Sister Margaret McBride

In November, a women 11 weeks pregnant came into a Phoenix hospital with a life threatening condition that needed immediate action to save her life.  She was given the choice to abort her baby or keep it and informed about how keeping the pregnancy would endanger her life.  She made her choice to live and the Nun on staff thought that saving the life of the mother followed Directive 47 in the U.S. Catholic Church’s ethical guidelines for health care providers — that allows, in some circumstance, procedures that could kill the fetus to save the mother.  Upon hearing that Sister Margaret McBride allowed the abortion to save the mother’s life, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted immediate excommunicated the nun.
It is certainly a compelling reason to abort an 11 week old fetus to save the life of the mother, especially if the fetus would not have survived had the mother died.  I think the Sister McBride made the correct and humane decision.  The most compelling argument in the NPR article was this part:

“In the case of priests who are credibly accused and known to be guilty of sexually abusing children, they are in a sense let off the hook,” Doyle says.

Doyle says no pedophile priests have been excommunicated. When priests have been caught, he says, their bishops have protected them, and it has taken years or decades to defrock them, if ever.

“Yet in this instance we have a sister who was trying to save the life of a woman, and what happens to her? The bishop swoops down [and] declares her excommunicated before he even looks at all the facts of the case,” Doyle says.

The church’s suggestion would be to let both the mother and the fetus die, rather than abort to save the life of the mother.  It is a double standard for the church to excommunicate a nun for saving the life of this women and then take no action to excommunicate priests who rape children repeatedly, but rather move them from one parish to another.

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3. Catholic Church excommunicates 9 year old rape victim

When a women is pregnant, the makeup she wears, the deoderant she uses and the lotions she uses may effect her baby’s behavior later down the road.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that high levels of phthalates found in a women’s blood during pregnancy directly correlate with behavioral issues in their child at ages 4-9 years.

Phthalates are non-organic chemicals used in lotions, makeup products, soaps, nail polish, perfumes and shampoos.  “Phthalates are part of a group of chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, that interfere with the body’s endocrine, or hormone system.”1 Phthalates is also known as BPA when used in plastics.

Children whose mothers tested with a high level of Phthalates in their blood during pregnancy consistently reported behavioral issues in their 4-9 year olds associated with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder and ADHD.

To avoid phthalates in personal care products, buy only all natural products and read the ingredients.  If you can’t pronounce an ingredient or have never heard of it, look it up on the EWG website before buying.  Most Phthalates in personal products are called one of the following:

BzBP (benzylbutyl phthalate)

DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate) and DEP (diethyl phthalate)

“fragrance” is another ingredient to avoid.  If a chemical blend is a trade secret, manufactures are not legally required to disclose the contents on the lable.  They simply denote this as “fragrance”, which likely contains parabens or phthalates.

The best paraben free products to replace your most common personal care products are:

Deoderant: Crystal Salt

Toothpaste: PerioBrite

Shampoo and Conditioner: [amazon ASIN="B001JAH2V0"]Hugo Naturals[/amazon]

Lipgloss, cosmetics: [amazon ASIN="B000WRZSCQ"]Honeybee gardens[/amazon]

Lotion: [amazon ASIN="B0012NZ9LY"]Hugo Naturals[/amazon]

Hand and Body soap:[amazon ASIN="B001ET77YI"]Dr. Bronners[/amazon] or find home made soaps from your local farmer’s market.

Nail polish: just don’t use it!  Nail polish is basically paint that you absorb through your skin.

Learn more: The Do-Nothing Method to Healthier Skin ::   BPA powder on your receipts?!

References:

1. Science Daily

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Recent studies have linked high levels of PBDEs in women’s blood to a difficult time getting pregnant.  PBDEs are a type of flame retardant found in fabrics, furniture and mattresses.  They are most prevalent in foams.

PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are a class of organobromine compounds that became commonplace after the 1970s when new fire safety standards were implemented in the United States. The flame retardants are used in foam furniture, electronics, fabrics, carpets, plastics and other common items in the home. - Science Daily

It is not clear how PBDEs interfer with fertility, but reserach has suggested they effect hormone levels.  Household dust from foam, couches, curtains, sheets, and mattresses is the main culprit for human absorbtion of PBDEs.  Tempurpedic beds do not contain PBDEs

Read more: Non-stick pans wreak havok on your Thyroid

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Recent studies have suggested that not enough folate in the diet may lead to carcinogenesis (process whereby normal cells are turned into cancerous cells) and too much folic acid may increase the growth of already present cancerous cells.  These findings augment the all to familiar adage: “Too much of a good thing is a bad thing”.  It should come as no surprise that a healthy balance of anything, including folic acid is the best way to enhance the body’s functions.  An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but 100 apples will certainly make you sick.

“Experimental evidence suggests that folate deficiency may promote initial stages of carcinogenesis, whereas high doses of folic acid may enhance growth of cancer cells. Since 1998, many countries, including the United States, have implemented mandatory folic acid fortification of flour and grain products to reduce the risk of neural-tube birth defects,” the authors write. “Recently, concerns have emerged about the safety of folic acid, in particular with respect to cancer risk.” From Science Daily

Taking this further, it should be noted that the best way to ingest folic acid is not through supplements or “enriched” cereals.  Folic acid is best taken in it’s natural form through foods that contain it naturally such as asparagus, okra, oranges, spinach, grapefruit, and nuts.

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