by Bill Fancher
WASHINGTON, DC (AgapePress) – While Joe Howard of the American Bioethics Commission applauds the accomplishments of stem cell researchers in conquering diseases, he vehemently opposes obtaining stem cells from unborn babies and then aborting them. He contends such methods are unethical.
“There are ways we can attack this that are clearly ethical, that don’t involve killing,” Howard says. “That’s what we have to help people understand, because people that have diabetes or heart disease, or whatever, that must be very frightening. And I can only imagine that a person who sees the technology like that would think, ’Well, that’s the answer to my life threatening illness.’ ”
Howard says that could be the answer, but not at the cost of a human life. Researchers have found it much easier to get stem cells from unborn babies than to obtain them from adults, and that is the basis for the ethical questions.
“We must help people understand there are other ethical ways we should be pursuing and get laws enacted that protect human life and promote truly ethical research,” he says.
Howard says creating a human embryo and then taking its stem cells and killing it is not what he calls “ethical” research.
Pro-Family Leader Expects 'Clinton Troops' to Undermine Bush Efforts
WASHINGTON, DC (AgapePress) – Family Research Council President Ken Conner expects a very tough Congressional fight ahead on just about every issue dear to conservative Christians. He says even though the GOP controls the Congress and the White House, he does not expect the opposition to lay down easily.
“The Clinton troops are accustomed to having had their way for the last eight years,” Conner says. “Those who advocate abortion on demand, those who advocate special rights for homosexuals, those who maintain that government knows better than parents — these people will not relinquish power easily.”
Even though the Clinton Administration is gone, Conner says its attitude is still ingrained in many agencies of the government.
“I think we're really going to have to go through a real 'rooting out' process … during this next administration, if the administration is going to succeed,” he says, “because in many respects … politicians are elected during an election cycle, but bureaucrats remain forever.”
Conner says those bureaucrats would like nothing better than to undermine the Bush Administration's efforts to replace the Clinton agenda with its own.
Nevertheless, one well-respected conservative observer is amazed at what George W. Bush has done in his first few weeks in office. John Gizzi, a national political analyst, says Bush is shocking political analysts because he is keeping his word. Gizzi says Bush has more than demonstrated his commitment to his campaign promises and his constituency during his first month as President.
“This President demonstrated very clearly that when he spoke about his faith, when he spoke about cultural conservatism, he really meant it. And that symbolism has been shown in his first act in reissuing the Mexico City Doctrine, in his statement to the March for Life, and in the openness he has had in dealing with those who consider themselves cultural conservatives.”
Since Bush's win in the election was one of the closest ever, Gizzi says Bush can expect some intense scrutiny.
“Everything [Bush] does will come under a nasty fire because of [the closeness of the election], and there will be talk about his fraudulency or that the election was stolen,” he says. “And yet it was four decades ago that in another election, another President whose election was close and questionable promptly announced that even one vote is a mandate, and he would proceed exactly with what he intended to do.”
President John F. Kennedy went on to establish the Peace Corps, launch NASA's “man-on-the-moon” project, and oversee what was the largest tax cut in the nation's history to that point. Gizzi says Bush can do the same, and his popularity will soar just like JFK's.
(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)
Vatican Gives Example on Church Involvement in Politics
ROME, Feb 21, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The Vatican has commenced meetings with Italian political parties to encourage them, regardless of political affiliation, to uphold values of central concern to the Church. Zenit News reported yesterday that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, confirmed that the Vatican is engaged in providing Catholics with information on the stands of politicians regarding key issues. The issues of life and abortion are given foremost consideration.
A list of issues in consideration mentioned by Cardinal Sodano were: life and abortion, aid to private schools, family, and solidarity. “These are topics that are heartfelt by Italian Catholics, and even more so by the Pope who, as Bishop of Rome, loves the life of the Church in Italy,” Cardinal Sodano told the press.
Dominican Cardinal to Head Yearly Campaign for Unborn
SANTO DOMINGO, Feb 21, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Cardinal Nicolas de Jesús López Rodríguez, archbishop of Santo Domingo, says he will head a campaign every year in defense of the unborn. Zenit News reported yesterday that the Cardinal requested governmental authority to promulgate the Dominican Republic law declaring March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, as the “Day of the Unborn.” While the law was recently approved by Congress, the national executive must promulgate it.
Morning After Pills Allowed without Prescription in Virginia
RICHMOND, Feb 21, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Yesterday the Virginia Senate passed legislation allowing pharmacists to dispense abortifacient morning-after pills without prescriptions. One major detail left to be worked out is whether teenagers under 18 should be required to obtain the consent of a parent before obtaining the drugs.
