Politics
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Monday February 23, 1998
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PrintPOPE OPPOSES UN ON DEFINITION OF WOMEN’S HEALTH
TODAY'S HEADLINES
VATICAN CITY, Feb 23 (LSN) - On Friday, Pope John Paul II addressed participants at the international conference on "Women's Health Issues," in Rome, organized by the Sacred Heart University of Rome together with the Georgetown Center for Medical Ethics. The pope condemned the thinking of such groups as the United Nations and certain feminist organizations for considering motherhood to be an illness. "The search for health as well-being has led to the consideration of maternity itself, even in important political documents, as a burden and an illness, creating the presuppositions, in the name of health and quality of life, for the justification of contraception and sterilization, of abortion and even of euthanasia," he said.
In a pointed remark to all, notably the UN, who would include abortion in the notion of reproductive health, the pontiff said, "promoting the procreative health of the woman...can never...mean offending the dignity of the person of the woman and the life of the [child(ren)] conceived."
Back to TopTORONTO’S DOCTOR DEATH: SENTENCE COMING SOON
TORONTO, Feb 23 (LSN) - The controversial Toronto doctor, Maurice Genereux, who last December became the first Canadian doctor to be convicted of assisting suicide, will be sentenced on April 29 and 30. Although the maximum penalty he faces is 14 years, he will likely only be given a sentence of less than two years. Genereux, an active homosexual, is still practicing medicine despite his assisted suicide conviction and earlier charges of sexual misconduct with patients.
THE HORRORS OF IN VITRO FERTILIZATION
TORONTO, Feb 23 (LSN) - Yesterday and today, the Sun newspapers and the Toronto Star contained stories on the "Human Egg Trade." Proponents of in vitro fertilization (IVF) have succeeded in drawing public attention to the lucrative side of the business of illicit procreation by warning that if Canada erects barriers to the collection of human eggs, it will lose the "business" to the US. The raising of the issue gives pro-lifers the opportunity to educate people on the evils of this procedure. The following explanation reveals that it is impossible to be pro-life and pro-IVF.
Besides the foremost reason against in-vitro fertilization -- that it departs from the God-ordained order of conception resulting from the conjugal union of married couples -- in-vitro fertilization proposes other ethical problems, especially for pro-lifers. Once one realizes the truth that life begins at conception the whole concept of manipulation of and experimentation with human embryos becomes a nightmare. Why not fertilization, why not give infertile couples the chance to have children of their very own? The answer lies in the actual in-vitro procedure itself.
The typical procedure involves the extraction of a number of eggs (usually around 15 or more) from the mother which are then fertilized by sperm from the father (or donated by a third party) in a petrie dish or test-tube (hence the name "test-tube" baby). The embryos are then examined and three or four of the more promising looking ones are implanted into the mother in the hope that one will survive. Embryos judged to be inferior are "allowed to die", while the remainder are frozen and stored for later use.
According to statistics from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, the IVF success rate per attempt ranged from 4.9% to 23.7% in England in the year ending in March 1995, with a national average of 14.5%. Almost 20,000 women had test-tube baby treatments that year, resulting in almost 25,000 "treatment cycles" or attempts at artificial impregnation. So with a little simple math we can see that (since each cycle uses 4 embryos) 100,000 embryos were implanted. Taking the 14.5% national average, there were approximately 3,500 live births resulting from the treatments.
Although it may sound impressive to have 3,500 children born in this way, one must recall that, in an embryo, conception has already taken place -- it is a human beings. Of the 100,000 human beings created, only 3,500 survived the procedure -- not the best of odds! 96,500 lives were sacrificed in that year alone! This says nothing of the embryos frozen for later use, those used in treatment cycles are used and not frozen! Thus IVF is a pre-natal massacre.
ABC LABELS PRO-LIFERS TERRORISTS
WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (LSN) - Yesterday, the US Pro-Life Infonet reported that ABC News author David Phinney attacks pro-lifers in a piece concerning new methods of domestic and international terrorism. The item, entitled Preparing for Terrorists Wielding Weapons of Mass Destruction: New Tools of Fear and Death, shows extreme bias towards pro-life supporters by insinuating that we are one of several groups that engage in or have an interest in terrorism.
Phinney says "anti-abortion extremists" are one of several "fringe domestic organizations" that "have been showing keen interest in biochemical weapons." Phinney's article may be found at:http://www.abcnews.com/sections/us/DailyNews/terrorism_main.html
Please email Dave Phinney at and let him know that pro-life people are not terrorist extremists and that we resent his implication that we support such acts and tell them you are saddened by the Phinney story and it's bias against those who support the right to life. Please write in a polite and courteous manner.
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