Respect Life Office at 631Market St., Camden, NJ 08102 US - U.S. Catholic Medical Association Passes Resolutions on Schiavo, ABC link and Emergency Contraception

U.S. Catholic Medical Association Passes Resolutions on Schiavo, ABC link and 'Emergency Contraception'

LifeSite Daily News - Monday November 17, 2003

PHILADELPHIA, November 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At its Annual Meeting last month, the Catholic Medical Association passed resolutions calling for women undergoing abortions to be warned of the increased risk of breast cancer associated with the procedure. The association also passed resolutions supporting the right to life of Florida disabled woman Terri Schiavo and another in favor of prohibiting all "emergency contraception" in Catholic Hospitals.

On the ABC link, the professional medical association noted that "epidemiologic evidence of an association between abortion and breast cancer has existed for almost half a century," and "29 out of 38 worldwide epidemiologic studies show an increased risk of breast cancer of approximately 30% among women who have had abortions." Regarding the actions of Florida Governor Bush in working to save the life of Terri Schiavo by ordering the reinsertion of her nutrition and hydration tube, the association pointed out that "the Court proposed to remove the feeding tube without first undertaking rehabilitation therapy to ascertain her ability to swallow and digest nourishment." The group said, "that to deprive Terry Schiavo of this opportunity would constitute depriving her of life without due process of laws (Florida Statutes Section 744.3211)."

Finally, the doctors group has corrected liberal theologians who have erroneously suggested that it would be legitimate for Catholic Hospitals to provide "emergency contraception" to rape victims. The association notes that "ample evidence exists that 'emergency contraception', which can be given up to 120 hours after the act, adversely affects the function of the corpus luteum and affects endometrial development, making implantation of the blastocyst less likely," and when "given prior to ovulation does not

consistently prevent ovulation or pregnancy, and still has an effect on the corpus luteum and the endometrium," thus being abortifacient by "preventing implantation." The doctors thus show that the term 'emergency contraception' is "a misnomer as it does not consistently prevent fertilization". The resolution concludes that drug, "has the potential to prevent implantation whether given in the pre-ovulatory, ovulatory, or post-ovulatory phase, that it cannot be ethically employed by a Catholic physician or administered in a Catholic Hospital in cases of rape".

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	Office of Family Life/Respect Life of Diocese of Camden 631 Market Street, P.O. Box 708 Camden, NJ 08102 (856) 583-6129 fax: (856) 338-1581 Nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying... Nor can any authority legitimately recommend or permit such an action. Pope John Paul II

Respect Life Office at 631Market St., Camden, NJ 08102 US - U.S. Catholic Medical Association Passes Resolutions on Schiavo, ABC link and 'Emergency Contraception'