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Tuesday January 23, 2001

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MARCH FOR LIFE A HUGE SUCCESS

WASHINGTON, Jan 23, 2001, (LSN.ca) - Tens of thousands of pro-lifers took part in the March of Life yesterday calling for the Roe v Wade 1973 decision which allowed abortion to be overturned. In the hundreds of events leading up to Monday's March for Life, demonstrations and pro-life speeches and sermons and interviews everywhere provided excellent media coverage. The massive crowd with a huge youth contingent was delighted with the message from President Bush and the announcement that he was re-establishing a law banning US funds from international groups which provide and lobby for abortion.

Various religious leaders including newly named cardinals in the US gave rousing pro-life sermons last Sunday, most of them adding a word of prayer and encouragement for the pro-life sentiments of President Bush. All the same, former abortionist and now pro-lifer Dr. Bernard Nathanson urged more clergy to speak up in favour of life. ( http://www.afa.net/prolife/jl011901.asp ) Two days before the anniversary, Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis marched with 1,500 pro-lifers after a Mass at the Cathedral to a Planned Parenthood abortuary. The bishop described Planned Parenthood clinics as a kind of "Calvary" for unborn children. "It is also a hill of Calvary - a place of banishment and execution," he said.

American Life League and Rock for Life encouraged the thousands of youth present to subscribe to "absolute Truth" and reject "failed pragmatism," saying that "the pro-life movement must advance the principle of personhood in defense of every preborn person from fertilization." On Monday morning, the groups joined a youth protest at the Food and Drug Administration headquarters to protest FDA approval of the RU-486 abortion regimen. Meanwhile, Norma McCorvey AKA Jane Roe, the woman at the centre of the 1973 decision, used the occasion to announce the creation of a new pro-life outreach called "No More Roe" to dissuade pregnant women from resorting to abortion.

See related coverage:
http://www.postnet.com/postnet/stories.nsf/News/865F66068EE3...
http://www.vny.com/cf/news/upidetail.cfm?QID=154233

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PRAYERS FOR SUCCESS AND 'ETHICAL' BUSH PRESIDENCY

WASHINGTON, Jan 23, 2001 (LSN.ca) - President George Bush commenced his new role with an interfaith service praying for blessings for his presidency and his family. Rev. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, addressed the Bush family and gathered supporters in the Episcopal Washington National Cathedral, calling on the President to "ignite the soul of America."

Cardinal-Elect Theodore McCarrick - archbishop of Washington - Rabbi Samuel Karff, Greek Othodox Bishop Demetrios, the Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon - the bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Washington, and the Very Rev. Nathan D. Baxter - dean of the cathedral - also participated in the service.

The pope too sent his prayers and wishes to President Bush. Pope John Paul II's message read in part: "I pray that under your leadership the American people will discover in their rich religious and political heritage the spiritual values which will provide clear direction and a sound ethical foundation for building a society marked by authentic justice and freedom, with unfailing respect for the dignity and rights of each individual, especially the poor, the defenceless and those with no voice." In his first public appearance the president took office he demanded that his staff "stay well within the boundaries that define legal and ethical conduct," presumably in an effort to distance himself from the scandal-ridden Clinton presidency.

See related coverage:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010121/pl/bush_rdp_18.html
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2001/0120/breaking...
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-2001123234214.htm

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BRITAIN GIVES FINAL APPROVAL TO HUMAN CLONING FOR EXPERIMENTATION

LONDON, Jan 23, 2001 (LSN.ca) - The House of Lords yesterday gave final approval to the much-contested use of human cloning for stem cell research purposes. Despite mass protest by the public, the European Union, religious leaders and pro-life groups internationally, the House of Lords rejected, 212 to 92, even a motion to delay the vote to allow for more debate on the issue.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) in the UK denounced the decision, criticizing also the bizarre decision of the Lords to look into matters of ongoing concern after the vote. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's political spokesman, commented: "It is absurd that a select committee should be expected to report after the passage of the very measure which it is supposed to examine ... This government has been totally impervious to the ever-growing protest at the way it has rushed its proposals through parliament. All the major religious leaders in this country, scores of European politicians, many scientists and countless members of the public urged the government not to break its promises of a thorough, open scrutiny of human cloning." See related coverage:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/520058.asp
http://www.spuc.org.uk/releases/20010122.htm

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AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

WASHINGTON, Jan 23, 2001 (LSN.ca) - The American Psychiatric Association, which led the revolution to normalise homosexuality in 1973 by deleting the practice from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, has once again adopted a radical activist position - this time by sanctioning homosexual unions. "The American Psychiatric Association, supports the legal recognition of same-sex unions and their associated legal rights, benefits and responsibilities," says a Dec 10, 2000 press release issued by Dr. Jack Drescher. Drescher, of the APA's committee on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues. He told New Mass Media in an interview that "children in same-sex marriages do just as well as children in heterosexual marriages."

LifeSite has found however that Drescher is by no means an objective bystander in the deliberations. Drescher's history on the issue shows him to be a homosexual activist who has successfully worked his campaign within professional associations. The APA last year issued a position paper condemning reparative therapy (which often can free homosexuals of their disordered inclinations) recommending, "that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals' sexual orientation." The position paper lists in its references two pro-homosexual books by Drescher.
( http://www.psych.org/pract_of_psych/copptherapyaddendum83100... ) Moreover, Drescher was involved in the 1998 decision by the American Psychoanalytic Association to endorse a resolution in favour of same-sex marriages.
( http://news.medscape.com/IMNG/ClinPsychNews/1998/v26.n03/cpn... )

See the New Mass Media coverage at:
http://www.newmassmedia.com/nac.phtml?code=fai&db=nac_fea&re...

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CUBAN PRO-LIFE LEADER SUFFERS TORTURES IN COMMUNIST PRISON

HAVANA, Jan 23, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Pro-lifers working in Cuba have begged the help of Cardinal Bernard Law, Chairman of the NCCB Committee for Pro-Life Activities, as well as the leaders of the March for Life in the dire situation of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, a pro-life leader who has been languishing in Cuban prison since November 1999.

In February 1998, Dr. Biscet was prohibited from practicing medicine and was expelled from the Cuban National Health System for denouncing as genocide the massive number of abortions taking place in all maternity hospitals in Cuba. Subsequently Dr. Biscet was arbitrarily detained 26 times and declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. In November 1999 he was incarcerated and subsequently condemned to three years in prison, a sentence he serves at "Cuba Sí", a maximum security prison located in Holguin province where, according to his supporters, he is suffering constant physical and mental torture.

Mons. Eduardo Boza Masvidal, ex-auxiliary bishop of Havana, expelled from the island by the Cuban regime, has decried the Cuban reality where "out of every ten unborn babies, six are aborted, a proportion considered the highest in the western hemisphere and, perhaps, in the entire world." Sergio F. de Paz and Dr. Enrique J. Cantón of the Comisión de Estudios por la Libertad de Cuba, suggest that "as religious and political persecution increases in Cuba, prominent world leaders, including those in religious circles, keep an enigmatic silence over an ongoing drama surpassing 40 years." The group's "fervent appeal" asks pro-lifers to "give an example to the entire world by raising their voices in favor of Oscar Elias Biscet, persecuted for denouncing abortion statistics and techniques implemented by Cuba's communist regime and to press on for the freedom of 12 million Cubans."

"Cuba Si" Prison telephone number: 011-5324-424342 - direct from USA For more information contact the Sergio F. de Paz at: (305) 740-6436 See related LifeSite coverage:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1998/nov/98110904.html
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/mar/00031004.html
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/july/99072103.html
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/feb/00022303.html

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FINANCIAL POST COLUMNIST DISPLAYS EXTREME INTOLERANCE

TORONTO, Jan 23, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Diane Francis, an influential columnist of the Financial Post, has once again demonstrated her liberal extremism in a recent article attacking Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day. In her Jan 20 article, "The Alliance's scary preacher has gotta go," Francis, a competent commentator on many issues, sheds her cloak of moderacy by raving: "I don't believe social conservatives should hold political power and influence. That's because they are moral interventionists and totally out of sync with society, which is comprised of social liberals. I believe the social conservatives have a right to their beliefs and should form their own little political party to further them."

Francis has a reputation of hateful intolerance regarding issues of abortion and religion. In June last year LifeSite reported on her comment that the "[pro-life] viewpoint is unacceptable to Canadians." She dogmatically asserted that "any law that would force someone to have a child she did not want, or could not look after or have to put up for adoption, would be an act of state-sanctioned violence." Francis' views are also evident in her distaste for religion. In 1999 she used the Post as her mouth-piece to demand the government rescind the tax exemption held by churches. In arguing her case she said, "their members should support them and their causes or they should merge or disappear."

To express your concerns about Francis write:
Editor-in-Chief, Financial Post Terance Corcoran
tcorcoran@nationalpost.com
Diane Francis
dfrancis@nationalpost.com


See related LifeSite reports:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/june/00062202.html
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/oct/9910214 .html

See the Francis article at:
http://www.nationalpost.com/financialpost/fpcomment/columnis...

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LIFESITE NEWSBYTES

The Times reported that the Church of England could permit divorcees to remarry in church as early as next year following a consultation with its members that has so far shown a large majority in favour of change.
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/01/21/stin...

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US NEWS ROUNDUP

Former NFL star Rae Carruth was sentenced to the next 19 to 24 years behind bars for his arrangement of the shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend after she refused his demand to abort their baby.

Today, President Bush is to unveil to Congress an education plan that includes the provision of federal vouchers of $1,500 for the parents of students in public schools deemed failures for three years in a row, allowing children to attend private schools, including religious schools.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010123/pl/bush_leadall_dc_...

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