Politics
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Thursday February 13, 2003
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Print- EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO FORCE EU NATIONS TO FUND ABORTIONS OVERSEAS
- UNFPA FUNDING FROM U.S. TO BE BLOCKED ONCE MORE
- ARGENTINA JUDGE BLOCKS GOV'T PROGRAM WHICH INCLUDED CHEMICAL ABORTION
- PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION LEGISLATION INTRODUCED INTO CONGRESS
- MICHIGAN PRO-LIFERS CHEER CATHOLIC SCHOOL VETO OF LUNCH WITH PRO-ABORTION GOV.
- COLUMNIST EXPOSES DANGERS AND ABUSES OF SEX EDUCATION
- CATHOLIC AND EVANGELICAL LEADERS DEFEND MARRIAGE BEFORE PARLIAMENT
- CANADIAN PRISONS RIFE WITH HARDCORE PORN SALES THROUGH CORRECTIONS STAFF
- U.S. NEWS ROUNDUP
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO FORCE EU NATIONS TO FUND ABORTIONS OVERSEAS
Even Malta and Poland must fund abortion when they become full EU members
TODAY'S HEADLINES
STRASBORUG, February 13, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The European Parliament voted today to adopt the Sandaeck report on development aid which compels all European Union nations to fund abortions in developing countries. Euro-fam, a pro-life group focused on the EU, reports that the Members of the European Parliament rejected (254-180) a pro-life amendment seeking to prevent abortion financing.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) in the UK reacted with disappointment and concern. John Smeaton, SPUC's national director, explained: "The Sandbæk report constitutes the blueprint for a new regulation to determine EU overseas aid policy over the next five years. It obliges the EU to provide financial assistance to promote 'the recognition of reproductive and sexual health and rights ... including ... universal access to a comprehensive range of safe and reliable reproductive and sexual health care and services'. The World Health Organization defines 'reproductive healthcare services' as including abortion.
"This means that the EU will fund abortions, and the main author of the report, Danish MEP Ulla Sandbæk, admitted as much when she told Ireland's Radio Kerry on 19 November 2002 that the new regulation would mean that abortions would be legally funded by the EU.
"EU regulations take precedence over the laws of member states, so all EU countries will now be obliged to fund abortions overseas through their EU contributions. This includes Ireland, which has a pro-life constitution, as well as the pro-life accession countries such as Malta and Poland when they become full EU members."
Mr Smeaton concluded: "The EU is becoming one of the foremost promoters of a pro-abortion culture around the world. Today's tragic vote demonstrated a disrespect for the unborn and disregard for the rights of individual nation states within Europe with pro-life laws".
The EU and UN policies contrast starkly with the U.S. Mexico City policy which prohibits any U.S. government funding for aid programs that provide abortion services.
Back to TopUNFPA FUNDING FROM U.S. TO BE BLOCKED ONCE MORE
WASHINGTON, February 12, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Republicans in Congress are putting the finishing touches on their $397.4 billion spending bill this week. Much of the legislation deals with counter-terrorism measures and funding for the usual gamut of federal agencies, including $15.4 billion for NASA, $500 million more than last year.
President Bush's 2003 Budget, released on February 4, called for a deep, 11% cut in international family planning -- with zero funding for UNFPA.
Pro-lifers can take satisfaction that when the budget works its way through Congress, Bush will again be able to block U.S. aid to the United Nations for its overseas family planning programs, as he did last year.
To read media coverage:
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/5168244.htm
For related coverage:
UNFPA HEAD OBAID SHOWS TIES TO BIG ABORTION
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/nov/02111401.html
OVER 140 ORGANIZATIONS ASK BUSH TO ZERO-FUND UNFPA
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jun/02062104.html
ARGENTINA JUDGE BLOCKS GOV'T PROGRAM WHICH INCLUDED CHEMICAL ABORTION
World Bank-pushed "sexual health" program included abortifacient pills.
BUENOS AIRES, February 13, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A federal judge ordered the Argentine Ministry of Health to halt its implementation of a World Bank-pushed "sexual health" program which included abortifacient pills. Zenit News reports that Justice Judge Cristina Garzón de Lascano of Cordoba ordered the Ministry of Health and Social Action on Tuesday "to abstain from executing the National Program of Sexual Health and Responsible Procreation," especially some of its most controversial parts.
Pro-lifers argued that the new program offended the right to life with abortifacients, offended the right to health of women with indiscriminate distribution of harmful anti-conception and offended the right of parents to control the sexual education of their children.
LifeSite reported that last March, the Supreme Court of Argentina ruled that the "morning after pill" known as "Imediat", produced by the Argentinean 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".
See the full account from Zenit at:
http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=31311
See related LifeSite coverage:
ARGENTINE SUPREME COURT PROHIBITS "MORNING-AFTER PILL"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/mar/02030601.html
VATICAN WARNS ARGENTINA AGAINST CANADIAN PRO-ABORTION GROUP
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/oct/02100902.html
PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION LEGISLATION INTRODUCED INTO CONGRESS
WASHINGTON, February 13, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Bipartisan legislation to enact a ban on partial birth abortions was introduced in the House today by Congressman Steve Chabot (R, Cincinnati), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution.
Three times Congress passed legislation to ban the procedure - in the 104th, 105th, and 106th Congresses. While President Clinton vetoed the legislation twice, President Bush has indicated that he would sign a ban into law. Last year, Chabot's legislation passed the House, but was blocked in the Senate.
In his State of the Union address, President Bush said, "... We must not overlook the weakest among us. I ask you to protect infants at the very hour of their birth and end the practice of partial-birth abortion." The legislation is also being supported by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner and House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde.
For further documentation on partial-birth abortion:
http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/index.html
MICHIGAN PRO-LIFERS CHEER CATHOLIC SCHOOL VETO OF LUNCH WITH PRO-ABORTION GOV.
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI, February 13, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Mercy Catholic High School removed its "Lunch with Governor Granholm" item from its upcoming auction after vigorous protest by pro-life parents, alumni, and local Catholics due to Governor Granholm's well-known advocacy of abortion. In response, local Catholics are now applauding school president Sister Regina Marie Doelker's decision to withdraw Granholm from Mercy's "Night with the Stars" auction "Out of sensitivity to any who might interpret this item as Mercy taking a pro-abortion stand."
Dr. Monica Migliorino-Miller, director of the Stop Granholm Church and Truth Project, praised Sr. Doelker's decision: "A Catholic school shouldn't feature Governor Granholm as a prize because she publicly repudiates Church teaching and insists that abortion advocacy is consistent with Catholicism. We also thank Cardinal Maida for being responsive to complaints about this scandal."
Dr. Miller explained that Granholm's obstinate abortion advocacy disqualifies her from being upheld as a model Catholic, "Granholm is no different than California Governor Gray Davis, whose Bishop recently told him that he should not receive Holy Communion if he persists in his support of child killing. Michigan Catholics need to know that Granholm's anti-Catholic views are unacceptable."
See related secular media coverage:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7040064&BRD=982&PAG=461&dept_id=467992...
COLUMNIST EXPOSES DANGERS AND ABUSES OF SEX EDUCATION
Thousands of schools are doing the opposite of what parents want.
WASHINGTON, February 13, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A column by Janice Crouse, on the website of Concerned Women for America, offers highlights from research on sex education and parental attitudes. Among her findings are that many U.S. schoolchildren aged 5-8 are being taught that it feels good to touch and rub body parts, while children aged 9-12 are taught that homosexuality is as satisfying as heterosexuality, and teens from age 15 to 18 are being taught that "using erotic photographs, movies or literature will enhance sexual fantasies."
Crouse also cites Zogby polling that shows parents approve of abstinence sex education (by a 4.6 to 1 margin); parents disapprove of teaching children that homosexual relationships are as satisfying as heterosexual relationships; and that parental attitudes are mixed toward giving children factual/biological sex information, but they don't want a connection between their children and sexual activity. This means that thousands of schools are doing the opposite of what parents want.
"After more than 20 years of condom-based sex education to adolescents, we've added more than two dozen sexually transmitted diseases to the two known STDs of 1960, syphilis and gonorrhea. Meanwhile, "the National Institutes for Health state that 100% consistency in condom usage produces only a 87% reduction in risk of HIV and even less protection for other STDs." She concludes with a strong recommendation for jettisoning explicit sex-ed and turning to abstinence education.
To read the full column:
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=3312&department=BLI&categoryid=dotcomm...
CATHOLIC AND EVANGELICAL LEADERS DEFEND MARRIAGE BEFORE PARLIAMENT
Opposite-sex definition of marriage upholds common good and ensures future of society
OTTAWA, February 13, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) each made separate presentations today before the House of Commons Justice Committee defending marriage from a redefinition to include homosexual couples.
Archbishop André Gaumond of Sherbrooke presented a brief in the name of Canada's bishops who serve more than 12 million Canadians saying: "married couples perform a role within society which is of service to all and distinct from all other forms of human relationships. We strongly urge you to maintain this distinction for the good of all Canadians."
Dr. Marlene Smadu of Regina, also presenting for the CCCB said, "We believe that marriage is a unique way of life, of benefit to couples, to future children and to society." Dr. Smadu refuted the argument that allowing same-sex partners to marry would not change the meaning of marriage for society, saying that it would have major consequences. "Laws must be examined not only for their impact on individuals but also for their impact on the social fabric. It is important for the stability of the family and ultimately society to strengthen the institution of marriage. The maintenance of the opposite-sex definition of marriage is a decision that upholds the common good and ensures the future of society," said the mother of three children.
Bruce Clemenger, director of EFC's Centre for Faith and Public Life, presented his organization's brief. "Marriage is not simply what a man and woman do, it is an institution that provides an enduring and exclusive sexual bonding of male and female that has the capacity to procreate and provides the biological tie between children and parents", said Clemenger. "The difference and uniqueness of marriage should be recognized in law and public policy."
See the EFC and CCCB briefs to the Committee online at:
http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/pdf/EFC%20Marriage%20Submission%2003.pdf
http://www.cccb.ca/english/fullpublice.asp?ID=17
CANADIAN PRISONS RIFE WITH HARDCORE PORN SALES THROUGH CORRECTIONS STAFF
Rehabilitation of social disorders and sexual deviancies impossible under prison policy
OTTAWA, February 13, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to documents received under an Access to Information request, inmates in some Canadian prisons are allowed to order subscriptions to hard-core pornographic magazines through Corrections staff - and some prisons have gone as far as stocking the magazines in their institutional libraries.
Under Correctional Service Canada Commissioner Directive 764 - 6 b) sexually oriented material which promotes or encourages any form of criminal act, or would incite inmates to commit similar acts shall not be permitted in the institution and can be removed by the warden. Canadian Alliance Solicitor General critic Randy White said, "Corrections officials always talk about all they are doing to rehabilitate offenders. I would like to know what part of a sex-offender's rehabilitation includes reading magazines that include explicit photos showing vaginal and anal penetration, oral sex and scenes where women are shown being held down?"
The report notes that subscriptions to such magazines are found in prisons across the country. Inmates may purchase the magazines through Corrections staff using an Inmate Purchase Order, or in some cases receipts have been found where the magazine subscription has been billed to the prison library. In one Quebec prison, nearly a quarter of the subscriptions from the institution were for hard-core pornography.
"How would you like to be a female guard working in that type of environment? Corrections has a mandate to stop this type of material from entering the prison, and instead, they help the inmates get their hands on it," added White. "Most Canadians would find inmates having this type of material inappropriate to say the least. I wonder why the Solicitor General does not feel the same way?"
U.S. NEWS ROUNDUP
HAWAII HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES BILL FOR PHARMACISTS TO DISPENSE ABORTIFACIENT
http://starbulletin.com/2003/02/10/news/story3.html
NJ ASSEMBLY PASSES BILL FOR COUPLES TO SIGN CONTRACT PRIOR TO IVF
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1044948039181230.xml?starledger
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY PASSES MEASURE REQUIRING ALL HOSPITALS TO PROVIDE ABORTIFACIENT MORNING AFTER PILL
http://www.fpaofnys.org/latestbuzz/
VIRGINIA BILL ATTEMPTS TO 'DEFINE' ABORTIFACIENT CONTRACEPTION NOT ABORTION
http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/politics/index.shtml
DELEWARE 24-HOUR WAIT INFORMED CONSENT LAW DELAYED AGAIN BY JUDGE
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2003/02/12abortionlawdela.html
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