Life Issues: May 2004 Archives

...or one of them, anyway: Lileks has something up on abortion today. He usually avoids this subject, so it's interesting to see him addressing it:

It has to do with something I heard Kerry say on the radio last Friday, a snippet from a speech made a few months ago. He said something that seemed to conflate two different issues:

'Abortion should be rare, but it should be safe and legal -- and the government should stay out of the bedrooms of America,' he said to cheers and applause.

Abortion takes place in the bedroom?

No; conception takes place in the bedroom. (Usually.)

In his original post, Bill wrote, "It's not possible that the mind of a Lileks has not pondered the genesis of his beloved Gnat, that he has not asked, 'When did she begin?' -- and less possible yet that he has not found an answer." Looks like he was right on the money with that one.

This is very telling:

Assemblyman John J. McEneny is a Catholic who supports some abortion rights. The Albany Democrat said he backs Hubbard's decision not to go down "the slippery slope of becoming judge and jury."

Well, duh, of course he does!

"I don't see priests making a judgment on the conscience of a person," McEneny said. "Are they voting for a pro-choice bill because they want to kill unborn babies? Or is it because they want to prevent back-alley abortions?"

So in other words, pro-choice Catholic politicians can deduce that the Bishop does not want back-alley abortions I guess.

My brother was recently mortified to read about this, as we all are. Again, I do not have words. My rants will not reach the core of how disturbing this kind of thing is and how frustrating it is that people still proceed with this kind of thing.

Thanks to blogger John Mallon for passing this on.

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Stop the Morning-After Pill! Over-the-Counter approval to be decided
by the
FDA May 21.

No age limits, no medical supervision, no parental involvement!

Spread this far and wide! Time is of the essense! Call the White House,
contact your Senators and Congressmen!

For instructions on how to email the FDA directly with an email link go to this page of the PRI Website. More info below.

From the Population Research Institute
Weekly Briefing:

Dear Colleague:

There is still time for pro-lifers to call the White House
(202-456-1414) and urge the President to assure the American people
that
the mega dose "morning after pill" will not be sold "over the counter."

Also contact your U.S. Senator or Representative to urge leadership
from
Congress that will protect women and babies from this new chemical
assault
weapon.

Toll free: 1-800-648-3516 or 1-877-762-8762.

The abortion establishment is going all out to urge their followers to
lobby in favor of making this chemical killer available over the
counter.
Their mailings include the lie that so-called "emergency contraception"
does not cause abortion and does not work if a women is already
pregnant.
Over the counter approval of the "morning after pill" will be a public
health disaster.

Steven W. Mosher
President

PRI Weekly Briefing
12 May 2004
Vol. 6 / No. 17

Stop the Morning-After Pill!

Press reports suggest that the FDA is teetering on the brink of
approving
the so-called morning-after pill. As past PRI Weekly Briefings have
made
clear, there are terrible risks in making this powerful drug available
over-the-counter with no age restrictions or parental involvement.

€ The progestin-only hormonal contraceptive in Norplant is the same
active
ingredient as Plan B. Norplant is no longer available for use in the
United States because it is so dangerous. Known risks include
significant
weight gain, ovarian cyst enlargement, gallbladder disease, high blood
pressure and respiratory disorders.

€ Among teenagers, some of these common side effects could result in
increased rates of bulimia, anorexia, or clinical depression. Also, an
increased risk of ectopic pregnancy has been associated with use of
Plan
B-type emergency contraception.

€ Since the drug precludes parental involvement, it is likely that
teenage
girls who buy Plan B at the drugstore then experience abdominal pain
may not
confide in parents so that a physician could diagnose if a
life-threatening ectopic pregnancy had occurred. Over-the-counter
approval
would mean that young people would be free to purchase and use (abuse)
this
powerful hormone without supervision or follow up.

€ The drug was approved for over-the-counter use on January 1 in
Australia. Already there are reports in the Australian press of
13-year-old girls buying the pill several times a week to the alarm of
local pharmacists who are not able to give proper counseling to these
girls on the many risks involved. The Australian Medical Association is
already questioning the wisdom of making this risky drug so easily
available without restriction. (The West Australian, 4/4/04)

€ If over-the-counter availability of this drug is approved, we may
also
expect that rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among teens
will
skyrocket. Adolescents age 15-19 currently represent 46% of all cases
of
Chlamydia in the U.S. 1 in 4 sexually active teenagers contract an STD
at
some point. In Washington State and in Sweden, where emergency
contraception
has been made widely available, rates of STD infection are
skyrocketing.

€ We can also expect an increase in the rates of sexual violence
committed
against adolescent girls. The easy availability of this drug
over-the-counter will make it more difficult for teenage girls to
resist
pressure to have sex, and will trivialize the act of rape.

€ Over-the-counter availability of the morning after pill will lead to
an
increase in the pregnancy rate among teenagers. Studies have shown that
increased rates of pregnancy occur among teens with increased use of
"emergency contraception." Another showed that teenagers whose
pregnancies
ended in induced abortion were more likely to have used the drug before
conception, and that teens who use the drug were more willing to engage
in
"risk-taking" behavior.

Please take time to call the White House or, better yet, jot a note to
your Senator or Congressman regarding the morning after pill. If it
goes
over-the-counter as scheduled on May 21, then anything goes. Lives
will be
compromised and families further undermined. A sample letter follows: