An evaluation: Eugene Diamond MD's "Post-Rape Medications"

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Of the ten articles which compose Msgr. Kevin McMahon, STD's "Moral Issues in Catholic Health Care" (2004), I found Eugene Diamond, MD's "Post-Rape Medications" to be the most thought provoking and challenging. Inclusion of this one article makes the overall text exceedingly more valuable than its list price! It raises issues that must be of concern to Catholic health care institutions and individual Catholics in health care, as well as to all who should care about human life and honesty.

As per Directive # 36 of the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Fourth Edition (2001), "Compassionate and understanding care should be given to a person who is the victim of sexual assault. Health care providers should cooperate with law enforcement officials and offer the person psychological and spiritual support as well as accurate medical information. A female who has been raped should be able to defend herself against a potential conception from the sexual assault. If, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that conception has occurred already, she may be treated with medications that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation, or fertilization. It is not permissible, however, to initiate or to recommend treatments that have as their purpose or direct effect the removal, destruction, or interference with the implantation of a fertilized ovum" (Of note, there does not seem to be anything comparable, in the Vatican's "Charter for Health Care Workers" (1995).). As per Dr. Diamond, "application to the concrete world" of this seemingly simple directive "is more complex and demands a far more detailed grasp of the factors involved" (p. 36). Ensuring that post-rape treatment is absolutely not abortifacient poses a tremendous challenge.

There are grave "conflicts for Catholic institutions for the use of the so-called `morning-after' pill in rape protocols...[whether] in dispensing [the medication]...or referring [outside to others who will]....The crux of the matter is whether the `morning-after pill' is an abortifacient through its preventing implantation or whether it can be a contraceptive through an effect of preventing implantation when given early enough in the cycle" (p. 37). "Larimore and Sanford...have demonstrated rather conclusively by a review of the relevant literature over the past thirty years that oral contraceptives of both the combined and progestin-only form do indeed have post-fertilization or abortifacient effects....the weight of the evidence is so formidable that it is truly dishonest to dismiss the abortifacient effects as `not proven' and therefore readily to be dismissed or not considered....The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology now defines pregnancy as beginning with implantation; but this manipulation of language is not related to modern scientific understanding so much as it is to the need to fulfill a political agenda....the logistics of the real life situation of the aftercare of a rape victim are such that the only relevant effect of postcoital hormonal agents is their ability to prevent implantation" (pp. 38 - 43).

Dr. Diamond notes that there is a far "lower than expected incidence of pregnancy following forcible rape" (p. 44). Covering reports of thousands of forcible rapes in 1.) Minnesota (1977), 2.) Cook County, Illinois (1967), 3.) Erie County, New York (1967), and 4.) Cuyahoga County, Ohio, not a single pregnancy was reported. "There is no litigated case in which denial of `morning-after' pills following rape has resulted in a greater risk of pregnancy (pp. 45, 46).

If a woman has ovulated, administration of a "morning-after" pill gravely risks being abortifacient. If a woman has not yet ovulated, administration of a "morning-after" pill MIGHT have a placebo effect. As reported by A. Glasier et al in the New England Journal of Medicine (527: 1041, 1992), however, "most women do not keep records of their menstrual periods and it is well-recognized that estimated dates are likely to be inaccurate." As per Dr. Diamond, "in all likelihood the woman is not going to become pregnant in the first place. Thus, what reasons could be given for taking any risk of an abortifacient side effect of the Ovral treatment?....it seems that there is no meaningful contraceptive effect postcoital for Ovral or similar treatments. By the time the woman presents herself for treatment, the `sole immediate effect' of Ovral is to render the endometrium hostile to a possible fertilized egg....It seems disingenuous for Catholic moralists to promote the Ovral treatment for its reputed contraceptive effect s when in fact doctors neither prescribe it nor do women take it for such purposes in the post-rape scenario" (pp. 47, 48).

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Kevorkian: A Sad Look at a Foremost Prophet of the Culture of Death

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This is a sad look at one of the foremost "prophets" of what the late John Paul II called "the Culture of Death."

To say that Kevorkian and his associates fail to appreciate the sanctity of human life would be a dangerous understatement. As recorded by Court TV, Kevorkian, his sister, and his attorney appear to have disdain for the sanctity of human life, as well as for basic honesty.

For the Christian, unsolicited pain can be an opportunity to share in Christ's own suffering & a uniting with Him in His redemptive sacrifice, offered in obedience to His father. This certainly does not mean that all suffering/pain must be accepted & that efforts to alleviate suffering/pain should be foregone.

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A Reality Check - In the United States of 1944, Euthanasia was Recognized as Being Absurd!

A Book on Breast Cancer, Which Cries Out & Demands a Better Reading of Data by the Medical & Research Communities

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Running at complete odds with political correctness, Dr. Kahlenborn courageously and magnificently demonstrates that "induced abortion and oral contraceptive use, especially at a young age, markedly increase a woman's risk for developing breast cancer" (p. 257). Personally, I can only begin to appreciate this masterpiece. To fully grasp Dr. Kahlenborn's work, one needs an exceptional head for both research methods and statistics. This book cries out and demands a better reading by the medical and research communities.

Among his findings, Dr. Kahlenborn notes that "If one considers the increased risk of breast cancer and suicide due to an induced abortion, and the decreased risk of ovarian cancer with a full-term pregnancy, abortion is many times more hazardouz in the long run that carrying a child to term" (p. 260).



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The Problem of Suffering

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* Why do bad things happen to good people ?
* If God is All Mighty, why is there any evil?
* Why do people suffer ?

In response to these age old questions, Boston College's Dr. Peter Kreeft first explores the "easy answers" of Atheism, Demythologism, Psychologism, Polytheism, Scientism, Dualism, Satanism, Pantheism, Deism, and Idealism - finding them all to be more than wanting. He proceeds to mine clues from philosophers, artists, and prophets. In the end, this elegant book beautifully reminds us of God's Creation, Humanity's Fall, and Redemption:

* In creation, God first showed His almighty love and wisdom and announced His loving plan. The 1st people, our first parents, lived in perfect holiness & perfect justice: their relationships with God, with each other, with themselves, & with their environment - were all in perfect harmony. There was no death or suffering.

* People abused their freedom & rejected what God had given. The first people lost that original holiness & justice - not just for themselves, but for all people. We rejected God's offer & struck out on our own. Not born into that original holiness & justice - our situation is called "original sin." Our powers are now more weak: We can be ignorant; we suffer; we die; we sin.

* While the 1st people rejected God's perfect world for all people, that's not the end: Christ's victory over sin gave us greater blessings than those that original sin took away! Jesus' Redemption is better than what we lost!

* Jesus experienced evil, & He suffered. Through His death & Resurrection, He overcame evil. We can unite our sufferings to His - suffering can have redemptive value. God wouldn't permit any evil if He didn't allow for good to come from the same evil.





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In Defense of Legitimate Rights

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Among other fascinating points, Professor Glendon maintains that there has been a peculiarly American tendency to exaggerate two rights, to the detriment of others:

* "From the very beginning, the absoluteness of American property rhetoric promoted illusions and impeded clear thinking about property rights and rights in general" (p. 25).
* "Though the 'preferred' rights change from time to time, American legal discourse still promotes careless habits of speaking and thinking about them....exaggerated absoluteness of our American rights rhetoric is closely bound up with its other distinctive traits - a near-silence concerning responsibility, and a tendency to envision the rights bearer as a lone autonomous individual....why does our rhetoric of rights so often shut out relationship and responsibility, along with reality?" (pp. 41 - 46)
* "The major impetus for recognizing a legal right to privacy was the invention, in the nineteenth century, of instantaneous photography, and the development of rapid means of communication....In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Roe v. Wade that the...right of privacy was 'broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy'....In the abortion cases that followed and enlarged the scope of Roe, privacy began to show the same thrust toward absoluteness that had characterized property rights in an earlier era....In the United States today,...poor, pregnant women...have their constitutional right to privacy and little else. Meager social support for maternity and childraising...leave such women isolated in their privacy" (pp. 49 - 65).

One section of Professor Glendon's book is reminiscent of the final episode of "Seinfeld," where Jerry and friends are prosecuted for failing to come to someone's aid:

* "Our habitual silences concerning responsibilities are...apt to remain unnoticed....the authors of the leading treatise on torts categorically declare that one has no legal duty to come to the aid of another person in mortal danger....An Olympic swimmer out for a stroll walks by a swimming pool and sees an adorable toddler drowning in the shallow end. He could easily save her with no risk to himself, but instead he pulls up a chair & looks on as she perishes. When beginning law students learn that the despicable athlete was perfectly within his legal 'rights,' their reaction is generally one of surprise and disbelief....In a long line of decisions, bystanders have consistently been exempted from any duty to toss a rope to a drowning person, to warn the unsuspecting target of an impending assault, or to summon medical assistance for someone bleeding to death at the scene of an accident" (pp. 76 - 79).

Professor Glendon's preface could well have served as the conclusion:

* "A near aphasia concerning responsibilities makes it seem legitimate to accept the benefits of living in a democratic social welfare republic without assuming the corresponding personal and civic obligations....what is needed is not the abandonment, but the renewal, of our strong rights tradition....The prospects for such a project are not especially bright....the seedbeds of civic virtue (as many political theorists refer to families, religious communities, and other primary social groups) are not in peak condition" (pp. xi - xii)

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"The Clash of Orthodoxies" & the Moral Environment

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I particularly appreciated Professor George's presentation of societal concern for the moral environment: "people who suppose that prostitution, adultery, fornication, & the like are morally innocent are profoundly mistaken....Laws against intrinsic evils such as prostitution, pornography, drug abuse, & the like, as well as those regulating gambling & alcohol, are justified, in part, by a concern to protect the public environment" (pp. 101 - 108)

Pornography is far from victimless: "images such as those offered to readers of Swank tend to corrupt and deprave by doing precisely what they are designed to do, namely arousing sexual desire that is utterly unintegrated with the procreative and unitive goods that give the sexual congress of men and women, as husbands & wives, its value, meaning, & significance....pornography is degrading & dehumanizing for everyone, but I have no doubt that women and girls get the worst of it....Women...are more likely to be abandoned and left unsupported by their sexual partners. They are overwhelmingly more likely to be 'traded in' for younger and sleeker models, even by 'respectable' husbands. It would be very surprising if they were not more likely to suffer domination, exploitation, and abuse....Anyone who makes the stuff available...does an injustice....everybody has a stake in the moral ecology of the community that pornography degrades" (pp. 115 - 121).



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Advance Directives

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I particularly appreciated Professor May's treatment of Advance Directives. Pennsylvania's Catholic Bishops have bemoaned that, "Recent court decisions and the enactment of federal and state laws governing advance medical directives (living will or durable power of attorney) have given many the impression that anything the courts or the civil laws allow is morally acceptable" (Nutrition & Hydration: Moral Considerations, revised, 1999). Clearly, that is not the case.

As per a September 2002 address to the World Congress of Catholic Medical Associations, Dr. George Isajiw confirms that ethical abuse of advance directives is well under way - even in Catholic hospitals. Professor May cautions that a "living will" may well be "interpreted in a way not envisioned by its signer....it is not advisable to make use of a 'living will' as an advance directive regarding one's health care....The International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force has developed a very worthwhile document called the Protective Medical Decisions Document (PMDD). This is a durable power of attorney for health [care document]... specifically prohibiting suicide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. It is a document fully compatible with Catholic teaching."



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Sean Hannity and Father Tom Euteneuer

You will first want to read Father Tom's original article.




(You can enlarge my below email by clicking the image.)

Father Tom Euteneuer's mini (video) catechesis on contraception:
Does Contraception Really Prevent Abortion?
NFP is NOT Catholic Birth Control
The Myth of Overpopulation
Can Communion Be Denied to Those Who Dissent?

The Bridge - severing connections with the working class

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I confess to having enjoyed this book, but correctives are absolutely necessary....

In his Pulitzer prize winning "The Power Broker," Robert Caro (1974) inferred that mover/shaker Robert Moses needlessly destroyed homes to build highways. With all but the rich and powerful, Moses was able to easily bulldoze opposing positions and properties. Simultaneously, metropolitan NYC's mass transit infrastructure was seriously neglected.

Suggesting that he saw them as monuments to himself, Caro also maintained that Moses coveted bridges, while detesting tunnels. He detailed how Moses was able to politically sabotage the car/train tunnel between Brooklyn and Staten Island, which had been started before World War II.

Recalling the already existing Third Avenue route of the Gowanus Expressway, crossing the Narrows through railroad yards at 62nd Street (en route to similar railroad yards in St. George) would seem to have been far more logical route than cutting a swathe through Bay Ridge, en route to Fort Hamilton. While eliminating the need to destroy homes, however, the resultant bridge would have been in a far less dramatic spot, than the entrance to NY Harbor.

Gay Talese appears to share Moses' insensitivity toward working class victims. Looking back in the mid 1960s, he noted that although "the eight hundred buildings that stood in the path of the bridge's approachways had now all disappeared, many people had long memories and they still hated the bridge. Monsignor Edward J. Sweeney, whose parish at St. Ephrem's had lost two thousand of its twelve thousand parishioners, thus diminishing the Sunday collection considerably, still became enraged at the mere mention of the bridge" (p. 116). My aunt, uncle & cousins constituted 8 of Msgr. Sweeney's 2000 displaced parishioners. In that era, 2000 displaced parishioners meant 250 displaced single income families. With a free parish school that was still unable to accommodate all its children, Msgr. Sweeney's advocacy for his parishioners was absolutely not based on financial self-interest.

While Moses may have bulldozed opposition and homes, Talese's specialty seems to be bulldozing reputations.

In the interest of disclosure, I was one of the altar boys at Msgr. Sweeney's funeral, somewhere around 1970.



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"No" to funding of Planned Parenthood through "Family Planning Services"

Please click, to automatically send the below message to Pa. State Representative John Galloway and

Pa. State Senator Chuck McIlhinney :

"I do not wish my taxes to fund PLANNED PARENTHOOD THROUGH "FAMILY PLANNING" SERVICES. Public Monies should not be used to promote sexual promiscuity among our young. Rather these monies should be transferred to Maternal & Child Health Progams. The legislature should encourage our young to abstain from sex and practice the virtue of chastity until marriage."

Click for contact information on other Bucks County legislators.