Hospitals ban elective inductions before 39 weeks
Oregon papers are reporting that all-Portland area hospitals are prohibiting elective inductions and c-sections prior to 39 weeks gestation. “[R]esearch has shown that there is significant brain development going on right through 38 weeks. Babies born before 39 weeks of pregnancy are two to three times more likely to be admitted to intensive care as […]
Speaking of the National Catholic Bioethics Center …
The new (Summer 2011) issue of their National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly arrived in my mailbox the other day. A few things of note from the contents: The “Colloquy” section includes an exchange of letters regarding an article in a previous NCBQ critical of philospher Fr. Martin Rhonheimer’s recent Vital Conflicts in Medical Ethics: A Virtue Approach to […]
New York Times magazine article on Down syndrome
Here is a link to a story in the National Right to Life News about a very interesting article in the New York Times Sunday magazine (of July 31, 2011). http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2011/08/a-father%e2%80%99s-love-a-father%e2%80%99s-search/ The magazine article is very touching. It tells the story of Dr. Alberto Costa and his daughter Tyche who has Down syndrome. Dr. Costa is a doctor […]
Series of articles on the “viability rule”
Just discovered a series of articles exploring the Supreme Court’s position allowing post-viability abortion bans by Randy Beck. You can find Randy Beck’s articles at The Essential Holding of Casey: Rethinking Viability, Where’s the Syllogism?: Gonzales, Casey and the Viability Rule, and Self-Conscious Dicta: The Origins of Roe v. Wade’s Trimester Framework. These articles are […]
Cesarean Delivery at the Edge of Viability
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act passed this year in four states (Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, & Oklahoma). It prohibits performance of abortions from 20 weeks post-fertilization (22 gestational weeks) unless necessary to protect the life or physical health of the mother. The tfollowing report notes that children born at this early age via ceasarean have […]
New British Data on Abortions on Minors and Abortions Due to Fetal Anomaly
A new report of British abortion statistics is discussed in this Zenit article. According to the Zenit article, “In 2010, 482 babies with Down syndrome were aborted. Ten of these were over 24 weeks old. Another 181 were aborted due to a family history in inherited disorders. In total, there were 2,290 abortions in 2010 […]
Prenatal Testing Sham
Here is a LifeNews story (first published on the Public Discourse website) on the use of prenatal testing to abort disabled babies. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/05/25/abortions-on-disabled-babies-the-prenatal-testing-sham/ Richard M.
Melissa Clouthier’s column on “aborting imperfection”
Here is a powwrful column by Melissa Clouthier on aborting children with disabilities. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/05/23/aborting-imperfection-abortions-on-disabled-babies-are-dead-wrong/ Richard M.
USCCB on the Phoenix abortion case
Here is a link to a statement on the Phoenix abortion case by the Committee on Doctrine of the US Bishops. http://usccb.org/doctrine/direct-abortion-statement2010-06-23.pdf Richard M.
Bishop Olmstead, Abortion, and Excommunication
On the Mirror of Justice blog, see http://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2010/05/agree-with-sr-margaret-mcbrides-decision-or-not.html#tp, Michael Perry links to a story about Bishop Olmstead, who informed a Catholic nun that she had incurred the canonical penalty of excommunication for her role in approving an abortion. I don’t intend to enter into the canon law aspects of the case. The underlying moral issue is, […]