pro life campaign ireland newsletter - birthright spring 2006

8/9/2019 Pro Life Campaign Ireland Newsletter - Birthright Spring 2006

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ClareO'Connel l , l s ie-May awk ins ndRachel y rnesal a recentPLC meetinq n Dublin

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ffilec*lorc*ourxtd*wnSSeg*msThe conduct f theGovernmentasbeenappall ingn a number f areasdirectlympacting n the right o l i fe.Lastyear , he Commission nAssistedHumanReproduct ion(CAHR) ecommendedestructiveresearch n living umanembryos.

Onlyone of its 25 members bjected!This lonebrings he entireprocessintodisrepute ndhighlightshe Government'sai lure o appoint nevenly a lanced ommission. hedecis ion f the F ianna a i l edOireachtas ommittee n Healthand Childreno renegeon holdingpublichearings n the Commission's eport hows urther ontemptforpubl ic p in ion.On EU unding f humanembryonicesearch,he Governmentsrefusingo oinsixothercountriesn opposinghe destructiveesearch.Givenour Constitution'srotectionor he unborn hi ld heGovernmentshould nstead ommit o making reland centre f excellenceorthe scientif ical lyromising nd ethically ncontroversialdultstemcell esearch.The ConfidentialnquiryntoMaternal nd ChildHealth UK) ecentlyrevealedhat up to 50 babiesa year n Britainare bornaliveafterabortions. ccordingo Professor tuartCampbell ome of theseabortions nd with babies ornbreathing nd crying t 19 weeks,gestation".t 'sanother hi l l ingeminder f the barbaric ature fBritish bortionaws.Yet, reland's tate undedCrisisPregnancyAgency CPA)promotes bortion s a positive ptiondespiteits remit o do the opposite.At present,he Governmentlearlyeelsno obligationo protect nbornhuman ife. n he months head, he Pro LifeCampaign i l lhold heGovernmento account or ts actions nd ensure he public s ful lyinformed n all recentdevelopments ffecting he right o life.


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Therehasbeenconsiderableublicity bout he potential f stemcell herapiesn curingchronic iseases nd disabil i t ies. uchof i t hasblurredhe distinctionetween estructivehumanembryonicesearch nd he perfectly thical seof adultstemcells.So far,al l he scientif icbreakthroughsre n the ieldof adultstemcell esearch et he campaignor public unds o allowresearchnvolvinghe ki l l ing f l iving umanembryos oeson unabated. he ol lowing uestionsand answerswil lhopeful ly elpclarify omeof the ssues nvolved.

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An embryo s theearl iestormof human ife. t is natural ly reatedwhenspermand egg meetanduni te . h is er t i l i sedvum, nown s a zygote,s he beginning,r pr imord ium,f a humanbeing. n 1978 he irstbabywas bornas a result f in vitro erti l isationlVF).This nvolvedbringing permand ovum ogethern the aboratorynd hen mplantingt into hemother's omb.

Stemcellsare unspecial isedells hatcontinuallyenew hemselveshrough elldivision.Theyare ound n humans t al l stages f l i fe, romembryonichrough o adulthoodas wellas in umbil ical ordbloodand olacentas.

Thereare wo different indsof stemcells:adultstemcells ASC)andembryonic temcells(ESC).Adultstemcellscan be found n the blood,bonemarrow, kin,brain, iver, ancreas,at,hair ol l icle, lacenta, mbil ical ordandamnioticluid.As wellas showing reatscientif ic romisein repairing amaged rgansand issues, dultstemcell esearchs ethical ly on-problematic.However, mbryonic temcell researchESCR) equireshe destructionf an embryo,which s a human eing t thebeginningf l i fe .

Embryonic temcellsoriginally ere houghto havean advantage ecause f their lexibi l i tyand capacityo generate ewcell ypes.However,heongoing esearch as revealed nwelcomeside-effects,angingrom umour ormationo immune ejection.'

Yes.The mainadvantages that heyarealready rogrammedor unctionn adult issuesand organs.Patients realready eing reatedwithASCs.Studies singASCs nclude iabetes,heartdisease, ickle el lanemia, cutemveloideukemia,multiple clerosis, arkinson'sdisease nd Crohn's isease.


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ASCshavealsosuccessful lyoughtbrain umours,retinoblastoma,ultiplemyeloma, varian,esticular,ndbreast ancers.More han30 anti-cancer ses or stemcellshavebeen estedon humans, nd manyarealreadyn routinetherapeutic se.Hudson nstitute eniorFellowMichael umento ssertsthe advantage f adultstemcells: *qxi:rv{*313ict*g':: +:ir.-:::+.=i:-.11:-=.++': ' i :r;* i : i i :* t '= i** * j* i ;*. f.de"r* *tti-gj : '1;-f"., i j . i t i i ' :E ,= * i:+*# r-:*i *9 i:t* i :-*i-*t ' ..Yir--rt! i- ' * i f:: ' : **i i=.= :': !'..,'.,.,',:i ir.J*' * tl ii] i i r: {.; Is i -t r** i }.: *.Several ecent tudies lsodocumenthe pluripotentlexibi l i tyof certain dultstemcells,provinghatsuchversati l i tyis notconfinedo embrvonic temcells." o

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Adultstem-cells re botheffective nd ethical. mbryonic tem-cells re obtained y ki l l inghumanembryos, ndareveryunstable.t 'sno secret hatmany argepharmaceuticalndbiotech ompanies re refusingo fundembryonicesearchhemselves iven tsveryuncertainpotential. onetheless,heyhavewagedan extremely uccessful ublic elations ampaignosecure axpayer-fundedesearch. his n partexplainshe mediahypepromoting estructiveembryonicesearch. et ,whether r no tpharmaceuticalompanies hoose o makeexaggeratedclaimsor blur mportant thical istinctions,ur Governmentasa responsibi l i tyot o floutthe empirical vidence. venmoreso, he Governmentas a duty o vindicatehe right o l i fe,particularlyt i ts most ragile eginnings. e mustnot destroy ife o prolongife.Ratherwemuststrive or cureswe can al l ivewith.For more nformationn issues elatedo stemcell, . ' ;Yy , r :p i i : i : f e . : ; A : f ; : . i r : " : c -

' B loomS. StemCel lDiv is ion. Cl in nves t 005:115j676-7I KrauseDS,TheiseND,Col lec torv l l , t al .Mul t i -organ,ul t i ineage

engraf tmenty a s ingle onemarrow er ived temcel l .Cel l2001105:369-77' YoonY-S.WeckerA,HeydL, et a l .Clonal ly xpanded ul t ipotenttem

cells rom humanbone marrow egeneratemyocardium ftermyocardialin farc t ion.Cl in nves t 005;1.15:326-38

' Mc GuckinCP,ForrazN, BaradezN-O.\et l. Production f stem cellswithembryonicharac ter is t i csro mhuman mbi l i ca lordblood.Cel lP olit 2005,38 245 255

research nd cloninq heck


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\P!blishedy hePIo ifeCampalgn.34Gardinerlreet pper, ublin.Te{: 1-8748090ax : 1'8748094Emaii:rol i le@indigo. ieWebse:ww.ploli lecampaign. ie

Honorary resident:esHanalinChairperson:rJoe ,lcoatrollDeputy hairperson:oraSherlockLegal dviser:rofessori l l iaminchyl\redical dviser: r Berry ielyLegalConsultantiaroline imonsSecretary:ohnO'RerllyEducatlonffrcer: eraldine artin RN

InJanuary, esultsof the mostdetailed ong-term tudyon the psychological fter-effects f abortionon womenwerepublishedn the highly egarded ournal f ChildPsychology nd Psychiatry.heNewZealand asedstudy evealedhatwomenwho haveabortions ignificantlyncreasehe riskof developing ental ealthproblemsn later i fe.Professor avidFergusson, ho conductedheresearch, aid he results urprised imbutwerestatistical lytrong.Another ecent tudycarried ut by researcherst OsloUniversityound hatwomenwho undergoinduced bortion uffermore ong-termmental istresshanwomenwho experience iscarriages.These ncreasinglyrequentindings n the negative ffects f abortion re urther roof hat hequickfix approach f pro-choice roupsdoes nothingo addresshe longtermsocialandpsychologicaleedsof women. t 's ime he CrisisPregnancy gencyandothers ookheedof the mostup-to-dateesearch.

Perhapsouarewillingodevoteome fyourree imeo indingewways fbringinghepro-life essageoyourcommunity?erhapsouarewillingomake smallinancialommitmentosecurehe mplementationf hePro ifeCampaignrogrammeverhenexthree ears? erhapsouhave our wn deas nhow ou anbest elphecampaign?egardlessfhow ouwisho help, leaseake he ime ocall s oday ndwewill end oumore etails.

PlgaSg fgmgg!' lbgf thg PLC ln yOUf Wil l providingor ouramiryir e hemostmporrantpartof yourWill. f youare hen na positiono eave omethingo a good ause,we hope ouwillconsiderhe ProLifeCampaign'sorkover heyears.Good auseselyon bequests s a source f ncome. igdonationsremarvellousut hesmallest if tmakes bigdifference.

Making a subscriptionl fyouwisho make financialontributiono hePro i{eCampaign,leaseill n he ouponnd elurnt o headdressistedelowthank ou!\.!ei"y:c: il, i'i i.'l ':: I iSuhscripti*r :_l1tj'J* [_] elCi: l- l t.r l* i_j 5C L..i;:si*rediiCarcj*tii:i: Pleaseebit yVisa MastercardExpiryDate: Signature:

pro life campaign ireland newsletter - birthright spring 2006

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