Natural Family Planning is not simply “a better form of birth control.” Behind NFP lies an integral vision of the human person. Behind contraception lies the fragmented vision of the contraceptive mentality. The two are worlds apart. As Pope John Paul II noted in his brilliant document on the family: The difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the [...]
A recent medical journal article out of Sherbrooke, Quebec, details the fact that fetal experimentation has not ceased in Canada. Titled, “Explant Culture of Human Fetal Small Intestine,” the article, by D. Menard and P. Arseneault from that university, was quite specific. It states that small intestines “from fetuses varying from 10 to 14 weeks post fertilization were obtained [...]
The evidence is in: the deliberations are over; our subject is found guilty; and the sentence is passed. Not one word is spoken in his defense, and there is no appeal. What if the crime? The crime is most serious. He has been determined to be mentally handicapped. The penalty is clear, death by saline poisoning. The Human [...]
Artificial Insemination (AI) is he placing of semen inside a women’s vagina, or directly into the uterus by means other than sexual intercourse. The semen is collected by masturbation and insemination is timed to coincide with the women’s ovulation. The semen used for AI may be fresh (used within one hour of collection), or previously frozen and thawed just [...]
Recently there has been widespread publicity of a new method, called chorionic villi sampling, for detecting abnormalities in the unborn child. Cells are taken from the placental tissue (chorion) of the developing child and are studied for chromosomal abnormalities. It has been thought that any chromosomal defects found in the placenta would also exist in the [...]
A U.S. federal judge ruled that a widely-used spermicide caused birth defects in a 3 year old girl and ordered the manufacturer to pay 5.1 million in damages to the child and her mother. Judge Marvin Shoob ruled that Ortho Pharmaceuticals Corporation of New Jersey, makes of Ortho-Gynol Contraceptive Jelly, should have warned its users that birth defects can [...]
A U.S. federal judge ruled that a widely-used spermicide caused birth defects in a 3 year old girl and ordered the manufacturer to pay 5.1 million in damages to the child and her mother. Judge Marvin Shoob ruled that Ortho Pharmaceuticals Corporation of New Jersey, makes of Ortho-Gynol Contraceptive Jelly, should have warned its users that birth defects can [...]
The first “foolproof” abortion pill, called RU-486, is now in its final tests with the British Committee on Safety of Medicines. (see January issue of the The Interim) The pill will be used in France, India and China this year and has been approved by the World Health Organization for use in other Third World Nations. This pill [...]
Selling babies is illegal in Canada-perhaps. While there are laws which cover money changing hands in the conventional adoption process, there are no specific laws governing the new phenomenon of commercial “surrogate” motherhood. A surrogate (replacement) mother is one who agrees to conceive and bear a child for another woman. The trouble is, the “surrogate” mother is the [...]
Private Member’s bills usually attract little attention, but Mr. Enoch Powell’s measure-the Unborn Children Protection Bill- is not in this category. It’s importance is underscored by the fact that, although attendance in the House of Commons is usually sparse on Fridays, an unusually large number of Members attended the Bill’s second reading on Friday February 15 1985. The [...]
The Newcastle area of New Brunswick has the distinction of having one of the world’s most comprehensive programmes of parental screening for spina bifida. According to one source at the Miramichi Hospital, a blood test, called the Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein Test (MSAFP) is “routine” for all prenatals. In 1983 this test was used in 695 maternity-related cases in New [...]
Two years ago I wrote my first column. It was for the first issue of The Interim and was on “pro-life feminism,” a constant theme of many subsequent columns. When I wrote that first column, I thought I’d soon run out of things to say on the abortion issue and I’m sure that some of you who persist in the [...]
Dr. David Armstrong, scientific director of the test-tube clinic at the University of Western Ontario, does not appear to know how rapidly life develops. In an interview with Rose Dimanno of the Toronto Star on February 12, Dr. Armstrong defended his recommendation that human embryos be mass-produced and kept up to 28 days for experiments because, he said “up to [...]
A health-care package being planned by the University of Toronto’s Students’ Council is to include coverage for contraceptives. Some other universities already have student-sponsored health benefits but none include coverage for contraceptives. If it goes into effect, the plan will be mandatory for all full time students. An executive of the Students Administrative Council, Kevin Perkins was reported by the [...]
Genetic Counseling is that field of medicine which is involved in gathering genetic and family information in an effort to determine whether a particular couple would be likely to pass on certain genetic diseases to any future children. A risk ratio may be formulated and the couple would then decide whether or not to have children or perhaps they [...]