| International
Right to Life Federation, Inc.
Vol.
15 No. 3
(May/June/July 2004) Designer Babies Not
Needed
Dr. Peter Hollands of Cells for Life in Ontario, Canada has announced
that in vitro fertilization and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis are not necessary
to create designer babies in order to find tissue matches for people who need
stem cell therapy. He stated that if we focused more on collecting umbilical cord
blood from the tens of thousands of births in our hospitals, and if these samples
were stored in a public bank, there would then be a suitable match for almost
everyone.
Lifesitenews.com 10 May Athlete Skips Olympic Gold
A
top British athlete has given up the chance of an Olympic gold medal to have her
baby, after she discovered she was pregnant. Tasha Danvers-Smith, whose career
hopes rested on her competing at Athens this year, briefly considered an abortion.
However, she said: "This line from Scriptures kept coming into my head: 'For
what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?'" Japan
Approves Human Cloning
In June Japan's Council for Science and Technology
approved the cloning of human embryos for research purposes. Certain guidelines
must be established and conditions set, but apparently a definite decision has
been made. China: Too Many Men-A Surprise?
According to the Xinhua
News Agency, China has 117 boys for every 100 girls. Under the age of nine there
are 13,000,000 more boys than girls. By the year 2020, China will have 40,000,000
men who cannot find wives. The deputy director of family planning committee in
China said, "Such serious gender disproportion poses a major threat to the
healthy, harmonious and sustainable growth of the nation's population and can
trigger such crimes and social problems as mercenary marriage, abduction of women
and prostitution." New U.S. Ambassador To U.N.
With the departure
of Ambassador Negroponte to Iraq, pro-life people anxiously awaited President
Bush's new appointment. He is former Missouri U.S. Senator John Danforth. During
his lengthy tenure in the Senate, he compiled an almost perfect pro-life voting
record. The one exception was at the end of his career when he supported the use
of fetal tissue from abortions for research. Romania-Abortions Slightly
Down
The Interim, March, '04, has reported that the number of abortions
committed in Romania in 2003 was 170,000. This compares to 162,000 live births.
This is awful. Even so, it is better than it was a few years ago. New
Zealand Abortions Increase
New Zealand's Society for the Protection of
the Unborn Child reports that for every 2.9 live births one child is killed in
abortion. This is higher than most of Western Europe. Thirty percent of these
abortions are in the age group 20 to 24, with one-third of the abortions being
repeats. Euthanasia in New Zealand
A recent study has been reported
in the New Zealand Medical Journal. It revealed that nearly 700 doctors have admitted
to hastening the deaths of terminally ill patients in spite of the fact that adequate
palliative care was available for the patients. Further, it reported that in 380
of the cases the doctor assisted in the death of the patient "without even
talking with the patient first." The doctors involved said the reason to
not discuss the issues was that the patients were too ill. However, in 88 cases
the doctor judged the patient competent and there was still no discussion.
The
issue of assisted suicide has come before their parliament, was debated at length
and defeated. South Africa Parental Consent Not Needed
The Pretoria
High Court has ruled that minor girls under 18 in S. Africa can have abortions
without their parent's consent. The Christian Lawyers Association attempted unsuccessfully
to challenge the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act for a second time. But,
the high court judge ruled that such underage women have a constitutional right
to abortion. Nairobi, Kenya, Work Continues on New Laws:
Abortion
remains illegal in Kenya. The International Pro-Abortion Community, however, is
throwing everything it has into this pivotal nation. Their latest propaganda is
to claim 300,000 unsafe abortions every year. Quite properly, Archbishop Nzeki
has denounced this as an unqualified falsehood saying there was no evidence for
this and that the pro-abortion forces cannot prove this. Clearly some major decisions
are in the offing as to the future of abortion in Kenya. Drug Abuse After
Abortion
A new study has just been published in the June issue of the
American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. David Reardon the chief author and
his colleagues found that among women who had unintended first pregnancies, those
who had abortions were likely to report (four years later) more frequent and more
recent use of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. Woman who had never been pregnant
or those with unintended pregnancies who went on to deliver, had notable lower
frequency of drug abuse. Dr. Reardon emphasized, "…that these new findings
show that a history of unintended pregnancies alone is not linked to higher rates
of substance use. The link only appears when the unintended pregnancy is aborted." French
Parliament Allows Killing of Tiny Humans
In final vote the French Parliament
has given approval to a bioethics law that allows the killing of five-day-old
human embryos in order to obtain embryonic stem cells for experimentation. At
the same time it passed a measure that says that if you produce a cloned human
and then insert that tiny embryo in a woman's womb and then carry that baby to
term that this is "a crime against the human race punishable by 20 years
in prison." EU Refuses Rights for Unborn Children
In early
July in Brussels the European Court of Human Rights, the continent's top human
rights court, refused in the name of the European Union, to grant full human rights
to pre-born children. It ruled that governments of individual nations must decide
the issue. A majority of the seventeen-judge panel said, "It was neither
desirable nor possible to answer in the abstract the question whether the unborn
child was a person." The reaction of England's SPUC was very direct. "Pro-Abortion
judges are forming a pincer movement with Pro-Abortion politicians to abolish
any legal restraints that protect unborn children from intentional killing." Embryonic
Stem Cells Dangerous?
Dr. John Gearhart of John Hopkins Univ. recently
stated that embryonic stem cells were "surprisingly genetically unstable
and this may complicate efforts to turn these cells into cures." Another
bioethicist, Glen McGee said, "The potential that they would explode into
a cancerous mass after stem cell transplant might turn out to be the Pandora's
box of stem cell research." New Adult Stem Cell Discovery
Reuters
News Agency in May reported that Scientists at Frauenhoeffer Institute and The
University of Luebeck in German have reported that they have developed a new method
of stem cell extraction. They extracted cells from human and rat glandular tissue
that had similar properties to embryonic stem cells. Further, these cells were
highly stable and accessible. If this proves to be true, this discovery could
render obsolete the use of embryonic stem cells. Another Adult Stem Cell
Breakthrough
Bone marrow stem cells have now been converted into liver
cells. This has been done by experiments at the John Hopkins University in Maryland.
The cells were exposed to damaged liver tissue. Rather than fusing with these
cells they restored liver function within two to seven days. If this experiment
can be replicated it could make possible treatment of diabetes, liver cirrosis
and other problems. This is according to Medical News Today, June 2, 2004. Fat
Cells Changed Into Nerve Cells
According to Webindia.com on June 1st, research
published in the journal, Experimental Neurology, describes these researcher's
success in turning cells from mouse fat into neurons and glial cells (nerve cells).
They demonstrated that the function of the cells was similar to that of ordinary
nerve cells. If this experimentation is confirmed, such fat cells could provide
a limitless supply of cells to treat nerve problems in peripheral nerves as well
as the central system. Note: These were not embryonic stem cells. Adult
Stem CellsTreat Spinal Cord
Australia and Portugal are reporting success
using olfactory ensheathing glial cells taken from the lining of the patient's
nose. They have used these to treat spinal cord injuries and are reporting encouraging
results. (Velleville.com, 6-7-04)
Recently, U.S. Senator Brownbeck held a press
conference. At it he introduced Laura Dominguez a quadriplegic at sixteen from
an accident. Using the above adult stem cells she can now walk with braces. Another,
Susan Fajt, was also there - a similar success. He noted that non-embryonic stem
cells "…have moved quickly forward to perform many of the tasks, once
thought to be possible only with embryonic stem cells." NEW BROCHURE  Dr.
Willke has just released:
"Stem Cells,
Cloning, and Emergency Contraception-
The First Week of Life."
In
this short pamphlet
he lays out everything
you need to know
about these
issues. Write to us for a free copy.
Stem
Cell Research?
According to the U.S. National Institute of Health, there
are now 330 human clinical trials using non-embryonic stem cells (adult stem cells)
underway. These have targeted 74 treatable diseases. Compared to these there are
no human clinical trials or proven therapies using embryonic stem cells. Michael
Reagan has given voice to his father and reiterated, "I am with my dad on
stem cell research." He points to the "….junk science of embryonic
stem cell research," and notes that the "….true hope for many diseases
including diabetes and Parkinson is with adult stem cells, not embryonic ones." 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. For details contact Hilversum office below. A
Downs Syndrome Gene?
The journal "Chemistry and Industry" (3
Nov. 03) has reported "The discovery of a gene involved in memory and learning
disabilities in Downs Syndrome means that this condition, one of the most common
genetic abnormalities, may soon be treatable." It quotes research that the
gene causes the neuron damage that is thought to cause mental retardation. It
noted that the general thinking was that there were probably several genes involved
in mental retardation. It is now being postulated that possibly only a single
gene may be responsible. If so this could lead to treatment. Premature
Survivability
The survivability of pre-mature infants has shown a steady
improvement over the last 20 years. An article in "World Magazine" June
26, reports on a thousand early term infants in Minneapolis hospitals. The figures
are as follows.
From 1986 to 2000 babies at-
26 weeks increased survival
from 76% to 93%
25 weeks the survival rate rose from 69% to 85%
24 weeks
went from 49% to 81%
23 weeks it rose from 40% to 65%.
Clearly this is
in a highly sophisticated technical environment. Award to Honor Dana
Scallon
In London, Dana Scallon, a member of the European Parliament was
given IRTL's highest award for upholding the "Culture of Life" against
the continuing assaults of the "Culture of Death." Nutrition
and Hydration?
In the public press, we continually read the phrase "artificial
nutrition and hydration." This is simply incorrect. Correctly spoken it is
"artificially administered nutrition and hydration." Better yet, "assisted
feeding." What's the difference? The phraseology euthanasia supporters use
sounds very medical and more like treatment. Treatment can be withdrawn in certain
instances. Actually, if you drink a milkshake through a straw, you are artificially
administering to yourself food and fluids. Since treatment of an incompetent patient
through a gastric tube is no different than drinking fluids through a straw, we
really ought to use the same language rather than their pro-euthanasia words. International
Right To Life Conference
A recent conference call of International Right
To Life Board members was very productive. Present were Australia, Brazil, Honduras,
Netherlands, England, Poland, Canada and the United States. The International
Right To Life web site will soon be functional. A number of meetings were discussed.
A date in late February 2005 in Honduras was confirmed for the next annual board
meeting.
J.C. Willke, President
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