Free Republic

A study released last week by the British Medical Journal's subsidiary, the Journal of Medical Ethics, seemed more designed for attacking the Catholic Church than for scientific rigour.  If that was the goal of L. Bovens' "The rhythm method and embryonic death", then the mainstream media fell for the ploy head-over-heels.  "How Vatican roulette kills embryos," screamed Australia's Sydney Morning Herald; "Rhythm method linked to massive embryonic death," was the headline of India's New Kerala, and Canada's Vancouver Sun styled it "'Rhythm' method a killer of embryos."Physicians and medical ethicists, however, have responded to the journal noting that the study...

MADISON, WI (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. acted appropriately by firing a Catholic pharmacist who refused to interact with patients seeking birth control prescriptions, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge John Shabaz dismissed a lawsuit brought by Neil Noesen, who claimed he was fired last summer at a Wal-Mart store in Onalaska, WI out of religious discrimination. The lawsuit also named Medical Staffing Network, a staffing agency that placed Noesen at the store as a temporary pharmacist. Shabaz said Wal-Mart and Medical Staffing Network accommodated Noesen's religious opposition to contraception by having other pharmacists fill prescriptions. But he...

The Growing Contra-Contraception Movement: Organic sex is "in" The controversy surrounding emergency contraception has inadvertently put the spotlight on other forms of contraception. A fledgling movement, known as the contracontraception movement, is gaining momentum in light of this debate. Unfortunately, this movement has been mischaracterized by the media. Articles like "Contra-Contraception" by Russel Shorto and "The Battle to Ban Birth Control by Priya Jain chalk up this effort as some sort of religious movement. These articles simply avoided the non-religious issues or distort the facts. "Contra-Contraception" avoided many important points regarding the harms of artificial birth control on marriage, society...

MICHIGAN, United States, May 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Demonstrating again the dangers of artificial procreation, doctors reported last week on the case of five children fathered by the same sperm donor have inherited a rare and often fatal disease from him. The rare disease naturally affects only about one child in five million, said Dr. Lawrence A. Boxer, director of paediatric haematology and oncology at the University of Michigan, who discovered the cases. When four families with affected children came to him in one year, "it became pretty striking," he told the AP. The families had seven children, including...