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Catholic University Continuing to Use Cell Lines from Aborted Babies - Cardinal Approves

WASHINGTON, DC, January 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - When LifeSiteNews.com first broke the story "Washington Cardinal Ends Catholic University's Use of Aborted Fetal Cell Lines" last month (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jan/04010601.html ), it was based on factual evidence. Children of God for Life, a pro-life group specializing in fighting the use of aborted fetal cell lines in vaccines, contacted the Cardinal McCarrick about Georgetown University - a Catholic University - using aborted fetal cell lines in research. The Cardinal responded with a letter to Children of God for Life Director Debra Vinnedge saying the "problem" had "been resolved".

However, it turns out that Georgetown has decided to allow its researchers to continue to use aborted fetal cell lines and that the Cardinal, at least according to his spokesman, is just fine with that. Of the eighteen researchers at Georgetown involved in the unethical research, fourteen will continue with it while four have switched over to stem cell lines which did not originate from aborted babies. Vinnedge told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview today, "I'm appalled that they would continue to do this research."

It seems that the Cardinal is relying on the opinions of certain Catholic ethicists who believe that the use of cell lines from aborted babies for research is acceptable at a Catholic institution, which is supposed to regard abortion as murder. Rev. Kevin T. FitzGerald, a university bioethicist told the Washington Post that the scientists at the university did not know they were using cells from aborted babies at first and that were they to stop now they would endanger their grants, and perhaps their potentially beneficial research. He also excused the research saying the abortions committed were not performed for the purpose of providing the cells.

FitzGerald, a Jesuit priest who holds a doctorate in molecular genetics, also said future research using aborted fetal cells at the Catholic university would be possible but such research would be screened. "We have to pull in the administrators at the university to say what sorts of things we can put in place as far as a screening process," he said. "We have to figure out who does it, where does the screening take place, how is it structured, who decides. I don't know what we're going to be able to do or not do. This is new ground."

Another Catholic ethicist, John Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Boston, agreed with Georgetown's stand. "I don't see the moral difficulty in using these cell lines, because you're not contributing in any way to the abortions, which took place decades ago," Haas said.

Vinnedge wondered whether the Catholic university would similarly agree to using a cache of body parts of Nazi holocaust victims for research. "Just as with the aborted fetal stem cell lines, the body parts would have come from victims of murders that happened decades ago," she said. "I don't think Fr. Fitzgerald or Dr. Haas would so easily allow for research on body parts of Nazi holocaust victims despite the possible loss of grant money, and they'd likely insist on switching to other sources even if researchers didn't realize at first where the body parts came from."

LifeSiteNews.com spoke with Susan Gibbs, Director of Communications at the Archdiocese of Washington, who confirmed that "the cardinal is comfortable with the university's response to the situation." Gibbs noted the arguments of the ethicists about the cell lines coming from abortions that were committed in Europe and in some cases up to 40 years ago. When LifeSiteNews.com asked Gibbs about the apt comparison to the use of body parts from Nazi holocaust victims she responded, " I'm not going to be pulled into a hypothetical." She referred to the ethicists who reviewed the research as having "very fine reputations" and repeatedly said "I'm not an ethicist."

Vinnedge told LifeSiteNews.com she intends to continue to ask Cardinal McCarrick to demand that the Catholic university stop the unethical research.

Cardinal McCarrick may be contacted at

Office of the Archbishop
Archdiocesan Pastoral Center
5001 Eastern Avenue
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782-3447
301-853-4500


See the Washington Post coverage:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61643-2004Jan29.html

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Canadian Supreme Court Refuses to Criminalize Parents Use of Spanking

Former Top UN Judge Would Have Seen Parents in Jail for Spanking

OTTAWA, January 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a 6-3 decision rendered today, the Supreme Court of Canada turned down an attempt by an activist group to criminalize parental use of spanking as a form of disciplining their children. The ruling is a victory for parents, said representatives of the Coalition for Family Autonomy (CFA) - one of the groups intervening in the case.

Of note, only one justice was strident in insisting on criminalization spanking by parents - justice Louise Arbour. Arbour's opinion comes as no surprise to UN watchers since she was at one time the United Nations' top judge - the UN's chief prosecutor in the International War Criminal Tribunal. The United Nations has for years insisted that Canada, and all countries, prohibit parents from using spanking as a form of discipline. The U.N. has also been advocating many other restrictions on the rights of parents to raise their children according to their own cultural, religious and personal beliefs.

"This decision is a long overdue voice of common-sense coming from the highest court in our country. It reinforces what Canadians already know: child discipline is a matter best left to parents, not the government," said Focus on the Family Canada president Dr. Darrel Reid. "We're very pleased that the Court chose to reject the arguments of those who would send parents to jail for spanking their children."

The court affirmed that the negative impacts of making parents who spank into criminals goes far beyond what is required to protect children, saying that the destruction caused by family disruption is far more traumatic to children than physical discipline.

"The decision to uphold Section 43 is grounded in the recognition that to criminalize the actions of parents who provide loving guidance and correction to their children would result in ruined lives and broken families. As the court noted, this burden is often borne by the children involved," commented Dallas Miller of the Home School Legal Defense Association, a member of the Coalition.

The CFA has been involved in this case since it began in 1999, when the Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law first tried to convince an Ontario court to criminalize spanking. Their arguments, made in opposition to the wishes of the majority of Canadian parents, have now been rejected by three courts. Surveys show that over 70% of parents have spanked their children and 84% of Canadians do not believe that spanking should be criminalized.

The four groups comprising the Coalition are Focus on the Family (Canada), Home School Legal Defence Association of Canada, REAL Women of Canada, and Canada Family Action Coalition.

See previous LifeSite article:
Child's Rights Convention Propaganda Campaign Unveiled
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/sept/990914a.html

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U.S. Court Grants Asylum to Chinese Couple Threatened with Forced Abortion

SAN FRANCISCO, January 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A U.S. appeals court has decided in a 10-1 ruling to grant asylum to Chinese nationals Xu Ming Li and Xin Kui Yu who fled that country in 1998 after warrants were released for their arrest. The couple, who were denied a marriage licence in China because they were not yet of legal age, were threatened with forced sterilization and abortion.

Family planning officials, acting on a false rumour that Li was pregnant, ordered the couple to end their relationship. When Li defiantly told the official that she would have many babies, he returned two days later to forcibly restrain her while doctors gave her an invasive half-hour gynecological exam.

"Even by rudimentary medical standards, the examination that followed was crude and aggressive," the panel ruled. "The timing and physical force associated with the examination compelled the conclusion that its purpose was intimidation, and not legitimate medical practice."

Li and Yu's attorney, Robert B. Jobe, said that although the decision doesn't necessarily open a new door for Chinese women seeking asylum in the U.S., it will "help many women from China." Jobe called the earlier rulings, such as the December 2002 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision which denied asylum to the couple "downright offensive."

See earlier, related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Japan Charges Woman Seeking Asylum from Forced Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1998/jul/98070803.html
Update on Chinese Woman Forced to Abort after Deportation http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/jun/99060804.html
Chinese Woman Who Underwent Forced Abortion Accuses UNFPA
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jan/02012403.html
China Orders County to Abort at Least 20,000 Babies by End of Year http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/aug/01080703.html

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New Canadian Policy for Supreme Court Nominees Calls For Scrutiny by MPs

Liberal MP says the courts are the "creation of Parliament and subject to it."

OTTAWA, January 30, 2004 - In a move being criticized by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, Judges nominated to the Supreme Court of Canada will be faced with scrutiny from new parliamentary committees put in place by Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Parliamentary secretary for democratic reform, Liberal MP Roger Gallaway, had a warning for Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and the other judges who are against the idea to "remember their proper roles, one of which is to avoid comment on political or parliamentary affairs. What is obvious is the courts, but particularly the Supreme Court, have assumed a position of power which challenges the doctrine of the supremacy of Parliament," he said. Gallaway also added that the courts are the "creation of Parliament and subject to it."

In a speech in Toronto in October of 2002, Prime Minister Martin outlined a six-point plan to help redress the "democratic deficit" in Canada's Supreme Court judicial system. In it he announced his intention to increase scrutiny of judicial nominees. Martin is expected to announce the reforms as part of a throne speech to be delivered Monday.

"The door is now open for House members and committees to push civil servants back to their proper role of administration of the law, and not the creation of it or engaging the public in debate," Gallaway said.

Read the Real Women of Canada letter entitled "Curbing the Power of the Supreme Court," which delineates the history of power as wielded by the Supreme Court. The letter also illustrates several examples of Judicial despotism, including one from Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. See the letter at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003_docs/curbingthepower.pdf

Read the Globe and Mail article at: http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040130.democracy301/BNStory/Fro...

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UN Announces it Will Recognize Homosexual Civil Unions and Unmarried Heterosexual Partnerships

GENEVA, January 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The United Nations announced yesterday that it will recognize homosexual civil unions and unmarried heterosexual partnerships, mandating that they receive all the benefits enjoyed by normal heterosexual spouses such as pensions and health care. The only stipulation is that the civil union be recognized, and a letter of permission granted, by the employee's country of origin. The administrative order, which came from Secretary-general, Kofi Annan's office, was issued on January 20th but not released until yesterday.

Homosexual "marriage" is currently sanctioned in the Netherlands, Belgium, and two Canadian provinces, while Scandinavia has extensive allowances for non-married partners of varied description. Wide-ranging civil union laws have been enacted in parts of Western Europe, New Zealand and Australia, whereas the U.S. is not expected to give its consent at this time for American UN employees.

Read the LifeSiteNews.com report of the Vatican reaction to homosexual "marriage" legislation. at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/nov/031120.html

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U.S. Professors Say Catholic Bishops Obliged to Refuse Communion to Pro-Abortion Politicians

United States, January 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two Ivy League law professors have written on the incongruity of Catholic politicians' support of abortion and ask, "What should the leaders of the Church do about such people?"

Gerard V. Bradley, professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, and Robert P. George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, have written in the National Review Online defending the actions of Raymond Burke, the newly installed archbishop of St. Louis, who, in one of his last acts as bishop of LaCrosse Wisconsin, issued an order excluding Holy Communion from Catholic politicians who support abortion.

Against the usual charge that the bishop, by making this stand has "crossed the line" separating Church and state, Bradley and George call the charge "silly," saying that, "not even his harshest critics charge that the bishop said or implied that the law of the state should be used to compel anyone to accept his authority."

Countering the "separation of Church and state" argument, the professors point out that, "Bishop Burke, in turn, enjoys the legal right to exercise his spiritual authority as a bishop to order them to refrain from receiving communion…"

Say Bradley and George, "Bishop Burke articulated the obvious: any Catholic who exercises political power to expose a disfavored class of human beings to unjust
killing sets himself against the very faith he claims to share."

Echoing the pleas of pro-life activists for unequivocal action from their spiritual leaders, Bradley and George point out, "If the Church is to be in solidarity with victims of injustice, bishops must not permit those Catholics who commit or abet the injustices to pretend to be Catholics in good standing with the Church."

To read the full article,
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/george_bradley200401290942.asp

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Scotland's Bishops Vigorously Support the Sanctity of Marriage; Condemn Artificial Contraception

Scotland, January 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a media release dated January 28, 2004, the office of the Catholic bishops conference of Scotland has given a clear and unflinching exposition of the Catholic teaching on the sanctity of marriage, of its indissolubility and of the sinfulness of any sexual activity outside the marriage bond. It left no room for equivocation on the Catholic teaching on artificial contraception or so-called "gay" marriage.

A quarter of million leaflets containing the bishops' statement will be distributed to Scottish Catholic schools and Scotland's 450 parishes this weekend. Cardinal O'Brien, the Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh said, "It is in the best interests of Scottish society, and is therefore a duty incumbent on all who are active in public life, to respect and foster family life. All legislative and fiscal policy must take account of the effect that it will have on this core institution of our society and ensure that it is strengthened and not undermined."

In a few compact words, the statement made clear that sexuality is seen as a sacred gift from God, "In the Apostolic Tradition any use of the sexual faculty outside marriage is sinful and dishonest, for of its nature it can only find true expression within the covenant of marriage."

Calling marriage, "a sign of the love between Christ and the Church," the statement made clear the Catholic teaching on the indissolubility of marriage, saying that it exists only between a man and a woman, and that the "union cannot be dissolved by any purely human authority."

Condemning not only the use of contraception but the intention behind it, the statement said, "The contraceptive mentality prevents the gift of love between husband and wife from being true and complete by deliberately seeking to exclude conception."

Cardinal O'Brien added, "I hope you will use this material as the focal point of debate, discussion and initiatives in your homes, parishes, schools and workplaces, aimed at supporting marriage and the family and building a Culture of Life".

To read the full text of the statement:
http://www.scmo.org/_titles/view.asp?id=212

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LifeSite NewsBytes

The U.N. is better because of Bush.
http://www.nationalreview.com/lopez/lopez200401300905.asp

Homosexual Activist BC MLA Nebbeling Turfed from Provincial Cabinet after 'Marriage' Announcement
http://www.whistlerquestion.com/madison%5CWQuestion.nsf/WQnews/D59657A4A9FEF8578...

Fr. Groeschel has taken a turn for the worse - see latest update
http://www.franciscanfriars.com/frglenn17.htm

Massachusetts Democratic Party Backs Homosexual Marriage
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/2805119/detail.html

Alberta to Intervene in Supreme Court Reference in Support of Traditional Marriage
[previously available at http://www.canoe.ca/CalgaryNews/cs.cs-01-30-0038.html]

400,000 frozen human embryos in storage in United States
http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=EMBRYOS-02-01-04&cat=AN

Source of Same-Sex Attractions in Children: Parenting and Social Influences
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=47888

Major US Pro-Abortion Group Teams Up With 'Punk' Bands to Attract Youth
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200401/CUL20040130a...

UK Woman Gives Birth to her Biological Grandchildren
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1134704,00.html

The biotech industry wants your money
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/smith200401290841.asp

Ohio Poised to Become 38th Defence of Marriage State
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/5166/CFI/cfreport/index.htm

Security analysts Dan Geer continued his warnings over the dominance of Windows in the marketplace
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1474670,00.asp

MyDoom Variant Blocks Fixes, Targets Microsoft
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1472443,00.asp

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