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UN Concerned Italy Discriminating Against Immigrant Women’s Right to Prostitution

NEW YORK, January 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United Nations Committee that oversees compliance with the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) pressured Italy Tuesday to halt discrimination against immigrant women. The UN committee felt immigrant women in Italy were unfairly restricted from entering into prostitution.

Aldo Mantovani, Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, presented his country's actions to fight prostitution as a positive development for women in the country. However, as pro-life and pro-family lobbyists have frequently experienced, UN ‘experts’ often have a radically different view of reality that is alien to most humans on the planet.

“The Government’s commitment to fighting discrimination is illustrated by a bill to fight prostitution, which represents the highest level of exploitation of women,” the Italian report says. The bill prohibits prostitution in public places or places open to the public, as that is where the worst cases of criminal sexual exploitation thrive.

However, Ms. Glenda P. Simms, the UN expert from Jamaica, wondered if the prostitution policy did not discriminate against immigrant women’s ability to enter prostitution. “On the issue of prostitution, for example, while prostitution on the street is against the law, it is legal in private homes. Many immigrants do not have private homes. Is that not discrimination based on ethnicity and race in terms of prostitution laws?” she asked.

To express concerns about the Jamaican UN expert contact the Jamaican Embassy:
1520 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: 202-452-0660
Fax: 202-452-0081
E-mail:

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Majority of Ontarians Oppose Same-Sex "Marriage:" Poll

U.S. Focus on the Family head James Dobson urges Canadians to resist marriage change

VICTORIA, January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An internal poll commissioned by the Conservative Party of Canada has revealed that a 57 percent majority of Ontarians support the traditional definition of marriage. Thirty-eight percent support the Liberal's bid to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

On a national level, 42 percent of Canadians support retaining the traditional definition of marriage, while 35 percent think the definition should change to include same-sex couples.

"What's clear from our data ... is that most Canadians want to see some middle ground on this issue. That's why I propose we recognize the traditional definition of marriage, but also make accommodation and respect the equality and benefits of those in other relationships," Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper said, as reported by Sun Media.

"What we're trying to do here is do the right thing and I think the right thing is to find a position that respects tradition and rights at the same time and is one that most Canadians could live with."

Meanwhile, James Dobson, chairman of Colorado-based Focus on the Family, encouraged Canadians to stand their ground on traditional marriage.

"It is clear here in the United States that the American people do not want same-sex marriage," Dobson said in a pre-recorded interview with leaders of the Canadian chapter of FOF, as reported by the CP. The broadcast was played on 130 stations across Canada. "I would hope that Canadians who also do not want same-sex marriage would be encouraged by what has happened down here."

"Your prime minister, Paul Martin, has recently done things to subvert the will of the people," Dobson said, commenting on the Prime Minister's edict forbidding Cabinet Ministers the freedom to vote on the legislation according to their conscience.

Vice-president of Focus on the Family Canada, Derek Rogusky, said that Dobson's message should help Canadians mobilize against same-sex "marriage." He also said it was appropriate for an American to get involved in the debate, because "It is not really a Canadian issue. It is an issue happening around the world."

"There (are) a lot of voices out there saying that if you oppose redefining marriage that somehow you are an extremist or a bigot," Rogusky said. "We needed to dispel that and I think hopefully we have done that and that will encourage some people to take some action."

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Abortion Funding for Privately Run Clinics? New Brunswick Says No Way

FREDERICTON, January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New Brunswick’s health minister said the province would not be using public funds to pay for abortions committed in private abortuaries, such as the one operated by Henry Morgentaler, despite federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh’s warning to begin doing so.

That was the word from New Brunswick Health Minister Elvy Robichaud during a news conference held Thursday, as reported by the CBC.

After a private meeting between the two ministers earlier this week, Dosanjh told reporters, “We also talked about the issue around choice and abortion and that being a medically necessary service and I advised Mr. Robichaud that we'd be enforcing the Canada Health Act on that and any other issue around the country.”

Robichaud was not pleased that Dosanjh discussed their conversation publicly; it was meant to be confidential, Robichaud said, because a court battle over the issue of public funding for private abortions is currently being waged between the province and Morgentaler.

“The funny thing though about Mr. Dosanjh is, on one hand he's trying to argue about health services being provided through a public system and what I understand is he's advocating for New Brunswick to provide health services to private clinics,” Robichaud said.

Canada's National pro-life political organization, Campaign Life Coalition, issued a press release today on the development. “It appears that the Minister of Health is following the pro-abortion agenda which he established in British Columbia before he became Canada’s Health Minister”, said Jim Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition. “We applaud Health Minister Robichaud and encourage him not to concede to the federal minister’s heavy-handed threats,” he continued.

“Canadians wait for months for treatment in health clinics for serious medical problems and the Health Minister has not been pressuring the provinces with regard to this problem,” said Mary Ellen Douglas. “Abortion is a life-style choice not a medical problem. Healthy babies are being killed,” she continued.

See the Campaign Life Coalition Press Release
http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/press/2005/050127Dosanjh.htm

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Liberal Government Pressuring New Brunswick to Fund Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jan/05012605.html
Ruling Awaited in New Brunswick Morgentaler Case
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/dec/04120807.html

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Daughter of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla Attends US March for Life

WASHINGTON, DC, January 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Laura Molla, daughter of St. Gianna Beretta Molla who was canonized by Pope John Paul II last year for her life of holiness and for sacrificing her own life for her unborn child, attended the March for Life in Washington this week.

Molla, sister of baby Gianna whose life was saved, spoke to attendees at the Rose Dinner following the march. She stated, "My mother is proud of you all and is watching and blessing us with her mother's smile."

Molla said that her mother made "the sacrifice of her own life so that her child could live." She explained, "In the end of the second month of her last pregnancy she developed a large fibroma . . . She refused an intervention" that could have resulted in the death of the child. Laura added, "A few days before delivery she said to my dad, ‘If you must choose between me and the baby, have no hesitation at all, I demand that you choose the baby. Save her.’ My sister Gianna was born April 21 1962. A week later mother died amidst unspeakable suffering. Her last words were 'Jesus I love you.'"

Laura concluded her talk with these noble words. "That was not an isolated act of heroism, it was the crowning of a whole life of sanctity as a physician, spouse and mother. A life, living the life of the Gospel imitating our Lord Jesus Christ and nourished daily with prayer, the Holy Mass and the sacraments. Fortified with such an elevated and noble example, which we beg the Lord to be made worthy of, my husband and I have come from Milan to participate today in this March for Life and testify to our conviction that human life is a gift of God that human love must protect from its conception till its natural end."

A beautifully produced official documentary video/DVD on the life of St. Gianna Beretta Molla is available form Salt and Light Television at:
https://saltandlighttv.org/shopping/product_info.php?products_id=34&osCsid=ae1b7...

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Woman Dies after being Rushed from George "the Killer" Tiller's Late-Term Abortion Mill

Was the woman a Canadian?

WICHITA, January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Today, LifeSiteNews.com learned that a woman, who was likely undergoing an abortion on January 13 at notorious late-term abortionist George "the Killer" Tiller's abortion facility, has died. Operation Rescue members, who keep a constant vigil outside Tiller's premises, reported that the woman, whose name has not yet been released, was rushed to Wesley Medical Center and died a few days later.

911 transcripts from the day show that an ambulance was requested by Tiller office worker Marguerite Reed, who, according to 911 dispatch records was being "very evasive" and "refused to give any information about the patient." Nothing is known about the identity of the woman and LifeSiteNews.com is attempting to discover if she was Canadian.

In September 2004, LifeSiteNews.com reported that the government of Quebec was using public funds to send Canadian women to Tiller. The report said that only children older than 24 weeks would be killed at taxpayer expense in Tiller's abortion mill. Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard admitted that in 2003, at least 30 Quebec late-term abortions were committed in Kansas and New York.

An anonymous source said the woman was suffering "severe hemorrhaging." LifeSiteNews.com contacted the hospital but spokesmen refused to reveal any details.

Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue told LifeSiteNews.com that his group has contacted the Kansas Board of Healing Arts and asked that Tiller's license be suspended while this incident is investigated.

Operation Rescue will hold a candlelight prayer vigil for the victim today, from 5- 6:15 pm, at the Wesley Medical Center. Newman said, "As we near the 32nd memorial of Roe v. Wade, we must ask ourselves how much more human tragedy must we endure before we will take action to stop abortion now."

Operation Rescue report:
http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/000149.shtml

Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/sep/04091001.html

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Leukemia and Heart Patients Treated with Stem Cells

More discoveries help researchers understand stem cells' complex systems.

January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood from four Hawaiian newborns has been matched to four Asian patients on the mainland with aggressive forms of leukemia. "These four people had a second chance from something we would have tossed in the trash," said Dr. Randal Wada.

Dr. Wada, founder and medical director of the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank is trying to convince Hawaiian mothers to donate the umbilical cords of their children at the time of birth. The umbilical cord blood bank he opened in 1998 is the only one operating in the Pacific Rim.

Despite the fact that cord blood is well known to be one of the richest sources of stem cells, there are fewer than two dozen cord blood banks in the US and even fewer in Canada. The stem cells available from cord blood have many of the same qualities as embryo stem cells that make them particularly useful for medical application, without any of the moral or medical problems of embryonic stem cells.

In related news, a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Asociacion Espanola Primera de Socorros Mutuos in Montevideo, Uruguay, the Benetti Foundation in Rosario, Argentina, and Baylor University in Texas, announced they have repaired damaged heart tissue using adult stem cells.

The research team told a meeting of the Society for Thoracic Surgery in Florida, that they were not sure exactly how it worked, but that stem cells inserted into the hearts of fifteen patients had adhered to the damaged areas and restored heart function to nearly healthy levels. "All patients were discharged home within two days," the researchers said in a statement. "Early echocardiograms showed a 35 percent improvement in ejection fraction for patients who received the cells, versus only 5 percent for the control group."

The cells, derived from the patients' bone marrow, were injected into a small slit in the chest, and obviated the necessity of heart transplant surgery, which is painful and dangerous.

These breakthroughs are being accompanied by detailed examination of the complex internal system of stem cells. A study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center funded by the National Institutes of Health has discovered an intricate set of chemical signals that stem cells use to regulate their environment.

The findings, available online in today's issue of Current Biology will help researchers understand and manipulate the complex chemical system that tells a stem cell to turn on or off certain genes. These signals determine if a cell will become some particular type of tissue, or remain a stem cell.

"We want to understand the biochemistry behind stem cells that distinguishes them from other types of cells," said Dr. Dennis McKearin, associate professor of molecular biology and associate dean for the Medical Scientist Training Program at UT Southwestern. "This work aids in understanding general stem cell biology."

Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
http://starbulletin.com/2005/01/23/news/story6.html

Reuters coverage of heart research:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-01-2...

Innovations Report:
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-39405.html

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Texas Governor Will Oppose Embryo Research

Reiterates pro-life stand at March for Life in Austin

AUSTIN, January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Republican Governor of Texas, has reiterated his pro-life stand and includes in that his opposition to embryonic stem cell research. Governor Rick Perry said Sunday during the local March for Life in Austin, "As long as I am the governor of this great state, I will oppose any taxpayer dollars being used and spent on research that ends a human life."

Perry told Texas legislators that the state must implement legislation on stem cells that would prevent Texas from "being left in the dust" by California. California has just enacted legislation that allocated $3 billion for embryonic stem cell research. Perry said that he supports President Bush's contention that a "balance" can be found between the protection of human life and the advancement of science.

Perry is facing an election campaign next year against Kay Bailey Hutchison. The issue of parental consent was prominent on Sunday's demonstration in Austin. Perry told the crowd of pro-life marchers, "Five years ago, we passed a bill requiring parental consent for a child to get her ears pierced," Perry said. "I think it's time that we applied that rationale and that same rational standard to abortions performed on minors."

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Latest UN Report Confirms World Population Headed for Plummet

NEW YORK, January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A newly released report from the United Nations affirms that world population levels which have been stagnating of late are headed for decline in the developed world with the developing world closely following the trend.

Women and men in developing countries are marrying later, having fewer children and having them later, following the pattern set earlier in the developed world. As a result, average fertility in developing countries has declined to under three children per woman. This is one of the major findings from World Fertility Report 2003, issued by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The report documents changes in reproductive behaviour, including marriage and contraceptive use, in 192 countries of the world since the early 1970s. The report also presents the latest information concerning governments’ views and policies on fertility.

Men and women are spending longer periods of their life unmarried, according to the report. Among the world’s 192 countries, the median proportion of women single at ages 25-29 increased from 15 per cent in the 1970s to 24 per cent in the 1990s. Among men, the increase was from 32 per cent to 44 per cent. The increases were even more substantial for developed countries, where the median proportion of singles at ages 25-29 increased from 15 per cent to 38 per cent among women and from 26 per cent to 57 per cent among men.

A huge increase in the use of birth control has taken place. Between the 1970s and the 1990s, the median level of contraceptive prevalence (any method including abortifacients and natural family planning) among all 192 countries increased from 38 per cent of women currently married or in union to 52 per cent. Among developing countries, median contraceptive prevalence rose from 27 per cent to 40 per cent.

The report notes that government policies have played major roles in encouraging population control, but fails to mention that much of this effort was at the behest of the United Nations and other international organizations such as International Planned Parenthood, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

By 2001, says the report, “92 per cent of all governments supported family-planning programmes and distributed contraceptives either directly (75 per cent), through government facilities, or indirectly (17 per cent), by supporting the activities of non-governmental organizations, such as family-planning associations.”

As a result, world population has experienced a major and unprecedented reduction of fertility levels, driven mostly by the decline in fertility in developing countries. Fertility in developing countries today averages around 2.9 children per woman. And in 20 developing countries, fertility is currently below or far below replacement level.

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Growing up in Large Families Significantly Lowers MS Risk as an Adult

NEW YORK, January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Growing up with infant siblings significantly reduces the risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis (MS) later in life, new research has shown.

Having a younger brother or sister less than two years of age before turning age seven significantly reduces the chance of developing MS as an adult, according to research reported in the January 26th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Additionally, the greater the number of siblings, the greater the risk of developing MS is reduced.

"It has been proposed that early life infections may reduce the risk for allergic and autoimmune disorders, such as MS, by influencing the developing immune system," said lead researcher Dr. Anne-Louise Ponsonby, as reported by Reuters Health.

"Younger siblings may be important because they provide a source of common infant viral infections and re-exposure to active viral infection is known to cause immune boosting and train immune responses," Dr. Ponsonby added.

Dr. Ponsonby also noted that the increasing prevalence of MS might be a direct effect of having smaller families, as the protective effect of exposure to infections in younger siblings is absent.

The research noted that the greater the collective amount of exposure - in other words, the greater the number of siblings - provides additive protection. Having 1 to 3 years of contact with a sibling two or younger reduced MS risk by 43%; 3 to 5 years of exposure conferred a 60% protection from MS, while more than five years of close contact with a sibling under two meant an 88% reduced likelihood of contracting the disease.

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National Geographic Reports Human/Animal Hybrid Creatures being Created in Labs Around the World

Biotech lobbyist says scientists have "gone over the edge into the pathological domain"

January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The January 25 edition of National Geographic News features a story on new research being done around the world to create hybrids of humans and animals.

In the last few years, legislation has been passed in various countries that pro-life leaders worry will allow experiments to create embryos made from human and animal cells. Such artificial creatures are, revealingly, called by scientists "chimeras," a word, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, which means "a wild, impossible scheme or unreal conception."

That scientists have no name for what they are creating in laboratories does not seem to deter them. National Geographic reports that in 2003, Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University combined human cells with rabbit eggs to create a hybrid embryo. The embryos were destroyed before they reached a certain stage and their stem cells retrieved.

Other experiments are proceeding quietly in research facilities around the world. At the Mayo Clinic, scientists created pigs with human blood. Stanford University in California is considering attempting to create mice with 'human' brains.

No known medical application has yet been developed for fully human embryonic stem cells, despite the massive hype. Cells taken from embryos are difficult to control and produce 'wild' results that scientists cannot predict or turn off. The problem of immune system rejection is also proving all but impossible to overcome. It is therefore even far less likely that there is any positive application for stem cells derived from human/animal hybrids.

National Geographic suggests that scientists hope to create 'spare parts' for transplantation, but the same problems of immune system rejection of foreign tissue applies to whole organs as much as to individual cells. It stands to reason that if a tissue match is difficult to obtain with fully human tissue, that to do so with human/animal hybrid tissue would be next to impossible. It is also questionable how much value such creatures would have for use as medical test subjects, another suggested use for them.

Such research has even given pause to those with no objection to abortion or embryo research per se. National Geographic quotes Jeremy Rifkin, a biotechnology activist prominent at UN meetings. "One doesn't have to be religious or into animal rights to think this doesn't make sense," said Rifkin. "It's the scientists who want to do this. They've now gone over the edge into the pathological domain."

National Geographic News:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0125_050125_chimeras.html

Related LifeSiteNews.com coverage of strange world of biotech experimentation:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/dec/04120803.html

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Biotech Company Only Uses Adult Stem Cells

Makes announcement to bolster sagging stock values

LOS ANGELES, January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In Los Angeles, Aastrom Biosciences Inc., a private biotech company, has announced that it uses only adult stem cells in its stem cell research. The company, however, was not making the announcement based on ethical motivations.

An article in the journal, Nature Medicine, said Sunday that the embryonic stem cell lines approved for public funding by the US government are contaminated with an animal molecule making them unsuitable for some research. Aastrom made the announcement after its stock fell 19% when investors assumed that their cells were from the contaminated lines. The company is using adult cells to do research into repairing severe bone fractures.

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PBS Scraps Lesbian Cartoon over Objections from Bush Appointee

WASHINGTON, January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - PBS, the US public broadcaster, has announced a decision to scrap a proposed cartoon featuring lesbians as characters after the new Education Secretary criticised the organization for spending public money to fund the film.

"The not-yet-aired episode of 'Postcards From Buster' shows the title character, an animated bunny named Buster, on a trip to Vermont - a state known for recognizing same-sex civil unions," according to a FOXNews.com account. "The episode features two lesbian couples, although the focus is on farm life and maple sugaring."

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the "Sugartime!" cartoon did not fulfill the mandate of the Education Department. The Department gives PBS public funds for television programming that encourages young children to learn how to read. She said that programming must contain "research-based educational objectives, content and materials."

"Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in the episode," Spellings said in a letter to PBS president and chief executive officer Pat Mitchell.

"Congress' and the Department's purpose in funding this programming certainly was not to introduce this kind of subject matter to children, particularly through the powerful and intimate medium of television."

Spellings also asked that the PBS refund the money granted to help produce the show.

"You can be assured that in the future the department will be more clear as to its expectations for any future programming that it funds," Spelling said in conclusion of her letter.

See FOXNews.com coverage:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145429,00.html

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