Articles for Month: November 2001

The US House approved a $32.8 billion financing measure, 339-85, on Wednesday that requires the coverage of abortifacient contraceptives but would continue existing law that forbids federal employees’ health insurance from covering abortion. The New York Times reports that a much-anticipated registry of human embryonic stem cells that could be used for federally financed research should be available to scientists and the public within a week.  https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/01/national/01STEM.html?searchpv=nytToday

Catholic World News reports that the Archdiocese of Thrichur in south India has dedicated four million rosaries ‘in penance’ to counteract the rampant culture of death, in a campaign that concluded October 31. Father Jose Maliekal, vicar of Nirmalapuram parish in the Thrichur archdiocese told CWNews.com that during the campaign, mounted the pro-life group of his parish, most of the 200 parishes in the archdiocese responded to the call, dedicating 20,000 rosaries per parish. In a pastoral letter to 450,000 Catholics of the archdiocese, Archbishop Jacob Thoomkuzhy had urged parishes to join in the campaign.  https://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=20484 Priests for Life is […]

LONDON, November 2, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The Pro-Life Alliance has taken the UK government to court over their allowance of human “therapeutic” cloning. The pro-life group is arguing that based on a technicality, the government’s embryo regulatory authority does not have the regulate cloning. The judge in the case has deferred his judgment and it is expected next week. The group is arguing that the Human Embryology and Fertility Authority cannot regulate clonging since the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act does not define embryos as they are when created by cloning. “Cloned embryos have not undergone fertilisation and no […]

NEW YORK, November 2, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Roman Catholic priest, Father Norman Weslin was told he must surrender himself to McKean Federal Prison, Bradford, Pennsylvania Monday. On October 19, the priest was sentenced by U.S. Federal Judge Richard Arcara to 5 months in federal prison for “criminal” contempt. The priest was guilty of kneeling in silent prayer in full priestly vestments inside a “60’ Banned Free Speech and Religious Expression Zone” set up by Judge Acara outside an abortuary. Fr. Weslin was not taken into custody immediately after sentencing in what many thought was a move to allow him to […]

WASHINGTON, November 2, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Oregon Democrat Senator Ron Wyden wrote President George Bush Tuesday warning him not to tamper with Oregon’s law allowing physician assisted suicide. “I am writing to urge you to avoid taking any unnecessarily divisive actions at this time with regard to Oregon’s physician assisted suicide laws,” Wyden said in a four-paragraph letter. Wyden said he wrote the letter based on rumours from federal sources that Bush was set to overturn Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, which has resulted in at least 70 deaths thus far. The Federal Drug Administration, which should have taken actions […]

WASHINTON, November 2, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Pro-embryo research Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who outraged pro-lifers by attaching measures contrary to President Bush's stand against research on human embryos to a massive spending bill, was forced to withdraw the provision. Spector's provision, inserted by the Democratic-controlled Senate Appropriations Committee, would have allowed experimentation on live human embryos that would otherwise be destroyed, if permission were granted by the people whose fertility treatments created the embryos. Pro-life Republican Senator Sam Brownback threatened to delay the $123.1 billion measure funding federal education, labor and health programs by debating stem cell research and offering […]

SEOUL, November 2, 2001 (LSN.ca) – South Korea’s top court has rejected a challenge to the country’s law against adultery. South China Morning Post reports that a young couple convicted of the offence – one of the partners was married – challenged the law, saying the state had no right to interfere with their private lives. Under the law, offenders can be imprisoned for up to two years. In their ruling, eight of the nine judges said they were defending the country’s traditional values of chastity, the sanctity of marriage and the importance of maintaining monogamy. The ruling said: “The […]

LONDON, November 2, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The House of Lords has agreed to hear a right-to-die case, despite the fact that a panel of three High Court judges ruled unanimously against the request for assisted suicide. Dianne Pretty, a 47-year-old British woman suffering from motor neurone disease asked the courts to allow her husband to assist in her suicide without facing criminal charges. The High Court judges, while saying they felt “desperately sorry” for the couple, ruled that no-one had the human right to “procure their own death”. They said that the Director of Public Prosecutions could not agree not […]

GUATEMALA CITY, November 1, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Two weeks ago, Guatemala’s first-ever population control law was signed into law by President Alfonso Portillo. The measure was fought vehemently by pro-life activists in the country and was condemned by the Catholic Church. The Social Development and Population Law, puts a “reproductive health” agenda directly into national policy which calls for encouraging contraceptives – including abortifacients, and mandates sex education in the nation’s schools. Mercedes Wilson, the former official delegate of Guatemala to the United Nations, told LifeSite that she has been intensely involved in fighting the legislation, which she says is […]

OTTAWA, November 1, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The Canadian Abortion Rights Action League admitted yesterday that abortions are a “socio-economic” rather than medically necessary procedure. In a submission to the House of Commons Finance Committee, CARAL Executive Director Marilyn Wilson said that women who seek abortions: “… do so for socio-economic reasons. Sometimes it is a desire to complete their education and become financially independent. In many cases, couples with children wish to restrict their family size in order to provide adequate financial support. Often, choosing abortion is a conscious decision not to become a socio- economic burden on society.” Alliance […]