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NRL News
Pro-Life
News in Brief Adult Stem Cells Treat Heart Disease A small Australian trial using patients’ own stem cells to treat heart disease has been termed a success, with all six patients showing “significant” improvement after six months without side effects, according to the Australian Daily Telegraph. Researchers at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, New South Wales, used a technique developed by the Melbourne biotech company Mesoblast to draw stem cells from the patients’ bone marrow, culture them for about eight weeks, and then re-inject the cells into the patients’ heart muscle, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Dr. Suku Thambar, the study’s principal investigator, said that the results were extremely positive. The six patients previously had heart attacks or angina. After the patients received the cells in March, Thambar told the Morning Herald, “all of the patients had heart muscle recovery, four of the six had reduced heart failure, three showed significant improvement in their heart function and five had less chest pain and needed less medication.” The special bone marrow cells used in the trial, called mesenchymal precursor, can transform into other types of cells and rebuild damaged hearts. “They turn into blood vessel cells, they also secrete a variety of growth factors which have the ability to stimulate new blood vessel growth,” Thambar told the West Australian. “If you improve the blood supply to the heart then it improves heart function and also it can salvage existing heart muscles which are at risk of degenerating more.” The researchers next plan a larger trial, using mesenchymal precursor cells obtained from donors rather than the patients themselves. The cells are drawn without any harm to the donor, and could help patients who would normally be too sick or elderly to use their own cells. “The bone marrow in older people is not the best, and they are usually the ones who require the coronary care, so we are very much looking forward to a trial which uses cells from healthy donors,” Thambar told the Morning Herald. If the technique proves to be safe and effective, the researchers hope that one day it could be used as an immediate heart disease treatment. “People who have a big heart attack would be able to have stem cells injected into the damaged area a few days later,” Thambar told the Daily Telegraph. Embryonic Stem Cell Research Endorsed by Illinois Legislature Although Gov. Rod Blagojevich brought publicly funded embryonic stem cell research to Illinois through a July 2005 executive order, the state’s legislature refused to support such destructive research until this year. Blagojevich signed the “Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning Prohibition Act” August 28, establishing an institute that will distribute state funds to researchers using embryonic stem cells, according to the Chicago Tribune. The state Senate passed the bill February 23 by 35–23, and the House followed suit May 31 on a 70–44–2 vote. The bill permits research “involving the derivation and use of human embryonic stem cells, human embryonic germ cells, and human adult stem cells from any source, including somatic cell nuclear transplantation.” As pro-lifers know, “somatic cell nuclear transplantation” actually means human cloning. But the bill purports to ban such cloning, using familiar phrases that actually allow far more than they prohibit. It bans the creation of a human embryo only “for the purpose of initiating a pregnancy that could result in the creation of a human fetus or the birth of a human being.” Therefore, creating an embryo and destroying it before a pregnancy is begun is perfectly legal. As he signed the bill, Blagojevich made extremely optimistic claims for embryo-destructive research. “Stem cell research has limitless potential to help cure devastating diseases, from Parkinson’s to diabetes, and even many forms of cancer,” Blagojevich said in a news release. “Since the federal government continues to stall the medical advancements that will come with stem cell research, it is up to Illinois to take action.” Blagojevich was referring to the two vetoes given by President George W. Bush to attempts by the U.S. Congress to establish federal embryonic stem cell research funding. According to Bush as he vetoed the second bill June 20, “Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical and it is not the only option before us.” In Illinois, however, the legislature has endorsed the continuation of the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute, which was funded by a $15 million allocation by Blagojevich in 2005. Although the law includes no appropriations, legislators said they plan to pass bills giving millions of dollars in grant money to the institute within the next few months, according to the Tribune. Embryos May Be Destroyed as Texas Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Case Three frozen embryos, the focus of a custody battle between two divorced parents, may be destroyed according to their father’s wishes. The Texas Supreme Court refused August 24 to hear an appeal by the embryos’ mother, who wants to try to bring the babies to term. Augusta Roman was one day away from having fertilized embryos implanted in her uterus in April 2002 when her husband, Randy, had second thoughts about their marriage and their plans for a baby, according to the Associated Press (AP). Instead of implanting the six embryos created in a laboratory, the Romans had the tiny human beings frozen as they attempted marriage counseling. However, their divorce was final in August 2003, but they couldn’t come to an agreement on the fate of the embryos. Randy Roman wanted them destroyed or to remain frozen, while Augusta wanted to continue the process. “These are my children,” Augusta, now 47 years old, told the AP. “This is my last chance at being a biological mom.” Although a Houston district judge decided in Augusta Roman’s favor in February 2004, ruling that she could have custody of the embryos in a “fair and equitable” property division, the Texas Court of Appeals reversed the decision in 2006, according to the Los Angeles Times. At issue was a statement initialed at the fertility clinic March 27, 2002, by both Augusta and Randy Roman, declaring that the embryos would be discarded in the event of a divorce, the AP reported. Augusta Roman has said that there was no discussion about this statement, and that she initialed it without thinking, while Mr. Roman claimed that they had a brief discussion, according to the Times. Only three of the six embryos have survived until now, according to the Times. Augusta Roman has not yet publicly revealed if she will continue to pursue the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. “If I was pregnant with these embryos, no one should come and say to me abort them,” Augusta Roman told the AP in June. “There is no difference between embryos inside the womb and outside the womb. I’m already pregnant. It’s just implanting. “It will never be a symbolic fight for me. I’m praying the courts won’t destroy my future children.” Parents Cannot Request Planned Parenthood Files The parents of a 14-year-old girl who had an abortion at Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio without their consent cannot obtain files from the abortion clinic, according to an August 24 state appeals court ruling. The girls’ parents wished to prove that the Planned Parenthood clinic had a history of violating parental consent laws by examining minors’ records, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The family’s attorney, Brian Hurley, told the AP that they would appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. “Our clients have alleged that they were harmed because Planned Parenthood has a pattern and practice of violating its duties under Ohio law to report sexual abuse of minors and notify parents of minors of their daughters’ intent to have an abortion, not as a result of a single, isolated incident,” Hurley said in a statement. The unidentified girl had the abortion in 2004. The baby’s father, her 21-year-old soccer coach, came with her to the abortion clinic, where she said he was her stepbrother, the AP reported. Ohio law requires that minors receive consent from one parent 24 hours before an abortion can be performed. The soccer coach is now serving a three-year prison sentence for sexual battery, according to the AP. The court of appeals decision reversed a lower court ruling that granted the parents’ request for other minors’ abortion records going back 10 years. The records would have had identifying information removed, the family’s attorney told the Dayton Daily News, and they would use the records only to compile statistical evidence of a pattern of ignoring the parental involvement law. However, appeals court Judge Mark P. Painter, writing for a three-judge panel, ruled that the “potential invasion of privacy rights trumps the probative value of the records to this case.” Tiny Preemie Goes Home after Four Months Little Tamera Dixon, born April 25 weighing only 11 ounces, finally went home with her family August 18 from the only residence she has known, Capital Health System at Fuld Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey. Tamera is now a robust 4 pounds, 8 ounces. “It is a miracle; she is a miracle,” said Tamera’s mother Andrea Haws, according to the New York Daily News. “From when she was born, I think everyone knew she was a fighter. She’s going to be a feisty little girl.” Doctors delivered Tamera after only 25 weeks’ gestation when her mother’s kidneys began failing and she stopped growing, the Associated Press (AP) reported. If the pregnancy had proceeded normally, Tamera would have been born almost four months later—one week before she actually left the hospital. Despite doctors’ predictions that she only had a 10–15% chance of surviving after premature birth, they are now “cautiously optimistic” that Tamera will develop normally. “She’s breathing perfectly well on her own,” said Dr. Stephen Moffitt, according to the AP. Tamera will join her mother, father Terry Dixon Sr., and brothers Tajh and Terry at their Trenton home. Family support specialists at the hospital have helped the family prepare to care for Tamera on their own, so she can avoid any potential complications. “She has overcome all her obstacles,” Haws said, according to the AP. “I’m very excited to bring her home.” Quicker Down Syndrome Test Developed National University Hospital (NUH) in Singapore will offer an invasive test for Down syndrome that provides results in two hours, according to Business Times Singapore. In the test, known as FlashFISH (fluorescent in situ hybridization), a needle is inserted into the amniotic sac to draw 2 milliliters of fluid. Doctors examine fetal cells found in the fluid for chromosomal abnormalities, which cause conditions such as Down syndrome, Straits Times reported. The test itself carries a 1 in 100 risk of miscarriage, according to Straits Times. In addition, if the baby is found to have Down syndrome, anecdotal evidence indicates that a large majority of these babies will be quickly killed in abortion. Chromosomal testing is offered to pregnant mothers over age 35 and to younger women with a perceived risk. “Waiting for test results can cause a lot of anxiety in couples,” NUH professor Mahesh Choolani told Channel NewsAsia. “Hence, we decided to develop an alternative technique that requires a shorter waiting time.” Choolani added that about 1 in 30 tests are positive. The researchers, who published a report of their new method in the June issue of Molecular Human Reproduction, said they are currently in discussions to export the technique to the United Kingdom, Australia, and Vietnam, according to Business Times Singapore. Zebrafish Give Clue to Adult Stem Cell Blindness Treatment The ability of zebrafish to regrow retinal cells has pointed researchers to a new direction in the treatment of blindness. Three-quarters of those with blindness suffer from diseases of the retina, including macular degeneration and glaucoma, according to the Daily Mail. Zebrafish and humans both have Muller glial cells in their eyes, which help zebrafish repair their own damaged retinas but are inactive in humans. Doctors at University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology have found a way to grow these cells in the lab, and hope to test their use in humans within five years, according to a report in the journal Stem Cells. The cells used in the treatment would be obtained directly from donors without harming them. “Muller cells with stem cell properties could potentially restore sight to someone who is losing or has lost their sight due to diseased or damaged retina,” Dr. Astrid Limb told the Daily Mail. “Because they are so easy to grow, we could make cell banks and have cell lines available to the general population, subject to typing as with blood transfusions.” Much more work needs to be done to learn the properties of these cells. The researchers also hope to discover what makes the cells inactive in humans, so perhaps a drug could be developed so the cells would become active on their own. “Our next step is to identify which factor is responsible for blocking the regeneration,” Limb added, according to the Daily Mail. “Once we know how this mechanism works, we will be much closer to develop a treatment.” Researcher Falsified Mouse Embryo Photos Investigators at University of Missouri at Columbia found that a researcher falsified photographs in a report that had implications for embryonic stem cell research. The journal Science published a retraction of the entire paper in its July 27 issue. University officials accused postdoctoral researcher Kaushik Deb of altering photographs used to illustrate the paper’s hypothesis, that “the first two cells of mouse embryos possess markers that indicate from a very early stage whether they will grow into a fetus or placenta,” according to the Columbia Missourian. The paper would have had a large impact on embryonic stem cell research, since it could have assisted “in determining which early-stage cells could be used to create embryonic stem cell lines,” the paper’s co-author, R. Michael Roberts, told the Kansas City Star. In the retraction, Roberts wrote that he “takes responsibility for placing excessive trust in his co-worker and for not assuring that a complete set of raw data existed at the time the questions first arose about the paper.” Deb quickly left the university after the photograph’s veracity was questioned, and officials have not been able to locate him, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune. This case has obvious parallels to the Hwang Woo-suk scandal in South Korea. Hwang led a group of researchers who claimed they made significant breakthroughs in embryonic stem cell technology, but their reports were found to be fraudulent. Stem Cells retracted a November 2004 paper co-authored by Hwang’s colleagues, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The journal’s editors discovered that two photos, identified as showing separate embryonic stem cells developed under different conditions, were actually the same picture. Other photos were also re-used with different identifications in discredited Science papers, which were retracted in 2004 and 2005. “Botched” Abortion in Italy Leads to Calls for Changes in Law After Italian abortionists, intending to kill a disabled twin during a “selective reduction” procedure, aborted a healthy baby by mistake, calls began for a re-evaluation of the country’s abortion law. Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope’s vicar for Rome, said that “it was not only right but necessary to look again at the law in light of medical advances over the last three decades,” according to the Associated Press (AP). Italian law currently allows abortions for “health” reasons during the first 90 days of pregnancy. After 90 days, abortions are only supposed to be available for a “serious threat to the woman's physical or mental health, such as those associated with serious abnormalities or malformations of the fetus,” according to the law adopted in 1978. In the case that shocked many Italians, doctors at a Milan hospital had diagnosed one unborn baby in a set of twins as having a “genetic condition.” Attempting to abort that baby while allowing the healthy twin to live, they instead killed the wrong baby, saying later that the babies had switched positions since the last ultrasound was taken, the AP reported. While Ruini acknowledged that the current “cultural condition” in Italy would not allow for the law to be overturned altogether, he said that improvements could be made, according to the ANSA news agency. The Italian magazine Famiglia Cristiana also urged that the law be changed, saying that it was based on outdated medical information, such as the limits of viability, the AP reported. New Jersey Doctors Can Deny Humanity of Unborn Declaring that “there is no consensus in the medical community or among the public” about when life begins, the New Jersey Supreme Court refused September 12 to order doctors to tell patients that their unborn children are “existing human beings,” according to the Associated Press (AP). The case began in 1996, when Rose Acuna was told by her doctor, Sheldon C. Turkish, that she should abort her baby due to medical complications. The AP reported that according to court papers, “Turkish told her that she ‘needed an abortion because (y)our kidneys are messing you up.’ Acuna asked Turkish whether ‘the baby was already there.’ According to Acuna, Turkish replied, ‘Don’t be stupid, it’s only blood.’” Acuna agreed to the abortion. However, when she continued to bleed seven weeks afterward, she went to the hospital and discovered the abortion was “incomplete.” “According to her, one of the nurses caring for her explained that [a new] procedure was necessary because Turkish ‘had left parts of the baby inside of (her),’” the court papers continued. “Thus, Acuna concluded based on the reference to ‘the baby’ that she had given consent to an abortion based on erroneous information.” While a three-judge appeals court panel ruled in favor of Acuna, the state Supreme Court reversed the panel and dismissed the lawsuit in a unanimous ruling. “On the profound issue of when life begins,” Justice Barry T. Albin wrote, according to the AP, “this court cannot drive public policy in one particular direction by the engine of the common law when the opposing sides, which represent so many of our citizens, are arrayed along a deep societal and philosophical divide.” Acuna may appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, the AP reported. Oklahoma Woman Wakes from Coma Doctors convinced Ryan Finley of Edmond, Oklahoma, to remove his wife’s life support 14 days after she fell into a coma because of a congenital heart defect. But instead of dying as the doctors predicted, Jill Finley woke up and asked for some Mexican food, the Finleys told the Today show. “Pretty much, I am normal,” Jill Finley, 32, said in an interview on Today. “I have a little speech that I’m working on. And my short-term memory is off. But other than that, I am doing great.” Finley’s heart stopped May 26. Her husband called 911 and began cardiopulmonary respiration (CPR) until the ambulance arrived. Taken to Oklahoma Heart Hospital, doctors placed her on a respirator and dressed her in a special “chill suit” for 24 hours, according to the Edmond Sun. The suit reduces body temperature to 90 degrees, preserving brain function. Doctors told Ryan Finley that his wife only had a 1 to 2% chance of emerging from the coma to live a “normal life.” “It was grim,” Finley said on Today. “I’ll put it that way. Everything they told me was grim.” Following the doctors’ advice, Finley had the life support removed at 6 p.m. June 9. Several hours later, Jill Finley began to wake up. “About 11:45, she started getting restless,” Ryan Finley told Today. “People told me they call it the last rally. When a person is about to pass, they tend to regain some body function, be able to talk or move—things that they hadn’t been able to do previously.” But his wife started to speak in coherent sentences, asking him to “Get me out of here” and take her to her favorite Mexican restaurants. “I asked her questions,” Finley told Today. “Simple addition, what our phone number was, our dog’s name, our cat’s name. She answered them all correctly, all of ’em. And I knew, ‘This isn’t the last rally.’” Jill Finley is currently undergoing therapy for vision and balance, and received a pacemaker to regulate the beating of her heart. Her husband was a finalist for the 2007 Oklahoma Heart Hero award, recognizing his quick use of CPR that helped keep his wife alive, the Sun reported. Her brush with death has changed both Jill and Ryan Finley’s outlook on life. “We cherish each day, each minute, each hour now,” Jill Finley told Today. “One of our friends [said], ‘I’m so jealous. You guys are like newlyweds.’” Comatose Woman Gives Birth A Texas woman left in a coma after a severe beating by her estranged husband gave birth to a baby girl September 6 in a Caesarean section. Dana Conley, 38, has been unconscious since February 9, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Conley’s parents, who already care for their daughter’s two older children, have temporary custody of the five-pound, three-ounce baby. They will also transfer their daughter, who remains in an unconscious state, from an Austin hospital to a facility that can provide long-term care, the American-Statesman reported. Dana Conley is not on a respirator, but is receiving nutrition and hydration. “She was taken off life support months ago,” Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley told the American-Statesman. “She has a feeding tube, but she is breathing on her own.” Conley and a friend were moving out of the house she shared with her estranged husband, former corrections officer Julius Conley, when he attacked them with a dumbbell, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Suffering blunt-force trauma to their heads, Dana Conley fell into a coma while her friend, Quincy Johnson, died of his injuries soon after the attack. Julius Conley is now in prison, serving two concurrent life sentences for murder and aggravated assault, according to the American-Statesman. British Government Allows Creation of Human-Animal Embryos Britain’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) announced September 5 that it would consider license applications from researchers wishing to create hybrid human-animal embryos for use in destructive stem cell research. In addition, the government has proposed a bill that would enshrine the creation and destruction of these hybrid embryos in law, according to the Daily Mail. The HFEA license committee is considering applications from King’s College, London, and the North East Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle that proposed replacing genetic material in an animal ovum with human DNA, the Daily Mail reported. An electric current would then be used to stimulate the development of an embryo, who would develop for a few days and then be destroyed to harvest stem cells. “Human beings are unique and distinct from all other creatures,” Scotland’s Catholic bishops said in a statement. “Our natural distaste at the prospect of mixing species reflects a natural intuition that a moral boundary is being crossed. Like many people we are appalled and shocked by this horrific prospect.” In addition to serious moral objections, pro-lifers and others warn that hybrid embryos are unlikely to fulfill the outrageous claims of their supporters, who say they will lead to cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. “The creation of hybrids is being promoted by those with interests in getting money from the government’s stem cell research fund,” Anthony Ozimic, political secretary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), said in a press release. “Yet again, patients with degenerative diseases are being exploited. They and their families are being sold lies and false hope by the profit-hungry biotech industry.” At SPUC’s national conference September 8, scientists were dubious about using hybrid embryos. “The public is not being told that these cells can’t be used to cure defects in adult tissues, that embryonic stem cells provide only short-lived repair, that there is a problem with tumours, they also can’t renew themselves as they cease to become stem cells,” said Dr. James Sherley of Boston Biomedical Research Institute. “This is an engineering problem as these cells can’t do what’s needed.” The license committee is scheduled to make its final decision on the hybrid embryo license applications in November. Mixed Messages in China Just weeks after acknowledging the troubling gender imbalance and proposing an education campaign to discourage female infanticide, Chinese officials announced new sanctions for parents who violate the oppressive one-child policy. Instituted in 1979, Chinese law limits most married couples to only one child. To avoid draconian fines and forced abortions if they attempt to have a larger family, many parents resort to abortion or infanticide when their first child is a girl, seeking to have a son to care for them in their old age and continue the family line. Horror stories related to the policy abound. Luo Cuifen, a 29-year-old woman from rural southwestern China, will undergo risky surgery to remove 23 needles placed in her body while she was still an infant, according to the Los Angeles Times. Relatives suspect that her grandfather attempted to kill her after birth, so that the family would be able to have another child, hopefully a boy. In another case, Yang Zhongchen told the Associated Press (AP) that his young wife Jin Yani was pulled screaming from their north China home and forced to have an abortion because they didn’t give enough in bribes to local officials. They were not married when they conceived the child, and didn’t have prior permission to have a baby. “Several people held me down, they ripped my clothes aside and the doctor pushed a large syringe into my stomach,” Jin Yani told the AP. “It was very painful. ... It was all very rough.” While these atrocities continue, officials continued to take enforcement of the one-child policy to new levels. The National Population and Family Planning Commission announced September 15 that it would impose heavier fines on rich parents who have more than one child. Citing “increasing public concern that some wealthy people violated the policy because fines weren’t high enough to be a deterrent,” the commission will raise fines according to income level and put a “black mark” on the family’s credit rating, according to China Daily. In addition, the ruling Communist Party issued a directive September 14 that tied the number of children to promotion. “Obeying the family planning policy will be taken as a fundamental standard” for advancement in party ranks and other incentives, Xinhua news agency reported. These new fines and incentives come in the wake of an official government report acknowledging the crippling gender imbalance in China, which is leading to social unrest as many men cannot find wives. The country only has an average of 119 boys for every 100 girls, with some provinces increasing to a 165:100 ratio, according to Irish Times. The ratio in other nations is 103 to 107 boys per 100 girls. Zhang Weiqing, head of the population commission, said that “the government was addressing the problem with education, subsidies and a strict regulation of ultrasounds and abortions,” China Daily reported. “He also called for a more positive attitude toward women.” |