- Newsletter -

But God raised Him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its power - Acts 2:24 

Dear Friends,
May you and those you love experience all the joy of the Resurrection this Easter Season. This is what keeps us going – our knowledge that Jesus has already conquered death and sin. Our part is to bring this reality to those around us wherever we find ourselves. 

Day of the Unborn Child This year the Feast of the Annunciation is transferred to April 4th, because March 25th is Good Friday and so takes precedence. In the Cathedral Parish we will be praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, followed at 12noon by the Angelus, then Holy Mass. Then we’ll lunch together at the home of the Martellos. We hope that as many people as possible will celebrate with us this great day for the Pro-life movement. What are you doing to celebrate this great day when Jesus came into our world? Is your parish doing something special?  

Organ Donation  Recently I read that, from April, our Federal Government and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia will be writing co-jointly to every Australian household in an attempt to encourage more adult Australians to register to become organ donors.  

The latest advertising brochure, “Sign on to Save Lives”, is hardly what one could call balanced. While providing a spot to tick “NO”, it is biased towards you signing your organs away without giving you all the information you would need in order to make an informed choice. For example, on page 6 the question “When can organ donation and tissue donation occur?” is answered “Organ donation can only occur after death…..” This statement is patently untrue. It is a fact that, when the doctor opens the chest cavity of the donor, the heart is beating and the doctor must stop the heart beating before he removes it.

The concept of organ transplantation is a noble one, but as the campaign to promote organ donation grows in intensity it is imperative to look closely at the facts. While patients are declared “brain dead”, and their organs are removed while vital bodily functions continue, serious questions and concerns arise. Is the donor really dead? “Brain death” was unheard of till 1968, the year following the world’s first heart transplant. Is this only co-incidence?

Check out http://www.all.org/issues/ or phone, write or email for further references/documents. 

Don’t Forget our Novena: April 22nd to 30th (see page 4) Also the Divine Mercy Novena from Good Friday to Divine Mercy Sunday (April 3) 

May God richly reward you for all the prayers and sacrifices in the cause of Life, 

Angela 

 HAVE YOUR SAY!

Kathy Willett Redle, Cleveland, Ohio

Dear Angela, I read over your newsletter and I thought it was very good. It would certainly convince me of the need to express my sorrow and do penance if I had had an abortion to disclose it. You are right on target that prayer must be the basis of the pro life work- prayer even in the face of defeat. Our weakness and defeat is a victory in God's kingdom at the end of time, when our pro-life works of prayer, supplication, acts of reparation will be vindicated. And it looks like Australia has many opportunities for prayer for the unborn. You are doing a great work for the Church. If more people did this abortion would end. God bless you. Kathy
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Laure Kelly, Tumbarumba

Dear Angela,
Thank you for the AFL newsletter, and the article about the abortion debate. Isn't it great that it is heating up again? I know it has a long way to go, however. God Bless. Laure
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Jill and Barrie Bishton, Pregnancy Help Midcoast Kempsey 

Ian Causley is certainly splitting hairs when he is talking about abortions being ok up till when the heart starts beating. It certainly should be discussed so that women have all the facts about abortion before they opt to have one. Many women who come back to us (at Pregnancy Help Midcoast) after some years tell us that no one told them the truth. I wonder if Ian Causley has read the book "Giving Sorrow Words" by Melinda Tankard Reist. I'm sure that would make him think again.  

Each Sunday about 8.30am before 9am Mass at All Saints, Kempsey, a Rosary is said for the Unborn and for the right to Life of the elderly and sick, in other words against the push to Euthanasia. Barrie and I always say that prayer of Spiritual Adoption of an Unborn Child, and now all our children do too. It’s become a family tradition and we have children in Bathurst, Barraba, Newcastle, Morpeth and Wauchope.  Mum always said that was how we were able to save so many babies. Many years ago at Wauchope I told a lady, who has now gone to her heavenly reward, and she used to say it twice a day - once in the morning for a girl and once in the evening for a boy whom she had spiritually adopted. I imagine that she is with them now. She was a saintly woman. I would like to get some copies of that leaflet to distribute. I am very happy to promote it further and I'm sure the Rosary group would too. 

The "Choices Decisions Outcomes" (CDO) program started at St. Joseph's Regional High School Port Macquarie with Years 8 and 9. These classes will continue till after Easter each Monday and some Wednesdays. It was very well received and is sponsored by the Pregnancy Help Midcoast. We will be commencing the CDO program at St Paul’s High School Kempsey in May. Some of the presenters of CDO are also counsellors on the

Australian Federation of Pregnancy Support Services Inc.  
National Help Line 1300 139 313 

Keep up the good work and the prayers especially for the Holy Father who is suffering, helping Jesus to carry His cross, at the moment. Love and prayers, Jill and Barrie
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Recently I had a phone-call from a friend who wanted to know if I knew anything about NaproTechnology. Her friend has lost four babies through miscarriage and was being urged to use IVF. This she refused because of her Catholic Faith. Through the internet I was able to track down the information her friend needed. This is indeed good news. Here are some excepts from

http://fertilitycare.com.au/
 

FertilityCare combines natural fertility awareness with a medical treatment program (NaPro-Technology) to help people reach full procreative health. This can be used successfully by:

• Married couples having difficulties achieving a pregnancy
• Married couples who have experienced miscarriages or ectopic pregnancy
• Women wishing to care for their own gynaecological health, including those with problems such as PMS, irregular cycles, polycystic ovarian syndrome, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, postnatal depression and other conditions.
• Couples wanting to learn about their fertility and plan their families

The first centre for FertilityCare and NaProTechnology in Australia was established in Perth in 2002. Now two doctors in Sydney have recently started practicing NaproTechnology.

Treatment to achieve a pregnancy is offered to married couples in order to safeguard the best interests of the child. The program is based on Catholic ethics, and is therefore not offensive to those who may have moral reservations about other forms of fertility treatment.

A FertilityCare and NaProTechnology program follows a simple series of steps according to your individual needs.
1. Education
Using the Creighton Model FertilityCare System, women are taught to observe certain biological signs to monitor their own gynaecological health, and to confidently identify times of fertility and infertility.
2. Evaluation
A FertilityCare Medical Consultant can use these observations as the basis for further investigations if needed. Blood tests, ultrasound examinations and other diagnostic procedures can be timed according to the woman’s cycle to closely evaluate any problems. For a couple experiencing infertility, evaluation of the man’s health is clearly also an important part of the program.
3. Treatment
The use of NaProTechnology enables a FertilityCare physician to offer you individualised treatment for your specific needs. A women’s health treatment program aims to restore full procreative health, while encouraging the couple to understand and participate in the process. An infertility treatment program is aimed at maximising the chances of conceiving naturally while on treatment, maintaining the pregnancy to full term, and helping you to care for your fertility in the long term.

Treatment plans can include: the use of natural hormones and other medications to correct any hormonal/ovulatory disturbances, surgery to correct any physical problems (eg blocked fallopian tubes, endometriosis, and adhesions), medical and/or surgical treatment for male infertility; other techniques using NaProTechnology  

In line with the FertilityCare approach to respecting the entire person, careful attention is paid to the emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of your health. The influences of lifestyle and other factors on your fertility are also discussed. While time is devoted to these topics during the extensive medical consultations, informative workshops and individual counselling are available. 

“When the procreative systems are working properly, NaProTechnology works cooperatively with them. When these mechanisms are functioning abnormally, NaProTechnology cooperates with the procreative mechanisms in producing a form of treatment which corrects the condition, maintains the human ecology and sustains the procreative potential.” www.creightonmodel.com

NaProTechnology allows for the accurate monitoring of a woman’s reproductive and gynecologic health. It can be used in many different situations, including: infertility, including male fertility difficulties; miscarriages; ectopic pregnancies; polycystic ovarian syndrome; endometriosis; premenstrual syndrome, ovarian cysts etc.

With the introduction of the new reproductive science of NaProTechnology, women and their physicians are taking a whole new look at education in the natural procreative system as they are able to incorporate it completely and thoroughly into their medical evaluation and treatment. This system has become the foundation for evaluating, treating and protecting a woman's health.

TERRISCHIAVO
PopulationResearchInstitute
Weekly Briefing - 15 March 2005

Congress Ponders Terri Schiavo's Fate
By Joseph A. D'Agostino

It's an odd world in which a disabled Florida woman can be killed by a method outlawed as too cruel for animals, and in which she is not covered by the habeas corpus protections granted to murderers. When it comes to federal legal protection, Terri Schiavo ranks below Ted Bundy, and when it comes to protection from suffering, she ranks below an unwanted pet.

"When is that b---- going to die?" Terri's husband, Michael, once asked a nurse. He was wrong: Terri is no b----, not only because she is a human person, but also because a female dog has more rights under Florida law-rights he will not allow Terri. Dogs in Florida cannot be legally dehydrated and starved to death, as Terri will be if Congress does not act. Meanwhile, Michael lives with a woman he calls his fiancé, who has borne him two children since Terri's collapse in 1990 - but he refuses to divorce Terri. His legal bills in his fight to murder his wife with state permission have been paid by the $1 million that an insurance company paid to provide Terri with rehabilitation, therapy that Michael prevented from taking place. He melted down Terri's wedding and engagement rings to make a ring for himself. He even had Terri's cats put down, presumably by a method more humane than the one he intends to use on his better half. Terri's parents the Schindlers have offered to take care of Terri, but Michael has refused. They made the same offer about the cats, but that didn't work, either.

Terri is scheduled to be executed by dehydration and starvation beginning March 18, when her feeding tube is to be disconnected. That tube is the closest thing to life support that Terri is on. She cannot swallow, but she is not in a vegetative state, can recognize her family, and responds to stimuli. She tries to talk.

Two federal legislators have introduced the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act in the House and Senate, respectively. The proposed law would extend federal habeas corpus protection to severely disabled people and enable federal courts to determine if they are being put to death illegally. Habeas corpus is often used by death row inmates, but does not apply to innocents such as Terri because they are not under arrest. Thus, federal courts have refused to determine if Terri's right to life is being violated by state court Judge George Greer, who has ordered her execution at the request of Terri's husband. If Terri is murdered, her case will be another step forward for the culture of death. Killing a conscious disabled person not on life support will receive official government sanction.

Kate Adamson experienced an attempt to kill her by the same method, but fortunately woke up from her coma before it was too late. She told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly in 2003, "When the feeding tube was turned off for eight days, I thought I was going insane. I was screaming out in my mind, 'Don't you know I need to eat?' And even up until that point, I had been having a bagful of Ensure as my nourishment that was going through the feeding tube. At that point, it sounded pretty good. I just wanted something. The fact that I had nothing, the hunger pains overrode every thought I had."

Wesley J. Smith wrote in an article posted on the Weekly Standard website Nov. 12, 2003 that the practice is not uncommon: "Beyond the Terri Schiavo case, it is undisputed that conscious cognitively disabled patients are dehydrated in nursing homes and hospitals throughout the country almost as a matter of routine. Dr. Ronald Cranford, for example, openly admitted in his Wendland testimony that he removes feeding tubes from conscious patients. Thus, many other people may also have experienced the agony described by Adamson and worse, given that dehydrating to death goes on for about a week longer than she experienced."
 

I was drug out to pull weeds in Mum’s garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of Dad's fields.
I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins; and they affect my behaviour in everything I do, say, and think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and, if today's children had this kind of drug problem, Australia would be a better place.