“The Patch” Has Caused 17 Deaths in Two Years 
Most of us have seen the TV ads for “the Patch,” the Ortho Evra patch that delivers a dose of contraceptive hormones into a woman’s blood stream via the skin. It’s promoted as a great alternative to the birth control pill because it’s easier to remember and needs replacement only once a week.

The 9/21 edition of LifesiteNews.com reported on a New York Post story revealing that the contraceptive patch has been found responsible for 17 deaths in women 17 to 30 since its release in 2002. The Post used Freedom of Information laws to obtain records from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which also revealed 21 other “life-threatening” conditions such as blood clots, strokes and heart attacks.

“DO YOU WANT TO CHOOSE THE GENDER OF YOUR NEXT BABY?” 
That is the headline in a large ad on page 50 of the August 15th American Way magazine, a publication of American Airlines. The ad, promoting “The MicroSort® Gender-Selection Program at GIVF” (Genetics and IVF Institute), says “Since 1984, prospective parents have come from all over the world to GIVF in suburban Washington, DC. They choose this exclusive, scientifically-based, sperm sorting gender selection procedure, currently in an FDA clinical trial . . .” We were not aware that our tax dollars are being used to enable companies that advertise in American Way magazine to engage in and profit by the gender selection of little babies!

GIVF also advertises FREE MicroSort for qualifying patients who use Donor Egg or Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis at GIVF. So, if you want to use someone else’s egg or, if you want to find out if your embryonic baby has some sort of defect, and if you don’t like what you find, you can simply throw that one away and start over with another microscopic child and GIVF will select the gender free of charge!

If this doesn’t give you pause, nothing will.

Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics 
Catholic Answers (http://www.catholic.com) has published an excellent voters guide that briefly describes the role of Catholic voters and points out the five non-negotiable issues that should drive their voting decisions. The five non-negotiable issues are: Abortion; Euthanasia; Fetal and embryonic stem cell research; Human Cloning; and Homosexual “marriage.” The 10-page booklet offers brief sections on Which Political Offices Should I Worry About?; How to Determine A Candidate’s Position; How Not to Vote; How to Vote; When there is no “Acceptable” Candidate; and The Role of Your Conscience.

For information, contact the web site or write to Catholic Answers – P.O. Box 199000 – San Diego, CA 92159.

Harvard May Begin Cloning Experiments 
A team of scientists at Harvard is seeking clearance from the Harvard ethics committee “to try to start the cloning process with human cells,” writes Gina Kolata in a lengthy report on stem cells in the New York Times (8/24/04), with an aim of harvesting stem cells for experimentation.

“The federal government forbids the use of its money to pay for such research,” writes Ms Kolata, “but this lab, directed by Dr. Douglas A. Melton, a Harvard developmental biologist, takes no federal money.” “Instead,” she reports, “the work is paid for by the Howard Hughes Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the Naomi Berry Diabetes Center of Columbia University.” (Life Advocacy Briefing, 8/30/04)

This situation is a clear illustration of why the Bush administration policies are wrong-headed. It is not enough to prohibit taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research and cloning. What we need is a total ban on such practices. The ethics and morality of these matters is not determined by who pays for them.