"The issue of human life and its preservation and development is one that begins with conception and ends only when God calls a person back to himself in death. If we are consistent, then, we must be concerned about life from beginning to end. It is like a seamless garment; either it all holds together or eventually it all falls apart." Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, 1975
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Showing posts with label medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medicine. Show all posts

Sunday, February 9, 2020

The Democratic party and Pro-Life

Just what is keeping the Democratic party from even trying to woo millions of pro-life voters, who hold to the principles of the past, where every human individual's life has valued and ought to be cared for? Is it the power that NARAL and Planned Parenthood have over you, like the power that the NRA has over the Republican party? Make any move that supports a policy that hints of being just a little pro-life; and they jump all over you, screaming of a woman's right to choose, limiting access to health care and shaming women. Why did you give them such power? Being cynical, I would say the promise of votes. So, you pander to the pro-choice supporters just as the Republicans do to pro-life. 

The words are all there, but really? Is it choice when the party does not PUBLICLY and STRONGLY
push for meaningful options for women who want to choose life but think that abortion is the only option? Is it caring for women when the party doesn't support legislation that regulates abortion clinics to the sanitary standards of other health facilities, or even places like hair salons? Is it shaming women to let them know as much as possible about the unique human individuals that are living inside of them before abortion and sparing them the consequences when  they realize they have ended a human life later? (Yes, women still do say that they were told that they are getting rid of a clump of cells. And, yes those pro-life facilities that do give women the knowledge of their fetus and other available choices are labeled as anti-choice.) Is the Democratic party saying in reality that women are too stupid to make their own choices when fully informed? (I have read how abortion counselors give out information with a bias towards how an abortion would be the best choice.)

The Democratic party is unrecognizable from the party that I knew as a teenager and young adult. That party fought for the civil rights and the dignity of ALL human individuals, regardless of the stage of life. That party held the promise of a better, greater nation, once we got out of the quagmire of the Vietnam war. 

That party is gone, but not forgotten by those of us who knew it then. That party is gone, but wished for by the millions of pro-lifers of all ages. 

The nation is changing, just as in the 1950's and 1960's when the civil rights movement challenged the party. The party moved to support civil rights and a lot of voters became and still are Republicans. The Democratic party was the better for it. 

In its continuing move to the radical pro-choice position, the voters who were in the party in the 1960's and 1970's, like me, also turned to the Republican party. But that was also a false hope. There are millions of pro-life voters who see neither party as an option for this nation.
 
Now, there are people of all types declaring to be pro-life. It is not only Democrats for the Life of America. It is not only Catholics; I am one. There are Pro-Life Muslims, Jewish Pro-life Foundation, National Black Pro-life Union. It is Secular Pro-life.  It is Feminists for Life. It is New Wave Feminists. It is Students for Life. It is Rehumanize International. 

The Democratic party is going to be left behind if it doesn't recognize that this is not the 1980's anymore, or the 1990's. If you do not support a candidate who can manage to bring the two sides together on common concerns for women, then the Democratic party will not be able to beat Trump in November. 

Your choice.

https://prolifewholelife.blogspot.com

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Experts: Abortion Not Medically Necessary to Save the Life of a Mother

by Committee for Excellence in Maternal Healthcare and The Life House | Dublin, Ireland | LifeNews.com | 9/11/12 6:12 PM

Leading medical experts speaking at a major International Symposium on Excellence in Maternal Healthcare held in Dublin have concluded that “direct abortion is not medically necessary to save the life of a mother.”
Professor Eamon O’Dwyer, speaking for the Committee of the Symposium, said that the outcome of the conference “provided clarity and confirmation to doctors and legislators.”
Experts in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, mental health, and molecular epidemiology presented new research, and shared clinical experiences on issues surrounding maternal healthcare to the packed Symposium attended by more than 140 Irish medical professionals.
Particular attention was paid to the management of high-risk pregnancies, cancer in pregnancy, foetal anomalies, mental health and maternal mortality.
The Symposium’s conclusions were issued in the Dublin Declaration on Maternal Healthcare which states:
-“As experienced practitioners and researchers in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, we affirm that direct abortion is not medically necessary to save the life of a woman.
-We uphold that there is a fundamental difference between abortion, and necessary medical treatments that are carried out to save the life of the mother, even if such treatment results in the loss of life of her unborn child.
-We confirm that the prohibition of abortion does not affect, in any way, the availability of optimal care to pregnant women.”
Professor Eamon O’Dwyer said that the Symposium was timely given that the issue of abortion was one of current public debate, and that attempts were being made to confuse legitimate medical treatment with abortion.
“Irish Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have previously pointed out that treatment for conditions such as ectopic pregnancy are not considered abortion by doctors, yet misinformation in regard to this abounds in public debate. The Symposium clarifies that direct abortion is never medically necessary to save the life of a woman, and that’s good news for mothers and their babies,” said Professor O’Dwyer
Dr Eoghan de Faoite of the organising Committee for the Symposium said that the research presented at the Symposium provided clear evidence that best practice medical care for pregnant women does not involve abortion.
“It was fascinating to learn about new therapies involving the safe delivery of chemotherapy during pregnancy and the exciting field of in-utero fetal surgery” he said. “When discussing matters of pregnancy and medicine it is vital that the voices of the real experts, those that actually care for pregnant women, be heard. This Symposium puts an end to the false argument that Ireland needs abortion to treat women, and it was encouraging to hear the international speakers commend Ireland’s high standards of maternal healthcare and low rates of maternal mortality.”


The Medical Advisor to the Life Institute, Dr Seán Ó Domhnaill welcomed the outcome of the Symposium. “The Dublin Declaration stating that abortion is not medically necessary was a statement of fact agreed by medical experts and reflected best medical practice in maternal healthcare”, he said. “This is a globally significant outcome, which shows abortion has no place in treating women and their unborn children.”
Rebecca Roughneen of Youth Defence said that the outcome of the Symposium affirmed the pro-life position which had long held that abortion was not medically necessary to preserve women’s lives. “Ground-breaking research and new clinical practices were presented at this hugely important Symposium, and the good news for mothers and babies is that experts agree that abortion is not necessary to save the life of a mother,” she said.
LifeNews Note: This originally appeared in WorldWatch, a publication of Human Life International.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Culture of Life

ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL FRANCIS TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN ORGANIZED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ASSOCIATIONS OF CATHOLIC DOCTORS
Clementine Hall Friday , September 20, 2013

 I apologize for the delay, because today ... this is a morning too complicated for audiences ... I apologize. 1. The first point that I would like to share with you is this: we are witnessing today in a paradoxical situation , dealing with the medical profession. On the one hand we see - and thank God - the progress of medicine, thanks to the work of scientists who, with passion and with no savings, are dedicated to finding new cures. On the other hand, however, we find also the danger that the doctor might lose its identity as a servant of life. The cultural disorientation has also affected what looked like an unassailable area: your, medicine! Although by their nature at the service of life, the health professions are sometimes induced to disregard life itself. Instead, as we remember the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate , "openness to life is at the center of true development." There is no true development without this openness to life. "If you lose the personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away. The acceptance of life strengthens moral fiber and makes people capable of mutual help "(n. 28). The paradoxical situation is seen in the fact that while you give the person new rights, sometimes even alleged rights, does not always protect the life as a primary value and basic right of every man. The final objective of doctor is always the defense and promotion of life. 2. The second point: in this context, be heard, the Church appeals to the conscience, the conscience of all health care professionals and volunteers, in a particular way you Gynecologists, called to collaborate in the creation of new human lives. Yours is a unique vocation and mission, which requires study, conscience and humanity. At one time, the women who helped in childbirth called "comadre" is like a mother to the other, with the real mother. You too are "comadri" and "compadri", too. A widespread mentality of profits, the "culture of waste", which now enslaves the hearts and minds of many, has a very high cost: it requires to eliminate human beings, especially if they are physically or socially weaker. Our response to this mentality is a "yes" and decided without hesitation to life. "The first right of the human person is his life. He has other goods and some of them are more precious, but is the fundamental good condition for all others "(Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , Declaration on Procured Abortion , November 18, 1974, 11). Things have a price and are sold, but people have a dignity, worth more than things and do not have money. Many times, we find ourselves in situations where we see what it costs less is life. For this attention to human life in its totality has become in recent years a real priority of the Magisterium of the Church, particularly to the most defenseless, that is, the disabled, the sick, the unborn child, the child, the elderly, which is the most defenseless life. In the human fragile each of us is invited to recognize the face of the Lord, who in his human flesh has experienced the indifference and loneliness that often condemn the poorest, both in countries in the developing world, both in affluent societies . Every child is not born, but unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, the Lord's face, that before he was born, and then newborn has experienced rejection in the world. And every senior, and - I talked about the child: let's go to the elderly, another point! And every elderly, sick, or even if at the end of his days, carries the face of Christ. You can not discard, as we proposed the "culture of waste"! You can not discard! 3. The third aspect is a mandate: be witnesses and speakers of this "culture of life" . Your being Catholic entails greater responsibility: first of all to yourself, for the effort to be consistent with the Christian vocation, and then to contemporary culture, to help recognize the transcendent dimension in human life, the imprint of the creative work of God, from the very first moment of her conception. This is a commitment to the new evangelization that often requires going against the current, paying in person. The Lord counts on you to spread the "Gospel of life." In this perspective the gynecology hospital departments are privileged places of witness and evangelization, because wherever the Church is "the vehicle of the presence of God" living at the same time becomes an "instrument of the true humanization of man and the world" (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization , 9). Growing awareness that the focus of medical care is the human person in a position of weakness, the health facility becomes' the place where the care relationship is not job - your job is not caring relationship - but mission , where the charity of the Good Samaritan is the first chair and the face of the sufferer, the Face of Christ "(Benedict XVI, Address at the University Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome , May 3, 2012). Dear Friends doctors, who are called to take care of human life in its initial phase, remind everyone, with facts and words, this is always, in all its phases and at any age, sacred and is always quality. And not for a discussion of faith - no, no - but with reason, for a discourse of science! There is no human life more sacred than another, as there is a human life qualitatively more significant than another. The credibility of a health care system is measured not only for efficiency, but also for the attention and love towards people, whose life is always sacred and inviolable. Do not ever neglect to pray to the Lord and the Virgin Mary for having the strength to do your job well and bear witness with courage - courage! Today it takes courage - courage witness with the "Gospel of life"! Thanks a lot. -
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