Articles for Month: August 1998

TORONTO, Aug 24 (LSN) – The Canadian Family Action Coalition (CFAC) urged pro-family advocates last week to increase their lobbying efforts to their local Members of Parliament to protest the federally funded survey of practicing homosexuals being undertaken by the extremist group EGALE (Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere). CFAC says that the government is looking for evidence of discrimination and violence against gays and lesbians in order to justify their “so-called ‘hate crimes’ legislation.”  CFAC charges that the government has all but assured that they will get the results they are looking for by allowing EGALE to perform the […]

LONDON, England, Aug 21 (LSN) – Prayers are requested for pro-life activist Michael O’Doherty who begins his second trial today for holding up a picture of a six-week pre-born child in front of the Marie Stopes abortuary as a peaceful and prayerful witness to mothers who enter. In Epping Magistrates Court Michael is charged with breaking bail and violating the Public Order Act by holding the picture which his persecutors claim is “likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.” Michael is a 64-year-old father of six and grandfather of six who prays faithfully in front of the abortuaries.

RICHMOND, VA, Aug 21 (LSN) – Yesterday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that a law requiring parental notification before minors commit abortions does not violate the Roe v. Wade decision.  Judge J. Michael Luttig wrote that the law “respects the fundamental interests of responsible parents in the rearing and in the educational, moral and religious development of their children.” Planned Parenthood had objected to the law claiming that it unconstitutionally restricted access to abortion.

FREEHOLD, NJ, Aug 21 (LSN) – Yesterday, Melissa Drexler, the girl who gave birth to a baby at her prom in June last year, shoved the baby into the trash to die and resumed her dancing, pled guilty to aggravated manslaughter. Drexler gave no explanation for her actions nor did she offer an apology. Reading from a note in court Drexler said, “The baby was born alive, I was aware of what I was doing when I placed the baby in the bag, and I was further aware that what I did would most certainly result in the death of […]

NEW YORK, Aug 21 (LSN) – The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (CAFHRI) reported yesterday on a U.N. report which will serve as a base for the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo+5) scheduled for next June in New York City. The report issued two weeks ago is entitled “Round Table of Human Rights Treaty Bodies on Human Rights Approaches to Women’s Health with a Focus on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.” It was developed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),  and signed by, among others, the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF), the World Health Organization […]

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 21 (LSN) – A study being presented at a meeting of the American Sociological Association today found that boys whose fathers were absent from home were twice as likely to be incarcerated. The Washington Post reported today that researchers Cynthia Harper of the University of Pennsylvania and Sara S. McLanahan of Princeton University noted that “Remarriage of parents doesn’t help; a step-parent in the household doesn’t erase the father-absent problem.” While sons of single mothers fared worst, the study indicated that boys of parents who separate during the child’s adolescence were 1 « times as likely to […]

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich., Aug 20 (LSN) – On Wednesday, a 17-year-old who is accused of raping his 12-year-  old sister (resulting in her parents traveling with her out of state to obtain a late term abortion) was arraigned in court and faces a felony rape charge. Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga, who was criticized for saying that the crime looked like nothing more than “a case of youthful sexual experimentation,” has suggested that the serious charge is only a warning and he would let the youth off with pleading guilty to a misdemeanor. Marlinga claims that the lesser charge is […]

CALGARY, Aug 20 (LSN) – The Alberta Report magazine reported earlier this month on the ever increasing practice of DNA testing to verify the paternity of children and said it could become even more common if the cost of such tests decreases. Billboards advertising the service dot highways in the US attracting suspicious husbands to pay between $800 and $1600 (US) to look into the fidelity of their spouses.  Alberta Report noted that several studies in the early 1990s found at least 10% of children born to “stable couples” to be illegitimate. A British study conducted in 1970 found 30% […]

SEATTLE, Aug 20 (LSN) – Yesterday the Oregon Health Division delivered its mandated report on the effects of the new law permitting assisted suicide revealing that ten patients requested and received lethal doses of drugs. Only eight of the five men and five women actually followed through with their suicides. All but one of the victims of the new law were cancer patients. According to the report the assisted suicides took place within the last three to four months.  The Oregon Catholic Conference mourned the report, warning that: “Today’s news confirms the tragic path on which the practice of medicine […]

CHATTANOOGA, TN, Aug 20 (LSN) – Yesterday, Priests for Life issued a press release calling all who have had abortions to “come back to the Church.” Fr. Frank Pavone, leader of the group renewed the commitment of Priests for Life to provide welcoming compassion, healing, and forgiveness “to anyone who has, in any way,  been involved in procuring or providing an abortion.”  Priests for Life, an association which is several thousand members strong, is urging anyone who is in search of healing to call their National Office for Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing at 1-800-5-  WE-CARE. Callers will be referred to […]