News Briefs -- November 1997

Surgeon General Nominee Supports Partial Birth Abortion WASHINGTON - Dr. David Satcher, President Clinton’s nominee for United States Surgeon General, has told the Senate that he supports Partial-Birth Abortion to protect the ``health of the mother.’’ Dr. Satcher departs from the mainstream medical profession who have insisted that there is no health reason to puncture the skull of a partially delivered child and vacuum the child’s brains out. ``The position of the ‘nation’s doctor’ should not be filled by an individual who acquiesces in a radical agenda that threatens the life and health of our nation’s mothers and their unborn children. It would be a great tragedy if the members of the U.S. Senate, who voted overwhelmingly to ban legalized infanticide, endorse as Surgeon General of the United States an individual who legitimizes the gruesome practice of partial-birth abortion,’’ Gary Bauer of the Family Research Council said. American Medical Association President Daniel H. Johnson, Jr., M.D., wrote in the New York Times that ``the partial delivery of a living fetus for the purpose of killing it outside the womb is ethically offensive to most Americans and physicians.’’ Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop told the American Medical News in August of 1996, `` ...in no way can I twist my mind to see that the late-term abortion as described -- you know, partial birth, and then destruction of the unborn child before the head is born -- is a medical necessity for the mother. It certainly can’t be a medical necessity for the baby.’’ Congress wants to ban partial-birth abortions except when a woman’s life is in danger, but Clinton wants a broader exemption for a woman’s health that would undermine the entire ban. Satcher supports that dangerous “health” exception. Clinton’s first appointee, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, had to quit after a plethora of gaffes, mistatements, and misdeeds. Clinton’s next nominee, Dr. Henry Foster, failed to win Senate confirmation because he had admitted to having performed abortions and because he was not up front about how many he had performed. British Medical Panel Asserts Unborn Feel Pain LONDON - According to a British Medical Panel doctors should consider administering an anesthetic to the fetus when performing an abortion. The recommendation was made by a panel of physicians appointed by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to research the issue of fetal pain. ``Fetal awareness of pain is a very emotive topic, of particular concern to pregnant women, but we have tried to approach it without preconceptions, to examine the scientific evidence dispassionately, and to identify areas where further research is urgently needed,’’ said Dr. Anne McLaren, who chaired the panel. The panel said an unborn child could not feel pain until nerve connections developed between the cortex and the thalamus which happens at around 26 weeks. The panel said painkillers should be considered when aborting an unborn child at or after 24 weeks. The group settled on 24 weeks rather than 26 because of the difficulty of determining the exact age of an unborn child. ``We don’t know what the effect of an analgesia would be on the child and it is difficult to find out. One of our recommendations is that more research is done on intervention with or without analgesia,’’ McLaren said. The Court decision said that although a person has a constitutional right to an abortion, they do not have a constitutional right to have the state pay for an abortion. Courts in other states have ruled in favor of allowing Medicaid to fund abortions. Silent Abortion Protest in Britain LONDON - Pro-life groups in Britain held a silent march to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act, which first legalized abortions in Britain. The route the March followed formed the shape of an unborn child in the womb. Among those taking part was Cardinal Basil Hume, leader of the Catholic Church in Britain. Cardinal Hume issued a challenge to the recently elected Prime Minister Tony Blair to join in helping convince the country that abortion is wrong. Recent polling data suggests that there is growing support in Britain for reducing the current time limit for abortions. Of the women questioned, 59% agreed with the statement that the limit in normal pregnancies should be cut to 10 weeks from the current 24 weeks. This statistic has alarmed many abortion rights advocates and excited many abortion opponents. The current trends in polling data combined with a report just released from a British Medical Panel regarding fetal pain has caused many in Britain to feel that the abortion issue needs to be seriously reexamined. North Carolina Court Rules No State-funded Abortions The North Carolina State Supreme Court ruled that poor women in North Carolina have no right to state-funded abortions. The Court ruled against a Durham woman who claimed the state discriminated against poor women since State Medicaid insurance pays for prenatal medical procedures but not abortion. After Congress prohibited Medicaid funding of abortions in the late 1970's, the North Carolina General Assembly established a state fund to pay for abortions for poor women. In 1995, led by the new republican majority, the General Assembly cut that fund from $1.2 million to $50,000. The legislature also placed tight restrictions on the use of the fund. Only one woman has had an abortion paid for by the state since the fund was reduced. Judge Allows Pursuit of Medicaid Covered Abortions TALLAHASSEE - A Florida circuit judge has denied the state’s request to dismiss a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union who claim Florida’s refusal to provide Medicaid money for abortion is a form of discrimination against low income women. The ACLU argued that for the state to fund prenatal, delivery, and neonatal care but not abortion forces Medicaid recipients to choose childbirth instead of abortion thus violating their constitutional right to abortion. The State of Florida argued that lawmakers, not the agency, needed to decide whether to pay for abortions. The Florida Medicaid regulations have adopted the restrictions contained in the a federal provision known as the Hyde Amendment that prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman’s life. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states can use their own funds for Medicaid services which are not reimbursed by the federal government. Restrictions similar to Florida’s have been struck down in other states. The Medicaid program provides health insurance for low income individuals. The cost of the program are shared between the Federal Government and the state governments. Supreme Court Dismisses Parental Consent Case WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Louisiana to overrule a lower court’s ruling that a parental consent law be struck down since it imposes an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion. Since the 1980s, Louisiana required minors under the age of 18 to receive the approval of one parent before an abortion. However, the minor could bypass that requirement by convincing a judge that she was mature enough to choose an abortion on her own. The law was amended in 1995 to give judges wider latitude to deny minors authorization for an abortion. The changes, however, have yet to go into effect because of court challenges. In April 1997, a federal judge and a U.S. appeals court struck down the amended, more restrictive, law. Louisiana appealed to the Supreme Court, insisting that the more restrictive law did not impose an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion. But the Supreme Court denied the appeal in an 8-1 vote with only Justice Antonin Scalia voting to hear the appeal. This let stand the original law without the 1995 amendments. These amendments included allowing a judge to require a minor to attend counseling before being able to receive approval for an abortion and to be able to contact the girl’s parents. Is President Clinton for or against Human Cloning? WASHINGTON - Although President Clinton has said the United States would work with other nations to ban human cloning, federal officials appear to be working to prevent any such ban. An international bioethics The United States is not a member of UNESCO, but maintains an observer delegation comprised of staff from the National Institutes of Health and the State Department. The American position on the UNESCO genetics document was revealed during a meeting of President Clinton’s National Bioethics Advisory Commission, when Noelle Lenoir, a French jurist, thanked the Americans for opposing a German proposal to ban human cloning. She said that the Germans came to the last UNESCO meeting with a very strong position opposed to human cloning -- but that the American delegation was “very positive and very helpful” in countering the German position. The German position was presented in a statement that read, ”That the cloning of a human being -- that is, artificial production of an embryo, possessing the same genetic information as another human being -- should be prohibited.” Texas Bishops Speak Out on Capital Punishment HOUSTON - All 21 of Texas’ Roman Catholic Bishops released a statement urging the State of Texas to discontinue its use of the death penalty. The bishops said the state was “usurping the sovereign dominion of God over human life” and thereby contributing to “a climate of violence.” The bishops insisted that life imprisonment without parole should be the maximum punishment meted out by the state. “We sympathize with the profound pain of the victims of brutal crimes. Nevertheless, we believe that the compassionate example of Christ calls us to respect the God-given image found even in hardened criminals,” they said. So far in 1997, 31 men have been executed in Texas, the highest number in the state’s history and by far the most in the United States. Another five men are scheduled to die by lethal injection by year’s end, according to state figures. “We must now take bolder steps to change the attitude of the American people regarding capital punishment as a means of dealing with a complex issue. It is unfortunate that a large majority of Americans, including Catholics, support capital punishment as a means of dealing with crime,” they said. Pro-life Supporters Seek Fund Ban in GOP Pro-lifers plan to push the Republican National Committee to withhold GOP funds from Republicans who oppose a ban on partial-birth abortions. The proposed resolution declares that ``the RNC considers the partial-birth abortion technique as a crime and pledges to deny Republican Party support or funding to any Republican incumbent or challenger who does not support banning the procedure.’’ The resolution is controversial since it would prohibit the GOP from supporting the reelection campaign of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, who vetoed a late-term abortion ban passed by the state legislature. One RNC staffer was quoted as saying, “I would rather vote for Christie Todd Whitman than for a liberal Democrat.’’ Kevorkian Will Donate Victim’s Organs NEW YORK - Dr. Jack Kevorkian said he will begin offering organs from his suicide patients to people who need transplants. ``Up to this point, when someone dies, it’s negative,’’ Kevorkian said. ``But then you give organs back. So here’s a case where we can end the suffering of a patient and get organs back to save lives.’’ He challenged the medical community take him up on his offer. The first organs will not be available until several weeks or months from now, said Kevorkian’s attorney. The attorney said Kevorkian has helped more than 70 people die since he began his campaign to legalize assisted suicide in 1990. China’s New Abortion Vans BEIJING - China’s latest weapon in advancing its abortion and population control campaign is the “mobile abortion clinic”, a white van containing a bed, body restraints, suction pumps, and other abortion related equipment. Chinese officials announced that 600 abortion vans will be dispersed to the vast Chinese countryside in order to better enforce China’s population control agenda.

Defend Life Newsletter, Nov 97