Sunday, February 23, 2014

"for every successful ART birth, seven babies are destroyed"

An article by Kirsten Andresen caught my eye:
"According to a new report by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, about 1.7 percent of all babies born in the U.S. in 2012 were conceived in laboratories.  However, the overwhelming majority of babies conceived that way did not make it to birth.  A record-breaking total of 61,470 test-tube babies were successfully born in 2012, out of 165,172 who were conceived and placed inside a womb.  Those numbers do not include embryos who were created and frozen for future use, died during the thawing process, or were destroyed for eugenic reasons.  About 99 percent of the successfully born infants were implanted via in vitro fertilization (IVF)....

"Of those test-tube babies who doctors attempted to implant, only 37 percent survived....Karen Hemingway, executive director of FertilityCare, a Toronto clinic that specializes in ethical, natural alternatives to IVF and other procedures, told LifeSiteNews that parents considering ART need to think about the costs – not just financially, but in terms of lives lost....Hemingway told LifeSiteNews that according to the latest statistics she’s read, for every successful ART birth, seven babies are destroyed" [emphasis added] (Test-tube baby birthrate reached an all-time high in 2012, LifeSiteNews, 2/20/14).

In 2011 (the most current year available from the Pa Dept of Health), there was a total of 50,231 births in Bucks (5,758), Chester (5,578), Delaware (6,774), Montgomery (9,038), and Philadelphia (23,083) Counties.  Applying the 1.7% rate (Yes, I realize that demographers would have a field day with that being an absolutely inadequate technique) would lead to a guess of 854 IVF births in the 5 counties of the archdiocese in 2011.  For those 854 successful ART births, It's likely that almost 6000 babies were destroyed

In our area, Reproductive Medicine Associates of Philadelphia continues to be a "leading" name in IVF.  On the web site of Holy Redeemer, RMA's Drs Arthur Castelbaum, Martin Freedman, Benjamin Gocial, and Jacqueline Gutmann continue to be advertised as "Reproductive Endocrinologists and Obstetricians."
I do not understand why the Archdiocese of Philadelphia continues to allow this situation to exist, nor why the Philadlephia-based National Catholic Bioethics Center says nothing publicly.


Saturday, February 15, 2014

308 million - NOT 57 million!

Dear Father Hennelly, Msgr. Duncan, Father Lonergan, and Father Davis,

Reviewing lists maintained by One More Soul and Pharmacists for Life International, I can only find a handful of pharmacies - across the country - which do NOT sell contraceptives, including so-called "contraceptives" that can act as abortifacients.   Such poisons appear to be as routine at pharmacies, as coffee is at convenience stores. 

The St Clare Pharmacy is the only Bucks County pharmacy believed to NOT sell abortifacients and contraceptives.  So, it is disheartening to see that providers of contraceptives/abortifacients continue to be advertised in your parish bulletins:

Fathers and Monsignor - you certainly would not permit ads for Planned Parenthood, which is thought to be the nation's "leading" provider of abortions.  While estimates of U.S. abortions since 1973 frequently hover around 57 million (cf, www.numberofabortions.com/), Pharmacists for Life International indicates a more accurate estimate to be 308 million (when chemical and mechanical means are properly counted).  Is permitting an ad from a pharnacy provider of contraceptives and abortifacients that different from a Planned Parenthood ad? 

It is my belief that the inclusion of such ads contributes to the well documented Catholic confusion about the sinfulness of contraceptives/abortifacients, as well as the failure to appreciate the draconian nature of the HHS mandate.



Sincerely,

The Beatitudes from "Jesus of Nazareth"

 

Use of Emergency So-Called Contraceptives in Catholic Hospitals for Those Reporting Rape

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