[Pages H9457-H9458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

AMERICA IS IN NEED OF PRAYER

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from California [Mr. Dornan] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to put in that section
of the Record we call the Extension of Remarks a beautiful, thoughtful,
short exposition by the Reverend Joseph Wright. He is not from my
State. It was given to me by one of the outside institutions around
this place, the lovely Rita Warren of Massachusetts, who goes through
all the hoops around here to get permission to have a Passion Play on
the East Steps of our beautiful U.S. Capitol every Easter week; and I
noticed she is starting to worry about what is happening to our
country, vis-a-vis what Reverend Billy Graham or the Holy Father in
Rome has said.
So I notice that she has her Passion Play out on the steps with a
figure of Jesus and all of his beautiful sayings as the Prince of Peace
that can save our world. But she asked me, since she had given me this
recitation by Reverend Wright if I could not read it on the floor of
the House, as well as put it in.
So for Rita Warren, I will do that, Mr. Speaker. The following is
excerpted from a prayer in the Kansas house. This was delivered on the
floor of the Kansas legislature, courageous Bob Dole's home State, on
January 23 by Joe Wright of Central Christian Church, Wichita.
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of God's word and called it
pluralism.
We have worshiped false gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle or
diversity.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed the pre-born and called it choice.
We have neglected to discipline our children and have called it
building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and pornography and
called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and
called it enlightenment.
We have indoctrinated our children and called it education.
We have censored God from our public life and called it religious
freedom.
We have prevented our citizens from defending themselves and called
it gun control.

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We have allowed violent criminals to be released to prey on society
and called it compassion or rehabilitation.
We have imprisoned the innocent and let the guilty go free and called
it justice.
Indeed America is in much need of prayer.
And in my concluding minute, let me point out, Mr. Speaker, that the
RU-486 pill, about to emerge on the American market, has been called by
Thomas Grenchik, director of the archdiocesan Pro-Life Office as a
child-pesticide. He says Clinton has another anticipated victory in his
campaign to kill the pre-born.
``At the President's direction,'' Mr. Grenchik says, ``the Food and
Drug Administration has strong-armed the use of RU-486 from its
European owner and, as promised, will ramrod the approval of this
child-pesticide at all costs.''
It goes on to describe this panel of experts on July 19, way out of
town in Gaithersburg with a 6-0 vote, two abstaining, on unleashing
this child-pesticide.
RU-486, also known by its generic name mifepristone, is taken first
and causes the uterine lining to break down and slough off. Then
misoprostol, a prostaglandin that stimulates uterine contractions, is
taken 2 days later, a complicated procedure requiring several medical
visits, precise drug doses, and monitoring.
In an editorial in ``L'Osservatore Romano,'' the Vatican newspaper,
it was condemned as an abortion pill, ``the pill of Cain, the monster
that cynically kills one's brother''; and in this editorial, a moral
theologian writes that the pill's anticipated approval in the United
States is an important victory for what it termed, and this is in Rome,
the ``abortion party'' led by the Population Council and the
International Planned Parenthood Federation.
So the battle goes on, Mr. Speaker, and let us hope that people go
into this with their eyes open and that we do not have a delayed time
bomb of the thalidomide problem here. Yes, as Reverend Joe Wright says,
America is certainly a Nation in need of prayer.
As Billy Graham said in our beautiful Rotunda when he received,
unanimously from both the Senate and the House, the Congressional Gold
Medal, America is a Nation on the brink of self-destruction.

Actions To Market Abortion Pill Are Denounced

The archdiocesan pro-life director denounced this week's
government actions that would soon put the abortion-inducing
pill RU-486 on the American market.
Thomas Grenchik, director of the archdiocesan Pro-Life
Office, said that President Clinton ``has another anticipated
victory in his campaign to kill'' the unborn. ``At the
president's direction, the Food and Drug Administration has
strong-armed the use of RU-486 from its European owner and,
as promised, will ramrod the approval of this child-pesticide
at all costs.''
A panel of scientific experts recommended July 19 that the
FDA here in Washington allow the controversial abortion-
inducing pill to be marketed in the United States.
Following a public hearing in Gaithersburg, the FDA's
Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee voted 6-0 that
the benefits of the RU-486/misoprostol regimen for
terminating early pregnancies outweigh its risks. Two members
of the panel abstained.
RU-486, also known by its generic name mifepristone, is
taken first and causes the uterine lining to break down and
slough off. Misoprostol, a prostaglandin that stimulates
uterine contractions, is taken two days later. The procedure
requires several medical visits, precise drug dosage and
monitoring.
An editorial in the July 22 issue of L'Osservatore Romano,
the Vatican newspaper, condemned the abortion pill as ``the
pill of Cain, the monster that cynically kills one's
brother.''
The editorial, signed by Father Gino Concetti, a moral
theologian, said the pill's anticipated approval in the
United States was an important victory for what it termed the
``abortion party'' led by the Population Council and the
International Planned Parenthood Federation.
At the hearing, the Population Council, a New-York based
research organization that holds the U.S. patent rights to
RU-486, presented clinical data from two French trials
involving 2,480 women and preliminary safety data from U.S.
trials involving 2,100 women.
More than 30 individuals also testified during the open
portion of the meeting.
The French data showed the medical abortion procedure to be
95 percent effective. However, panelists also heard that
women participating in the clinical trials experienced
painful contractions of the uterus as well as nausea,
vomiting, diarrhea, pelvic pain and spasm, and headache.
In some cases where the chemical combination failed to
produce an abortion, women then had surgical abortions;
others completed their pregnancies and delivered babies with
deformities.
According to an FDA statement after the panel decision, ``a
very small percentage of patients in the clinical trials
required hospitalizations, surgical treatment or
transfusions.''
Dr. Mark Louviere, a Waterloo, Iowa, emergency room
physician who said he is a supporter of legalized abortion,
told FDA panelists that he treated a participant in the
Planned Parenthood of Iowa trial who lost more than half of
her blood volume and nearly died.
``I am concerned that all of the true complications of RU-
486 are not being reported to both the media and to the
FDA,'' he said, adding that he also fears the use of RU-486
``by physicians without appropriate follow-up.''
``The FDA approval process is moving at an unheard-of-pace
to approve this deadly drug combination, leaving many
concerns about safety unresolved,'' said Wanda Franz, a
developmental psychologist at West Virginia University and
president of the National Right to Life Committee, in a
statement from the group's Washington office.
``Respect for human life and women's health, not developing
human `pesticides,' should be at the center of the FDA's
concern when advancing new drugs,' said Judie Brown,
president of the American Life League, in a statement from
the organization's headquarters in Stafford, VA.
RU-486 was developed by the French company Roussel Uclaf,
and has been taken by more than 200,000 European women since
1989. In 1994, Roussel Uclaf signed over U.S. rights to the
Population Council, which filed the FDA application in March.
In deciding on drug applications, the federal agency
usually has followed the recommendations of its advisory
committees. If RU-486 is approved by the FDA, the drug would
be sold by Advances in Health Technology, a company set up
for that purpose last year, and could be available in the
United States next year.

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