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UN FEMINIST COMMITTEE PRAISES MUSLIM TUNISIA FOR ALLOWING ABORTION

First Muslim country to permit abortion

NEW YORK, June 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women praised Tunisia last week for its "great strides forward" with regard to women. However, one of the "gains in the field of women's health" mentioned in the UN report is abortion.

"Abortion is now part and parcel of human rights for women, which makes Tunisia the first Muslim country to permit it," says the report praising the country for making "efforts to ensure access to basic health care as well as to maternal and reproductive health care." However the committee warned against "persistent gaps" in service. Regarding abortion, the country's report noted, like a communist party report, that "significant gaps remains between urban and rural areas in attitudes towards abortion, and there are 'pockets of resistance' in the south and central west of the country."

"I am very proud of what is happening in Tunisia," one UN 'expert' said.

See the UN report on the proceedings:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/wom1348.doc.htm

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ABORTION OPPONENT LIKELY TO BE NEXT ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

LONDON, June 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The UK pro-life group Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has pointed out that the man likely to become the next archbishop of Canterbury is against abortion. However, Dr. Rowan Williams, reportedly the top choice of the Crown Appointments Commission - to be formally ratified by the Prime Minister and Queen - is shunned by conservatives for his support of ordination of homosexuals and women priests.

Rowan, who according to The Times will be named to take over from Dr. George Carey as head of the worldwide Anglican church in July, has described his views on abortion as "ultra-conservative" and has condemned the morning-after pill as a form of abortion.

See the Times coverage and a 2001 Southern Cross article detailing Rowan's views:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-332465,00.html
http://www.anglicanmediasydney.asn.au/august2001/world2.html

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MANDATORY LAWYERS SOCIETY SPONSORS HOMOSEXUAL ADVOCACY MEETING

TORONTO, June 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The Law Society of Upper Canada, the organization to which lawyers in Ontario must pay dues in order to practice in the province, is sponsoring a homosexual advocacy meeting tonight. The roundtable discussion will focus on "advocacy strategies and current issues faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities."

The four panelists to take part in the meeting are all homosexual activists, including David Corbett counsel for Oshawa high school student Marc Hall who will be speaking on "advocacy in education." The Law Society press release on the meeting notes: "In conjunction with the forum, the Law Society is pleased to co-sponsor its fifth annual Pride Week reception in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered lawyers."

The Ontario Bar Association, a voluntary lawyers organization is co-sponsoring the event.

See the release from the Law Society at:
http://www.newswire.ca/releases/June2002/19/c8098.html

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AUSTRALIA JOINS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT WHICH COMMENCES JULY 1

SYDNEY, June 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Australia has agreed to ratify the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is set to begin operations July 1 this year. Conservatives in the government fought the proposal but were unsuccessful. Commentators have observed that Prime Minister John Howard will be cited for his failure to live up to his promise to "serve the national interest and certainly not compromise Australian sovereignty".

In April, US Senator Jesse Helms warned against the ICC in an op-ed published in the Washington Times. "It needs to be understood, however, that the ICC is without supervision or oversight. And, most alarmingly, this new court will claim jurisdiction over citizens of countries that have not agreed to be members of it. The ICC's jurisdiction will not be controlled or limited by any country's constitution or legislature. It will answer only to itself. This is not responsible government. History teaches us that unchecked power is quickly and inevitably abused. Our Founding Fathers correctly identified limits on government power as the key to protecting individual liberties. This is a bedrock norm that should be applied to all international and national institutions," wrote Helms.

See LifeSite on pro-life concerns about the ICC:
http://www.lifesite.net/interim/2002/may/02internationalcriminal.html

See the coverage in The Age and Helms' op-ed:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/06/19/1023864456953.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20020411-8454376.htm

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GERMANY'S PRO-ABORTION GOVERNING PARTY CAUGHT SELLING CONDOMS

BONN, June 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Conservatives in Germany are hoping the fiercely pro-abortion Social Democrates (SPD) are headed for defeat in the upcoming September 22 elections. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's SPD have caused embarrassment to the country after a condom-fundraising scheme was discovered.

Red (the colour of the party) boxes containing 100 condoms with the slogan "Feel Good, SPD" are being sold at a gift shop at the party's headquarters for 44 euros ($40), an SPD admitted Sunday. SDP was the first German party since the Nazi era to authorize deadly experimentation on human beings with the allowance of research on human embryos earlier this year.

See the Reuters coverage:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=6&u=/nm/20020617/...

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KENTUCKY DISTRICT DEBATES EQUATING BIRTH CONTROL WITH ABORTION

WILDER, Kentucky, June 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) - A proposal to recognize that birth control pills have abortifacient side-effects, and to reject $170,000 in federal Title X funds that pay for local family planning services, was narrowly defeated last night after a heated debate in the Northern Kentucky Independent District Health Board.

Board chairman Greg Kennedy broke a 13-13 tie vote, explaining: "I believe it was going to disrupt services to the people that need and rely on the health department the most. ... When you mix politics with medicine, you get very bad medicine."

Kentucky Right to Life, which is independent of the contraception-neutral National Right to Life, maintains the pill can "cause abortions" because it makes changes to the uterine lining that prevents implantation of a fertilized egg. "Hormonal contraceptives sometimes cause host fertilization deaths," said board member Dr. Thomas Shaughnessy Jr. "The unborn child's unalienable [sic] right to life supersedes a woman's unalienable right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Kentucky Right to Life President Robert C. Cetrulo added: "People are seeing that the distribution of these materials is bad morals, bad medicine and bad public policy ... It makes poor public policy to pass out materials that kill unborn babies, promote promiscuity and have disastrous societal results." Dr. William Threlkeld II, another member of the board, said: "It is unfortunate that our legislators have put me in a position to vote to forgo this funding for much-needed services in order to protect the sanctity of human life."

To read coverage by United Press International prior to the vote see:
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=18062002-123225-9591r

To read Associated Press coverage after the vote see: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134478567_bc20.html

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HOUSE REPUBLICANS REVIVE PARTIAL-BIRTH BAN

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday revived their attempts to secure a ban on partial-birth abortion.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Steve Chabot, an Ohio Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Constitution subcommittee, says the new bill's sharper definition of partial-birth abortion will satisfy both critics and courts. "We have every reason to believe the Supreme Court should uphold this," Mr. Chabot said.

The Supreme Court in 2000 overturned a Nebraska partial-birth abortion ban, frustrating congressional pro-lifers promoting a national version, reports the Washington Times. Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, President Clinton twice vetoed bills that had made it through Congress. President Bush has consistently said since the 2000 presidential campaign that he will sign a partial-birth abortion ban if Congress passes it.

The Christian Medical Association (CMA), a 16,000-member professional doctors body welcomes the bill, to stop "a barbaric practice that inflicts horrific pain on developing infants." CMA board member and pediatric anesthesiologist Jean Wright, M.D., wrote a CMA white paper explaining the physiology of fetal pain: "Newborns not only feel pain," she wrote, "they react to pain with 3-5 times the response of adults."

For US Newswire coverage see: http://www.usnewswire.com/

For Washington Times coverage see: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020620-748226.htm

To download Dr. Wright's white paper see
http://www.cmdahome.org under Issues & Media / Download Resources.)

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GERMAN PARENTS WIN WRONGFUL BIRTH SUIT

BERLIN, June 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Germany's highest court has ruled that a doctor who failed to diagnose a baby's disability during prenatal ultrasounds must pay compensation to the parents.

The child, now five and named Sebastian, was born with no hands or lower arms and with heavily deformed legs. His parents sued the gynaecologist and the the court awarded them 275,800 euros (C$407,042) for ongoing medical care and compensation to the mother of 10,225 euros (C$15,090) for "depression."

Sebastian's mother told the court that although she loves him, she would have had a late-term abortion if she had known he was going to be deformed.

Germany officially places limits on abortion of the disabled, but the Federal Court ruled that an abortion would have been legal in view of the severity of the disabilities and the mother's depression: "The fact that after the birth depression did actually emerge and was so strong as to be an illness with a latent danger of suicide at least in the first weeks, supports this prognosis."

The German Doctors' Association condemned the decision: "It is particularly alarming that precisely those regulations on pregnancy termination, which have only just been changed in order to prevent selecting out disabled life, are being abused and used more like an instrument of selection of human life. This understanding of human life stands in most crass contradiction to professional medical ethics and the values of a humane society. ... The aim of medical treatment is to heal, alleviate or prevent illnesses and disabilities -- not to kill the sick and disabled."

For more coverage see:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020619/hl_nm/doctor_baby _1

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LIFESITE NEWSBYTES

SPONSORS OF THE TORONTO HOMOSEXUAL PRIDE WEEK
Pro-family Canadians may consider sending concerns to the following sponsors: The Bay, Labatt Blue, Canada Showcase, Schick (razor company), Captain Morgan Rum, Crest (toothpaste), Rogers, United Airlines, University of Toronto, Starbucks Coffee, Kodak (film), The Toronto Star, and CityTV
http://www.torontopride.com/sponsors/index.htm

TORY LEADER'S CLOSE ADVISOR EXPECTS CLARK WILL RESIGN AT AUGUST CONVENTION
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id={385C88D9-EB7A-4768-930D-4F949898...

UK PRO-LIFERS GIVEN LEAVE TO APPEAL RULING ON UK CLONING LAW
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020617/sc_nm/britain_cloning...

UK PRO-LIFERS BEGIN 9-DAY WATER-ONLY FAST TO EXPOSE ABOTIFACIENT MAP
Prominent members of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children have commenced a nine-day water-only fast to draw attention to the true nature of the abortifacient morning-after pill and raise funds for the continuing campaign against it.

NICKELODEON "NICK NEWS" PRESSING AHEAD WITH HOMOSEXUAL PARENT SHOW DESPITE PROTESTS
The children's TV channel received so many e-mails that the network had to create a separate address to avoid a computer crash. Over 100,000 e-mails and phone calls went in to protest the program, set to air Tuesday night in the United States.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020618/ap_wo_en_po/us_tv_gay...

UK HOME SECRETARY PLANNING TO SCRAP LAWS AGAINST SODOMY
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020619/ap_wo_en_po/britain_s...

PEDOPHILE PRIESTS AND PLANNED PARENTHOOD
WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah questions why bishops are under fire for allowing sexual abuse of minors but Planned Parenthood is left untouched despite being guilty of the same thing.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28007

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