Dr. May presents and explains various positions taken on the question of caring for patients in a 'persistant vegitatave state'. Dr. May then presents and defends the position taken by JohnPaul II in his address of March 20, 2004.   

Following the recent announcement from the Food and Drug Administration that they are postponing the decision on whether or not to grant over the counter approval of the drug Plan B, the FDA announced they are soliciting public opinion on how to regulate the controversial drug also known as the morning after pill. The agency is seeking to address a series of complex regulatory questions regarding how to make the drug available to women 17 years and older while keeping it prescription-only for those who are younger.

My purpose in this pastoral letter, therefore, is simple. I believe the message of Humanae Vitae is not a burden but a joy. I believe this encyclical offers a key to deeper, richer marriages. And so what I seek from the family of our local Church is not just a respectful nod toward a document which critics dismiss as irrelevant, but an active and sustained effort to study Humanae Vitae; to teach it faithfully in our parishes; and to encourage our married couples to live it.

Artificial fertilization or artificial reproduction can be a tempting consideration for the couple who has spent years suffering with the emotional pain of infertility, however, a number of ethical questions arise. In order to understand why participation in artificial reproduction conflicts with the Lord's moral order, we must understand how artificial reproduction works.

One of the Senate's best known Catholics has worked to reject a proposal by President Bush that would have given families displaced by Hurricane Katrina financial aid to send their children to private or parochial schools. A bipartisan student relief package put forth by Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy and Wyoming Senator Michael Enzi did not include a provision that would have given students up to $7,500 because Kennedy opposed the provision, according to a high level Congressional staffer who spoke with Culture & Cosmos.

We indirectly consume future generations in a financial sense through rising debt, sinking savings, increasing taxes, and the shifting of wealth away from fertile couples. More directly, we consume children as we accept a new ethic concerning fetal life. Each trend sprouts from the same root of self centered consumption.