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Friday January 17, 2003
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Print- MANITOBA JUDGE URGES LEGISLATURE TO PROTECT UNBORN FROM SUBSTANCE-ABUSING MOTHERS
- OTTAWA'S NEGLIGENCE OVER CHILD PORN CRITICIZED IN WAKE OF MINIMAL ARRESTS
- BC JUDGE REJECTS CHALLENGE TO BUBBLE ZONE LEGISLATION
- CHILEAN GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO LIFE OF THE UNBORN
- STUDY SHOWS UMBILICAL CORD MATRIX NEW RICH SOURCE OF STEM CELLS
- KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS LEADER SAYS 'NO SOCIETY SHOULD TOLERATE' ABORTION
- ABORTION AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LINK RAISED IN BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
- DISCOVERY MAY LEAD TO IMPROVED 'NATURAL' FERTILITY
- LIFESITE NEWSBYTES
MANITOBA JUDGE URGES LEGISLATURE TO PROTECT UNBORN FROM SUBSTANCE-ABUSING MOTHERS
TODAY'S HEADLINES
EDMONTON, January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Manitoba judge this week called on her province to legislate protection for unborn children from their substance-abusing mothers.
"In light of the evidence at this inquest, the time may have come for legislators in this province to tackle this difficult issue in order to assist family service agencies to protect unborn children," wrote Judge Linda M. Giesbrecht of the Provincial Court of Manitoba in a 234-page ruling on the case of Patrick Redhead, a native foster child who killed himself in 1999 near Dugald, Man.
"The evidence strongly suggests that Martina Redhead [the boy's mother] is a chronic and severe alcoholic," Giesbrecht added. "There is no question that this maternal history of alcohol consumption has had a profound impact on most if not all of her children." At the least, she said, governments could look forward to many years of costly compensations suits if they fail to pass legislation.
Canadian courts have held for the most part that a fetus is not a "person" (not having emerged alive from the womb) and therefore not entitled to protection from the actions of his or her mother during pregnancy. In the 1997 Supreme Court ruling in Winnipeg Child Services v. G.(D.F.), the case of a glue-sniffing native mother, a judge who ordered her into treatment was overruled by the high court -- which also left it to elected legislatures and Parliament to write a law protecting the fetus.
"We applaud this ruling", stated Jim Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition. "Finally a Judge has the wisdom and fortitude to acknowledge the existence and vulnerability of a child in the womb."
"We hope that this wakes up the Chretien government to finally enact legislation and not leave it up to the Courts," Mr. Hughes continued.
Campaign Life Coalition praises the statement by Dennis Schellenberg, director of child welfare services in Manitoba who said, "the government is committed to doing what it takes to improve the child welfare system". Campaign Life Coalition encourages the Manitoba government to draft the legislation.
Covered in the Edmonton Journal, Friday, January 17, 2003, page G8
To read about the Supreme Court ruling leaving it open to legislatures to
protect the unborn see:
http://www.culturalrenewal.ca/lex/lex-13.htm
Back to TopOTTAWA'S NEGLIGENCE OVER CHILD PORN CRITICIZED IN WAKE OF MINIMAL ARRESTS
Only 5% of over 2,000 suspects have been apprehended - a 'nightmare', says Det. Sgt.
TORONTO, January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The police detective in charge of Toronto's sex crimes unit blasted the ineffectiveness of the federal government's child pornography strategy this week. "International co-operation is a dream, national cooperation is a nightmare," Det.-Sgt. Paul Gillespie said, citing the mixed success of Project Snowball, the largest child-porn probe in Canadian history.
Police Canada-wide have been able to arrest only 5% of the 2,329 Canadians named on a U.S. Postal Investigative Service list of child porn consumers, because of a lack of resources. Despite the federal government's new Bill C-15A, Ontario police Det.-Insp. Robert Matthews says it is still too difficult to investigate, charge and convict someone on child-porn charges.
Det.-Insp. Matthews cited the case of Joseph Downey, 27, of Elora, Ont., one of the suspects on the U.S. list. Downey was sentenced last October to a mere 14 months house arrest after police found more than 500 items of child porn on his computer -- a sentence Matthews calls "a joke." Some of the images of sexual acts involved infants so young that their umbilical clamps were still in place.
For newswire coverage (link valid only for a few days) see:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/01/15/11478-cp.html
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY SENTENCES ALMOST A JOKE SAY CANADIAN POLICE
http://www.fotf.ca/familyfacts/tfn/2003/011703.html
BC JUDGE REJECTS CHALLENGE TO BUBBLE ZONE LEGISLATION
VANCOUVER, January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - B.C. pro-lifer Jim Demers has lost his challenge of the provincial bubble zone legislation at the B.C. Court of Appeal. However, the result is a positive one for Demers who says the appeal was argued in terms of the right to life for the unborn and is now set to go to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Demers argued that the bubble zone infringed on his right to freedom of speech under the Charter. He further argued that human embryos are included in the charter provision which says "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice."
While the three justices rejected the appeal, Demers is now eligible to apply for leave to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Canada. Demers told LifeSite that from the outset, the challenge was to have the case heard at the Supreme Court level. "Right from the start the lower court justices said the case would go to the Supreme Court," said Demers. He recalled that Justice Hood of the BC Supreme court went so far as to suggest that the quicker the case got there the better.
Demers noted that a win on freedom of speech grounds would have stopped the right to life challenge from being heard at the Supreme Court.
The text of the court decision in the Demers case is at:
http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/ca/03/00/2003BCCA0028.htm
CHILEAN GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO LIFE OF THE UNBORN
SANTIAGO, January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In response to a request for an abortion for a woman with fetal abnormality the Chilean Health Ministry reaffirmed the fact that the right to life of the unborn is protected by the country's constitution and thus no authority in Chile has the authority to approve an abortion.
However, medical details on the specific case in question were unclear. Some reports indicated that the life of the mother was in danger. The unborn child is beyond 20-weeks gestation.
LifeSite is seeking clarification on the matter.
STUDY SHOWS UMBILICAL CORD MATRIX NEW RICH SOURCE OF STEM CELLS
MANHATTAN, Kan., January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The cushioning material or matrix within the umbilical cord known as Wharton's jelly is a rich and readily available source of primitive stem cells, according to findings by a research team at Kansas State University. The cells -- called cord matrix stem cells to distinguish them from cord blood cells -- can be obtained in a non-invasive manner from an abundant source of tissue that is typically discarded.
According to researchers Mark Weiss and Deryl Troyer, "Umbilical cord matrix cells could provide the scientific and medical research community with a non-controversial and easily attainable source of stem cells for developing treatments for Parkinson's disease, stroke, spinal cord injuries, cancers and other conditions."
Among the findings: Wharton's jelly cells from pigs were propagated in the lab for more than a year without losing potency; they can be stored cryogenically and engineered to express foreign proteins.
The cells exhibit telomerase activity, a key indicator of stem cells, and they can be induced to form nerve cells, both neurons and glia, that produce a range of nerve-cell specific traits. Neurons are the nervous system cells that transmit signals; glial cells support the neurons.
On the basis of the encouraging results with animal tissue, the team broadened its investigations to human umbilical cord matrix cells with similar exciting findings -- human umbilical cord matrix cells differentiate into neurons, too. The findings are published in the current edition of the journal Stem Cells.
See the study in the journal at:
http://stemcells.alphamedpress.org/cgi/content/abstract/21/1/50
(with files from Ascribe Newswire)
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS LEADER SAYS 'NO SOCIETY SHOULD TOLERATE' ABORTION
NEW HAVEN, Conn., January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The leader of the 1.6 million strong Catholic men's organization, the Knights of Columbus, blasted abortion in a release regarding the 30th year of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade abortion decision. He said:
"This year, on Jan. 22, we note with great sadness, but greater determination, the 30th year of legalized abortion on demand in the United States.
"For 30 years, abortion has been a stain on our nation; a deep wound in our nation's soul. Abortion is the negation of our nation's commitment to human rights and the equal dignity of every individual. It is a tragedy that sets women against their own children. This is a choice no woman should ever have to make. This is a choice no society should tolerate.
"Our society can, and must, do better to address the needs of women, rather than leaving them and their children to the violence of abortion. Young people, especially, understand this. Abortion holds less and less appeal for the generation raised under Roe v. Wade. More and more young people identify themselves as pro-life and they are renewing the ranks of the pro- life movement. The abortion rate is at its lowest since the decision was first handed down, due to the decline in abortion among younger women. Young people who grew up under Roe v. Wade have seen the damage wrought by abortion and they demand better.
"As we note this 30th year of abortion on demand, we are confident of the day when we will instead celebrate its end, when the law will no longer protect the violence of abortion, but will instead protect the lives and dignity of both women and their unborn children."
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-16-200...
ABORTION AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LINK RAISED IN BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
World Health Organization Misses Opportunity to Address Issue
NEW YORK, January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Major record-based studies have shown that abortion exposes women to greater violence both before and after their abortions. This reality is examined in a letter published in this week's edition of the prestigious British Medical Journal.
The letter's author, David C. Reardon, Ph.D., Director of the Elliot Institute, notes that the World Health Organization's recent publication "World Report on Violence and Health" missed the opportunity to examine this important connection. Dr. Reardon's letter cites the studies ignored by WHO which show that abortion increases the risk of women's subsequent death from violent causes, including suicide, accidents and homicide. The problem of violence involved when women undergo unwanted abortions is also discussed.
The letter includes citations of the numerous studies showing women's risks of death from abortion.
The letter can be viewed free of charge at
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7380/104
DISCOVERY MAY LEAD TO IMPROVED 'NATURAL' FERTILITY
SAN FRANCISCO, January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Researchers at the University of California think they have discovered the natural chemical process that makes a human embryo stick to the wall of the womb and start developing. The research may lead to a test which could assess how likely a woman is to become pregnant. The results are published in Science magazine (see below).
After an egg is released, even if it is successfully fertilised and the embryo starts to develop, there is no guarantee that it will become implanted in the womb wall as it passes by. Some, the researchers believe, exude a sticky protein about six days after conception that stops them as they roll along the lining of the womb. At the same time, the womb walls produce another substance that interacts with the sticky protein -- but only when they are fully ready for implantation. Dr. Roger Searle, director of anatomy and clinical skills at the University of Newcastle, said, "It used to be thought that everything was down to the mother, but now it seems more likely that there is this dialogue going on."
For BBC coverage see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2664747.stm
To download the article, "How Embryos Stick," from Science magazine (log-in required) see: http://www.sciencemag.org/
LIFESITE NEWSBYTES
SENATOR KERRY REJECTS VATICAN POLITICAL CRITERIA
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/1914709/detail.html
VATICAN WRITES 'GLOSSARY' ON SEX TERMINOLOGY
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030117-79632399.htm
R-RATED MOVIES NOT IN TOP 10
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0023984.html
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