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Daily Women's Health Policy Report
In Letter, Rep. Greenwood Asks FDA to Detail Oversight of Human Cloning
Portland Fire Department Adopts Policy Aimed at Safeguarding Pregnant Firefighters
Contraception & Family Planning
Vasectomy Patients Most Worried about Procedural Pain, Not Permanence
Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening Abortion Doctors Over Internet
Cloning Scientists Face Criticism at International Bioethics Conference
Religious Coalition Tells President Bush 'Mainstream Religious' People Back Stem Cell Research
National Politics & Policy
House Judiciary Subcommittee to Debate 'Unborn Victims of Violence' Bill This Week
[Mar 12, 2001]
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution will hold hearings Thursday on the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act" ( HR 503), legislation that would establish separate federal criminal penalties for those injuring or killing a fetus while committing "certain federal offenses" against pregnant women, the Albany Times-Union reports (Holland, Albany Times Union, 3/11). Under the bill, the government could charge individuals who commit violent crimes that "fall exclusively under federal and U.S. military jurisdiction" against a pregnant woman with a second offense on behalf of the fetus. "Protecting the unborn is not a new idea," Rep. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), the bill's chief sponsor, said, adding, "In fact, about half the states have statutes or judicial decisions that criminalize behavior that harms or kills the unborn" ( Graham release, 2/7). However, women's advocacy groups, including the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the National Women's Law Center, argue that the measure will hamper abortion rights by recognizing "a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus as a person." Allison Herwitt, NARAL's government relations director, said that supporters of the legislation "claim they want to protect women from violence, but what they are really seeking to do is erode the foundations of a woman's right to choose," adding, "This is the first step to embryo personhood. Once you establish an embryo, a zygote or a fetus as a person, you create a tension with the constitutional right to choose." According to Gerry Bradley, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, the bill would not violate the Constitution "because the Supreme Court has never ruled that the unborn are not people." He said, "So long as the woman's freedom to terminate her pregnancy is preserved, the federal government and the states as well are free to protect the unborn child against frustrated boyfriends who kick pregnant women in the stomach." Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), who introduced similar legislation in the Senate last week, said, "It's just plain wrong that our federal government does absolutely nothing to criminalize violent acts against unborn children. We cannot allow criminals to get away with murder" (Albany Times-Union, 3/11).
In Letter, Rep. Greenwood Asks FDA to Detail Oversight of Human Cloning
[Mar 12, 2001]
In a letter to the FDA last week, Rep. James Greenwood (R-Pa.) expressed his concerns over the "adequacy of federal oversight" of human cloning, Reuters Health reports. Greenwood, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, wrote, "The very fact that at this moment, the research is proceeding underground, unaccountable, poses a real threat." Greenwood also stated that besides posing safety concerns, relaxed federal oversight of human cloning could lead to "scams aimed at bereaved parents and infertile couples," as well as a "backlash" against "responsible science." Greenwood asked the FDA to "elaborate" on the "full extent of the agency's claimed legal authority," how it has exercised that authority and whether it perceives "gaps in statutory or regulatory authority" that could make human cloning a field "difficult to control." Greenwood also asked that the FDA report on "any human cloning research of which it is aware" and on any contact it has had with the scientists involved in the projects. The FDA has been asked to reply to the letter by March 19 (Fodor, Reuters Health, 3/9).
StateWatch
Portland Fire Department Adopts Policy Aimed at Safeguarding Pregnant Firefighters
[Mar 12, 2001]
The Portland, Ore., Fire Bureau last Wednesday introduced a policy that will allow pregnant firefighters to work under "safer conditions," the Portland Oregonian reports. Under the new "limited-duty" policy, the fire bureau will identify tasks for pregnant firefighters and then "match skills and tasks to the bureau's benefit." Fire Chief Ed Wilson said that the policy aims to assist women firefighters "too new to the bureau to have earned much sick leave." Fire Commissioner Jim Francesconi said that the new option "demonstrates the bureau's concern for the welfare of the women it has recruited." The limited-duty policy is separate from the city's family-leave policy. Portland Mayor Vera Katz applauded the new policy and said she would like to adopt a similar plan for the city's police department (Farrell, Portland Oregonian, 3/8).
Contraception & Family Planning
Vasectomy Patients Most Worried about Procedural Pain, Not Permanence
[Mar 12, 2001]
While most men seeking a vasectomy report little or no anxiety about the permanence of the procedure, pain associated with the procedure was "by far the leading worry" of the anxious few, according to an American Society for Reproductive Medicine survey published in the organization's March issue of Fertility and Sterility. Researchers profiled 74 patients seeking vasectomies in a urology clinic and found that while 85% were certain that the procedure was the correct choice for them, less than 33% were even moderately anxious about it. Of those reporting concern, 27% worried about the potential pain of the procedure, compared to only 5% who expressed concern about its "finality." Dr. Joel Marmar, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology, said, "This points out the importance of the office visit before the procedure. During that visit, physicians can reassure [patients] that for most patients, there is little or no pain involved." Vasectomy is the most common form of male contraception, used by 13% of U.S. and Canadian couples. Nearly 500,000 American men undergo vasectomy each year (ASRM release, 3/12).
Abortion News
Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening Abortion Doctors Over Internet
[Mar 12, 2001]
Nicholas Morency of Cape May County, N.J., pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph Irenas on Friday to a charge of "intimidating people providing reproductive health services" after he advertised a $1.5 million reward on the Internet for the murder of an abortion provider, the AP/Newark Star-Ledger reports (AP/Newark Star-Ledger, 3/10). In January 1999, Morency posted the reward and suggested the targeting of a Kansas physician with the initials "G.T." He posted a message to an Internet news group advertising his Web site to those who "respected money," and posted messages on the Planned Parenthood electronic bulletin board inviting viewers to his site. The National Abortion Federation reported the site to the Justice Department later that month, and the site was shut down within 24 hours of being reported. Morency, who also pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography, faces a maximum of six years in prison and a fine of $350,000 (January, Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/10).
Bioethics & Science
Cloning Scientists Face Criticism at International Bioethics Conference
[Mar 12, 2001]
During four "polemic-filled" hours in a scientific forum "punctuated by shouting matches" at a Rome university hospital on Friday, Dr. Severino Antinori, an Italian fertility specialist, Dr. Panayiotis Zavos, a former University of Kentucky physiologist, and Dr. Avi Ben-Abraham, an American-Israeli biotechnologist, told critics that "nothing can stop their plan to create cloned children," and that more than 600 infertile couples have already signed up for the procedure, the Los Angeles Times reports. The doctors, who publicly announced their project on Jan. 25, "spurned the idea of submitting to ethical or scientific oversight by any government" and said that science is "ready to move on to cloning humans," despite a high incidence of disease and deformities observed in cloned animals. Ben-Abraham said, "Some claim that we're moving too fast. They are right. We are moving as fast as we can think, as fast as we can imagine, (but) we are proceeding with the utmost responsibility." Cloning involves the extraction of an egg's DNA, the insertion into the egg of "DNA or even a whole cell from the adult being duplicated," and then the transfer of the fertilized egg to a female womb to be grown to term (Boudreaux, Los Angeles Times, 3/10). Human embryo cloning would be used mainly as a solution to male sterility when other methods have failed, the scientists said. According to Antinori, "Cloning may be the last frontier in our attempt to give these men the possibility to transmit their genes and become fathers." Essentially, the cloned children would be the genetic twins of their fathers (Delaney, Washington Post, 3/10). However, Antinori emphasized that the children cloned would be "unique individuals, not photocopies of individuals" (Israely, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/10). Since the project announcement six weeks ago, Zavos noted that the doctors have received "thousands and thousands" of emails from infertile couples all over the world who are hopeful that the experiment may work for them. The scientists say they would only work with couples who "cannot bear children by other means," and noted that they expect their project, financed with "unlimited" private funds, to produce a viable embryo for cloning within 18 to 24 months. 'Frankenstein' Doctors?
But the scientists' efforts have many critics. Bishop Elio Sgreccia, head of the John Paul II Institute for Bioethics in Rome, "assailed" the project saying, "Those who made the atomic bomb went ahead in spite of knowing about its terrible destruction. This doesn't mean it was the best choice for humanity" (Boudreaux, Los Angeles Times, 3/10). Milan archbishop Carlo Maria Martini added the scientific team should remember that "the dignity of man is the main thing. And person cannot be fabricated through technology." Giovanni Bianchi of the Italian Popular Party called the team "Frankenstein" doctors and said the conference was called with "one eye on a scoop and the other, obviously, on business" (BBC News, 3/10). He "urged" the Italian Parliament to ratify an international agreement banning human cloning, which is part of a protocol to the European Council's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Hughes, AP/BergenRecord, 3/11). The procedure is restricted or banned by many governments throughout the world. In the United States, the FDA has said that it would not allow human cloning "at this point" (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/10). The possibility that Israel could be the site of the first cloned baby prompted Israeli Health Ministry legal adviser Miriam Higher to say on Israel radio that a "law legislated a year and a half ago prohibits (cloning). The person who clones is guilty of a criminal offense" (AP/Nando Times, 3/11). Antiabortion groups also oppose cloning efforts. Jack Scarisbrick, national chair of the British antiabortion organization Life, said, "This is a momentous step to take and society should tremble before doing something so radical" (BBC News, 3/10). But Zavos and Antinori said their "long experience" with in vitro fertilization and other assisted pregnancy techniques would allow them to create clones without deformities. "We will use every test there is available, and if we have to invent new criteria to determine a healthy embryo, we will. We won't go ahead until we are sure we will have a healthy baby," Zavos said at the conference (Washington Post, 3/11).
Religious Coalition Tells President Bush 'Mainstream Religious' People Back Stem Cell Research
[Mar 12, 2001]
The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice last week sent a letter to President Bush advising that "mainstream religious individuals of diverse faiths" support research using stem cells and fetal tissue. In the letter, the coalition "affirmed the morality of using embryonic and fetal tissue with careful regulation, for vital research that may result in restoring health to those suffering serious illnesses for which there is no cure." The letter also stated, "Appropriate regulations," including those already in place, "must continue to ensure" that the decisions to donate tissue and to have an abortion remain separate. RCRC Board Co-Chair Donna Gary wrote, "Our religious teachings offer us guidance in dealing with ethical and moral realities never before envisioned. Although we differ in our faith affirmations, we agree that as people of faith we are called to be partners with God in healing and in the alleviation of human pain and suffering." The coalition asked Bush to work with faith groups, which the letter stated should educate their members about ethical issues in scientific research and promote "responsible public dialogue" and information-sharing (Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice release, 3/7).
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