NEWS SHORTS FOR WEDNESDAY

Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of The Illinois Federation for Right to Life. They are presented only for your information.

CNN's Roe v. Wade Poll -- Please Hire a New Research Team

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, commented on the CNN Poll released Monday by saying, "I am astonished that CNN could not do a better job in accurately portraying what Roe v. Wade says and doesn't say.  Please hire a new legal team and a new research team before you ask the public another question about abortion."

The constitutional right found in Roe was not a right to abortion per se. Furthermore, Roe allowed abortion through all nine months, and if the public is going to be asked its opinion on Roe, they should be informed of that.
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Adult Stem Cells Target Tumor Destruction

Scientists at University College-London report that they have engineered adult stem cells to seek out and destroy cancer cells in mice. Mesenchymal stem cells, a type of adult stem cell found in bone marrow and connective tissue, have been shown to be good vectors to carry factors to different parts of the body, as well as seek out cancer cells throughout the body. The research team, led by Dr. Michael Loebinger, altered these adult stem cells to express the cancer-killing protein TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand), which causes the death only of cancer cells. In the lab, the cells were able to find and kill cells from lung, squamous, breast, and cervical cancer. They also injected the cells into mice with breast tumors and showed they were able to safely kill the tumors but leave healthy tissue intact. Results were presented at the American Thoracic Society's 105th International Conference in San Diego.
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Adult Stem Cells Improve Chronic Heart Patients

Doctors from the Netherlands report in the Journal of the American Medical Association that bone marrow adult stem cells injected into the hearts of patients with chronic heart disease can improve heart function and patient health. Fifty patients, average age 64, who had chronic myocardial ischemia–decreased oxygen to the heart, often due to blocked arteries–were tested in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The results were assessed at 3 months and 6 months after injections of the adult stem cells. Patients who received the adult stem cell injections had improved blood flow, reduced pain, and were able to exercise more.
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Inquiries about adoption, abortion on rise

A Gallup Organization survey indicated 10 percent of married women are putting off pregnancy due to the current economy.

USA Today reported Joan Jaeger of The Cradle, a Chicago adoption agency, said 30 percent more women with unplanned pregnancies than a year ago seek information about adoption services.

Financial considerations have caused more abortion inquiries. Vicki Saporta of the National Abortion Federation, an abortion-provider advocacy organization, indicated her group's hotline activity has almost tripled within the past year. Many calls are from women in families experiencing job loss.

"The economy has made them take a second look at adoption," says Scott Mars of American Adoptions...
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Next Archbishop of St. Louis: No Communion for Pro-Abort Politicians

As he prepares to take the helm of the St. Louis diocese, a position formerly held by Archbishop Raymond Burke before he was transferred to the Vatican, Archbishop-elect Robert Carlson has said he agrees with his predecessor's take on Church law, specifically that pro-abortion Catholic politicians must be denied Communion if they refuse to repent.

The St. Louis Dispatch Sunday interviewed Carlson, the current bishop of Saginaw, MI, who will be installed as St. Louis' archbishop June 10. They asked: "Do you believe Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, and who persist in doing so even after consultation with their bishop, should be denied the Eucharist if they approach to receive it?"

Carlson answered: "If I were to enter into dialogue with somebody, and after they reflect on the discussion and that person persisted, it could come to that point."
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