vein thrombosis and paradoxical embolism. Injuries that
have resulted have included death, paralysis and life long disabilities
due to blood clots in the deep veins. The statement followed the European
Medicine’s Evaluation Agency’s recent confirmation of the increased health
risks associated with these newer pills. These pills were developed to
reduce side effects such as weight gain, acne and increased cholesterol
levels associated with the earlier pills, but a study published in the
British Medical Journal in July found that such patients were 1.7
times more likely to develop deep vein thrombosis than were those using
the older second generation oral contraceptives. Your editors note that
the third generation pills have a greater tendency to allow break-through
ovulation, but do prevent implantation. Therefore, they are more frequently
abortive than the earlier pills.
Estonia – Abortion?
Estonia’s government has proposed legislation to allow underage
girls to get abortions without parental consent. Fifty-six percent of
known pregnancies in Estonia have been ending in abortion, ranking this
small country among the top aborting nations in the world. And now they
want to kill more babies.
RU 486 at 49 Days or 63 Days
The U.S. FDA has recommended 49 days. Some abortion spokeswomen have
said they will do them until 63 days. This was tried in France, but after
several months they returned to the earlier time. The reason was that
during these two extra weeks, the embryo begins to look like a baby.
Head and limbs are very evident. Women who aborted at home were asked
to bring what passed back in a jar and/or aborted in the clinic and saw
what passed. In these later two weeks, they could discern head and limbs.
One nurse reported looking at six embryos in surgical dishes by the sink.
“It was upsetting. It was like looking at a row of people.” The women,
too, were shocked at what they had expelled. And so France went back to
49 days. The other problem with extending the length of time is a significant
failure rate that increased rapidly, necessitating surgical D&C’s.
Alaska – No to Assisted Suicide
The Alaska Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, has held that
there is no right to physician- assisted suicide under the privacy or
equal protection division of Alaska’s state constitution, this in the
face of Alaska’s having explicit constitutional “right to privacy” provisions.
This decision follows a similar one by the Florida Supreme Court which
also has a “right to privacy” provision. Noting that the U.S. Supreme
Court has unanimously rejected the claim that the U.S. Constitution contains
a right to physician-assisted suicide, there is now a significant body
of case law rejecting both federal and state claims for recognition of
such a right. We note also that voter initiatives on this have failed
in California, Washington, Michigan and Maine. Oregon is the only state
to legalize physician-assisted suicide. James Bopp, president of the National
Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled, said, “This decision
drives a stake close to the heart of the movement to legalize euthanasia
through the courts. Their two-pronged strategy of bringing cases in both
federal and state courts has failed. They’ve lost every case they’ve brought
in both arenas.”
Quit Smoking – Save Baby
Women who quit smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy could
decrease the risk of stillbirth by 25% and decrease the risk of infant
mortality by 20%. Karen Wisborg et al, at Aarhus Univ. Hospital, Denmark,
followed 25,000 pregnant women for seven years. Compared to women who
did not smoke, the babies delivered by the smokers were twice as likely
to be stillborn and twice as likely to die after birth. If she quit during
the first trimester, the risks decreased to those similar to women who
had not smoked at all. This according to a study in The American Journal
of Epidemiology, 15 August 2000, as reported by Reuters 8-17
Russia – Pro-Life Conference
The Russian Orthodox Church is organizing a pro-life conference to be held in Moscow the week of November 25th. Pro-life activists from across the former Soviet Union are being invited to attend. http://www.lifesite.net/1dn/2001/oct/011001.html#4
Oncologists and Euthanasia
In a study just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine,
it was found that support for assisted suicide and euthanasia among physicians
specializing in cancer treatment has dropped sharply. In 1994, 45% of
oncologists supported physician-assisted suicide. In 1998, only 22% still
supported it. How many would support the direct killing of the patient
by lethal injection? In 1994, 22% said yes; in 1998, only 6%. The authors
of the study stated that the change was primarily due to “expanding knowledge
about how to facilitate a good death, which made euthanasia and physician-
assisted suicide no longer seem necessary or desirable.”
Infanticide in Canada
Under new rules being considered by the Alberta College of Physicians
and Surgeons, a doctor will be allowed to inject a fatal dose of sodium
chloride into the heart of a seriously malformed unborn baby prior to
birth. If born, the infant should have a “do not resuscitate” order and
left without food or fluids until death. The instruction speaks of “lethal
defect”, but if such a baby is surely going to die after birth, why risk
injuring the mother by such an injection when waiting for a normal delivery
is the safest thing to do?
Words from Mother Teresa
“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered; forgive
them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior
motives; be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful
friends and some genuine enemies; succeed anyway. If you are honest and
sincere, people may deceive you; be honest and sincere anyway. What you
spend years creating, others could destroy overnight; create anyway. If
you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous; be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten; do good anyway. Give the
best you have, and it may never be enough; give your best anyway. In the
final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and
them anyway.”
Irish Referendum Coming
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has announced that he plans to hold the country’s third referendum in two decades on the issue of abortion. He has stated that the proposal will reflect the “point of view that, while abortio n should not be permitted, we must safeguard medical procedures to protect the lives of mothers. The wording will ban abortions, but clarify that medical treatment deemed necessary to protect the life of the pregnant woman would be permitted. However, the threat of suicide would be ruled out as grounds for legal abortion.” We recall that in 1992 the Irish Supreme Court ruled in the “X Case” that a 14-year-old rap e victim, who threatened suicide, could have an abortion. Ahern also proposed creating a government-financed crisis pregnancy agency that would offer “caring, practical intervention for pregnant women in the hopes of reducing the number of women who travel to Britain for abortions.”
The above were his words, but when the proposed wording was announced, it stated, “Abortion means the intentional destruction, by any means, of unborn human life after implantation in the womb (emphasis added).
Dr. Willke, president of IRTLF immediately announced that if the wording was not changed, “We will do everything within our power… to defeat this referendum.” He suggested deleting “after implantation in the womb” and substituting “fertilization” stating that this was non-negotiable. If changed, “We will wholeheartedly support it.”
Philippines
The new president of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has urged her parliament to pass a law banning human cloning. She said a baby should be conceived in love and not manufactured in a cold laboratory.
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