October 2011 - Missouri Right to Life
Transcription
October 2011 - Missouri Right to Life
Transforming society to respect and protect all innocent human life. October 2011 Pro-Life Legislators Take Courageous Stand Against MOSIRA In the special session of the Missouri Legislature, both the House and Senate voted to fund human cloning and embryonic stem cell research through the Missouri Science Innovation and Reinvestment Act. A minority of Missouri Representatives voted in favor of a pro-life amendment and also voted against the final bill when the pro-life amendment was defeated. These Representatives withstood tremendous pressure from their leadership and the powerful pro-cloning lobby to take a stand for life. Representatives voting with Missouri Right to Life on the pro-life amendment and against MOSIRA without pro-life protections: Randy Asbury (R-22) Charlie Davis (R-128) Andrew Koenig (R-88) Dave Schatz (R-111) Kurt Bahr (R-19) Tony Dugger (R-144) Bart Korman (R-99) Ron Schieber (R-32)* Mike Bernskoetter (R-113) Sue Entlicher (R-133) Linda Black (D-107) Joe Fallert (D-104) Brent Lasater (R-53) Ed Schieffer (D-11) Melissa Leach (R-137) Tom Shively (D-8) Rick Brattin (R-124) Paul Fitzwater (R-152) Tom Loehner (R-112) Lindell Shumake (R-6) Cloria Brown (R-85) Diane Franklin (R-155) Nick Marshall (R-30) Jason Smith (R-150) Eric Burlison (R-136) Gary Fuhr (R-97) Ron Casey (D-103) Jeff Grisamore (R-47) Bob Nance (R-36) Terry Swinger (D-162) Don Phillips (R-62) Wayne Wallingford (R-158)* Kathie Conway (R-14) Kent Hampton (R-163) Darrell Pollock (R-146) Don Wells (R-147) Stanley Cox (R-118) Ben Harris (D-110) Paul Quinn (D-9) Paul Wieland (R-102) Sandy Crawford (R-119) Jacob Hummel (D-108) Jeanie Riddle (R-20) Zachary Wyatt (R-2) Paul Curtman (R-105)* Mike Kelley (R-126) Rodney Schad (R-115) *These representatives also voted against MOSIRA without protective language in the House Economic Development Committee on which they serve. Missouri Senators voting pro-life against MOSIRA: Sen. Jane Cunningham (R-7) Sen. Jim Lembke (R-1) Sen. Brian Nieves (R-26)* Sen. Scott Rupp (R-2) *Senator Nieves also voted against MOSIRA without protective language in the Senate Jobs, Economic Development and Local Government Committee on which he serves. For more detailed information on MOSIRA, see the “What is MOSIRA” report on our website, www.missourilife.org, or call the Missouri Right to Life state office, 573-635-5110, to have the report mailed to you. Do you see your Senator and /or your Representative listed? Take a moment. Send a note to thank them for standing on their convictions under tremendous pressure. Thank them for standing for Life! Thought You’d Like To Know . . . Abortions suspended at Columbia MO clinic Planned Parenthood is temporarily halting abortions at a central Missouri clinic. deployed overseas. Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri said September 27 that the physician who typically performs abortions in Columbia has been called to active military duty and will be Organization spokeswoman Michelle Trupiano says abortions were performed in Columbia the third week of September and normally are performed at that clinic two or three times a month. She says abortion services will be suspended in October until a replacement physician can be found. Trupiano says abortions also were suspended for a couple months last year at the clinic while Planned Parenthood searched for a new doctor to perform them. St. Louis Post-Dispatch 9/27/11 Adult stem cells tested to treat ALS An Israeli company is conducting a clinical trial using a patient’s own adult stem cells to treat ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease.) The method using adult stem cells was developed by professors at Tel Aviv University. Cells are taken from the patient’s own bone marrow and differentiated in the lab into astrocytes, cells responsible for nurturing neurons in the brain. By releasing neurotrophic factors, which are proteins that can protect brain cells, the former bone marrow adult stem cells can protect and preserve brain cell function. Prof. Daniel Offen, one of the developers of the technique, says he and his team bypassed the ethical and safety issues inherent in embryonic stem cells by using adult stem cells derived from a patient’s own bone marrow. In addition, he notes that because the original cells are drawn from the patients themselves, the body should have no adverse reactions. The clinical trial has started at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center, but could be expanding soon to Massachusetts General Hospital in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. FRCBlog 9/21/11 Almost 50 new locations for 40 Days for Life campaign Editor’s note: 40 Days for Life vigils are being held at PP locations in St. Louis and Columbia MO and also at PP in Overland Park KS. Pro-life activists in four dozen new locations, including Puerto Rico, Germany, and Argentina, launched their first-ever 40 Days for Life campaigns in September. In total, 301 locations are taking part in the current, largest-ever 40 Days for Life campaign. Peaceful prayer outside the abortion clinic “provides a simple reminder - to clients, to staff, to the community - of what all people know in their hearts: abortion is wrong and can never be justified,” said 40 Days for Life campaign director Shawn Carney. “I am confident that the abortion culture will continue to be overcome by the power of prayer.” The focused pro-life initiative, which continues through November 6, includes 262 locations in 48 states, the District of Missouri Right to Life News P. O. Box 651 Jefferson City MO 65102 Columbia and Puerto Rico. This campaign also marks the largest-ever Canadian participation, with 15 cities in seven provinces participating. There have been eight coordinated 40 Days for Life campaigns since 2007, mobilizing more than 400,000 people in 337 cities across the United States and locations in Canada, Australia, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Spain, Denmark, Georgia, Armenia and Belize. Reports document at least 4,313 lives that have been directly saved from abortion thanks to the campaigns. Following local 40 Days for Life campaigns, 53 abortion workers have walked away from the abortion industry, and 16 abortion facilities have completely shut down. LifeSiteNews.com 9/26/11 Patents for human beings banned Another big advance for the pro-life cause as federal law now recognizes the humanity of the unborn child in yet another way: Research scientists are now banned under U.S. patent law from taking out a patent on a human being they create in the lab. National Right to Life played a key role in getting a ban on the patenting of human beings in the new patent law. Some scientists and the companies they work for want to clone or create “experimental human beings” that they can experiment on and perhaps earn profits from. These human embryos could be used in everything from testing medicines to gauging human sensitivity to certain cosmetics. But a human being, no matter how small, is not a commodity. After the human research abuses in World War II, the U.S. even signed international treaties that reflect our belief that never again should a human being be used as a research subject without their consent or used solely for the benefit of another. nrlc.org 9/22/11 Pam Manning, Editor Contact Missouri Right to Life at 573-635-5110 www.missourilife.org Thank you for sharing our mission . . . From the President ~ Once Upon A Time In Missouri D uring the special session, both the Missouri Senate and the House passed The Missouri Science Innovation and Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA) with bi-partisan majorities. This legislation provides public money for life science research without effective language to prevent funding of abortion-related services, human cloning, or embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). Missouri Right to Life (MRL) promoted protective language at every step of the process in every way we could with the help of many courageous legislators. But when the final vote was taken, the majority of legislators from both parties didn’t feel the one sentence supported by MRL - or any other language that would effectively prevent the public funding of unethical research - was important enough to include. This current legislature deserves great credit for passing restrictions on late-term abortions during the regular session, but abortion isn’t the only life issue of concern to prolife voters of Missouri. Many of you may be asking yourselves what happened to our pro-life legislators on the issues of cloning and embryonic stem cell research. Supporters of unethical research have invested tremendous sums of money in promoting their cause to the legislators. While tracking money in politics is like following water downhill, a review of the reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission just before and since the 2006 passage of Amendment 2 reveals that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been donated to legislators by pro-cloning PAC’s. MRL has identified at least three pro-cloning PAC’s: Supporters of Health Research and Treatment, The Greater K.C. Chamber of Commerce, which spun off a specific procloning PAC called The Life Sciences of Greater K.C. Chamber. There could be additional pro-cloning groups making donations to legislators of which we’re currently unaware. But the pro-cloning money is only one possible answer to the defection of pro-life support on the issue of cloning and embryonic stem cell research in the Missouri Legislature. The decline of the economy nationwide and in Missouri - and the desire of many legislators to improve economic conditions in Missouri - led many of them to put aside pro-life concerns if doing otherwise was perceived to imperil economic development. This false choice was promoted by the pro-cloning lobbyists, particularly MOBIO, a leading advocate of unrestricted research and of Amendment 2. Another component in the MOSIRA vote was the weak response from groups who were former allies in the battle to defeat Amendment 2. With the exception of The Missouri Roundtable for Life, Concerned Women for America, and Eagle Forum, other groups actually supported parts or all of the economic development legislation for the desired tax credits they contained, supported ineffective reporting language, or had an extremely weak response to the threat against human life. While the MOSIRA vote was a great disappointment, we cannot be discouraged from continuing to be a voice for life. We know that we are called not to be victorious, but to be faithful. Once upon a time, Missouri had a solid legislative pro-life majority willing to uphold those principles on all life issues. With the prayers and the votes of pro-life Missouri citizens, we can be that state once again. “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 Blessings, Pam Fichter The Emperor Has No Clothes: “Voluntarily” stopping eating and drinking by Kate Kelly Euthanasia proponents have a new campaign promoting starvation and dehydration. VSED: “Voluntarily” stopping eating and drinking. Kate Kelly provides a real life example. I watched an old woman die of hunger and thirst. She had Alzheimer’s, this old woman, and was child-like, trusting, vulnerable, with a child’s delight at treats of chocolate and ice cream, and a child’s fear and frustration when tired or ill. I watched her die for six days and nights. I watched her suffer, and I listened to the medical practitioners, to a son who legally decided her fate, and to an eldest daughter who advised him and told me that the old woman, my mother, was “comfortable,” except when she was “in distress,” at which times the nurses medicated her to make her “comfortable” again. I watched the old woman develop ulcerations inside her mouth as she became more and more dehydrated; the caregivers assured me these were not painful. That is what morphine does, you see. It relieves pain, but its cumulative effect is that eventually it shuts down the respiratory system. Even as the morphine, quickly injected by a disconcerted nurse, caused the old woman’s eyes to close and her face to relax, I doubted its efficacy. I thought back to the night before, when I, in tears at the old woman’s slow dying, had been confronted by a delegation of four of the nursing staff, each of them in turn trying to convince me that the old woman was not suffering in any way at all. The morphine, they said, takes away all pain. But, I answered them, she can feel: she’s squeezing my hand, and if I try to take my hand out of hers, she squeezes tighter, and when I hold a little piece of gauze to her lips, she tries to suck the water out of it. She’s thirsty! This is a horror; this is cruelty! “I watched her die for six days and nights. “ I listened to her breathing become more and more laboured, as her lungs became congested from the morphine administered every three to four hours, and later every hour. an’s face twisted in horrible contortions. I screamed, “Her eyes are opening! Oh, God. Oh, God!” I watched her suffer ... No one explained why the old woman was given morphine in the first place, since she was conscious and trying to speak. It is normal that a mild stroke causes temporary inability to swallow, slurred speech, and a severe headache, but all of these are often reversed when the stroke victim is treated and the treatment includes nourishment and water. The explanation for not giving nourishment and water - a feeding tube and IV (intravenous) - is that these were “extraordinary measures” for keeping someone alive. I watched the old woman day and night for six days. The first night, after the first shot of morphine, her mouth hung open and her tongue started to roll and flutter. At the same time, her jaw trembled continuously. This went on all night and into the early hours of the morning. Her mouth never closed again, except to clamp tightly on wet cloths placed on her lips. Her eyes were partially closed, but they moved back and forth, back and forth, becoming small slits after seven or eight hours, not closing fully until that long first night was over. She opened her eyes only once after that, when the nurse was late with the morphine, on the third, or maybe the fourth, day. The old woman started to moan. Not moaning, said the nurses and the old woman’s eldest daughter. Just air escaping from the lungs. Not moaning at all. The old woman’s eyes started to open, and the air escaping from the lungs sounded exactly like a moan of agony, as the old wom- She’s not in pain. No, they said. She’s not thirsty. It’s just reflex. But, I tell them, I watched her clamp her lips on the gauze so tightly that I had to pull to get it out of her mouth. She reacts when you touch her feet, her legs, and her hair. If she can feel that she can feel thirst, I plead with them. It’s not the same, they tell me. I look at her. But what if you’re wrong? I say. What if you’re wrong? They stand there, saying nothing. Then one looks at the old woman and says, we’d better turn her now. She and another care worker go about the business of repositioning the old woman, to keep her “comfortable” and the other two leave. The days and nights went in and out of focus. I sat in a chair at the side of the old woman’s bed, one hand grasped tightly by her hand. I slept an hour or two, here and there, waking always with a start. “I’m here,” I murmured, so the old woman would know I was keeping the promise I made to her on the first night, after her son and eldest daughter left to get some food, drink, and rest. I promised her then, “I will not leave here until you do. The old woman was fading by the fourth day. Her eldest daughter had been visiting for an hour or so each day, usually midmorning. This daughter, a former hospital worker, lightly stroked her mother’s face and hair and timed the length of her mother’s “breath apnea,” the length her mother stopped breathing. She announced the number of seconds, and then counted the number of breaths between each stopped breath. Seven breaths, she said, 11 breaths. Sometimes she described the progress of her mother’s death, She’s probably down to about 60 pounds now, she pronounced. Do your part to protect my generation Send a donation to Missouri Right to Life Today Sometimes - I’m not sure when I noticed it first - the nurses asked us to leave while they attended to the old woman. Other times they didn’t. Once, perhaps on the fourth day, I told them I didn’t have to leave: I had watched them turn her, I had seen her tiny naked body as they gently washed her. I didn’t even flinch anymore when they injected the syringe of morphine. We have to give her a suppository, they said. A suppository? Why? For anxiety, they said. Anxiety. So that she would appear to die with dignity. The morphine was no longer enough. This courageous old woman, who could face, who had faced, unimaginable hardships with nothing but her faith and her dignity, she could teach you about dignity, I thought to myself. On the fifth day the eldest daughter visited twice. On her second visit, several staff members entered the room with her. They were all talking loudly, about nothing in particular, except for one care worker, fond of the old woman, who walked over to the bed and called the old woman’s name loudly enough to interrupt the others’ light conversation. She examined the old woman’s hands, lifted the sheet covering her and looked at her legs and feet. She called the old woman’s name again, and the care worker’s face showed alarm. How long has it been? she asked. She’s not even mottling! (Mottling is the term given to describe the blackening of the feet and hands as the body, dehydrating, tries to preserve the vital organs by stopping the flow of blood to the limbs). You know, continued the care worker, I don’t think it’s her time. It’s been, what, five days? If she had been ready to go, she’d have gone in 24 hours. The room went quiet. The care worker and I looked at each other. You’re right, I said. The eldest daughter and one of the nurses began to tell her she was wrong, and a nurse hustled her out of the room. By the sixth night I was not sure I could go on. I slept for an hour or so every four or five hours. I still sat in the chair by her bed, but now I slept with my head on the bed, near her stomach. The old woman’s breathing was laboured, her will to live defying the system and the foolish young doctor who, on that first night, gave her 24 hours to live, as though he were God Himself. My heart was breaking for her. I could do nothing to save her, could do nothing but suffer with her. I cried much of the time, but softly, so she would not know. I didn’t want to add to her agony. I had been there six days. She could no longer hold my hand, so I slipped my hand gently under hers. I felt an anguish so profound that I began to wonder if I could survive it. The old woman’s breathing was suddenly no longer laboured. Her breath eased from her, and her face - oh, her face had become the colour of pearls. In a split second, the frown that had creased the line between her brows was smoothed away. Her head rested gently to one side. Two care workers entered the room. I saw them in my peripheral vision, but I kept my gaze on the old woman. We’re just going to turn her, one of the workers said. No, I said, my mother is dying. One of them left to get a nurse, and then the old woman - my dear mother, my little, child-like, beautiful mother - died. I put my arms round her, kissed her poor, closed eyes and her now relaxed mouth, and held her limp, tiny body, no more struggling for breath. I watched an old woman die of hunger and thirst. I watched her die for six days and nights. I watched her suffer, and struggle, and hold onto life. She had not often found life easy, but she had always found it worthwhile. She was 94 years old. She had been born and had lived all her life in Canada. She had worked hard all her life, married, raised three children, voted, paid taxes, saved enough money to buy her own home, obeyed the laws, donated to charity, done volunteer work, paid her bills, and given much love and brought much joy to many, many people in her 94 years. In return, in the spring of 2009, her son and her eldest daughter, with the permission and assistance of the law, because this old woman had had a mild stroke, refused her food and water. She could not swallow, so she would have needed the food and water administered artificially. And the youngest daughter could do nothing except watch her mother die slowly, and write this, in the hope that my mother’s death, like her life, will have made a difference. Originally published on choiceillusion.org on 8/29/11. Choice is an Illusion is a non-profit organization incorporated to involve people of diverse backgrounds and political orientations in the fight against assisted-suicide and euthanasia. Because your commitment has no boundaries . . . August 2011 again found Missouri Right to Life-Sedalia Chapter members speaking for life at the Missouri State Fair. For many years Sedalia chapter members have manned the booth at the 10-day event. Every summer and fall, the fair booth and the community parade season, members of Missouri Right to Life take part in countless events across our state. Thank you for keeping the message of Life in the hearts of MisPro-lifers from Missouri Right to Life-East Central Area Chapter participate in this year’s Washington Town and Country Fair Parade. It’s an annual summer event for Washington, MO, and an annual summer event for these committed pro-lifers! souri’s citizens! Memorials In memory or in honor of a loved one or a friend, these gifts were made to Missouri Right to Life. In honor of Ruth & Peter Boyle by Jan Boyle In memory of Wilma Anderson by Janet Tucker In honor of Sam & Gloria Lee by Stephen & Berna Schroeder In memory of Eleanor Caffrey by Martha Smith In honor of Mary Catherine Saladin by Jan Boyle In memory of Jamie Clark by Jerry & Betty Brenneke In honor of Andrea Schumann by Curtis & Julie Peck In memory of Bernadine Gimenez by Jan Boyle In memory of Frankie Harter by Tom & Mary Knight, Mike & Holly, Tammy & Gary In memory of Florence M. Hermesch by McCloud & Company, LLC. by Mr. & Mrs. C. T. Banta, Jr. by Randall & Lisa Spragg by Michelle Stelzer by Douglas & Susan Aasby In memory of Barbara Johnson by Rose Karn In memory of Raymond & Dorothy Smith by Christine Smith by Bonnie & Craig Sangunet Missouri Right to Life thanks those who honor their deceased loved ones or celebrate an important event by making a gift to MRL. Election of Missouri Right to Life Delegate-At-Large Every two years, MRL members elect a Delegate-At-Large to represent them on the Board of Directors. This is in addition to the participation encouraged at the chapter, region, and state board levels. It is again time for members to elect their representative to the board. To cast a vote, please check the box next to a name. Vote for only one candidate. If there are two members in household, boxes are provided for each. Use this ballot to vote; do not copy it. Your name, address, and member number appear on the back of the ballot. The candidates nominated to serve the 2012-2014 term are: 1st Voter 2nd Voter c c Dave Spiering. Dave has been involved in pro-life work for three decades. He currently serves on the Missouri Right to c c Pam Manning. Pam is currently the Missouri Right to Life News editor. In the past she has served on the Eastern Region - Each member may vote for only one candidate. Life State Board of Directors and on the Missouri Right to Life-Southwest Region Board of Directors. He is a member of the MRL-Barton County Chapter and has served in several capacities with the chapter, including chapter chairman for many years. MRL board for 18 years, including several years as its chairman. She has served on the Missouri Right to Life State Board for 18 years, including four years as president. She has served as the 2nd and 3rd Congressional District MRL PAC coordinator and was the MRL PAC chairman for six years. She is the current Delegate-at-Large The ballot must be received by December 31, 2011. Clip and return it to: Missouri Right to Life, P. O. Box 651, Jefferson City MO 65102 Save the date -Saturday, November 12 - 10:00 a.m. Chapter Head Meeting Immaculate Conception Church, Pleus Hall, 1206 E. McCarty St., Jefferson City. You shop at Schnucks. Present your escrip card. Missouri Right to Life Education Fund earns! Any chapter officers, members, or anyone wanting to start a chapter are invited. Please call the Missouri Right to Life State Office, 573-6355110, or e-mail, righttolife@missourilife.org, to make a reservation to attend. The recent reward checks to MRL Ed Fund from escrip were over $1000! The top three contributor amounts were $167.84, $64.66, $51.35. And they did it without spending an extra dime! Saturday, December 10 - 9:30 a.m. You could too -- couldn’t be easier! Annual Missouri Right to Life Membership Meeting, MRL State Office Please call the state office if you plan to attend. Monday, January 23 March for Life Washington, DC More information will appear in the December Missouri Right to Life News. Tuesday, March 27 Pro-Life Action Day State Capitol, Jefferson City Join in. Get your escrip card. MRL Ed Fund would appreciate your support! NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID JEFFERSON CITY, MO PERMIT NO. 206 P. O. Box 651 Jefferson City MO 65102 Pink Ribbons Not Cute When Komen Backs Planned Parenthood by Abby Johnson Pink ribbons are cute. They have become very trendy. Everyone has caught on to them, too. Well, not me. I hate breast cancer. I really hate it. Breast cancer stole one of the most important people in my life from me … my father’s twin sister … my aunt. Both of my grandmothers had breast cancer. My cousin died of breast cancer. Breast cancer is like a terrible virus that keeps sweeping through my family. And like all viruses, you can’t get rid of them; they keep coming back. My aunt was an amazing person. She never met a stranger. She loved everyone. And, she was pro-life. She loved babies. She was one of the most precious people I have ever known. I watched her battle this terrible disease for 9 years. There were ups and downs … but she never gave up. Her life was a gift. Now, I know there is lots of debate about the link between abortion and breast cancer. And to be honest, I am not convinced either way. I know that for every study that shows a link, I can find one or two that shows there is no link. I just can’t simply prove that to be fact. But here is a fact … Susan G. Komen gave $700,000 in grant money to Planned Parenthood last year. Susan G. Komen is the largest breast cancer research group. Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in our country. Hmmm … why would those two groups be partnering together? Komen says they give this money to Planned Parenthood so women living in rural areas will have access to mammogram services. Really? Well, here’s the truth about that. No Planned Parenthood on the planet provides mammogram services. Why? Because they can’t. Planned Parenthood is a level one breast service provider. It means their clinics are only allowed to provide manual breast exams. The kind you do in the shower. The kind you can get from any nurse or physician in any clinic. They cannot provide any sort of diagnostic services … no biopsies, no breast ultrasounds, and no mammograms. That is a fact. Komen contributes in a large way to the murder of over 320,000 babies each year. Those pink ribbons don’t seem so cute anymore. I hear people say, “Well, until breast cancer has affected your family, don’t tell me not to support Komen.” Well, it has affected my family. It has affected us greatly. And I stand against Komen. And let me say something else very clearly. My aunt valued life very much. But she did not value her life more than the life of any child. She would have given up her life to know that a baby would be saved. For those that continue to support Komen because this disease has affected you or someone you love … this is what you are saying … you are willing to sacrifice the lives of the unborn for your own. If you are comfortable with that, then keep donating to Komen. I hope you are not. I hope you will do the right thing. I hope you will stand against this phony organization. Any good they do is blackened by the killing they support. And if you do stand against them, tell them. Don’t just take away your support, let them know. Tell everyone you know. Be an activist. Don’t think that Komen doesn’t care … they do. Komen needs to keep up their good reputation. Don’t let that happen. Over 320,000 babies every year. No more pink ribbons in my home. My aunt’s memory is worth more than that … I can’t wrap her life up in a ribbon … especially when that ribbon pays for the murder of children. Abby Johnson says of her life, “I once was lost ... but now I am pro-life! Formerly a Planned Parenthood director, I now work to save lives.” This is a condensed version of her thoughts on the PP/Komen connection. Her website is www.abbyjohnson.org.
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