International Right to Life Federation, Inc.
Vol. 15 No. 2
(March/April 2004)

Uruguay Rejects Abortion Legalization
This South American nation had pro-life people internationally praying very hard this last month. In its parliament, the House had passed a bill to allow abortion-on-demand. It would have legalized abortion for any reason during the first three months. It defined abortion as a "medical act" and limited conscientious objection by health professionals. Further, it required all health facilities to provide abortions. Not surprisingly, they pulled out the old, big lie, stating that there were tens of thousands of illegal abortions in their country each year and that women often die from them. The fact that none of the above is true and that while there are illegal abortions, they are a relatively small number, was not reported in the press. But, good news-the Uruguay Senate on May 4, voted 17 to 13 to defeat the bill. This keeps South and Central America with a clean slate. Every country still protects unborn life except Cuba and Puerto Rico (which operates under U.S. law).

Portugal Votes - Continue Pro-Life Laws
Portuguese Parliament voted to keep laws protecting unborn babies. A move had been made to legalize abortion; in response, pro-life groups presented nearly 200,000 petitions to the members of parliament encouraging them to maintain the present protective laws. Pro-abortion advocates had collected 121,000 signatures. The proposed law would have allowed abortion-on-demand until three months and, under special circumstances, until six. They also voted against placing the proposal on a national referendum ballot.
Theresa Ares deCampos told a news conference: "The solution for a woman in difficulty should never be the death of her unborn child. We want to create a society where a newborn child is never seen as a burden that needs to be eliminated. We want to create a country where a child is always welcome."

The Pope-No to Starvation
Pope John Paul II has released a definitive statement instructing his fellow Catholics that it is wrong to "administer euthanasia by omission." In it he directs Catholics that they are not to stop food and water being given to patients, "even if they are in a persistent vegetative state." It is noted that it is now common practice in many areas (including some Catholic areas) to stop "artificial nutrition and hydration" in such patients. The Pope states that giving food and fluids are basic requirements and are not to be construed as medical treatments. We await further details but note the following.
So you recently ordered a milkshake and drank it through a straw. Would you consider this as artificial nutrition and hydration, simply because you ingested it through a straw? Silly question you say? Not really. You see, if you have a patient who cannot swallow, it is fairly common practice to insert a gastrotomy tube. This is done under local anesthetic and is a simple tube, put through the skin of the upper abdomen directly into the stomach and then capped. At meal time, the nurse or the patient herself, removes the cap and pours a milkshake into her own stomach. Those who favor ending the life of such patients call this "artificial nutrition and hydration." In fact it is artificially administered nutrition and hydration or, if you please, food and fluids. But there is nothing more artificial about this milkshake than the one you recently ordered at McDonalds. The point is that many people want to empty hospital and nursing home beds. To stop feeding condemns this person to a lengthy and painful death by starvation and dehydration. This is exactly what Terri Schiavo's husband wants to have happen to his wife. We note that it certainly is possible and ethical in many situations to discontinue medical treatment or artificial life support systems. One of the things that cannot be discontinued, according to a statement from the Pope, is food and water.


Pregnancy, Delivery or Abortion-Which is Safer?
The prestigious American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology has published research entitled "Pregnancy Associated Mortality After Birth, Spontaneous Abortion, or Induced Abortion in Finland, 1987-2000" (1004) 190, 422-427. The result of their research showed that the mortality rate for women who have given birth was 28 per 100,000. The rate for those with a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) was 52 per 100,000. The rate after induced abortion was 83 per 100,000. This shows that three times as many women died from all causes in the year after their abortion, compared to the year after they delivered a baby. This confirms an Elliot Institute study, published in the August, 2002, Southern Medical Journal (see below). Apparently because of anxiety and depression, women who have had abortions are risk takers. This may explain their high rates of death from accidents, suicide and homicide, and also higher rates of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Abortion Has Higher Death Rate
Dr. David Reardon has published a response in the New England Journal of Medicine, showing a higher death rate for women who have had abortions than those delivering babies. His response documented the newest record-based research proving that the risk of death associated with abortion is actually higher than that associated with childbirth, miscarriage or not being pregnant. These are the only studies that examine pregnancy associated mortality related to abortion and childbirth, using a common standard and methodology. He also documented that women face higher risks of psychiatric illness following abortions. He noted the lack of any evidence that couples who abort a baby due to fetal abnormalities experienced any psychological benefit. He concluded with the observation that proponents of abortion have failed to document any benefits of abortion that outweigh the known risks either in general or specifically for those women who face a concurrent illness.
NEJM 04;350:1908-1910 Apr. 29

New Zealand Euthanasia Proponent Guilty
Leslie Martin, the founder of a pro-euthanasia group in New Zealand, was found by a jury to be guilty of attempting to kill her mother in May 1999. She revealed this deadly attempt in a book promoting assisted suicide.

Argentina-Back Door Maneuvering
Argentina's President, Nestor Kirchner, on December 30, proposed that Carmen Argbay be elevated to that nation's Supreme Court of Justice. This has raised a firestorm of protests. The press director of the Argentine bishops has called her a "militant atheist in favor of abortion." And reminded lawmakers that the Constitution of Argentina expressly protects the life of unborn humans from conception. Charges are flying that she is proposed for the post in order that she then can rule to "modify the letter of or the meaning of the Constitution and thus make it possible to legalize abortion in Argentina." Some have urged him to withdraw the nomination. Let us watch this one.

Dr. and Mrs. Willke in Ukraine
Dr. and Mrs. Willke recently spent two full weeks in the Ukraine. Shepherded by Pastor David Bentley, they spoke to major college and university audiences in the cities of Zhythomyr, Vinnitsa, Chernizshiy, Kamyanets-Podilsky, Lviv, Kiev and Ternopil. They lectured to packed lecture rooms and auditoriums, averaging two to three major university appearances a day. Due to a generous foundation in Cincinnati, they were able to leave a piece of pro-life literature in Ukrainian, Russian or English to every student they faced. Additionally, they left complete slide-sets and videos at each school. Pastor Bentley judged the speaking tour to be a "resounding success."

RU 486 Death in Stockholm
Another teenager has died as a result of taking the dangerous RU 486 drug, this time in Sweden. Just months after California teenager Holly Patterson died following taking the abortion pill, an 18-year-old Swedish girl has bled to death after receiving the drug at a local hospital.
The girl from Sweden, was seven weeks pregnant at the time, and was given the abortion drug, which is called Mifegyne in this Scandinavian country.
Unlike in the case of Holly Patterson, the Swedish girl was kept at the facility for eight hours for observation to make sure no excessive bleeding occurred. In contrast, Patterson was given the abortion drug by a Planned Parenthood facility to take at home with no medical supervision.
The Swedish girl was found dead at her home.
A local medical examiner established the cause of death as extreme loss of blood related to the abortion.
Johan Lundell, of the Swedish pro-life group JA till Livet, told LifeNews.com that the death occurred in late 2003 and is only being reported now.
"From what we can see, all the rules were followed and the girl was given the correct dosage," Ingemar Persson of the Swedish Medical Products Agency told the French Press Agency.
Since "all of the rules were followed" pro-life advocates pointed to the inherent dangers associated with this abortion pill.

More on Other RU 486 Death
A report released by the California Department of Health Services in their investigation into the death of Holly Patterson reveals that Planned Parenthood failed to follow its own internal policies for informing women on how to use the RU 486 abortion drug that was responsible for Holly's death.
The state health agency said Planned Parenthood of Hayward did not have Patterson sign one of the three forms the abortion business says it normally requires women obtaining chemical abortions to sign.
An Alameda County Coroner's report confirmed that the use of RU 486 resulted in an incomplete abortion that led to uterine infection and caused Holly's death.

U.S.-No Over-the-Counter Pills
After intense lobbying from both sides on this issue, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that it will not allow the morning after pill to be sold over-the-counter. It stated that its decision came because of insufficient safety data, as they were concerned about the effect of the pills on minor women. Their decision traditionally has been made on a relatively narrow area of judgment, i.e. whether the drug can be used safely and effectively without the supervision of a physician. It is noted that some time ago an advisory panel of "experts" had voted 23 to 4 in favor of the over-the-counter sales. The drug company has been asked to do further research on whether it is safe to allow teenage girls to buy these for repeated use.

Bush Signs Unborn Victims of Violence Act
This Act is also known as the Laci and Connor's Law in memory of Laci Peterson and her unborn child, both of whom were victims of homicide in California. This law, which passed both U.S. House and Senate with bipartisan majority votes, recognizes an unborn child as a second victim in a violent federal crime against a pregnant woman. In other words, if she is assaulted and killed in a violent crime and is pregnant, the assailant can now be charged with two counts of murder rather than one.

Court Testimony-Fetal Pain "Excruciating"
Dr. K. Anand is a renowned neonatal pediatrician and pain expert. He recently testified before Judge Casey in the court challenge to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban. Wearing his Sikh headdress, beard and large mustache, he first said that "women have an inalienable right to abortion, except in the case of fetal pain." He then testified that unborn children feel pain even more vividly than adults or even infants. By four and a half months, he stated that a fetus has developed all the nerve and brain functions to feel pain, but none of the coping mechanisms that help older humans deal with the sensation. According to him, handling the fetus in the womb, delivering the child up to his or her head, piercing the skull and sucking out the brains, would all produced "prolonged and excruciating pain to the fetus." Rest assured the New York Times, less than four miles away, did not find this interesting enough to publish.

September Brussels Meeting
On September 16-19, the new European Parliament will be seated in Brussels. Plans are underway by Mr. Bert Dorenbos and Anna Halpine for pro-life meetings at the same time. Details will be forthcoming.

International Board Meets
The annual International Right to Life Federation board meeting was held in London on 25 March 2004. On 26 and 27 March, a very successful western European meeting was held under the sponsorship of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC), chaired by John Smeaton. Approximately 25 countries were represented. Much of its two days was spent acquainting attendees with details concerning the European Union, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. This was avidly listened to because the European Union expansion was only a few weeks away.

Elections-European Parliament
Considering the recent enlargement of the European Union, elections to its Parliament on 12 June 2004 take on a substantially greater meaning than in the past. We urge all of our readers, who in any capacity can influence these elections, to be sure to do so as we hope one result will be a lessening of the anti-life policies on the continent.

European Meeting 13-15 May Holland
June 10, 2004 is the date for the elections for the European Parliament, which will convene in October in Brussels. In preparation for this there will be a meeting on May 13-15 in Hilversum, Holland. Conference organizers are Bert and Willie Dorenbos and Alex van Vurren. Their phone number is 31(0)35-624-4352 and email, info@schreeuwomleven.nl.

Humans Have Now Been Cloned
In February, South Korean scientists announced that they had successfully extracted embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos. These are obtained by killing a four-day-old living human and extracting these cells. The Korean team took 242 eggs from 16 women. Removing the nuclei from the eggs, they inserted cumulus cells from the same woman into the empty egg. Of thirty-some cells that then were coaxed to begin to grow, only one yielded a successfully growing cell line. Stem cells growing in the petri dishes grew into skin, muscle, bone cartilage and other types of human tissues.
Despite numerous attempts "the team was unable to clone a viable human embryo containing genetic material from someone other than the original egg donor." Their only success came when they sucked the DNA from an egg and replaced it with DNA from an adult cell donated by the same woman. Even when working with genetically identical cells, only one type, cumulus cells, which surround and nourish the developing egg, worked well as the DNA source."
Translate the above and we learn that the human clone created in Korea was not what most recognize as a clone. It would appear that while this was a scientific advance, there is a long way to go before a true human clone is produced.
JAMA 3-10-04, Vol. 291, pg. 1185

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