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ARGENTINE SUPREME COURT PROHIBITS "MORNING-AFTER PILL"

BUENOS AIRES, March 6, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The Supreme Court of Argentina ruled yesterday (Tuesday, March 05, 2002) that the "morning after pill" known as "Imediat", produced by the Argentinian laboratory Gador, may not be manufactured, distributed or sold in Argentina because the pill acts as an abortifacient and therefore violates the Constitutional protection of human life "from the moment of conception".

The decision was the result of a court case brought by a pro-life organization, Portal de Belen (Stable of Bethlehem), which argued that the authorization previously given for the drug by the Ministry of Health was unconstitutional. The Court agreed and ordered the Ministry to suspend the authorization.


Jorge Scala, one of the Argentinian lawyers who successfully argued the case, was extremely pleased with the decision and said this sets the stage to quickly prohibit the manufacture, distribution, and sale of similar abortifacient drugs in Argentina. Dan Zeidler, representative for the Caracas-based Latin American Alliance for the Family, commented, "It is a great day for the unborn in Argentina! Once again we see the great richness of the Latin American legal system where wonderful pro-life protections exist and where virtually all countries' constitutions, civil, penal, and juvenile codes provide useful and practical mechanisms to protect life before as well as after birth."

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UNITED NATIONS MEETING TO ADDRESS "MAJOR IMPLICATIONS" OF WORLD "POPULATION DECLINE"

UNITED NATIONS, March 6, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The United Nations is convening an Expert Group Meeting on "Completing the Fertility Transition" in New York from 11 to 14 March 2002. The meeting, organized by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, seeks input on fertility projection. The need for the move stems from the finding that many countries are plagued by fertility rates below replacement level.

A UN report on the upcoming meeting notes that "For decades, demographers have assumed that fertility rates in developing countries will eventually fall to replacement level -- about 2 children per woman -- and then stabilize at that level. However, over the past decade, more and more developing countries have joined developed countries in seeing their fertility levels fall below this replacement fertility floor, challenging the assumption that there is some inherent magnet drawing populations to a replacement-level equilibrium."

The report explains: "The past few decades have witnessed dramatic declines in fertility levels. Since 1965, world fertility has declined from 5.0 to 2.7 births per woman. Many countries have recorded striking reductions in fertility rates to levels below those needed to ensure population replacement." The UN has found that there are 74 countries with intermediate-level fertility, i.e., above 2.1 and below 5 children per woman. This group includes some of the most populous countries in the world, such as Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, and Philippines. The organization predicts that "in the long run, if these 74 countries and current low-fertility countries remain below replacement-fertility levels, then their populations and that of the world as a whole will begin to decline."

Declining fertility rates will likely make their first major negative social impact in the area of welfare and health care programs. The United Nations has reported that aging populations, caused in large part by low birth rates, will seriously affect these support programs. UN demographers have noted that the "potential support ratio" (the number of people 15 to 64 who are available as workers to sustain the retirees) was 12 to 1 in 1950; in 2000, it was 9 to 1; and have predicted that by 2050, there may be only four working-age people for every person over 65 worldwide.

Despite the the alarming prognosis, some United Nations leaders still see population declines as a good thing and will argue for continued de-population policies.

See the United Nations release on the upcoming meeting:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/note5717.doc.htm

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CHINA BOASTS OF HUMAN CLONING AND HUMAN-RABBIT EMBRYOS

CHANGSHA, China, March 6, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Chinese scientists are claiming to have successfully cloned human embryos for research purposes since 1999. Professor Lu Guangxiu of the Xiangya Medical College, acknowledged as one of China's foremost experts in the field, says she and her team of researchers were successful at cloning human embryos two years prior to the U.S. company, Advanced Cell Technology, which claimed to be the first to clone human embryos last year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that while her research has not been published in a major peer-reviewed journal, scientists in China and the US who are familiar with her work say her claims are credible. Running a fertility clinic has given Lu access to a ready supply of human ova. Lu says that about 5% of the human embryos cloned in her multi-million dollar lab now develop to the blastocyst stage. She notes that she has experimented with attempting to produce human clones from aborted baby skin cells under the assumption that since the cells aren't yet fully developed, it might be easier for the egg to reprogram their DNA.

Lu claims to be against allowing human clones to be born but said that the science will lead there. "It is an irresistible trend," she said. The Journal also reports that Sheng Huizhen, a biologist at Shanghai No. 2 Medical University, claims to have succeeded in deriving stem cells from embryos created by fusing human tissue with the egg cells of rabbits. Dr. Sheng, a former employee of the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Maryland, presented her work recently to scientists at the University of Texas's Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Paul Berg, a Nobel laureate in chemistry at Stanford University told the Journal that the Chinese revelations put American ethics in the area to the test. "We will either condemn them [the Chinese] as godless members of an evil empire, or we will say 'Hey, wait a second, we can't be left out of this race," he said.

See the full report from MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/720020.asp

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OFFICIAL REPORT INDICATES THERE WAS "AMPLE EVIDENCE" TO CONVICT CLINTON

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2002 (LSN.ca) - In the final official report on former President Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal, Independent Counsel Robert Ray concluded Wednesday that prosecutors had ample evidence for criminal charges against the former president. The report was released by a three-member panel of federal appeals court judges who ordered the investigation four years ago.

"President Clinton's offenses had a significant adverse impact on the community, substantially affecting the public's view of the integrity of our legal system," stated the report. "The independent counsel's judgment that sufficient evidence existed to prosecute President Clinton was confirmed by President Clinton's admissions," it said. The report stated that "President Clinton engaged in conduct that impeded the due administration of justice by testifying falsely under oath ... that he could not recall ever being alone with Monica Lewinsky; and he had not had a sexual affair or engaged in sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky."

AP reports that the day before he left office, Clinton's lawyers cut a deal with Ray that spared Clinton from criminal charges.

See the AP coverage:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020306/ap_on_re_us/clinton_l...

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CANADIAN FROZEN EMBRYO ADOPTION PROGRAM LAUNCHED

TORONTO, March 6, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Embryo Adoption Program of Canada was launched this week by Leslie Perkins of Toronto. The Globe and Mail reported that it would be the country's first embryo-adoption program modeled after a similar program in the United States.

With her non-profit program, Perkins hopes to match prospective parents with frozen embryos left-over from fertility treatments. "These embryos exist and now is the time to ask what to do with them," said Perkins. "My hope is that every parent of every frozen embryo will want to participate rather than killing the embryo and denying life to the child."

See the Globe and Mail coverage:
http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/realtime/ful...

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LIFESITE NEWSBYTES

LOW VOTER TURNOUT IN IRISH ABORTION REFERENDUM
As Ireland votes today in the controversial abortion referendum polling stations reported low voter turnout this afternoon. With only two hours left to go in the allotted voting time, polling stations are reporting an approximately 30% voter turnout.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2002/0306/breaking66.htm

CANADIAN HOMOSEXUAL LOBBY GROUP LAUNCHES 'ADOPT AN MP' PROGRAM
http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_
PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1015369334179

GAMBIAN IMAM WARNS CONDOM PUSH WILL LEAD TO SPREAD OF AIDS
Imam Oustas Jukabi of the Tallinding "Dara-ba" Mosque in Kujabi has condemned the promotion of condoms and the claim that they are a protection against AIDS. He warned their promotion would lead to promiscuity and thus to an increase of the deadly disease. "If the call to use condoms is adhered to, it will be within a matter of ten years before the whole Gambian population would become HIV/AIDS patients," he said.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200203040307.html

ANGLICAN CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON HUMAN EMBRYOS
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=
national&category=general%20news&story_id=132173&y=2002&m=3

ONTARIO PC LEADERSHIP CONTENDER EVES FLIP-FLOPS ON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL TAX CREDIT
Ernie Eves, who at an earlier debate called rival Jim Flaherty's plan not to force religious independent schools to teach from the Ontario curriculum "ludicrous", switched his position in the final debate.
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020305/238301.html

UK IVF CLINIC GIVEN PERMISSION TO DO ROUTINE GENETIC EMBRYO SCREENING
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1858000/1858462.stm

UK HIGH COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS IN MASS LAWSUIT AGAINST BIRTH CONTROL PILL
A test case involving more than 100 women who say they were exposed to potentially lethal side effects of the third generation contraceptive pill has started at the High Court. Lawyers representing the families are taking action against three pharmaceutical companies, saying the women were not warned of the possible dangers of the Pill.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1848000/1848697.stm

PASTOR OPENS DENVER LEGISLATURE WITH PRO-LIFE PRAYER - A FEW SENATORS WALK OUT
Pastor David Meek of Greeley's Assembly of God Glad Tidings Church prayed for God's help in overturning Roe vs. Wade, and to "stop the killing and murder."
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,61%257E444406,00.html

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