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2006 Losses of Religious Freedom Should Make American Christians Wake Up

Christians must push back or they will succumb to the anti-Christ proselytization of the dictatorship of relativism

Editorial By LifeSiteNews.com Editor John-Henry Westen

From the Target and K-Mart pharmacists fired for refusing to dispense the morning-after-pill because they considered them to be abortifacient, to the Boston Archdiocese ending 100 years of adoption services after Massachusetts insisted they must permit homosexual adoptions, Christian freedoms deteriorated in 2006.

January 16 is religious freedom day in the United States of America.  It commemorates the passage of the 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, authored by Thomas Jefferson.  It celebrates the First Amendment's protection of religious freedom.

President Bush commemorates the day this year noting, "Across the centuries, people have come to America seeking to worship the Almighty freely. Yet people in many countries live without the freedom to worship as they choose and some face persecution for their beliefs."

The loss of religious freedom is becoming more pronounced in America.  A short look at the losses on the religious front in America last year should serve as a wake up call to Christians in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

One would think that the case of the pharmacists and that of the archdiocese mentioned above would be quickly solved by having the court rule against such curbs on religious freedom, but the opposite is true.  U.S. District Judge John Shabaz ruled that K-Mart was in the clear for firing the pharmacist despite his objections that he did not want to dispense the abortifacient drugs due to his religious beliefs.

Apart from refusing appeals, it is the courts which in many cases are handing down decisions which encroach on freedom of religion.  For instance the 6th Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled in May that Rev. William Akridge, a Baptist prison chaplain, was required to permit a practicing homosexual to direct his chaplaincy choir. Akridge argued that while practicing homosexuals could take part in chaplaincy activities he felt it violated his faith to place them into leadership roles as it seemed an endorsement of their behaviour.

In October, the New York Court of Appeals ordered Catholic institutions in the state to provide contraception coverage for female employees in health insurance plans. Since contraception contravenes the Catholic faith, and the decision ruled on specifically Catholic institutions, it is being seen as part of a dangerous trend where courts decide for religious organizations how they must conduct their internal affairs.

The courts even approved official Catholic bashing by the San Francisco city government.  In March the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a non-binding resolution blasting the Catholic Church for its opposition to homosexual adoption.  Insulting thousands of Catholic city residents, the resolution described Catholic teaching as "hateful", "discriminatory", "insulting" and "ignorant".  A lawsuit launched by concerned Catholics was rebuffed when, incredulously, the resolution was been deemed "constitutional" by Federal Judge Marily Hall Patel.

One would think to call the police to stop the insanity.  However even the good men and women in blue have been compromised on religious freedom.  Christian psychologist Michael Campion, who was first suspended (and then cleared) by the Minneapolis Police Department after city officials learned that he was once a board member of the Illinois Family Institute - a group which (gasp) opposes same-sex 'marriage' and abortion, lost his job with the Department.

The situation even affects our children in grade school as a Rochester, New York Mom found out.  The mother was outraged to find out that her 13-year-old daughter was secretly given a prescription for the controversial morning after pill by a school nurse. 

Students in high school also feel the pinch of repression. In Nevada, Clark County School District officials cut off the microphone during the valedictorian address of the top student graduating from Foothill High.  Brittany McComb had her speech vetted and was ordered to remove the single reference to "Jesus Christ".  She decided to go ahead and mention Christ but officials cut the mike as she was about to voice the name.  She reasoned, "I went through four years of school at Foothill and they taught me logic and they taught me freedom of speech, God's the biggest part of my life. Just like other valedictorians thank their parents, I wanted to thank my Lord and Savior."  

We'd do well to hearken to President Bush's recommendation.  "I call on all Americans to reflect on the great blessing of religious liberty, endeavor to preserve this freedom for future generations," he said in his proclamation. 

We have to follow Brittany's example and stand up for what we believe in, and press for our right to freedom of religion.  Secular atheists are pressing with religious fervor for the removal of any mention of Christ or God in any public forum.  Christians must push back or they will succumb to the anti-Christ proselytization of the dictatorship of relativism.

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Irish Protestant Politician Advocates Right of Catholic Student in UK to Wear Crucifix Chain

By Meg Jalsevac and John-Henry Westen

KENT, England, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Another British school has forbidden a student to wear a small crucifix on a chain around her neck.  Samantha Devine, a 13 year old student at Robert Napier School in the southeastern county of Kent was sent home after she refused to remove the crucifix that she was wearing around her neck.

Napier officials touted school dress-code policy which prohibits jewelry of any kind as a "health and safety" precaution unless the jewelry is an "essential requirement" of religious apparel.  Deputy head-teacher Paul Jackson explained, "We have no reason to believe this to be the case in this instance." Devine was told that she could wear a crucifix as a lapel badge or pin but not on a chain around her neck.

Devine and her family object, arguing that members of other religions are permitted to wear religious articles that technically violate the dress-code.  Mr. Devine, an ex-serviceman, calls the situation "Political correctness gone absolutely mad."  Devine said, "It makes me wonder why I protected my country when we can't even protect my religious beliefs."

Samantha says Muslim students may wear headscarves and Sikh pupils are allowed to wear turbans and bangles to class.  She said, "Other religions are allowed to show their beliefs by wearing bracelets or turbans, so why can I not wear a cross to show my devotion to God?"

Dr. Esmond Birnie, Spokesman on Family and Children Issues for the Protestant Ulster Unionist Party of Ireland addressed the recent controversy saying, "The banning of crucifixes is discriminatory and unacceptable."  Birnie asserted that the Department of Education in England (DfES) should not insult Christian beliefs by equating their religious symbols with petty dress-code violations.   

Gregory Carlin, a child's rights lobbyist in Northern Ireland told LifeSiteNews.com that the purported "health and safety concerns" over wearing a crucifix on a chain were "fraudulent".  Said Carlin, "In terms of dangerous items, research has shown that a crucifix on a chain is far less problematic than items such as shoelaces and neckties.  Shoelaces and neckties are responsible for hundreds of accidents in schools each year.  I haven't found any recorded accidents with crucifix necklaces.  Yet the schools want to ban crucifixes but not neckties or shoelaces."

Birnie also admitted that he found the "health and safety" excuse offered by school officials "very difficult to accept" and, instead, attributed their actions to the fact that "it is becoming very fashionable to target Christians."  

Birnie encouraged school officials to focus on their ultimate purpose of educating students rather than engaging in politically correct squabbles saying, "The staff and governors of schools should focus more closely on improving exam results and spend less time making Christian pupils feel uncomfortable or persecuted."

Carlin called the school's suggestion to wear a crucifix lapel pin just "rubbing salt into the wounds".  A crucifix worn around the neck has been a long-standing Christian tradition and a crucifix lapel pin would be much harder to come by. 

Samantha and her family have vowed to continue fighting for her right to wear the crucifix around her neck even if means expulsion or a lawsuit.

As previously reported by LifeSiteNews.com, England has been embroiled in similar controversies over the past few years.  In 2005, a student was similarly forbidden to wear her crucifix around her neck during school despite other religious groups being able to portray their religious symbols.  Earlier this year, public outcry forced British Airways to alter their policy after a Christian employ was threatened with termination for wearing a crucifix with her uniform.  

To express concern over Robert Napier's School policies contact:

Read Related LifeSiteNews.com Coverage:

Sikh Minister Supports Right of UK School Girl to Wear Crucifix to School
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05120803.html

Sikh Sacred Band OK but Crucifix No Way says UK School
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05120606.html

British Airways Backs Down on Cross Ban After International Outrage
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06112701.html

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France: Ministry Withdraws HomeSchooling Prohibition After International Outcry

By Gudrun Schultz

PARIS, France, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A proposal to outlaw most home schooling in France was withdrawn after an international outcry against the measure was raised by home schooling associations and concerned individuals, according to the U.S.-based Home Schooling Legal Defense Association.

Sections of the bill Protection de L’Enfance (Protection of the Children) would have brought in radical restrictions on home schooling, HSLDA warned, limiting the practice to families who “showed that the health or handicap of their child makes it necessary for him or her to be taught at home.”

Families who would qualify under the restrictions would be required to undergo a home visit by a government official each year, WorldNetDaily reported Jan.13, and they would be forced to use the curriculum from the “National Center of Correspondent Teaching” or another approved source.

Philippe Bas, French Minister of the Family, spoke out against the amendments, saying parents’ freedom to educate their children themselves must be protected.

"As they are, I am not favorable to these amendments [numbers 127 and 128], I find them too restrictive. . . ,” Mr. Bas said. “We must allow parents who, for instance, have three young children, a mother who is willing to take care of them and if they have decided to teach them to read-write-count--if that is their choice of living--provided that we can verify that the educational job is well done, then that freedom must be preserved."

French education officials admitted that poor learning levels in primary school were a factor in the decision to educate at home, for the parents of some 20,000 home schooled students in the country, according to WND. Some 80,000 students enter secondary school unable to read, write or count, the officials pointed out.

In what the HSLDA called an “incredible turnaround of events,” the minister who sponsored the measure withdrew amendments that would have denied most parents  the choice to home school  their children.

Commenting on the withdrawal of the amendments, HSLDA senior counsel Christopher J. Klicka said, “The homeschoolers in France are thankful that their right to teach their own children will not be taken away. These amendments, if passed, would have eliminated traditional homeschooling in France, only allowing home schooling if the family could prove that it was necessary for their children to be taught at home due to a handicap or health reason. This is no longer a concern since these amendments have been withdrawn.”

The organization had sent out an alert early in January, warning supporters that the “draconian” suggestion to effectively outlaw home schooling in the country had been proposed in the French parliament.

Asking American home schooling supporters to contact the French Embassy, the HSLDA reminded them of previous successes in lobbying for the protection of home school programs in Ireland, the Czech Republic and South Africa. While the organization originated as a support for home schooling in the United States, the group has expanded their focus to address home schooling concerns internationally. 

Home schooling has come under serious attack in Germany recently, with police enforcing a formal ban on home education by seizing children and physically transporting them to school facilities. Some families under threat by enforcement officers have left the country for Austria, where policies on home schooling are less restrictive.

See WorldNetDaily coverage:
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53752

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:

German Police Physically Force Home Schooled Children to Public School
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06102503.html

German School Official Declares "Homeschooling Illegal"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jan/05011203.html

European Human Rights Court Rules State May Deny Parents Right to Home School Their Children
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/sep/06092708.html

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Aussie Bishop Launches Final Appeal to Oust Faithful Priest Despite Vatican Orders to Reinstate Him

By Peter J. Smith

VICTORIA, Australia, January 15, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Australian Bishop has made an appeal to the highest court of the Vatican after the Congregation of Clergy ruled his accusations of “ineffective ministry” against a priest faithful to Church rules on the reception of sacraments lacked sufficient evidence.

Bishop Jeremiah Coffey of the diocese of Sale removed Father John Speekman from his position as pastor of the Morwell parish after staff from the parish’s two schools complained of bullying and psychological harassment, and that he denied Holy Communion to children who did not attend Sunday Mass. 

Australia’s news journal The Age reports today that Bishop Coffey’s spokesman announced he will appeal to the Signatura, the Vatican’s highest court of appeals, rather than reinstall Fr. Speekman as pastor “without further delay” as ordered by the Congregation.

Back in 2004, the Congregation for the Clergy ruled that the case against Fr. Speekman lacked substantial evidence to warrant his removal from the pastorate. However, Bishop Coffey refused to comply with the Congregation and issued another Decree of Removal in January 2006, which the Congregation again ruled violated the canons of the Church and lacked any merit last November.
 
According to Catholic teaching, deliberately missing Sunday Mass constitutes a mortal sin, which makes a participant spiritually indisposed to receive Holy Communion until he confesses it in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

While Fr. Speekman reaffirmed his commitment to the Catholic school system, he found the current policy of forcing Catholic sacraments on students whose parents had little interest in raising their children Catholic or fulfilling their obligation to attend Sunday Mass “well-meant but ultimately unhelpful”.

“I believe this practice of "force-feeding" the sacraments to non-practising children from unevangelised families has, over the years, come to constitute a significant obstacle to the commencement of true evangelisation,” Fr. Speekman wrote in the July 2003 edition of AD 2000. “We should work to awaken families to the fact that it is their responsibility to seek out sacraments for their children from the parish … we have to cease this preoccupation with sacramentalising children from unevangelised families and begin to support the parish in the difficult but exciting task of evangelising families.”

In the same month, Bishop Coffey issued his first Decree of Removal stripping Fr. Speekman of his authority of pastor on account of a conflict between Fr. Speekman and the two parish schools.

Currently, Father Speekman acts as an administrator in the Sydney Archdiocese parish of Camperdown, yet under Canon Law remains parish priest at Morwell.

"I was removed, I appealed, I won the case, I waited 15 months for a second case and won that," Fr. Speekman stated to the Age. "The bishop has been instructed to reinstate me. So I sit here at my desk and go about my business and wait for the bishop's next move."

However, Morwell’s current administrator, Father Cleary, suggested the next appeal will likely take at least another year, by which time Bishop Coffey would have turned 75 and retired.

The Vatican’s decree ordering Fr. Speekman’s reinstatement can be found on the Catholic journal, Into the Deep.
http://www.stoneswillshout.com/january_07.doc

Background information from Into the Deep can be found here:
http://www.stoneswillshout.com/december_06.doc

To respectfully contact the Bishop of Sale

Bishop Jeremiah Coffey
PO Box 183
Sale Victoria 3850

Phone: (03) 5144 6132
Fax: (03) 5144 3855
E-mail:

To contact Vatican Offices

CONGREGATION FOR BISHOPS
Piazza Pio XII 10
00193
Rome, Italy
Phone: 011.39.6.69.88.42.17
Fax: 011.39.6.69.88.53.03

CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY
Piazza Pio XII 3
00193
Rome, Italy
Phone: 011.39.6.69.88.41.51
Fax: 011.39.6.69.88.48.45

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Chilean Constitutional Court Decree Halts Distribution of Abortifacient Plan B

By Gudrun Schultz

SANTIAGO, Chile, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A controversial program distributing the abortifacient morning-after pill free to girls as young as 14 was halted last Friday when the Constitutional Court declared the program was unconstitutional on a technicality, in the latest effort by opponents to block the measure pushed through by the government.

The court voted 6-4 that the distribution program violated the constitution because it was authorized by an administration body, the Associated Press reported Jan. 12. The ruling stated that the program must be approved by the legislature or by presidential decree before it would be valid under the constitution.

The distribution program has been strongly opposed by conservative lawmakers, as well as Catholic Church leaders. Thirty-two legislators requested the court to rule on the issue, saying the drug violates the country’s anti-abortion laws by acting as an abortifacient and also goes against parental rights by making the drug available to young girls without their parents’ knowledge.

While supporters of the emergency contraceptive claim it only prevents pregnancy from occuring, in fact the drug can cause an abortion in the earliest stages of pregnancy by preventing the embryo from attaching to the wall of the womb--just last week, drug manufacturers in New Zealand admitted the drug could act as an abortifacient.

The Constitutional Court did not address the abortifacient nature of the pill or the question of parental rights, making the decision solely on the technicality issue.

The government said President Michelle Bachelet, who supports the program, would issue the required decree--supporters of the measure want to avoid a legislative vote due to a lack of support in Congress.

Attorney for the legislators, Jorge Reyes, said the case would not end with a presidential decree. If a degree should be issued, he said, “We will go back to the court to object to other aspects of the program that we consider unconstitutional.”

While abortion in the predominantly Catholic country is illegal, efforts are underway to push through legislation decriminalizing abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

International organizations, including the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women, have been increasingly pressuring the country to legalize abortion over the past decade, as well as advocating for contraceptive programs and greater support for homosexuality.

See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

After Long Battle, Chilean Court Legalizes Abortifacient ‘Morning After Pill’
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06111307.html

Chilean Court Reverses Its Decision and Allows Abortifacient ‘Morning After Pill’
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/sep/06092605.html

Chilean Supreme Court Orders Sale of Abortifacient Morning-After Pill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05120202.html

Plan B Manufacturer for New Zealand Admits it Causes Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07010309.html

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N.J. Law Considered Necessary to Protect Clergy’s Right to Refuse Same-Sex Union Ceremonies

Civil marriage commissioners forced to perform ceremonies regardless of conscience

TRENTON, New Jersey, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In what many are calling evidence of a disturbing new necessity, New Jersey Attorney General Stuart Rabner announced last week that members of the clergy will not be forced to perform civil union ceremonies for same-sex couples. Rabner said the state’s Law Against Discrimination would not apply to religious leaders.

“There is no statutory bar to a member of the clergy declining to solemnize civil unions in accordance with sincerely held religious beliefs, even though that religious figure regularly solemnizes marriages," Rabner said in a letter to state registrar Joseph Komosinski, the Asbury Park Press reported Jan. 12.

The anti-discrimination law would, however, apply to any government official legally permitted to conduct marriage or civil union ceremonies, he said in an opinion issued in December. While government officials, such as mayors or judges, are not required to conduct marriage or civil union ceremonies, if they chose to do so they would not be allowed to refuse same-sex couples.

While Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, who has said he will not perform civil unions, said he was not surprised at the exemption of clergy, he pointed out that the decision essentially creates a “rights” hierarchy.

"I can't imagine how they'd have the audacity to go that far [forcing clergy to perform same-sex ceremonies]," Lonegan said. "I guess what they're saying is there are different rights for different people in different positions."

The law as it stands would require some officials to violate their religious beliefs, said Rick Malwitz, writing for the Home News Tribune Online.

“Who is being punished here? Certainly not same-sex couples,” Malwitz wrote. “If their mayor will not officiate at a civil-union ceremony, the couple can look elsewhere. Surely they can find another public official, a sympathetic judge or a willing member of the clergy.

“But the way the law is written, some officials would have to violate their religious beliefs and yield to the beliefs of the fundamentalists. While activists on the religious right have often been accused of forcing their beliefs down the throats of the community — on matters such as abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research — advocates for strict interpretation of New Jersey's civil union law are proving they can play the same game.”

The Alliance Defense Fund, a legal coalition dedicated to defending religious freedom, is considering launching legal action on Lonegan’s behalf. Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the ADF, said, “The attorney general has taken a very extreme and hard-edged interpretation of the New Jersey laws against discrimination. And I'm not convinced the courts would agree with his absolutist interpretation of the state law."

The ADF will decide whether to file suit by Feb.19, when the state’s new civil-union law will take effect.

A bill was introduced in the Senate last week that would allow mayors to conduct marriages according to their personal religious beliefs, following Rabner’s ruling on clergy.

"Clergy are licensed by the state, and so are mayors," Sen. Henry McNamara, who introduced the measure, said. "It doesn't say in the statute you have a different licensing, so why wouldn't you be treated the same way?"

 See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

New Same-Sex Civil Union Law for New Jersey
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jan/04010910.html

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Georgia Prepares to Battle Roe v. Wade

House bill challenges Roe by establishing personhood of unborn

By Peter J. Smith

Atlanta, Georgia, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Georgia House of Representatives has taken up the gauntlet to challenge the 34-year-old Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion with a new bill that establishes an unborn child as a human person at conception deserving full protection under the law with no exceptions.

House Bill 1 sponsored by Bobby Franklin with many other cosponsors, declares that “a fetus is a person for all purposes under the laws of this state from the moment of conception" and cites the decision of Roe v. Wade itself to justify its complete ban of abortion.

Franklin’s bill states that “The State of Georgia has the duty to protect all innocent life from the moment of conception until natural death,” and adds that three decades of legal human abortion have “negatively impacted the people of this state in many ways, including economic, health, physical, psychological, emotional, and medical well-being.”

“As a direct result of three decades of legalized abortion on demand, the nation has seen a dramatic rise in the incidence of child abuse and a dramatic weakening of family ties, with the infamous Roe v. Wade decision pitting mothers against their children and women against men.”

The legislation continues: "Georgia Constitution, at Article I, Section I, Paragraph II, provides: 'Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of government and shall be impartial and complete. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. Because a fetus is a person, constitutional protection attaches at the moment of conception."

Under article 5, the legislation quotes the Roe decision: “Justice Blackmun, writing for the majority in Roe v. Wade , 410 U.S. 113 (1973), wrote: 'when those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer [to the question of when life begins].' Now, 30 years later, the General Assembly knows the answer to that difficult question, and that answer is life begins at the moment of conception.”

In the 1973 Roe decision, Justice Blackmun admitted that Roe would lose its legal justification if an unborn child were determined as a person deserving of rights guaranteed in the 14th Amendment. "[Texas] argue[s] that the fetus is a 'person' within the language and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment… If this suggestion of personhood is established, the [pro-abortion] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment."

The bill was brought before a house committee hearing January 9, where Sandra Cano, “Mary Doe” of Roe’s companion case Doe v. Bolton, offered testimony and was joined by Dr. Alveda King, niece of the famed Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, jr.

The bill has been greeted with enthusiasm from pro-life organizations. Rev. Flip Benham, Director of Operation Save America/Operation Rescue, described the measure as “the very best bill that any state has brought before its legislative body yet… it is an all out declaration that human life begins at conception and therefore is due protection under the color of Law.”
 
A copy of Georgia’s House Bill 1 can be found at:.
http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/articles/articles/ga-house-bill-1.htm?ARTICL...

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Feminist Activist Lawyer in Moncton to Launch Suit Forcing Public Funding of Private Abortions

By Hilary White

MONCTON, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-abortion lawyer in New Brunswick has announced she will launch a suit to try to force the province to lift funding restrictions on abortion. Currently, the province requires abortions to be carried out by a licensed gynecologist in a hospital and will not cover the expenses for abortion at Dr. Morgentaler’s private facility in Fredericton.

Moncton lawyer, feminist and same-sex marriage activist Michélle Caron, charged that the restrictions are “unconstitutional and discriminatory.” She told the CBC she plans to launch the suit in the spring if her meetings with the New Brunswick health minister Michael Murphy do not result in a change of policy.

Caron, a professor at Université de Moncton, wrote a column in August last summer suggesting that the province’s reluctance to pay for abortions outside hospitals was a conspiracy between the provincial government and the Catholic Church.

She wrote, “To what extent is the opposition to freedom of choice for women linked to the legitimization of the patriarchal structure of the Catholic Church? What are the connections between the political decision makers and the Church? Why is the principle of the separation of church and state not in effect in New Brunswick?” The column is featured on the website of the provincially funded Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

Although Liberal health minister Ujjal Dosanjh had insisted the province must pay for abortions in Morgentaler’s Fredericton facility, in December, the federal government said it would not be pursuing the issue.

Tory health minister, Tony Clement, said in December that it is “off the radar” for the Conservative government. 

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Chinese Pro-Life Activist’s Final Appeal Rejected

Supporters claim charges are political reprisals for actions against one-child policy

By Hilary White

LINYI, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Chinese court has rejected the final appeal by blind pro-life legal activist Chen Guangcheng of his conviction on charges of damaging public property and inciting a mob to disrupt traffic.

On Friday, the Linyi City Intermediate Court upheld the sentence of fifty-one months previously confirmed in November 2006. His supporters have said the charges and trials were political reprisals for his activism against the one-child population control policy.

Chen’s lawyer Li Jinsong vowed to appeal the ruling to the Chinese legislature, the Supreme Court or the Beijing government.

Chen, a self-taught lawyer, had been placed under house arrest after he embarrassed local officials in 2005 by filing a class-action suit alleging that thousands of local people had been forcibly sterilized and subjected to abortions under the one-child policy. The Washington Post reported that a campaign was launched by the Linyi officials to portray Chen as working for “foreign anti-China forces.”

Human rights activists have told international media that the loss of Chen’s appeal is part of a larger scheme of the government to suppress efforts by lawyer activists to draw attention to the plight of peasants and low-income workers. The Washington Post reports that new rules have been announced restricting legal activities in “politically charged” cases outside their home cities.

Chen was convicted and sentenced despite strong objections from US Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey, who heads the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Sauerbrey said the US government believes there was “a certain violation of normal standards,” and urged the Chinese government to release him.

Read previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Blind Chinese Activist’s Sentence For Exposing Human Rights Abuses Upheld http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/dec/06120406.html

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China By 2020: 30 Million Unhappy Bachelors

Authorities say demographic imbalance will result in economic crisis; imminent rise of prostitution, kidnapping; even terrorism

By Cassidy Bugos

BEIJING, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With no letup in sight for the nation’s unbridled rate of sex-selective abortion and female infanticide, China will have 30 million more marriageable men than women in less than 15 years, Chinese media reported Friday.

Last year there were 118 boys born for every 100 girls, a giant leap from 110 boys to 100 girls only five years ago, the China Daily revealed in a front-page report.

In some areas of China, such as the southern regions of Guangdong and Hainan, the gender gap has ballooned to 130 boys to 100 girls, the report said. The average for developed nations is 104 to 100.

The Chinese communist government’s coercive one-child policy has been in place since the 1970s. This policy alone, researchers say, is already resulting in a severe disproportion between senior and working-age people that could cripple social security and retirement programs. 

An unforeseen side effect of the policy, however, comes from the consistent number of Chinese couples who, permitted only one child, much prefer having a son to a daughter. Having a son, they believe, will ensure their support in old age, and also admits them to a certain status quo. Hence a significant percentage of couples who conceive a girl first abort or kill her at birth in order to get a ‘second chance’ at having a ‘firstborn’ son.

Although sex-selective abortion is officially prohibited, in June 2006 the Chinese government refused proposals to make it in any way a punishable offence.

In recent years LifeSiteNews.com has published numerous warnings about the effects of China’s one-child policy and its gender-gap fallout from officials within China and demographics experts around the world.

In March 2004, deputy chairman of the family planning committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Li Weixiong described the visible effects of sex-selective abortion. Not only is it disheartening for the male population, Weixiong explained, it has also had a negative impact on the existing female population, causing a “dramatic rise” in prostitution, mercenary marriage and the black market trade of women.

A year ago University of Toulouse professor of economics Paul Seabright voiced his concern that the gender imbalance in China may lead to violence and even terrorism by the unmarriageable and “sexually frustrated” men there. “I’d like to make a small bet that in 30 years time there will be more terrorist incidents in China than probably almost anywhere else, because of increased competition,” Seabright said.

Turning a deaf ear to such warnings, the Chinese Communist government in the year 2000 announced its decision to celebrate the “great success” of the one-child policy, having “preventing at least 250 million births since 1980,” by making it permanent. The Party stated in its release: “We cannot just be content with the current success, we must make population control a permanent policy.”

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Academic Bets Terrorism Will Thrive in China with 30 Million Frustrated Bachelors
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05120602.html

China Will Not Pursue Criminal Penalties For Sex-Selection Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06062604.html

China Admits its Girl Shortage Caused by One Child Policy is a "Major Threat"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/may/04051107.html

China’s One-Child Policy to Cripple Chinese Economy
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/feb/04021806.html

Slavery, Prostitution Effect of China’s One-Child Policy
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/mar/04030908.html

7000 Unborn Girls Die From Sex-Selection Abortion Daily in India
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/dec/06121401.html

“Gendercide”- Abortion and Infanticide of Girls Leading to Lop-Sided Demographics
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05112208.html

UN Study on Violence Against Children Ignores 47 Million Annual Abortion Deaths, Sex Selection Abortions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06101302.html

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LifeSiteNews.com Newsbytes

Fact Sheet and Talking Points: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12166/BLI/nation/index.htm

Sen. Barbara Boxer Decked by Own Left Jab
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12167/LEGAL/legalother/index.htm

Another Indian state passes anti-conversion bill
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8352

Why do Western women embrace Islam?
http://www.mercatornet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=453

The Next Battle For and Against Jesus Will Be Fought by the Book - Pope benedicts
http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=110941&eng=y

Head of Dominicans urges being open to Gay films, books, friends
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/note.jsp?did=1206-notes-update

Dobson says he couldn't support senator 'under any circumstances'
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53743

Pro-life groups decry House backing for embryonic stem cell research
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8368

Block of anti-life NGOs seeking to bring “therapeutic” abortion back to Nicaragua
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8375

Sen. Brownback Comments on House Stem Cell Vote
http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/9374

Safe-Haven Laws Fail to End Discarding of Babies
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/nyregion/13babies.html?hp&ex=1168750800&am...

A rabbi's warning to U.S. Christians
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53748

U.S. homeschool group lends support to French parents who distrust public schools
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53752

Navy dismisses chaplain who prayed 'in Jesus' name'
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53731

Attack shows Communists still persecute Christians
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53709

Persecution against Christians in Burma revealed in new report called ‘Carrying the Cross’
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07010053.htm

Twenty Percent of Chinese Middle School Students Have Considered Suicide
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-1-10/50274.html

Right to life not debatable, say Chilean bishops in response to new health law
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8366

New Congress Dredges Up Unnecessary Controversy on embryonic stem cell research
http://www.cwalac.org/article_396.shtml

On college campuses, counselors are seeing double the number of depression cases and triple the number of suicidal students.
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12149/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm

Judge Says Sex-Abuse Victims Can Seek Damages From Vatican
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243087,00.html

Children of Men movie is in a category all its own: Call it an act of vandalism
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=574

Amendment Offered to Protect Grassroots Lobbying
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003607.cfm

TV Violence Continues to Rise
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003605.cfm

The Priest Shortage Isn’t Over, But Seminaries Are Filling Up
http://ncregister.com/site/article/1733

The Wielgus Case: Why He Was Removed
http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=110361&eng=y

What is Utilitarianism?
http://www.mercatornet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=451

Gays' in the Military - a Troop 'Surge' Liberals Support
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12158/CWA/family/index.htm

The real Mitt Romney - Governor defends pro-choice, pro-gay positions in 1994 debate with Ted Kennedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI&eurl=

Proposed US Lobby Law would Hamper Free Speech and Efforts of Life and Family Groups
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003592.cfm

Planned Parenthood's Promotion of Sex for Social Revolution
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12141/CWA/life/index.htm

Make Way for the Mega-Mosque
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/83805.aspx

'Tiller the Killer' abortion case goes to Kansas Supreme Court
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53657

Feminist organizations launch offensive to legalize abortion in Mexico
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8328

Pro-family activists in Spain demand plan to increase birthrate
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8337

Parents block plans to vaccinate nine-year-olds against sex virus
http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=34172007

Naked Parties the Rage Among the Elite-to-Be at U.S. Ivy League Universities
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=36832007

Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese Expresses Homosexual Solidarity
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/880371878.html

8,000 Satanic sects across Italy with more than 600,000 members
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/07/wdevil07.xml

Gay Clergy Issue Slipping Out of Control: Anglican Archbishop Williams
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1822737.htm

The British PM's Wife, The Druid Priestess And The No-Sex Guru
http://www.raidersnewsnetwork.com/full.php?news=1789

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