Life Links 5/27/10

A new study claims that the September 11 attacks may have led to an increase in the number of males being miscarried.

The death rate for male fetuses rose by 12 percent above the levels predicted for September of 2001, according to the findings published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. The phenomenon was attributed to what lead author Tim Bruckner, an assistant professor of public health at the University of California Irvine, characterized as "communal bereavement."

The miscarriage rate was calculated among male rather than female unborn babies because males are believed to be more sensitive to stress in utero.

"The theory of 'communal bereavement' holds that societies may react adversely to unsettling national events, despite having no direct connection to persons involved in these events," Bruckner said in a statement. "Our results appear to demonstrate this, as the shocks of 9/11 may have threatened the lives of male fetuses across the U.S."

Here’s the study abstract.


Mona Charen responds to pro-choice responses to Sarah Palin’s position on abortion on the Washington Post’s On Faith blog including an especially foolish argument by Chicago Theological Seminary professor Susan Thistlethwaite.

This is fatuous moral reasoning. Thistlethwaite suggests that to oppose abortion on moral grounds is to “deny women the right to moral autonomy.” Rights talk, as Mary Ann Glendon has observed, has invaded every arena of American life and impoverished civic discourse. Of course women are moral actors. But what is “moral autonomy”? Is it a new right to make immoral choices without being criticized? Does it apply in areas beyond abortion? Do laws against prostitution or baby selling compromise women’s “moral autonomy”? Do all laws?

Here are all the On Faith posts on Palin, abortion and feminism.


Governor Brad Henry has vetoed another abortion related bill in Oklahoma. This time to ban abortion coverage in government-subsidized insurance exchanges. They have the votes to override the veto but the session ends tomorrow.