According to a lawsuit filed in New York City, doctors are being pressured to declare people brain dead so that their organs may be harvested for transplants.
The whistleblower lawsuit by Patrick McMahon, a former nurse practitioner, claims the non-profit New York Organ Donor Network hired coaches to train employees on how to be more persuasive to doctors and family members.
Rita Marker of the Patients Rights Council tells OneNewsNow the lawsuit is overdue.
"When you have someone who is truly dead, other parts of his or her body can certainly be used for transplant. But the operative word is 'truly' dead," she notes.
"There are so many different definitions of brain death -- you could be considered brain dead in one state, and across the state line, which could be a mile away, you could be considered not dead."
For example, when a person is still breathing on his or her own, that person is not dead.
"But they are stretching the limits of this now, and so there are people who are pushing, pushing, pushing," Marker declares. "And they justify it by saying, Well, this person's going to be dead really soon, anyway. Why can't they be helpful in saving someone else's life? -- that's the rationale. The point, however, is that they are not dead."
Marker poses a different scenario to illustrate her point: If a person's organs were not to be transplanted, and the person was still breathing, would the family agree to go ahead and have him or her buried or cremated while still alive? She believes "they would probably say no. They would be horrified, because the person is actually not dead."
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow.com
Conservatives are generally labeled with this accusation [of conducting a "war on women"] because of the pro-life stance with which the Republican Party aligns. But the pro-life position actually protects women's health against the negative effects of abortion.
The effects of abortion on women are well documented. According to research compiled by FRC in The Top Ten Myths About Abortion, medical complications "include cervical lacerations and injury, uterine perforations, bleeding, hemorrhage, serious infection, pain, and incomplete abortion." The abortifacient RU-486 carries risks similar to those of the abortion procedure.
Psychological complications of abortion include "increased risk of major depression, anxiety disorder, suicidal behaviors, and substance dependence." More recently, Post-Abortion Syndrome (as a subset of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) has been identified in women who suffer from effects like guilt feelings, anxiety, and flashbacks.
Of greatest concern, perhaps, are the dangers of abortion to adolescent girls. Sarah Robinson summarizes some of the research:
Adolescents who have had abortions, compared to those who have given birth, report more sleeping problems, frequent marijuana use, and increased need for psychological counseling.
MARRI research demonstrates the link between a woman's upbringing and her likelihood to abort her first child. An intact family structure and weekly religious worship in her family of origin make her least likely to have an abortion. These factors also make her least likely to have a non-marital pregnancy to begin with. Countering the negative effects of abortion in teenagers, which can extend into later life (especially in women who have multiple abortions), begins with restoring the role of the family and religion in the life of young women.
Contact: Sharon Barrett
Source: FRCBlog.com
A pro-life legal ministry is joining in the argument against ObamaCare.
Life Legal Defense Foundation has filed a brief in support of a lawsuit filed against the ObamaCare mandate to provide coverage for contraception, abortifacients and sterilization. Attorney Dana Cody tells OneNewsNow their brief was filed in the case lodged by Legatus and Weingartz Supply Company.
"And we're pointing out to the court that they're forcing employers to violate their religious beliefs to pay for drugs when there are serious health risks that are not being considered," she says.
There is research dating back several decades to review, and it has been examined extensively.
"I mean there are all sorts of complications on down the road and there's literature out there from the World Health Organization and others that call contraceptives carcinogens -- so why are we expected to fund that over our conscientious objections," Cody inquires.
Plus, the "morning-after" pill, Plan B, and the "week-after" pill, Ella, according to the attorney, can terminate a human embryo. So Cody contends people should not have to violate their religious beliefs because "a government agency says women need the drugs" -- and people should consider that when they vote for elected officials, she adds.
"We need to be sure that we're out voting for a candidate who doesn't endorse this sort of strong-arming of the taxpayers," she cautions.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow.com
Bible and Christian book publisher Tyndale House has filed suit against the Obama administration's abortion/contraceptive mandate, asserting it is an unconstitutional violation of religious liberty to force the publisher to pay for drugs that violate its faith tenets.
The mandate requires employers -- with few exceptions -- to carry employee health insurance plans that cover contraceptives and drugs that can cause chemical abortions. The latter drugs often are called "emergency contraceptives" and can act after conception, even after implantation. They come under brand names such as Plan B and ella.
Tyndale is the publisher of The Living Bible as well as books by James Dobson, Tim LaHaye, Bill Bright and Josh McDowell.
At least 30 lawsuits have been filed against the mandate.
Churches and religious conventions are exempt from the mandate, but many religious organizations are not. That means many Christian colleges, hospitals and ministries must comply with the mandate, even though they may staunchly oppose abortion and/or contraceptives. The Tyndale lawsuit, filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), says the publisher opposes only contraceptives that can cause abortions. Employers that fail to comply face hefty fines.
The mandate was implemented by the Department of Health and Human Services after President Obama signed the health care law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). The law itself does not include the mandate language, although it gives the federal government the power to decide what should and should not be covered under the law.
"This action arises because the federal government has deemed devout publishers of the Bible to be insufficiently 'religious' to enjoy religious freedom in America," the suit states. "The federal government is mandating that Tyndale House Publishers violate its and its owners' beliefs by covering morally objectionable items in their health plan pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010."
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, says Tyndale and its owners "are Christians who are committed to biblical principles," including the "belief that all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God from the moment of their conception/fertilization." Tyndale's owners believe the drugs "can cause the death of human beings created in the image and likeness of God shortly after their conception/fertilization."
Controversy over the mandate has made its way into the presidential race, with Mitt Romney running an ad referencing the issue, saying "religious freedom is threatened." His running mate, Paul Ryan, went so far as to say "I can guarantee" that the mandate "will be gone" if Romney is elected. Obama, meanwhile, has said the issue is not about religious freedom but about women's health.
The mandate went into effect Aug. 1, but HHS gave all non-profit religious organizations until August 2013 to comply. Tyndale, though, is a for-profit company and ineligible for the extension. Its employees' new insurance plan year began Oct. 1, meaning Tyndale is in need of immediate relief from the court, the suit states.
Tyndale -- which has 260 full-time employees -- functions as a thoroughly Christian organization, the suit states. For instance:
-- One of its corporate goals is to "honor God."
-- It holds a weekly chapel service for employees.
-- It opens business meetings with prayer.
-- It sends employees on mission projects to support Christian mission organizations, paid for by the company.
-- It contributes 10 percent of its profits each year to Christian organizations.
-- Its trustees must affirm a statement of faith that proclaims, for instance, "there is one God, eternally existent in three persons."
The HHS mandate provides an exemption for churches and church-like bodies provided they are non-profit and meet all four of the following criteria: 1) "The inculcation of religious values is the purpose of the organization"; 2) "The organization primarily employs persons who share the religious tenets of the organization"; 3) "The organization serves primarily persons who share the religious tenets of the organization"; and 4) The organization is a church, an integrated auxiliary of a church, a convention or association of churches, or is an exclusively religious activity of a religious order, under Internal Revenue Code 6033(a)(1) and (a)(3)(A)."
ADF attorney Matt Bowman said Bible publishers "should be free to do business according to the Book that they publish."
"To say that a Bible publisher is not religious is patently absurd. Tyndale House is a prime example of how ridiculous and arbitrary the Obama administration's mandate is," Bowman said. "Americans today clearly agree with America's founders: the federal government's bureaucrats are not qualified to decide what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out."
Contact: Michael Foust
Source: Baptist Press
A new study published in a respected medical journal questions why the World Health Organization (WHO) includes misoprostol as an "essential" medicine, saying it does a poor job of stopping hemorrhage after childbirth and is a possible abortifacient drug.
The Royal Society of Medicine published the study "Rethinking WHO guidance: review of evidence for misoprostol use in the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage" in August. The authors conclude, "Current evidence does not support misoprostol use in home and community settings in low- and middle- income countries" to prevent postpartum hemorrhage.
Misoprostol was originally designated for treating gastric ulcers, but has been used for off-label postpartum hemorrhaging and abortions in developing countries, explained Wendy Wright, vice president for government relations and communications at the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM).
In 2011, WHO designated the drug as an essential for people in developing countries where it is difficult to get prescriptions after heavy lobbying by abortion activists, Wright explained. That means it's more readily available over the counter in those countries — but women who take it to end their pregnancies could find themselves suffering from life-threatening complications.
But after the study's release, "the pro-abortion groups lambasted the researcher and the study's conclusion," Wright said.
Contact: Bethany Monk
Source: CitizenLink
This better not be true: A lawsuit filed in Manhattan accuses an organ collecting organization of pressuring doctors to declare dead and harvest. From the New York Post story:
The New York Organ Donor Network pressured hospital staffers to declare patients brain dead so their body parts could be harvested — and even hired “coaches” to train staffers how to be more persuasive, a bombshell lawsuit charged yesterday. The federally funded nonprofit used a “quota” system, and leaned heavily on the next of kin to sign consent forms when patients were not registered as organ donors, the suit charged. “They’re playing God,” said plaintiff Patrick McMahon, 50, an Air Force combat veteran and nurse practitioner who claims he was fired as a transplant coordinator after just four months for protesting the practice.
So often, as here, these important cases seem to involve a fired righteous whistle blower who may actually be a disgruntled fired employee making trouble.
But the mere filing of this lawsuit is a warning, that should get us thinking about preserving trust and integrity in organ transplant medicine: First, we need binding national standards for declaring death in organ donation cases that are followed universally in hospitals. We don’t have them. Second, there does seem to be a potential to treat some patients as organ farms if the case is seen as hopeless. This utilitarianism needs to be resisted at all quarters. Third, trust in the integrity of the medical system is waning–and with the pressure to cut costs in healthcare growing stronger, it will weaken further–which is why we can never accept a “presumed consent” system of organ donation. Finally, the quality of life ethic poisons all it touches. People who believe–rightly or wrongly–that their loved ones were abandoned for their kidneys and livers will refuse consent.
If we want a thriving organ transplant medical sector, it is up to doctors, hospitals, and the procuring organizations to hold the line, to walk the extra mile to earn and maintain the trust of the people. Allegations such as this need to be seriously investigated, and if true, lanced with the antiseptic of transparency.
Contact: Wesley J. Smith;
Source: Secondhand Smoke
A new development has surfaced for the use of adult stem cells for babies. The information stems from research from the University of Maryland Medical School.
The researchers found that even newborn babies already have adult type stem cells in their hearts. Dr. David Prentice of the Family Research Council tells OneNewsNow that during heart repair surgery, doctors removed snippets of tissue.
"They grew these cells in the lab and found they grew really well," Prentice says. "They were an adult-type stem cell that shows a lot of promise to be able to put in and repair heart damage, like from a birth defect or some other heart disease that the little baby is born with, or to grow new heart valves and so on."
He suggests it is not too farfetched to believe that at some point in the future those repairs could begin to take place shortly after birth. Prentice indicates there is also the possibility the stem cells could be obtained while the baby is still in the uterus.
"Keep in mind that they're all over your body, even at that point in your life while you're still in the womb," he explains. "They're in the amniotic fluid, they're in the umbilical cord blood -- and with just a few of those cells you could grow and make a heart valve or make new heart tissue, injecting it back in even while you're still in the womb."
Prentice stresses that while there is much more research to be done, the hope is that it will open up a whole new avenue of treatment before an infant comes into the world.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow.com
Pro-Life Nation announces that AbortionDocs.org has surpassed 3,000 document-uploads that reveal a systemic pattern abuse throughout the abortion industry.
"The more than 3,000 documents now online are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exposing the health care crisis that exists in the abortion cartel today," said Troy Newman, President of Pro-Life Nation. "We have really just begun to document abortion abuses that are occurring every day at abortion clinics that the public mistakenly thinks are providing safe abortions."
AbortionDocs.org is an outreach of Pro-Life Nation. It is a searchable database that lists every surgical abortion and medication abortion clinic as well as every known abortionist in the country. Each clinic and abortionist has a profile page with links to documents that include license applications, law suits, disciplinary action, criminal background, 911 recordings, autopsy reports, and more.
In 1991, there were over 2,176 surgical abortion clinics in America. Today there are 660, showing the effectiveness of pro-life efforts over the years.
"AbortionDocs.org is the nation's abortion scorecard. There we can see at a glance the number of abortion clinics dropping as clinics continue to close," said Newman.
Most recently Summit Women's Center in Hartford, Connecticut, permanently closed while the Women's Aid abortion clinic relocated from Lincolnwood, IL to Chicago and stopped providing surgical abortions.
AbortionDocs.org is updated daily and contains the most accurate listing of abortion providers and documentation available. AbortionDocs.org encourages those who have documentation of abortion abuses, such as ambulance photos, court documents, and video clips to submit those documents to AbortionDocs.org for publication.
Contact: Troy Newman, Cheryl Sullenger
Source: Operation Rescue/Pro-Life Nation
Minor children on their parents’ health care plans will have free coverage of sterilization and contraception, including abortion-causing drugs, under the controversial HHS mandate – and depending on the state, they can obtain access without parental consent.
Matt Bowman, senior counsel for the religious liberty legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, said the mandate “tramples parental rights” because it requires them to “pay for and sponsor coverage of abortifacients, sterilization, contraception and education in favor of the same for their own children.”
The Department of Health and Human Services ruled in January 2012 that most employers who have 50 or more employees must provide the coverage as “preventive care” for “all women with reproductive capacity.”
The mandate also requires the coverage for beneficiaries, including minors, on the affected health plans, Bowman told CNA Sept. 20. That means that a minor on her parents’ plan could be sterilized if she finds a doctor willing to perform the procedure.
“She can be sterilized at no cost,” Bowman stated. “Whether her parents will know and/or consent might differ by state. But the Guttmacher Institute and other abortion advocates explicitly advocated for this mandated coverage of minors so that access without parental involvement might be able to increase.”
The Guttmacher Institute, in a Sept. 1 briefing on state policies, said that an increase in minors’ access to reproductive health care over the last 30 years shows a broader recognition that “while parental involvement in minors’ health care decisions is desirable, many minors will not avail themselves of important services if they are forced to involve their parents.”
The institute, the former research arm of abortion provider Planned Parenthood, said that 26 states and the District of Columbia allow all minors 12 years and older to consent to contraceptive services. At least one state, Oregon, allows 15-year-olds to consent to sterilization.
CNA repeatedly contacted the Department of Health and Human Services for comment but did not receive a response.
Employers who do not comply with the mandate face fines of $100 per employee per day. Large employers like the University of Notre Dame could face annual fines in the millions.
There are presently 30 lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate in federal court on religious freedom grounds. The 80 plaintiffs include Catholic dioceses, universities, health care systems and charities.
The mandate’s narrow religious exemption would not apply to many Catholic institutions, despite Catholics’ moral and religious objections to the covered procedures and drugs. Several Protestant institutions have also challenged the law, citing objections to abortion-causing drugs.
The Obama administration has said it will accommodate some religious objections, though the details of those arrangements remain unclear.
Bowman rejected the idea that the Obama administration’s proposed accommodations will affect the coverage of minors.
“The accommodation does not even claim it will change this part of the mandate,” he said.
Legislation to allow all employers with religious or moral objections to opt out of the coverage failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year.
Defenders of the Obama administration have depicted resistance to the mandate as a “war on women.”
At the same time, a grassroots campaign called The Women Speak for Themselves has garnered the support of 34,000 women. The group says those backing the mandate are trying to “shout down anyone who disagrees” with them by invoking “women’s health,” while ignoring the negative physical and social effects of contraception for women.
Source: CNA/EWTN News
