May 2016 Newsletter
Posted By cmbuuck on May 14, 2016
Life Affirming News
Happy Mother’s Day
“Lutherans For Life humbly and heartily thanks God our Heavenly Father for all our mothers whose love for their children serves as one of the strongest and sweetest Gospel-motivated voices For Life. Mothers, you have not labored in vain, since in belief of God’s Word and appreciation of His gifts, you are serving the Lord Christ …” To learn more about Lutherans For Life please visit www.lutheransforlife.org.
Sperm Bank Sued
Center for Bioethics and Culture / April 22, 2016
A civil lawsuit has been filed against Xytex Cryo International, a Georgia-based sperm bank. Three families in the lawsuit allege that the sperm bank failed to properly vet their donors, which led to a schizophrenic college dropout with a felony conviction being allowed to donate sperm. The man in question, donor #9623, was profiled as a man with an IQ of 160, multiple degrees in neuroscience, and a clean bill of health.
PAS in the Empire State
New York State hosted a debate on a bill, which, if passed, would legalize Physician Assisted Suicide in the state. While it is promoted as the “Death with Dignity” act, it uses the practice of medicine to intentionally take the life of a human being.
3D Printed Ovaries
Scientists at Northwestern University have created a prosthetic ovary in mice, using 3D printing technology. This engineered ovary implant restored the fertility of mice, allowing them to reproduce new life. Perhaps this will have positive impact for women who have compromised fertility.
Capturing the moment that life begins
Sarah Knapton, science editor, The Telegraph / April 26, 2016
Human life begins in bright flash of light as a sperm meets an egg, scientists have shown for the first time, after capturing the astonishing ‘fireworks’ on film.
An explosion of tiny sparks erupts from the egg at the exact moment of conception.
Scientists had seen the phenomenon occur in other animals but it is the first time is has been also shown to happen in humans.
“To see the zinc radiate out in a burst from each human egg was breathtaking.”
Professor Teresa Woodruff, Northwestern University
Not only is it an incredible spectacle, highlighting the very moment that a new life begins, the size of the flash can be used to determine the quality of the fertilized egg.
Researchers from Northwestern University, in Chicago, noticed that some of the eggs burn brighter than others, showing that they are more likely to produce a healthy baby.
Eggs flash as they meet sperm enzyme, capturing the moment that life begins could help fertility doctors pick the best fertilized eggs to transfer during in vitro fertilization.
“It was remarkable,” said Professor Teresa Woodruff, one of the study’s two senior authors and an expert in ovarian biology at Northwestern.
“We discovered the zinc spark just five years ago in the mouse, and to see the zinc radiate out in a burst from each human egg was breathtaking.
“This means if you can look at the zinc spark at the time of fertilization, you will know immediately which eggs are the good ones to transfer in in vitro fertilization.
“It’s a way of sorting egg quality in a way we’ve never been able to assess before. “All of biology starts at the time of fertilization, yet we know next to nothing about the events that occur in the human.”
“This is an important discovery because it may give us a non-invasive and easily visible way to assess the health of an egg and eventually an embryo before implantation,” said co-author Dr Eve Feinberg, who took care of the patients who provided eggs for the basic science study and collaborated with the research team.
“There are no tools currently available that tell us if it’s a good quality egg. Often we don’t know whether the egg or embryo is truly viable until we see if a pregnancy ensues.
“That’s the reason this is so transformative. If we have the ability up front to see what is a good egg and what’s not, it will help us know which embryo to transfer, avoid a lot of heartache and achieve pregnancy much more quickly.”
Legislators Seek Answers from FDA on New Chemical Abortion Standards
LifeWire / April 27, 2016
Lawmakers ask for documents behind FDA change in protocols for administering drugs for chemical abortions.
On Monday, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator James Lankford (R-OK) sent a letter to the federal Food and Drug Administration questioning the agency’s recent move to relax its protocols for administering the RU-486 abortion drug.
The letter, which was signed by a total of 75 members of Congress, says the signatories are “deeply disappointed to learn that you have loosened FDA standards governing use of the abortion drug mifepristone,” which “has been associated with serious adverse events including hemorrhaging, severe infections and even deaths of mothers who have taken it.”
The new standards issued last month allow Mifeprex (one of the two pills RU-486 entails) to be prescribed in 200 milligram doses instead of 600, 70 days after the start of a woman’s last menstrual period instead of 49, and with one fewer trip to an abortionist’s office.
Pro-lifers suspect the change was made for political reasons rather than sound medicine because chemical abortion drugs have been linked to several deaths by sepsis and many personal accounts of negative experiences, particularly in a 2011 study finding that chemical abortions carry substantially higher rates of medical complications than surgical abortions.
U.S. Suicides Increasing at Alarming Rates
Live Action News / April 26,2016
Assisted suicide advocacy is at least partly to blame.
There has been a huge and alarming increase in the U.S. suicide rate. From the CDC announcement:
From 1999 through 2014, the age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States increased 24%, from 10.5 to 13.0 per 100,000 population, with the pace of increase greater after 2006…
Suicide is increasing against the backdrop of generally declining mortality, and is currently one of the 10 leading causes of death overall and within each age group 10-64…
This report highlights increases in suicide mortality from 1999 through 2014 and shows that while the rate increased almost steadily over the period, the average annual percent increase was greater for the second half of this period (2006-2014) than for the first half (1999-2006).
Color me decidedly not surprised.* We are becoming a pro-suicide culture.
I believe the assisted suicide movement bears partial responsibility. Suicides have increased at the very time the assisted suicide movement has been vigorously and prominently promoting self-killing as a proper means to alleviate suffering.