NEWSVol. 8 No.4 - Summer Edition 1991 Print Post Approved - 33L385/00042
Pro-Life Victoria: Speaking Up for Humanity in the Nineties |
Contents:
- Feminist Report Warns
RU-486 Dangers
- Embryo Experimentation Decision
- Editor's Message
- Suicide Doctor Loses Licence
- Heartbeat Campaign
- Couchman Reply
- Why Child Abuse is on the Rise
- Nine Reasons Why
We Appose Embryo Experimentation
- Life Chain in Support of Life
- World View
A report issued by the Institute of Women and Technology (of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) warns of the dangers for women associated with the use of RU-486.
The report, "RU-486 misconceptions, Myths and Morals", was produced by a trio of women researchers who made no secret of their pro-abortion position.
It goes on to challenge "the uncritical promotion of RU-486/PG (PG = prostaglandin) by women’s groups", such as the Reproductive Health Technologies Project. "A major aim of this project has been to promote education supporting and distribution of RU-486/PG in the United States."
The report also challenges the Feminist Majority which has launched a major mission to "alert the public to the medical benefits of RU486" and "to pressure Rousel Uclaf to licence and/or distribute the drug in the United States." The latter’s educational packet of articles, however, depends wholly on studies and Statements prepared by the drug researchers.
Dominant assumptions about RU-486/PG need to be fundamentally re-examined,’ such as the drug’s portrayal as a ‘private, woman-controlled, safe and effective’ means of abortion", the report states.
"RU486/PG treatment is administered solely under strict medical supervision at specialised medical centres, requires three or four visits to medical service, and can be used effectively only within 42-49 days after a woman’s last menstrual period, that it, approximately 14-21 days after her first ‘missed’ period. Many women, especially teenagers, do not know or do not admit that they are pregnant within this brief lame period.’
What is championed as the right to choose, strongly resembles the right to consume. Women are encouraged to become consumers for new technologies and drugs - for more and more dangerous ones in the case of RU-486", the report says ‘We contend that given the media hype and the lack of independent research on RU-486/PG, most women taking the drug are not informed and consent is relatively meaningless.
The report raises questions about "the long-term effects of RU-486/PG on women’s subsequent fertility" and "why many serious side-effects have been downplayed," such as the "teratogenic effect on the embryo after a failed chemical abortion", "more and more pain" for women, "post-treatment bleeding, which can be long-lasting and severe," its "effect on the immune system" and others.
"Present governments cannot be allowed "to dictate acceptance of a combination drug treatment that has not been investigated critically, and from a non-aligned perspective."
"No procedure requiring strict medical supervision and involving a host of risks and complications will help provide sexual and reproductive self-determination for women", the report concludes.
COMMENT: The report, while pointing out many of the technical difficulties associated with RUJ-486 (with or without prostaglandins), fails to address in any serious way the fundamental moral objection to any procedure which kills another human being - in the name of any kind of self-determination. But it does provide valuable research for Australian prolifers on RU-486 proponent’s tactics to gain access into the markets around the world through misinformation.
The all-party Parliamentary Social Development Committee has until March 1992 to review draft legislation recommended by the Standing Review and Advisory Committee on Infertility, headed by Professor Louis WaIler.
The draft legislation would allow the Waller Committee to approve experiments on embryos up to 14 days old if they are ‘left over’ from IVF procedures, intended to assist infertile couples (couples is defined as a man and woman who live together on a bona fide basis).
The proposed legislation would also introduce a licensing system for doctors and institutions to regulate IVF and donor insemination, and all program participants, including donors, would receive compulsory counselling.
The Advisory Committee (Waller) has been very persistent in its attempt to impose its own views favoring experiments beyond the 22 hour stage. Only 2% of the 1218 submission s to the committee supported such experimentation. The committee’s earlier report favoured an interpretation of existing 1987 legislation, which meant there was no age limit for destructive experiments on ‘surplus’ embryos. This was contrary to the understanding of the legislation expressed by the then Health Minister, the Premier, the Shadow Health Minister and leaders of both Opposition parties. It was also contrary to the recommendations of the Senate Select Committee Into Experimentation. The previous Minister for health, Mrs Hogg, did not implement the WaIler Committee’s recommended interpretation of 1987 legislation, but placed a ban on experimentation beyond syngamy (approx. 22 hours) and referred to the level of community concern on the issue.
The Opposition is currently expected to oppose any extension of experimentation time beyond syngamy.
However, the decision of the Social Development Committee will depend on the amount of concern expressed by the community. We feel obliged to call on all pro-life supporters to write and express their concern to each of the addresses below. Letter writing notes were included in the Spring Newsletter and an article on Pro-Life Victoria’s reasons for opposing experimentation have been included in this newsletter.
Please write now and oppose the idea that some embryos are surplus or somehow ‘second class’, allowing them to be used for experiments.
Address your letters to:
1. Executive Officer
Social Development Committee
Level 19, Nauru House
555 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
2. The Hon. M. Lyster
Minister for Health
80 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
3. The Hon M. Tehan
Shadow Minister for Health
Government House
Melbourne 3000
The end of another year. Well, nearly anyway. We have just held a successful Annual General Meeting - the first with our new president, David Millie - where a resolution was passed to increase the number of people able to be on the executive. This will allow further diversification and specialization of projects undertaken by the movement. Tendered at the meeting was the Annual General Report which, if anything, showed that Pro-Life Victoria has developed into a solid and credible movement which can clearly and intelligibly promote the pro-life agenda within Victoria and Australia. This has only been possible by the contribution of everyone in the movement. The executive will be using this base of credibility in 1992 to launch some large political and educational projects. But for this year, the executive would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas.
N.B. We have moved: please note the new address on the front of the Newsletter. The new office is just up Glenferrie Road about 50 metres from the old office. You are most welcome to come in and peruse the office library and resources.
NEW YORK - 'Dr Death' Jack Kevorkian, the inventor of the notorious suicide machine, had his licence revoked yesterday.
Michigan’s Medicine Board voted to suspend his licence saying that Dr Kevorkian’s actions were unacceptable.
Th. board did not recommend any criminal charges. Its decision means Dr Kevorkian can no longer prescribe drugs.
Dr Kevorkian, 63, invented a "suicide machine’ which was used in the death of an Oregan woman suffering Alzheimers disease last year.
He beat a murder charge arising from the suicide but was banned from using the machine.
To commemorate, or mourn, the 25th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act in 1992 in Britain, the British Society for Protection of Unborn Babies (SPUC) will launch its "Heartbeat Campaign" on January 11 and culminate with a weekend of events preceding the October 27, the shameful day on which the law was passed.
The major slogan throughout the campaign will be bringing home the simple fact that "EVERY TIME YOUR HEART BEATS AN UNBORN CHILD DIES". This slogan was developed after analysis of figures provided by the World Health Organization which claims that 55 million abortions take place world-wide each year. Even allowing for the possibility that this figure is somewhat exaggerated, it means that babies die at the rate of more than one a second.
MPs and other personalities in Britain have already been approached, asking them to keep the last weekend in October free for events all over Britain. National Director of SPUC, Mrs Phyllis Bowman, said the campaign had been put together to show the horror of abortion and how Britain was used to establish the pro-abortion ethic.
The Couchman program (ABC TV August14)
on RU 486 was disappointing. Entitled "RU Ready for Abortion" and
introduced as a program to enhance the debate on RU486,it was in reality a
constricted discussion among supporters of abortion concerning the effects of
the drug on women alone. The unborn child was only mentioned once in the program
by a woman who quickly corrected herself to may foetus.
Many members of Pro-Life Victoria either wrote or rang, complaining of the lack of balance to the show. The ABC countered this complaint by saying that Pro-life Victoria was given an opportunity to respond on the show. In reality, the Coachman production team originally did not want a Pro-life representative on the episode, but reversed this decision only hours before taping the show when they contacted pro-life advocate Anna Daffy, who works as a researcher at the Thomas More Centre. Her is Anna’s explanation of the events.
I was, very interested to see my name used in such a way as to suggest that I condoned the one-sided and narrow focus of the Couchman program. It might interest people to know what I realty said to the ABC program researcher.
The ABC contacted me at the Thomas More Centre on the afternoon on which the program on RU486 was to be filmed. The woman I spoke to apologised for having overlooked my possible contribution to the panel but suggested that I might like to be present in the audience. I think that some pro-life people had already got wind of the fact that the ABC had deliberately prevented any anti-pro-life figures on the program and had phoned to complain. (At this late stage I found that I was already arranged to run a meeting that evening and was not able to change this in time to travel to the ABC studio) I stated to the producer that I was not a spokesman for Pro-Life Victoria but did represent the Thomas More Centre which had a strong pro-life position. l asked her why the program assumed that abortion was merely a standard and perfectly accepted medical treatment whose only drawback was the presence of physical side-effects upon the women. I also commented that this did not fairly represent the view of a large proportion of the Victorian or Australian community many of whom at the very least held considerable moral objections to the epidemic proportion of induced abortions in this country. She stated to me that it was simply not possible to cover all aspects of the abortion issue in the allotted time and that they had "not asked" Pro-Lifers because they wanted to concentrate only upon the medical argument for or against the introduction of RU486. I replied that I thought that it was simply inadequate to leave out the moral and social dimension of such an issue whilst airing it on a widely viewed program and added that even my "ten-second" slogan grab, (such as the Couchman show is famous for) did no justice to the problems raised by RU 486 or abortion by whatever method.
She seemed to be apologetic (or was it just defensive?) that she had not reached me sooner and asked me whether, "given the limited range of the program, do you think that Rene (a Klein and Lyn. Dumble are competent to comment on the physical side-effects of RU 486" I said that since they had so restricted the argument the two feminists would probably present some of the physical dangers of RU 486 which I would also mention. I noted that they were at least competent to comment on. this particular issue. I added that though this was art important issue, "there was much more to abortion than this ". I then reiterated my fundamental opposition to abortion. I hardly think these comments could be read in such a way as to suggest that I was happy with their program.
Mr Cow is Contributing Editor for the United States Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.by Haven Gow
U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services Dr. Louis Sullivan observes that, "Beyond the horrors an abused child experiences at the time, the harm from child abuse and neglect has enormous long-term consequences. The evidence is clear that maltreatment can have deleterious effects on children’s mental health and development, both short and long term. Preliminary findings of on-going research indicates abused children are more likely to suffer drops in IQ, learning disabilities, depression and drug problems."
Indeed, studies reveal that the pernicious consequences of child abuse - mental, physical and social - are evident even after 20 years after the abuse; in fact, suicide, violence, delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse and other kinds of criminality often are connected with child abuse
Judge Charles Schudson, a juvenile court judge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, says, "Virtually all judges understand that in a substantial and increasing number of cases of violent crime, today’s felon was yesterday’s abused child.
U.S. statistics also demonstrate a nexus between the pro-abortion mentality and the increase in child abuse. Supporters of the U.S. Supreme Court’s January, 1973, Roe v. Wade ruling said legalized abortion on demand would reduce the incidence of child abuse by reducing the number of unwanted babies, but statistics clearly demonstrate that the reverse is true.
In 1978, there were 606,600 reported cases of child abuse, but by 1984, the figure had almost doubled to 1,131,300 cases. Moreover, the ratio of child abuse cases per 1,000 population increased from 2.7 in 1978 to 4.8 in 1984.
As University of Rhode Island philosophy professor Dr Stephen Schwarz points out in his book The Moral Question of Abortion (Chicago: Loyola University Press), "Abortion is not a solution for child abuse. It is simply false to assume that it is the unwanted child who will be abused while the wanted child will not. That is, abortion for this purpose, even if it were justified, would not be effective."
Indeed, as Canadian physician Dr Edward Lenoski points out, "Many studies have demonstrated that the victim of child abuse is not the ‘unwanted child.’" In fact more often than not, it is the wanted child.
In his study of child abuse, Dr Lenoski discovered that, "Ninety one percent of the parents admitted they wanted the child they had abused." Moreover "A higher percentage of the abused children were named after one of the parents," suggesting that they indeed were wanted.
Canadian psychiatrist Dr Philip Ney says the abused child is a victim of the results of abortion because: 1. Abortion decreases an individual’s instinctual restraint against the occasional rage felt toward those dependent on his or her care; 2. Permissive abortion diminishes the social taboo against aggressing the defenceless; 3. Abortion increases the hostility between generations; 4. Abortion has devalued children, thus diminishing the value of caring for children.
Clearly, when unborn babies are aborted merely for convenience sake, when newly-born babies are permitted to die simply because they are handicapped, and when the elderly are encouraged to die because they are unwanted and cannot care for themselves, it becomes easy for parents, guardians and caretakers to view and treat children as toys to be used and abused, and discarded after use.
(1) Experimentation on living human embryos is an abuse of I.V.F. programs which have won support for their assistance to infertile couples.
(2) Human beings, in their earliest form, are being too · de-personalized and dominated by others and, even when motives may appear noble, the embryo is being reduced to the status of a product manufactured and manipulated to supply a demand and, what is more subject to quality control? We are witnessing the beginning of a system of eugenics.
(3) The unborn child has become the subject of ownership rights. The Senate Select Committee Into Embryo Experimentation rightly concluded that the human embryo was properly the subject of guardianship.
(4) Biological beginning of a new human life. When scientists speak from a biological rather than philosophical viewpoint, dissent is virtually non-existent - human life begins at conception. There is no other point at which it is claimed that the process of development of a new human life begins.
The ovum and sperm alike are destined to die within days unless one unique necessary and sufficient event takes place - when ovum and sperm membranes meet and begin to interact, the process of development of a new human life begins and everything that follows is simply a process of development which can end only with the death of this new human life.
(5) There is evidence that women on the I.V.F. program are subjected to strong suggestion that if the developing embryo is less than perfect, then the prognosis demands an abortion.
(6) We are concerned with the slippery slope. Once the door is open to allow experimentation, there is nothing to stop the door being forced open wider.
The Victorian experience to date is notable for the pace and means by which the Government has loosened restrictions and overturned commitments.
We share the worldwide fear of the development of a system of eugenics or eugenic engineering. Within I.V.F. programs selection of certain criteria already exists with the pressure and possible obligation on women to abort children considered to be less than perfect. Scientists also destroy rather than implant an embryo that they wish not to see develop. It is the door which this throws open that must be considered at the outset.
(7) Effects on the Child. The as yet unknown physical and psychological effects on the child.
(8) The effect on medical ethics. If we as a society come to accept destructive experimentation on human life, we are accepting nihilist and utilitarian philosophy and the power of the medical profession to make quality of life decisions for others. This is a fundamental departure from the values we hold based on the dignity of all human life. A deterioration of medical ethics in general is inevitable if embryo experimentation proceeds.
We have already seen disregard, and arrogance shown by the experimenters for the thoughts, attitudes and feelings of the community.
(9) Commercialisation. The possible cornmercialisation of experimental procedures or findings could mean that, if the whole process becomes commercially viable, then all ethical considerations in the future could be subordinated in the process of making money.
More than 771,000 Americans protested abortion in more that 350 life chains across the United States October 6.
The "life chains" or human crosses formed along roads, ranged from several hundred in smaller towns to tens of thousands in larger communities. Pro-life individuals and families from all walks of life ... in-chiding many National Right to Life staff members —participated in the life chains. Many NRLC state affiliates co-sponsored the state life chain events.
"It was very inspiring," said Amarie
Natividad, NRLC’s controller, who participated in a life chain in Falls
Church, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. "As far as the eye could see
there were rows and rows of people holding identical signs: Abortion Kills
Children. I only saw one pro-abortion protester; most passers-by rode past with
thumbs up and honked their car horns."
All participants were asked to follow a code of ethics which requested they refrain from yelling back at pro-abortion counter-protesters and to leave driveways and sidewalks unblocked along the roads.
California, with 42 events, had more life chains than any other state, a good sign of pro-life activity in a key political state.
"This silent protest demonstrates that many, many Californians are willing to stand up for life" said Brian Johnson, executive director of NRLC’s Western Office.
With more than 187,000 people participating dozens of life chains, Florida was the state which involved the most people in events.
"If we could motivate these thousands of Floridians during the political season of 1992, pro-lifers can make a huge difference in local, state and national elections here in Florida," said Rai Rojas, Florida NRLC director.
BULGARIA: Scientists at the Demography Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Scientists have described the current population profile of the country as a ‘demographic catastrophe’ in a recent study which reveals that the national birth rate has reached an all-time low.
CANADA:
The Ontario provincial government has informed abortion clinics in Toronto that it will fund their operating costs. The government has agreed to pay at least $300 (Can) per client.
EUROPE: A report of the European Commission of Human Rights supports abortion-referral activities in a country that recognizes the right to life of the unborn. The report finds that a ruling of Ireland’s highest court against abortion-referral activities violates Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The issue will now be considered by the European Court of Human Rights.
GERMANY: The German Christian Democrat party proposed a draft law on Tuesday September 10 which would, among other things, allow for expectant mothers to be paid 1,000 marks (almost 600 U.S. dollars) to see their pregnancies to term. Women would be paid 1,000 marks for each child they bear. in order to discourage abortions. The law, if passed, would also provide for free contraceptives and would cost an estimated 1.7 billion marks.
HONG KONG: A pro-life caring service in Hong Kong has completed its first year of operation, with at least 69 mothers and babies saved from abortion. Pregnancy Counselling Services was launched in January 1990. The service operates under the auspices of the Hong Kong Pro-Life Action Association. It has 43 counsellors whose work is divided between the English and Chinese speaking communities in Hong Kong.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong University is currently conducting a series of World Health Organization (WHO) clinical trials on the abortion pill, RU-486, in spite of the death in France of a women who was taking the drug. It has already been administered to more than 100 Hong Kong women.
ITALY: A hospital in the city of Rome will close down its labour ward, but keep its abortion clinic open, for the duration of the summer holidays. A Roman newspaper commented on the paradoxical nature of the holiday arrangements in which an essential service to expectant mothers is to be suppressed while the suppression of life itself is to continue.
PUERTO RICO: A bill under consideration by the Puerto Rican Senate is reported to aim at the legalization of the withdrawl of artificially-administered food and water from the terminally ill. The bill considers artificial feeding of such patients to constitute extraordinary medical treatment.
RUSSIA: Following a meeting in Moscow August 26 with leaders of the Russian Federation Committee on Family Affairs and Demographic Policy, it was agreed to begin preparations for a pro-life congress to be held in Moscow in 1992.
USA: The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S., rejected two pro-life proposals at its August Assembly in Florida. The Assembly rejected one proposal to oppose abortions except to save a mother’s life and another to declare that life begins at contraception.
USA: On July 25,the U.S. House of Representatives voted 274 - 144 to approve a bill which would lift a ban on the use of government funds for research using the bodies of aborted babies. President Bush has threatened to veto the entire bill.
UNITED KINGDOM: A claim by the British government that it is "neutral" on the issue of abortion was rejected in the recent newsletter of Britain’s Association of Lawyers for the defence of the Unborn. The newsletter comments that contrary to its claim of neutrality, "the Government has enthusiastically taken up the task of providing the killing facilities.
ZIMBABWE: The leaders of Zimbabwe’s Catholic community have issued a pastoral letter entitled: "Save our families", in which they comment on abortion in their country and call for compassion to be shown to women with crisis pregnancies. They also reject the imposition of immoral population control policies on the people.
© The Official Newsletter of Pro-Life Victoria, Edited by Grant Clarke |