file: /pub/resources/text/ProLife.News/1994: PLN-0405.TXT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life Communications - Volume 4, No. 5 March, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This newsletter is intended to provide articles and news information to those interested in Pro-Life issues. All submissions should be sent to the editor, Steve or the assistant editor Sean ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Chorionic Villus Sampling a Hazzard to Unborn Children The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that chorionic villus sampling (CVS) is a danger to unborn children in that it raises an infant's chance of missing fingers or toes by a factor of six. Previous research had established that CVS has an induced abortion rate of 1%. The mechanism for how the test induces such deformities is not known. CVS is a prenatal test that detects genetic defects as early as the ninth week of pregnancy. Following on the results of a five year study (1988-1992) Its use apparently will increase an infant's chance of missing fingers or toes by six times. This test is performed weeks before amniocentesis, a standard test for fetal abnormalities [and also has an induced abortion rate of around 1%]. The CDC study found that infants whose mothers had undergone the test had a 0.03 percent risk of missing or underdeveloped fingers or toes-well below the risk of miscarriage. Normal risk of missing digits is about 0.005 percent. The CDC made no immediate recommendation regarding the test, but said expectant mothers should know about the risks. CDC researchers commented that pregnant women may be more concerned about the possibility of birth defects that the risk of miscarriage, and that women considering the test should get counselling to balance the risks of the procedure. Commentary: Isn't it interesting that the very test that parents are using to try to determine whether or not to abort apparently causes the kinds of things it is supposed to detect? - Dr. Fred Worth [ From an AP article in _The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette_, Sat. March 12, 1994.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) On the National Front *Washington, DC* _FACE back in Committee:_ The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) bill was sent to a congressional conference, where differences between the House-passed and Senate-passed versions can be resolved. The measure originally passed the House last November by a voice vote, while the Senate version was approved the same month, 69-30. The House version makes it a federal offense to block a clinic entrance or to damage a clinic, and imposes stiff federal penalties on those who intentionally intimidate, injure or otherwise interfere with clinic staff or patients by using/threatening force or physically blocking their way. The Senate version includes an amendment that applies the terms of the bills to places of worship as well as places of abortion. The opposition to FACE was led by Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J., and Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., tried to keep the measure from leaving the House. Sensenbrenner commented that "We're here today because those who protest against abortion are doing a politically incorrect thing in the mores of today." Supporters of the bill say that it is partly a response to the 1993 murder of abortionist Dr. David Gunn outside the clinic where he worked in Pensacola, Florida. *Atlanta, Georgia* _Statistics from the USCDC:_ According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of legal abortions in the United States in 1991 declined 2.8% to 1,388,937. This amounted to 339 legal, induced abortions per 1,000 live births; the 1990 rate was 345 per 1,000. The CDC report containing these figures cautioned that comparisons may be misleading because some states do not have a centralized system of reporting legal abortions, and also commented that the number of legal induced abortions performed in the United States has remained relatively stable since 1980, varying each year by five percent or less. 52% [722,000] of the reported abortions were performed during the first eight weeks of pregnancy and 89% [1,236,000] were done in the first 12 weeks. Almost 80% of aborting women for whom statistics were kept were unmarried. Women aged 25 or older accounted for 44.8% of reported abortions, while 34.2% were among women aged 20 to 24, and 21% involved women aged 19 or younger. [27 Jan 94 UPI] *Tampa, Florida* _Women Wins Suggested Abortion Suit:_ Margaret Bonnell, 31, was awarded $85,000 by a Tampa, Florida, jury from Altman Management Co., a leasing agency. She was fired in May 1992 after she refused to get an abortion and she testified her bosses put a wicker basket of pennies on her desk to help pay for it. [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette] *Washington, DC* _Clinton says there are too many abortions:_ President Clinton, in an ABC News interview reiterated his view that there are too many abortions in the United States and that there should be more adoptions instead. "But I do not believe it is self-evident from the Bible that all abortions are murder," he said. [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette] *Detroit, Michigan* _Informed Consent Delayed:_ U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds issued a temporary order blocking Michigan's informed consent law from taking effect. Signed into law last July, the law was scheduled to take effect April 1. Similar to the PA Law approved by the Supreme Court in the _Case vs. PP_ decision, the Michigan law requires a women seeking abortion to be given material on the risks of the procedure and be shown drawings of unborn children at different stages of development and wait 24-hours before she can abort. Women are not required to look at the material, but they must wait 24 hours. Judge Edmunds expressed concern that the Michigan law does not allow doctors to waive the waiting period or information requirement in cases where a woman's health could be threatened by delaying an abortion; The law permits such a waiver only if the woman is in danger of dying or having a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function. She also refused to allow the state's largest pro-life group, Right to Life of Michigan, to intervene in the case. Carol King, executive director of the Michigan Abortion Rights Action League said that the handout material is tilted toward making pregnancy look more appealing and abortion more dangerous than it is. Similar charges have been laid against similar materials used in Pennsylvania. Catherine Virskus, director of legislative policy for the Michigan Department of Public Health, said the department strictly followed the law's requirement that the material be neutral, not persuasive. *Wichita, Kansas* _Activist guilty of attempted murder:_ Rachelle Shannon, 37 was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the August 19 attack on abortionist Dr. George Tiller. She was acquitted on a second charge of aggravated assault. The Grants Pass, Oregon, woman will be sentenced April 29 and faces up to 13 years, including up to one year for being found in contempt of court. Tiller and his business was one of the few that performs abortions in the final trimester of pregnancy. His was one of three abortuaries targeted by the Operation Rescue in the summer of 1991; those protests resulted in more than 2,600 arrests and cost the city more than $1 million in overtime and court expenses. *Birmingham, Alabama* _Rescuers Defy RICO_ Over 50 pro-life demonstrators were arrested for kneeling and praying in front of Dr. Tommy Tucker's abortuary, as part of Operation Rescue's "Passion for Life" campaign during Holy Week. Tucker is currently under investigation by license boards in Mississippi and Alabama after former patients complained he falsified records and allowed unlicensed clinic workers to perform medical procedures, allegations which he denies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Across the Pond: Ireland A UNICEF report (hardly a biased pro-life source) shows that fewer women in Ireland die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth than in any other country in the world. The figures were obtained from a World Health Organization 1991 publication, "Maternal Mortality: a Global Handbook". The number of maternal deaths for Industrialized Countries per 100,000 are as follows: > Ireland 2 Spain 5 Portugal 10 > Australia 3 Sweden 5 Finland 11 > Belgium 3 Switzerland 5 Japan 11 > Denmark 3 Austria 8 Poland 11 > Israel 3 USA 8 New Zealand 13 > Norway 3 UK 8 Hungary 15 > Italy 4 Bulgaria 9 Romania 150 > Canada 5 France 9 Albania No Data > Germany 5 Czechoslovakia (former) 10 > Greece 5 Netherlands 10 So it is four times as safe to have a baby in Ireland as the United States or the United Kingdom, despite the fact that Ireland does not have abortion, so that all the most difficult cases are dealt with, rather than be aborted. This report very effectively exposes the lie that abortion is somehow needed to protect the lives of Irish women. These facts also underscore the position taken by the Irish Medical Council (the ethics board for Irish doctors), which said in March 1993 that there is no evidence to show that abortion is a necessary part of any medical treatment, and, if it is not a necessary part of a treatment, it shouldn't be carried out. Any doctor practicing an abortion would be acting unethically, and would be open to a charge of professional misconduct, and struck off the register. In the same vein, The Irish Medical Oganization (IMO) - the trade union for Irish doctors - adopted a motion rejecting abortion by a vote of 102 to 45 last April. - Loretta O'Connor [The two papers quoted were the _Evening Press_ from Wednesday 22 September 1993 (p. 1) and the _Irish Times_, sometime in Feb. 1994.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Announcements: *9 April 1994, Danbury, CT* - Faith and Catholic Action Conference (Saturday) Speakers will include Mrs. Judie Brown, President of the American Life League For more info. phone: Bob (203-797-1299) or Mev (203-790-7094) or e-mail John Pitrelli (MIT Pro-Life alumnus) (pitrelli@nynexst.com) - Susan Weakland -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- *June 3, 4, 5, 1994 - Fordham University, New York* UNIVERSITY FACULTY FOR LIFE Annual Conference, to be held at Fordham's Manhattan-Lincoln Center Campus. >Featured Speakers: > Hardley Arkes, Professor of Politics, Amherst Collge > Frederica Matthews-Green, President, Feminists for Life > Bernard Nathanson, M.D., former co-founder of NARAL, now prolifer > Robert Spitzer, S.J., Professor of Philosophy, Seattle University UFL was founded in 1990 to facilitate prolife scholarship in the academic community. Those interested in attending the conference or joining UFL, please contact UFL, Box 2273, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. 20057 - Frank Beckwith ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Reader Comments: The Real Issue of Abortion: Why So Many Babies are Born Unwanted ? I was disgusted by a quote from the pro-choice camp, that we must focus on the real issue of why so many babies are born _unwanted_. Funny that author should make that recognition, yet then come to the conclusion that abortions are necessary. The more germane question is, why are so many people getting PREGNANT without wanting to? I don't want to reduce the life issue to one of sexual responsibility, but I think the point is a valid one. As is common in every aspect of today's society, it seems that individuals have abdicated responsibility for their actions, ignoring the outcomes - thus the conclusion is made that we simply "must" have abortions for convenience (or for "choice," to use their lingo), although I think the real choice comes in choosing whether to become pregnant in the first place. Somewhere between 97% and 99% of abortions (between ~1.53 and ~1.56 million) in the US are for reasons where the mother had this choice. It seems to me that anyone who says that this isn't valid is casting a very negative light on humanity, that people are so out of control of themselves that they can't avoid unwanted pregnancy. [But then, that is what we tell our teens every time we hand them a condom, and tell them that Chastity education doesn't work, no? Even the Surgeon General widley publicizes the supposed need to 'sheath the world in Latex'...] A few weeks back, I read a review of Beverly Hills, 90210 in _USA Today_. One of the characters got pregnant unexpectedly, and went through the painful process of deciding what to do. After feeling the baby "kick" she realized she wanted the baby and decided to marry the guy who knocked her up. The review quite rightly said that the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy were somewhat bizarre (because of the nature of her character), and that the details of the pregnancy were distorted (when the kick took place she was only about 4 weeks into the pregnancy). The interesting part was that the review also blasted the show for showing a "distorted and dangerous" picture of pregnancy. Distorted yes, but dangerous? Unless of course, it is a "dangerous" practice to emphasize the fact that you are toting around a separate life, and that the consequences of deciding to go through with an abortion are very large. Surely the writer, and any other pro-choicer, isn't threatened by a little tiny inhuman fetus which we can so easily dispose of at our convenience? - Mike VanAuker -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- A Modest Proposal - Over the years it has regularly been suggested that pro-lifers read "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift. Written in 1729, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, it gives suggestions of what can be done with children who are deemed inconvenient to the general populace. It goes far beyond just killing, making suggestions for use of the dead children. At first reading it sounds like only a morbid satire. Upon reflection it comes frightfully close to being prophetic considering the current push for fetal experimentation and parts harvesting. - Fred Worth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reader Responses v4n4: AMA Definition of Pregnancy (was Depo Provera) Actually, in terms of human physiology, the AMA definition is accurate. There is a significant possibility that a given fertilized ovum will not implant itself in the uterine wall and will pass on in the process of menstruation. Also, there is no way to detect conception. Only implantation can be detected. Thus, in terms of when a pregnancy test will give a positive result, the several days between conception and implantation cannot be detected. Of course, this has nothing to do with the moral dimension of anti-implantation drugs like Depo Provera, but we do want to be accurate scientifically accurate as well as moral in our actions. - Shalom, Lon Mendelsohn [I guess i would strongly differentiate a 'contraceptive' that is, something that opposes conception, from something that counters the ability of a conceptus from being able to develop; There would seem to be a serious difference between a pregnancy existing, and the ability for a pregnancy (human individual developing within the womb of another) to be detected. The fact that many conceptions naturally never make it to implantation seems irrelevant. Using this to base an official/popular understanding of conception (actually contra-ception) seems misleading at best. Ed.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) Reader Questions Who administers the newsgroups talk.abortion and alt.abortion.inequity? Is there a way to receive/post to this newsgroup without having a newserver running? - Fred Worth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the Month: "Network stories on such social issues as abortion and homosexuality are never done from the religious viewpoint; Instead, religious figures are regularly portrayed as reactionary roadblocks while their positive influences are rarely covered...the news shows portray these groups and their leaders as cold, intolerant and oppressive -- and that is biased coverage." - Media Research Center chairman Brent Bozell, commenting on a study released in March, 1994 of 18,000 nightly news shows (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and PBS). The study found just 212 stories that focused on religion. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Credits: | | 2 - Many thanks to Eric Ewanco, Fred Worth, and Bev Bendiksen | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Anyone desiring information on specific prolife groups, literature, tapes, or help with problems is encouraged to contact the editor.