Condoleeza Rice, chosen by President Bush as his National Security Adviser, describes herself on the abortion issue as "RELUCTANTLY PRO-CHOICE."

(From RIGHT TO LIFE OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY NEWSLETTER - July 2001)

During the week of April 9, 2001, the Parliament in the NETHERLANDS made euthanasia official - euthanasia is now a completely legal and sanctioned practice. Doctors have the “right” to end the lives of patients when they are deemed too painful or not worth living any longer. The practice has been done for several years there, and the public has reportedly grown more and more desensitized to it. Several sources report that many of the deaths by euthanasia are not voluntary, and sometimes the patients and their families have not even been notified prior to the euthanization. The result is that many are afraid to go to hospitals and someone who does not want to be put to death has to carry a living will card, specifying they do not wish doctors to do them harm.

(From LifeLines - May 22, 2001)

After a decade of testing, PHARMACIA INC. has won approval for a monthly injectable contraceptive, the first new birth control method since 1994, LUNELLE, approved in October 2000 by the Food & Drug Administration. Lunelle will be an alternative to PHARMACIA’S DEPO-PROVERA, an injectable drug taken every three months. It requires a monthly visit to a health provider, but doctors and company officials say it could prove popular with women who can’t remember to take the pill everyday. Lunelle costs about $35 a shot - about the same price as taking oral contraceptives each month. Lunelle is expected to have about $600 million in sales by 2003; Depo-Provera will have about $200 million in sales, according to Merrill Lynch.

Multi-billionaire media mogul TED TURNER attacked POPE JOHN PAUL and people of Polish descent in a recent speech to the NATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING ASSOCIATION. Among his remarks, Turner said that "POPE JOHN PAUL II SHOULD GET WITH IT AND JOIN THE 20TH CENTURY," and suggested that the Catholic Church should "REVISE AND UPDATE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, ESPECIALLY THE ONE DEALING WITH ADULTERY."

An abortion advocacy group plans to perform abortions on a ship anchored in international waters. The WOMEN ON WAVES FOUNDATION plans to start a clinic on the Dutch ship Sea Change. Its purpose will be to perform abortions "outside territorial waters" in area where the procedure is illegal or restricted.

Treating pain as the "fifth vital sign" along with blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiration, the nation’s hospitals will be required to regularly measure how much pain patients are experiencing. "One of the principal reasons why some in the general public are initially sympathetic to the idea of euthanasia or assisted suicide is their fear of pain," said Burke J. Balch, Director of the NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE’S DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL ETHICS. "We know that at the frontiers of modern medicine it is possible to control all physical pain, but that too frequently this knowledge is not put into effect at the clinical level." The new regulations will mean that patients will regularly be asked to rank pain on a scale of 1 to 10.. When pain is found, medication should be prescribed for it, and an hour later patients will be asked to do another pain ranking. Hospitals that fail to comply with the new requirements could lose their accreditation.

Because of his stand on partial-birth abortion, a rabbinical court in Brooklyn, THE NEW YORK TORAH COURT, BETH DIN (consisting of three Talmudists who converse to consider sanctions when there is a question about how a Jew has conducted himself on Jewish teachings) excommunicated Sen. Joseph Lieberman. The rabbinical court said that Mr. Lieberman had caused "GRAVE SCANDAL" for Judaism. "WHILE CLAIMING TO BE AN OBSERVANT JEW, LIEBERMAN HAS BEEN MISREPRESENTING AND FALSIFYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THE TEACHINGS OF THE TORAH AGAINST PARTIAL BIRTH INFANTICIDE. . ."

The newly released book VICTIMS AND VICTORS presents data from 192 women who became pregnant as a result of rape or incest. Of the 50 rape victims who reported having feelings about their abortions, 88% explicitly stated that they had made the wrong choice. 43% of the rape victims reported having abortions because of pressure from others and more than 90% said they would discourage other victims of sexual assault from undergoing an abortion. (www.usnewswire.com - 1/29/01)

A new group called "PRO-CHOICE VOTE" filed its organizational papers with the IRS seven weeks before the November 2000 election - with a promise to "educate the public about the issue of choice in the elections." The group had a single donor - ACTRESS JANE FONDA - WHO GAVE $11.7 MILLION IN TO CHECKS DATED SEPTEMBER 15 AND SEPTEMBER 26.

Some strains of the common sexually transmitted disease chlamydia appear to raise women’s risk of cervical cancer as much as SIXFOLD, researchers say. The new findings, based on 128 women with advanced cervical cancer in Finland, Sweden and Norway, appeared in the 1/3/01 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASS’N. Chlamydia is the most common bacterial STD in the U. S., with between 4 million and 8 million new cases reported yearly. About 13,000 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed annually, and though Pap tests can detect many cases in early, treatable stages, it kills about 4,600 women each year. Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics, but many women have no symptoms, and the disease can cause pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility.

Scientists have developed a $150 testing kit that can identify a range of genetic defects that are known to result in learning difficulties. Developed by a British company, it is the first gene test for low I.Q. and has already been adapted for use by doctors in the U.S. and Spain on families with suspected inherited risks of defects. Says Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics: "There is an urgent need for regulation of what constitutes legitimate use of this type of genetic diagnosis. Low I.Q. is not life-threatening. This is a significant step towards eugenics."

Fetal stem cell implants have resulted in serious side effects for Parkinson’s patients. According to a study of THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, 15% of patients who had the fetal stem cells of aborted babies injected in their brains had so much cell growth that the patients writhed and jerked uncontrollably. Researchers say there is no way to remove or deactivate the transplanted cells. According to Dr. Paul E. Green, a neurologist at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and a researcher in the study, the results were devastating to the patients: "THEY CHEW CONSTANTLY, THEIR FINGERS GO UP AND DOWN, THEIR WRISTS FLEX AND DISTEND. It was tragic, catastrophic. It’s a real nightmare. And we can’t selectively turn it off. One man was so damaged by the fetal stem cell implants that he could no longer eat, but had to be fed through a feeding tube."

Recognizing the impending catastrophe that will befall Italy if the current birthrate continues, the city of Milan has offered to pay one million lire ($520) a month to women of low income who decide to keep their babies who would otherwise have had an abortion for financial reasons.

Besides the many dangers listed on the pill’s packaging label, including heart attack, stroke, and cancer, a recent study shows that long-term use of the Pill can cause gingivitis (gum inflammation). A recent report in Harper’s Bazaar Health News stated that gingivitis was 32 percent higher in women who had been on the pill two to four years than in those who didn’t take it at all. DENTISTS FOR LIFE Director Dr. Craig Bozacco says gum disease caused by the Pill can have harmful side effects in other areas of a woman’s body because infections in the mouth are easily swallowed, causing dangerous internal damage to vital organs and digestion.

New guidelines drawn up by the government’s Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing have been sent out to health authorities in England telling them to offer a range of genetic tests to pregnant women who could be carrying a genetic disorder. They have also been advised that pro-abortion counseling should be given as a matter of course if the unborn child is found to be abnormal. This testing program is causing a huge outcry from British pro-life advocates!

More Christians have been killed for their faith in the 20th Century than have been martyred in the total history of Christianity. Christians in more than 60 countries around the world are being persecuted according to an official U.S. State Department report. In Pakistan, Christians have been tortured, imprisoned, attacked on the streets, and had their homes destroyed. In China, church leaders continue to be sentenced to long prison terms in harsh labor camps. In the Sudan, believers are sold into slavery, physically mutilated, deliberately starved, and forced to convert to Islam. In Egypt, Christian girls have been kidnapped, raped and then forced to marry their attackers. Nearly 200 million Christians around the world live in daily fear of being harmed because of their religious beliefs.

The German government has opened its first "baby bank" to allow despondent mothers a chance to deposit their child in a safe setting, rather than abandoning the baby altogether. The scheme is expected to save the lives of up to 100 newborns annually. The baby bank is situated at a Berlin health clinic where mothers simply push the child through a small opening, and the baby lands on a small, heated bed. Clinic staff then move in to care for the child.

Saying the right to avoid "unwanted communication" sometimes outweighs free-speech rights, the Supreme Court gave states greater leeway to restrict abortion protests outside health clinics. By a 6-3 vote the court upheld Colorado’s limits on "sidewalk counseling" of patients who show up at abortion clinics. Since 1993, Colorado has enforced a "bubble" law that prohibits people from counseling, distributing leaflets or displaying signs within 8 feet of others without their consent whenever they are within 100 feet of a clinic entrance. Violators can get up to six months in jail and a $750 fine. Justices Kennedy, Scalia and Thomas dissented. Scalia, writing for himself and Thomas, derided the ruling as "ONE OF THE MANY AGGRESSIVELY PRO-ABORTION NOVELTIES ANNOUNCED BY THE COURT IN RECENT YEARS."

Abortion clinic owner Patricia Baird Windle sold her controversial clinics, saying she is tired after the decade-long fight with pro-life activists. Windle, 64, was part of the case which led to the Supreme Court’s 1994 Madsen decision limiting the First Amendment rights of abortion protestors who picket abortion clinics. Demonstrations by OPERATION RESCUE and other pro-life groups at Windle’s clinics cut abortions in half, from about 2,000 a year in 1989 to about 1,000 in 1998. The Rev. Flip Benham, director of the Texas-based OPERATION RESCUE NATIONAL, said of Windle: "She is gone because Christians came there with the Gospel."

Patricia White Bull slipped into a catatonic state in 1983 while delivering her fourth child. For 16 years she was unresponsive to the world - unable to speak, swallow or move much. On Christmas Eve the Sioux Indian suddenly woke up, saying "Don't Do That," as nurses adjusted her nursing home bed. Her mother, Snowflake Flower, said it was a Christmas miracle from God. "I just went up to her and gave her a big hug, and she gave me a big hug back," said her oldest child, Cindi, a 26-year-old senior at the University of North Carolina. "It was the first time she had ever hugged me back. It was scary at first. It was overwhelming emotionally."

     Creationism and evolution should be taught in public schools, most Americans believe. Interviews of more than 1,000 people found that 83% believe the Bible's account of creation should also be taught as an alternative. The national survey was done by DYC, a Danbury Conn. Polling firm for People for the American Way. Almost half of the respondents said evolution is "far from scientific" and 68% said the theory is consistent with the belief that God created man. About one-third said they believe the Bible's account of creation is the literal truth and 20% said that evolution alone should be taught in the schools.

     The American Medical Association's policy-making House of Delegates approved a resolution without discussion to urge the Food & Drug Administration to consider making the "morning-after" pill available over the counter, during a convention in Orlando, Fl. The association has 293,000 doctors as members. "This is a wonderful decision by the AMA. This is a terrific resolution," said Joan Coombs, senior vice president of Planned Parenthood. She said widespread use of the morning-after pill could prevent 1.7 million unplanned pregnancies and 800,000 abortions annually. Taken within 3 days of sexual intercourse, the prescription morning-after pill prevents ovulation or, if that has already occurred, implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus. (This is an abortion - Ed)

     Nearly 18 percent of American women and 8 percent of American men carry a sexually transmitted virus that causes half of all cases of cervical cancer, according to the first national study on the prevalence of the virus. Also, gonorrhea cases are rising again, especially among young people, after nearly two decades of decline. Overall, more than 65 million Americans are infected with one or more sexually transmitted diseases. There are an estimated 15 million new infections annually, a quarter among teens. An estimated 20 million Americans carry genital HPV infections that can be passed on through sexual contact, and there are about 5.5 million new infections every year. HPV, which also causes genital warts and penile and anal cancer, is the most common STD among sexually active young people.

     California Senator Diane Feinstein capped a "feminist revival" luncheon in Los Angeles at the Biltmore Regency with nearly 800 guests by calling for voters to support female candidates to preserve abortion rights and create strong gun-control laws. "The Republican Party today is on a march to do away with abortions," Feinstein said at the Women's Event 2000, a tea organized by more than two dozen women's political groups. Feinstein urged the audience, almost all women, to spread the word that the president elected this year could have a lasting effect on abortion rights. "There is no more important appointment that the president makes than that of Supreme Court Justice," she said. "I really believe that if the Republican candidate wins, he will appoint an anti-choice judge. And Roe vs. Wade ... will be lost." Though organized by advocacy groups, the $40,000 event was paid for by corporate sponsors, said Lisa Baca-Sigala, co-chairwoman of the organizing committee. These sponsors include: The Gas Company, Charter Communications, Media One, Farmer's Insurance Group and others.

     Pro-life and pro-family groups held off well organized and heavily-funded pro-abortion opposition at the Five-Year Review Of The 1995 World Conference On Women. The purpose of the conference was to revisit and evaluate the implementaion of the 1995 platform and to explore further actions and initiatives. The agenda of the pro-abortion groups included: equipping and training health service providers; increasing access to abortion for adolescents as young as 10 without parental involvement; and further advancing the campaign to make abortion a fundamental "human right" worldwide (including overriding laws in the nearly 100 countries which have instituted measures of protection for the unborn.)
Toward the end of the conference, in the face of contentious disagreement between pro-life and pro-abortion contingents, attempts at furthering the abortion agenda were turned back. Jeanne Head, RN, National Right To Life's representative at the UN, described what occurred: "Led by the Clinton/Gore Administration and the European Union, pro-abortion western nations and some dissident Latin American delegates attempted to use this review process to go beyond what was agreed to at Beijing in order to further advance their radical pro-abortion agenda - all the while falsely accusing the pro-life and pro-family delegations of trying to 'roll back' women's rights."