LifeSiteNews.com Newsbytes

Abortionists begin Giving Testimony against Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act https://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040331_196.html   Australian State Government to Introduce Legislation Making Killing an Unborn Child an Offense; Follows on conviction of man who intentionally killed girlfriend’s unborn child https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/29/1080544424743.html   Reaction to Lancet: Breast Cancer Rates could be Reduced by More than Half if Women had More Children   https://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/news/040330/index.htm   New Zealand’s euthanasia advocate found guilty of attempted murder of her terminally ill mother https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3586233.stm   Surrogate Mother Facing Prison after Selling Surrogate Child to Three Different Couples https://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=506513   Fr. Frank Provone: Don’t Elect Pro-Abortion Politicians https://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=45177   Abstinence Pledge Reduces […]
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Burlington, Ontario Catholic High Schools Host ‘Anti-Homophobic’ Group

BURLINGTON, Ontario, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Halton Organization for Pride in Education, or HOPE—formerly Halton-Anti-Homophobic Committee—has received a $14,000 federal grant to promote tolerance and acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle in four Halton Hills area high schools—including two Catholic high schools.  MP Paddy Torsney told the Hamilton Spectator that the federal government is providing the money as an initiative of the National Crime Prevention Strategy.  Marcus Logan, HOPE co-chair, told the Spectator, “We offer the students sensitivity training in ongoing sessions once a week and teach them how to develop strategies that reflect their school community, such as […]
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Vasectomy-Reversal More Difficult than Previously Thought

CHELTENHAM, March 31, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At the British Fertility Society conference in Cheltenham, England, the fertility research community heard today that vasectomies may be more difficult to reverse than was previously suspected. Queen’s University Belfast researchers have found that men who have had vasectomy reversals have a sperm count that is as much as three times lower than men who have never undergone a vasectomy. One of the Queen’s researchers, Dr Carmel McVicar, said: “We did not expect to see this reduction in sperm count or pregnancy due to previous vasectomy and ongoing studies are attempting to decipher the […]
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Irish Researchers Find Cannabis Linked to Infertility

BELFAST, March 31, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new study has suggested that smoking cannabis can damage male fertility. Researchers at Queen’s University, Belfast, have examined the effects on sperm of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. THC makes it more difficult for an individual sperm to penetrate the egg membrane. Researchers were alerted to the possible problems of THC in fertility when it was discovered that a large number of the men attending fertility clinics were heavy pot smokers.  The Irish government has reduced the illegality of cannabis, making it the equivalent of over-the-counter tranquilizers. Dr Sheena Lewis, from the […]
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Girl Sues Florida Middle School for Refusal to Allow Pro-Life Pamphlets

CYPRESS LAKE, Florida, March 31, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An eighth-grader is suing Cypress Lake Middle School for forbidding her from distributing pro-life literature on April 16—a “Day of Remembrance” for children killed by abortion.  The suit states that Michelle Heinkel “has a sincere religious belief that abortion is wrong, and is sinful,” prompting her to distribute information that warns of the dangers “both to babies and to mothers who abort their babies.”  The sixth annual Day of Remembrance event marks the deaths of more than 40 million children who have been killed by abortion in the United States since the […]
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Statistics Canada Releases 2001 Abortion Stats: Rates Increase

OTTAWA, March 31, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Statistics Canada today released information that 106,418 babies were deliberately killed in their mothers’ wombs in the year 2001 in Canada. The numbers do not include chemical abortions by the abortion pill or the abortifacient morning-after pill or abortions by abortifacient ‘contraceptives’. The reported death toll is added to the more than two million killed since 1969. The statistics reveal that almost one-quarter of all Canadian pregnancies end in abortion, or, for every three babies born, one is killed.  Jim Hughes, President of Campaign Life Coalition told LifeSiteNews.com that “This is an alarming figure,” […]
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Canadian Homosexual Hate Crimes Bill C-250 on the Order Paper Again Wednesday

OTTAWA, March 31, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian Senate has still not completed Third Reading and final passage of Bill C-250, which had been expected to take place on Monday. Communications to the Senators have been flooding in the past few days from members of the public strongly opposed to the bill.  C-250 is on the order paper again today. That is, it is scheduled to be debated but may or may not actually receive Third Reading and final passage today.  Pro-family groups are urging all concerned Canadians to continue to flood the Senators and Liberal leader Paul Martin and […]
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LifeSite Newsbytes

Oil for Food Is Just One of Many Scandals at U.N.  https://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/3/30/94213.shtml   Connect to Conservative Talk Radio Hosts https://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0031417.cfm   Canada Stem Cell Bill ‘Act respecting assisted human reproduction and related research’ Bill C-6 Signed into law https://www.parl.gc.ca/37/3/parlbus/chambus/senate/deb-e/026db_2004-03-29-E.htm?Language=E&Parl=37&Ses=3   National Post Editorial Slams Homosexual Hate Crime Bill C-250 https://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/comment/story.html?id=07e805f2-bd27-4aa4-8274-4dedb2172b10   New Book Free Till Tuesday Notes Mel’s Passion is Greatest Blow for the Good Guys in the Culture War https://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north260.html   U.S. Coalition for Marriage https://www.preservemarriage.org/  Documentary “Changed Lives: Miracles of the Passion” Reveals how the Movie has Changed Viewers Lives https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37776 Teen sexual infections double https://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_907368.html?menu=  Fourth Circuit […]
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Pedophilia Film’s Maker Expects Funding from Ottawa Arts Group

OTTAWA, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Ottawa Independent Film Makers Co-operative of Ottawa, IFCO, a taxpayer-funded group, hands down a decision today as to whether it will fund the pedophilia-themed film Last Night with Jesse. The group is expected to grant filmmaker Ken Takahashi $1000 for the project, which the Ottawa Citizen describes as “basically looking at man/boy relationships, but from a different perspective.”  Takahashi’s other offerings include The Milkman, a homosexual love story his web-site describes as being about “two unlikely individuals who share love at its most basic level.” The Milkman recently received The Jury’s Choice Award, […]
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U.S. Homosexual Activist Website Provides List of ‘Gay Friendly’ Catholic Parishes

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A homosexual activist website has produced a state by state listing of ‘gay friendly’ Catholic parishes.  Faithful Catholics who have seen the site suggest that it may make a good starting point for bishops concerned with dissent among their priests.  The full list of “gay-friendly” Catholic parishes compiled by Catholiclesbians.org is reproduced https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/mar/040330a.html
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Another Passion-Inspired Confession

OSLO, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Norwegian man says that watching Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ motivated him to confess to two bombings he committed in the 90s. Johnny Olsen, a neo-nazi and convicted murderer, walked into the offices of the Dagbladet newspaper Saturday and came clean over the bombings of Oslo’s Blitz House, a self-styled ‘counterculture center’, a gathering spot for young left-wing extremists.  Olsen’s lawyer, Fridtjof Feydt, told Aftenposten news, “He said that it was the film that made him realize that he had to show his hand. He has been preoccupied with Christianity, guilt, […]
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4-D Ultrasound Boutiques to be Restricted by FDA

PASADENA, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The new 4-D sonogram technology is coming under scrutiny by the FDA with questions of safety being posed for this new take on an old technique. Pro-life organizations praised the innovation for its ability to produce extraordinarily life-like images of the child in the womb, with distinct facial features, movements, and minute details being made visible. Many groups felt that a breakthrough could be made in the defense of the unborn when this “window on the womb” became available. Some individuals have opened sonogram “fetal imaging centers” to allow parents to pay a fee […]
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Attack on Rhode Island Pro-Life Monument Investigated as Hate Crime

JOHNSTON, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Police in Rhode Island are treating an incident of vandalism of a pro-life statue as a hate crime. Last week, vandals defaced a statue at Our Lady of Grace Church in Johnston, Rhode Island, spraypainting “Anti-Choice Nazi’s” and blotting out a pro-life prayer at the foot of the statue. The statue is called “the Good Shepherd” and is meant to symbolize the Church’s pro-life beliefs. The pastor of the Catholic church, the Rev. Douglas Spina said, “I’m very saddened. I was shocked. At first, I was angry, and then my thoughts turned to the […]
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Report Ties Violent Sex Crimes to Hardcore Pornography

NEW YORK, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Evidence of a “causal connection” between pornography and violent sex crimes has been compiled in an article published last week by Morality in Media (MIM).  Robert Peters, president of MIM and author of the article, commented: “At a time when some commentators in the media are saying that pornography is widely accepted and harmless, we need to remind ourselves that common sense, anecdotal evidence and social science research all point in the opposite direction.  In the article, titled “The Link Between Pornography And Violent Sex Crimes,” Mr. Peters says, “Defenders of pornography are […]
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Fresh Wounds Found on Schiavo; Parents Blamed by Husband and his Lawyer

CLEARWATER, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Terri Schindler-Schiavo was in hospital being examined by doctors Monday evening after four fresh puncture wounds were found on her body. Clearwater police are investigating the incident, but have not yet laid any charges.  In a release to the press, George Felos, the attorney representing Schiavo’s husband, Michael, said that “Mrs. Schiavo was found in a disheveled state with her feeding tube wrapped around her back and an allergy band pulled up very tight on her arm like a tourniquet. On one arm were four fresh puncture wounds with another fresh puncture wound on […]
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Experts See Little Prospect for Embryonic Stem Cells for Treatments on Humans

TORONTO, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a review of relevant literature, Dr. John Shea of Toronto has found experts have determined that, despite huge media attention, there is little prospect for embryonic stem cell treatment for humans.  Dr. John Gearhart of Johns Hopkins University has recently stated that embryonic stem cells are “surprisingly genetically unstable” in mice and perhaps in humans as well. He said that this “may complicate efforts to turn cells into cures. You may have to establish hundreds of cell lines to get the few you would want to have.” This would require destroying thousands of […]
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U.S. Homosexual Activist Website Provides List of ‘Gay Friendly’ Catholic Parishes

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A homosexual activist website has produced a state by state listing of ‘gay friendly’ Catholic parishes.  Faithful Catholics who have seen the site suggest that it may make a good starting point for bishops concerned with dissent among their priests. The full list of “gay-friendly” Catholic parishes compiled by Catholiclesbians.org is reproduced here: Alabama St. Bede—Montgomery Arizona Christ the King—Mesa Franciscan Renewal Center—Scotsdale Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Pius X, Our Mother of Sorrows, St. Odilia—Tucson California St. Mark’s University Parish—Coleta St. Matthew’s—Long Beach Blessed Sacrament, Christ the King, Loyola-Marymount University, Mother of Good […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

The United Nations wants a big piece of the Internet.  https://news.com.com/2100-1028-5179122.html   “International climate experts Rip Canadian Environment Minister’s speeches”  https://envirotruth.org/news/20040311.cfm   North Korea denounces global warming https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37756   John Kerry favours civil unions for gays https://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/8286311.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp   The Major Factor In Clergy Abuse Study Is Homosexuality In the Catholic clergy abuse scandal, most of the activity was homosexual in nature, and yet this central fact of the abuse has been treated as almost unmentionable in the Church’s internal discussions. But now that the abuse picture has been thoroughly studied, the elephant is making a racket.  https://www.ncregister.com/current/0321lead3.htm   Boston, Call […]
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Cloning Doctor to Open Sex-Selection IVF Counseling Clinic in UK

LONDON, March 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. Panos Zavos, the doctor famous for claiming to have implanted a cloned embryo into a 35-year old woman, is planning to set up a clinic in London to provide sex-selection counseling for IVF clients. The use of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to screen for the sex of the child is illegal in Britain, but Dr. Zavos plans on performing the actual procedure in the US to avoid a legal conflict. The clone pregnancy failed and the headline-loving doctor held a press conference in London to announce his latest plans. He claims that the need […]
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190 Unborn Maltese Children Aborted in the UK; A Clash of National Sovereignty?

MARSA, March 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – 190 Maltese children, whose right to live is vigilantly guarded in their own country, have been killed by UK abortionists between 2000 and 2002. Human rights are taken very seriously in Malta, one of the few countries left in the world whose constitution prohibits the killing of its unborn citizens by abortion. The Maltese-language newspaper, L-Orizzont asked for statistics from the UK, Italy and Germany on the number of Maltese women going to those countries to abort their babies. Italy and Germany do not keep such statistics but the UK reported that in 2000, […]
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In Three States Partial-Birth Abortion Goes on Trial

Washington, March 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Federal district courts in New York, Nebraska, and California commenced separate trials today on legal challenges to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, a bill signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 5, 2003.  The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) led the coalition that resulted in enactment of this federal law after an eight-year fight. The three trials will examine several medical issues related to the partial-birth abortion procedure.  The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act contains a number of congressional findings including a finding that the vast majority of infants undergoing partial-birth […]
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Minnesota Bill Prohibiting Public Funding of Abortion Moves a Step Forward

ST. PAUL, March 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Minnesota legislation prohibiting tax funding for abortion-providing “family planning” organizations has passed through a vote at the committee stage. Minnesota Health and Human Services Finance Committee approved the Taxpayers Protection Act (TPA) by a vote of 8-3.  The bill would regulate funds awarded by the Minnesota Family Planning Special Projects grant program. Under the bill, Planned Parenthood or any other abortion supportive organization would not receive taxpayer funding from the state of Minnesota. Six states, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and neighboring Wisconsin, have enacted laws similar to Minnesota’s legislation. The bill’s prohibitions […]
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Zanzibar to Make Homosexual Sex Illegal

DAR ES SALAAM, March 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Zanzibar government has opted to outlaw homosexual sex. Being “caught in the act” could carry prison terms of up to 5 years, authorities there say. Zanzibar, with a 99 percent Muslim population, is an archipelago state of Tanzania, located in the Indian Ocean.  The move was initiated by wide-spread anxiety over permissive Western cultural influence in the region, which “condones such behavior,” according to Zanzibar constitutional affairs minister Adam Mwakanjuki. Mwakanjuki said that “Our society is Muslim and we cannot accept” homosexual practices.  The draft bill, which makes illegal sexual relations […]
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UK Legislates Full Marital Status for Homosexuals

LONDON, March 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new law has been passed in the UK allowing homosexuals the full rights of marriage. The law allows for similar pension and spousal benefits as for heterosexual couples. The Civil Partnerships Bill is to be published in full on Wednesday. Although not technically “marriage”, the bill requires an announcement in advance of the ceremony, similar to banns being announced before marriages. The legislation also grants all the rights and privileges of marriage to same-sex couples. The legislation does not stipulate the necessity or form that a ceremony might entail, leaving this decision to […]
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Sexual Orientation Resolution at United Nations Abandoned by Chief Sponsor Brazil

GENEVA, March 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Brazil, the chief sponsor of the United Nations resolution to have ‘sexual orientation’ considered as prohibited grounds for discrimination, has backed out of the contentious resolution citing a lack of consensus.  Brazil’s representative said in a statement today, “Since November last year, we have been consulting with delegations of several countries on the text.  We have not yet been able, however, to arrive at a necessary consensus.”  The move signals an initial victory for the Vatican and Muslim countries that are working together to oppose the resolution which international law experts said could seriously […]
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Canadian Homosexual Hate Crime Legislation Final Debate Tonight

OTTAWA, March 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Debate on homosexual hate crime Bill C-250 was adjourned Friday and the Senate was scheduled to resume sitting Monday at 8pm. LifeSiteNews.com has learned that Bill C-250 will be the first item on the agenda as the Senate debates tonight.  The legislation is likely to pass the Senate despite numerous warnings from all major religious groups in the country that the legislation threatens freedom of religion and freedom of speech pertaining to homosexuality.  As LifeSiteNews.com reported, the Canadian Conference of Bishops issued a second warning letter to Senators regarding the serious threat the legislation […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Abortion Activists Charge Bush with “Evil” Campaign to Restrict Abortion https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2004/03/26/MNGSR5RPUG1.DTL   President of Peruvian Bishops Conference says “Morning after pill is unconstitutional https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/showarchive.php?date=2004-03-26#9   Study: Movies with explicit sex don’t sell – 63% of top films in past 3 years had moral or Christian worldview https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37746   Canada captains UN push for gay rights resolution https://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=8ce0f2b9-5e74-4913-9e4a-33f40d488034   Passion of the Christ Total Revenue as of Mar. 24, 2004: $300,753,003 + Overseas Gross: $32,300,000 https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=passionofthechrist.htm   The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to rule on the liability of the entire Roman Catholic Church in a sexual abuse case dating […]
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Pope to Bishops: It’s Your Task to see Marriage and Family are Supported and Defended

VATICAN, March 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an address to the Bishops of Australia today, Pope John Paul II thanked the Bishops for their defence of marriage and family.  Led by Cardinal George Pell, Australian Bishops gave strong backing to the Vatican’s recent document on homosexual unions which received cold reception even by some Catholic bishops around the world. Rather than distance himself from the Vatican’s strong statement on homosexual unions, Sydney’s Cardinal Pell defended its application not only for Catholics but for all people.  He said: “One does not need to have any particular religion to recognise this, or […]
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Massachusetts Woman Saved by Court Decision from Starvation Death

BRIDGEWATER, March 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Another US hospital has fought, – and lost – a battle to kill a vulnerable patient. Massachusetts General Hospital went to court to attempt, despite the presence of a legal health proxy and clearly stated wishes to the contrary, to have Barbara Howe starved and dehydrated to death on the grounds that “she was suffering.” Increasingly, hospital ethics committees are finding reasons to end the life of patients against their own or their family’s wishes. Barbara Howe suffers from advanced Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She has been on a ventilator since 1999 and her daughter, […]
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Swedish Government will Propose Bill to Allow Human Cloning

STOCKHOLM, March 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Swedish government will propose a bill to allow the creation of cloned human embryos strictly for research. Many researchers claim that human embryonic stem cells are necessary for continued research into the medical applications of non-embryonic stem cells. Sweden is a world leader in stem cell research and has one of the world’s largest collection of cultivated embryonic stem cell lines. Sweden’s Gothenburg University, in its collaboration with the Sahlgrenska Hospital, has 19 stem cell lines. The Swedish bill is expected to be passed and will be introduced into parliament on Monday. The […]
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Doctors in Spain Overwhelmingly Refuse to Commit Abortions

VALENCIA, March 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-life educators often make the argument that if individuals were fully aware of the dignity and value of human life in the womb, then even with legalized abortion, the demand for and availability of them would be reduced. This point seems to be proved by a Spanish pro-life organization that has found the great majority, 96%, of Spanish doctors, refuses to commit abortion. The International Planned Parenthood Website complains that “the Roman Catholic Church and `pro-life’ opposition in Spain is a constant factor in non-government organization advocacy for sexual and reproductive health” and that […]
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A Texan man who killed his 19-year-old girlfriend confesses after seeing Mel Gibson’s the Passion of

RICHMOND, Texas, March 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Texan man has confessed to killing his 19-year-old girlfriend after seeing Mel Gibson’s the Passion of the Christ. The man, who carefully planned the murder to make it appear a suicide, reportedly repented of the slaying and confessed to police. The woman’s body was found by her mother in January. The medical examiner later ruled her death a suicide. The man is alleged to have killed the woman because he didn’t want the burden of caring for their child he thought she was carrying. Seeking redemption, he turned himself in to police […]
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AIDS Could be Costing Canadian Economy $6 Billion Per Year Says Doctor

Toronto, March 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In response to a recent question to Catholic Insight magazine about national AIDS costs, Toronto physician Dr. John Shea researched the issue and a synopsis of his initial research was published in the April 2004 edition of the magazine. The research has led Dr. Shea to conclude that it is reasonable to state that AIDS could be costing the Canadian economy $6 billion per year.  Dr. Shea discovered that an accurate assessment of the actual costs is difficult to determine because of under-reporting of AIDS cases, wildly varying cost estimates from different agencies and […]
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Study Claiming No Link between Abortion and Breast Cancer “Corrupt, Biased and Horrible”

LONDON, March 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A study published in the Lancet Journal Friday suggests there is no link between abortion and breast cancer.  “What we can truly rule out is an increased risk (of breast cancer)” said Dr. Valerie Beral the co-author of the study which purportedly examined 53 studies in 16 countries.  However, Dr. Joel Brind, a foremost expert on the topic told LifeSiteNews.com that the study published in Lancet is easily refuted.  Dr. Brind, a professor at Baruch College, spoke with LifeSiteNews.com about the Beral study saying it was “very badly done” and “very vulnerable.”  Beral, a […]
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Canadian Catholic Bishops Warn Homosexual Hate Crime Bill Could Silence Church

OTTAWA, March 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the homosexual hate crime bill C-250, proposed by homosexual-activist Svend Robinson, readies for final debate and vote in the Senate, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has issued another warning over the legislation. In a letter sent yesterday, CCCB General Secretary Msgr. Mario Paquette warned the Senate that: “Participation in the current public debate on marriage has demonstrated there are individuals who believe that Catholic Church teaching on homosexual behaviour is hatred. We remain concerned that this Bill as presently drafted could be used in an attempt to silence Church teaching in […]
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Estimated Cost of AIDS to the Canadian Economy

Dr. John Shea, MD April 2004 The failure, or perhaps the disinclination, of the Canadian media adequately to inform the public in regard to the cost of medical care for patients with HIV/AIDS was a subject of discussion in the editorial in the January 2004 issue of Catholic Insight.  Here is provided a cursory review of the facts presently available. Statistics 1) It is important to realize that “studies of HIV/AIDS costs often report costs that are three or four years old, do not reflect current needs or trends, and cannot be used on an ongoing basis.” 2) Ann Silversides […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to rule on the liability of the entire Roman Catholic Church in a sexual abuse case dating back to the early 1960’s.  https://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/25/scoc040325   Archbishop urges faithful Catholic group to stop pleading for him to defend the faith https://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4684292.html   Marting Luther King’s Widow Supports Gay ‘Marriage’ as Civil Rights Issue https://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/8265147.htm   Family Friendly Films Clean up at the Box Office In an analysis of American box-office receipts for 250 movies released last year, the Christian Film & Television Commission (CFTVC) found that films that stressed “strong moral content” made an average […]
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Pro-Lifers to Kerry: It’s a Sacrament, Senator! Not an Opportunity for a Photo Shoot

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Joseph M. Starrs, director of American Life League’s Crusade for the Defense of Our Catholic Church has responded to the report that pro-abortion Catholic, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), received Holy Communion while attending Mass during his Idaho ski trip this past Sunday.  Kerry arrived very late wearing a ski suit, with his staff explaining, “It was just a media-op…We set it up with some reporters that we knew were going to be there.”  Starrs said, “That Sen. John Kerry is willing to use the holy sacrifice of the Mass as a ‘media op’ […]
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Philippine President Declares March 25 Day of the Unborn

MALACAÑANG, Philippines, March 25, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an announcement during a mass celebrating the Catholic solemnity of the Annunciation today, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared March 25 as Day of the Unborn in the country.  The Buenos Aires archdiocese is also observing the Day of the Unborn on today’s solemnity. The archdiocese has organized a public event to coincide with the Day in which theologians and public figures will speak on “the value of life as a gift of God, of marriage as the proper context for life to be born, and the constant surprise of the dignity of […]
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Pro-Life Coalition Seeks Intervener Status in Morgantaler v. New Brunswick Suit

FREDERICTON, March 25, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Coalition for Life and Health appeared before the court Wednesday in an application for intervener status in the Henry Morgantaler v. New Brunswick civil suit. Morgentaler is suing the province over its refusal to fund abortions at his Fredericton facility. Judge David Russell reserved judgment on the application. There is no deadline for the judgment. Coalition coordinator Peter Ryan said, “Our best guess is that likely we will have the judgment within a month. I am hopeful that we will be accepted as an intervener.”  The pro-life coalition includes 16 provincial and national […]
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U-M Abortionist Refuses Release Medical Files – Says He can Find None With Relevant Information

DETROIT, March 25, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Abortionist Timothy R. B. Johnson, in response to a March 12th court order to comply with a U.S. Department of Justice subpoena, claims that he has no files to send. He says there are no medical files containing any relevant information of use to the DOJ. U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn in Detroit ordered the University of Michigan hospital to make the records available to Johnson, after an earlier refusal by the U-M. The U-M argued that the privacy of patients was their primary concern, despite assurances from the DOJ that any identifying information […]
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UN Human Rights Committee Sessions Continue to Befuddle LifeSiteNews.com

NEW YORK, March 25, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the latest press-release from this years United Nations Human Rights Commission sessions, readers are again invited to be astonished by UN doublespeak. Tuesday’s LifeSiteNews.com report revealed that in a session on homosexual marriage, defenders of traditional marriage warned that polygamy would follow directly from homosexual marriage. The argument was given credibility as the world body admitted that, in addition to tacit recognition of homosexual marriage with the allowance of homosexual benefits, the UN also accepted polygamy. Sandra Haji-Ahmed, Officer-in-Charge of the Office of United Nations Human Resources Management, told Committee members, “Polygamous […]
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Canada Wanting to Force Global Right to Abortion on World Via United Nations

NEW YORK, March 25, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Representing Canada, Ambassador Gilbert Laurin delivered a speech at the opening of the Conference on Population and Development Tuesday which startled even veteran pro-life lobbyists at the United Nations by its pro-abortion stridency.  Canada remains a foremost promoter of sexual rights and freedoms for adolescents in full privacy and confidentiality, with the multiple references to “services” being abortion-inclusive. (In June 2001, Canadian representative Andras Vamos-Goldman explicitly defined ‘reproductive health services’ as including abortion for the first time ever at the UN.)  “We should not rest until every woman, man and adolescent is able […]
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In One Click To Lobby All UN Delegates To Vote Against Dangerous “Sexual Orientation” Measure

OTTAWA, March 25, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  United Mothers, a Canadian pro-family group is urging Canadians to lobby the United Nations representatives to halt a disastrous proposal at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights [UNCHR]. The group encourages immediate action since the Commission is meeting currently, with debate on the measure likely to begin Monday.  The proposals, if passed, will result in “sexual orientation” being classified as a human right, one that requires governments to promote and protect that orientation.  Once enshrined, this right could be used in Canada, and around the world, to silence faith-based and conscience-based criticism of […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Malta Proud of its EU-merger protocol which states that EU legislation on abortion will not affect Malta’s legislation https://www.maltamedia.com/artman/publish/article_1027.shtml   Pro-Abortion Graffiti defaces Catholic Church Statue https://www.turnto10.com/news/2943059/detail.html   Lesbian United Methodist Church Minister Acquitted in Case of “Violating Denominational Law” after “Marrying” Partner https://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0031305.cfm New York Times One-Sided, Pro-Homosexual “Marriage” Story “For Children of Gays, Marriage Brings Joy” Upsets Pro-Family Groups https://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0031306.cfm   Senate Vote on Unborn Victims of Violence Act Expected This Week   https://www.cwfa.org/articles/5392/CWA/life/index.htm   “Thinly Disguised Totalitarianism”  https://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0404/opinion/desouza.html   CWA Calls for Real Protection of Marriage   https://www.cwfa.org/articles/5396/MEDIA/family/index.htm   Gay Activist Groups Promote Gender Confusion   https://www.cwfa.org/articles/5386/LEGAL/family/index.htm
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Arkansas Ban Forbidding Foster Children in Homosexual Households Contested

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, March 24, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An Arkansas couple is suing the state over a law that prohibits foster children in homes where homosexual adults reside. William Wagner and his wife told the Associated Press that they cannot foster a child because their adult homosexual son stays with them. The Child Welfare Agency Review Board told the Associated Press that the ban was put in place in 1998 to ensure that children were safe from sexual abuse, neglect, instability, disease, and violence.  Dr. Robert Rice, said at the time that “The traditional family is the gold standard.” A […]
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Maine Passes Law Allowing Morning After Pill to be Dispensed by Pharmacists

AUGUSTA, March 24, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Maine has passed a bill “allowing” pharmacists to dispense the abortifacient morning after pill over the counter. Governor Balducci praised the bill as, “another milepost in the advancement of reproductive rights for women in Maine.” The bill was supported not only by pro-abortion “women’s rights” activists, but also by some who oppose abortion. Sen. Lynn Bromley, D-South Portland, said, “Regardless of the position my colleagues had on legal abortion, we all recognized the need to address the issue of unintended pregnancy and perhaps as a result change the future for these women.” Sean Murphy […]
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US Marriage Amendment May be Changed to Include “Civil Unions”

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Bush has called for the crafting of an amendment to the constitution that would restrict marriage to the union of one man and one woman. However, US federal lawmakers are now attempting to make the amendment more palatable to homosexual lobbyists and their supporters by inserting language that would allow legal recognition of “civil unions” in homosexual partnerships. The proposal’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Wayne Allard, Colorado Republican, said, “The new language makes the intent of the legislation even clearer: to protect marriage in this country as the union between a man and a […]
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University of Toronto Discriminates Against Pro-Life Students During GAP Display

TORONTO, March 24, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On March 17 pro-life clubs at six universities across Canada took part in the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP), a pictorial display which graphically compares abortion to historically recognized genocides. The University of Toronto obstructed the free speech rights of its pro-life students, according to a report in the upcoming April Interim newspaper.  After weeks of negotiation, the University of Toronto Students for Life thought they had reached an acceptable compromise with Student Affairs Coordinator Jim Delaney. They were to be allowed to set up outdoors, but would have to do so under an open-sided […]
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MA Court Which Okayed Homosexual “Marriage” now Rules Incest OK for Stepparents

BOSTON, March 24, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which last year legalized same-sex “marriage”, has this week decided that incest is not illegal when it involves a stepparent. The judges ruled 4-3 that incest applies only to blood relatives or to children by adoption. “This is no doubt a difficult case,” said Justice Robert Cordy, who wrote the majority opinion. “(The ruling) will result in the dismissal of six indictments (against a 60-year-old Dorchester, Mass. man) alleging that the defendant committed incest by having sexual intercourse with his stepdaughter when she was fifteen and sixteen years old.”  […]
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Forbidden from Allowing Homosexual ‘Marriage’ Oregon County Refuses All Marriages

CORVALLIS, Oregon, March 24, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Benton county’s commissioners last week gave the go-ahead to issue marriage licenses to homosexuals, yet today county officials aren’t giving out marriage licenses at all – to same-sex or heterosexual couples. The three commissioners reversed their decision Monday in response to a deluge of lawsuits pending over similar actions taken by other jurisdictions around the country. Benton County Commissioner Linda Modrell told the Reuters news service that “It may seem odd,” but “we need to treat everyone in our county equally.”  In a statement, State Attorney General Hardy Myers said that he was […]
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Canadian Pro-Life Free-Speech Case Appealed to International Tribunal

NELSON, BC, March 24, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Nearly six months after the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his appeal in the case of Regina v. Demers, Nelson resident James R. Demers has filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Demers’ case originated in 1996 when he was arrested, jailed for seven weeks awaiting trial, and convicted for holding a sign outside an abortion clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia. A series of appeals ensued through the provincial courts and finally to the Supreme Court of Canada where Mr. Demers’ Application for Leave to Appeal was […]
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Website Temporarily Overloaded Due to DrudgeReport.com Link

LifeSiteNews.com, March 24, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Apologies to LifeSiteNews.com patrons today who were unsuccessful in accessing our website for most of Tuesday afternoon.  The Internet giant DrudgeReport.com, which receives daily visitors by the millions, linked to a LifeSiteNews.com story about John Kerry. The resulting huge volume of Drudge Report visitors promptly overloaded and effectively shut down our server.  In a note to DrudgeReport.com, we expressed our gratitude for the link but had to ask that it be removed since our website had become inaccessible. We assured DrudgeReport.com that we would be upgrading our server within a month to be able […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Father Groeschel begins physical therapy two months after accident https://www.franciscanfriars.co   UK Mom Appeals Ruling that Her Frozen Embryonic Children Must be Destroyed https://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2684889   Whoopi Goldberg says her upcoming show on homosexual ‘marriage’ won’t take sides   https://www.freep.com/entertainment/tvandradio/duf23_20040323.htm   Texas Parents Start Girl Scout Alternative as Scouts’ refuse to back down from Planned Parenthood Endorsement https://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V6526.AP-Unhappy-Girl-Sc.html   Students counter ‘Gay Pride’ with ‘Morals Week’ at Univeristy of North Carolina https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37692   Polls indicate nearly 9 out of 10 Americans want to keep “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance https://www.alliancedefensefund.org/story/?id=372   Federal Appeals Court rules South Carolina’s pro-life license […]
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30 Black Pastors Decry Homosexual “Marriage” as the New Civil Rights Movement

ATLANTA, March 23, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Black pastors have united in a voice of dissent against the inference that the homosexual-rights movement can be compared to the civil rights movement. Thirty pastors rallied along with 250 supporters Monday at an Atlanta church, and signed a declaration calling for a constitutional ban on homosexual marriage.  The declaration described marriage between a man and a woman as a necessity, and said that same-sex marriage is not a right. “This is neither a hate nor a fear issue,” the declaration stated. “People are free in our nation to pursue relationships as they choose. […]
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Judge in Partial-Birth Abortion Case Rules Doctor May Testify Pre-born Baby Feels Pain

NEW YORK, March 23, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In another small victory for the defense, the federal judge hearing the partial-birth abortion ban challenge has ruled that he will allow the testimony of a physician who claims that a pre-born baby can experience pain.  U.S. District Judge Richard Conway Casey denied the Planned Parenthood abortionist’s demand to block the testimony of Dr. Kanwaljeet S. Anand, a pediatric specialist. Anand claims that a baby experiences pain by 20 weeks gestation. Judge Casey said that Anand “will assist the court in assessing the reasonableness of Congress’ factual findings that partial-birth abortion is a […]
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Canadian Public Broadcaster has “experts” Claiming Gibson’s Passion film as Cause of Toronto Anti-Se

TORONTO, March 23, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The only two “experts” CBC used to comment on the latest spate of anti-Semitic atrocities in Toronto have used the occasion to bash Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ.  Against the backdrop of Jewish graves that were recently desecrated in a cemetery and swastikas being painted on the doors of some holocaust survivors, CBC National last night quoted two “experts” who fingered Gibson’s film as “igniting anti-Jewish sentiment.”  First quoted on CBC was Ed Morgan of the Canadian Jewish Congress who said, “There is something out there that is inspiring Jews as […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Doctors Assisted in Killing 42 People in Oregon in 2003 Under State’s Legal Assisted Suicide Regime https://www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/chs/pas/ar-smmry.cfm   Surviving Twins born with combined weight of 24.5 ounces make Guinness Records https://www.theadvertiser.com/news/html/D2EFF351-5E65-43B4-AED1-771A268E7F1A.shtml   At Party Convention Liberal Democrats in England voted overwhelmingly to reduce the legal age for teenagers to view pornography in sex shops from 18 to 16 years.  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/03/21/nlib21.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/03/21/ixhome.html   Virginia Christian High School Student Permitted to Wear Pro-Life Sweatshirt after Threatening Lawsuit https://www.talonnews.com/news/2004/march/0322_prolife_sweatshirt.shtml   The Passion of the Christ Domestic + Overseas Gross $310,000,000 https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=passionofthechrist.htm   Fight to Preserve Marriage from Radical Redefinition Heads to Oregon Supreme Court […]
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Ontario Press Council Rejects Complaint against Pro-abortion Newspaper Article

TORONTO, March 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After dragging the matter on for a year, the Ontario Press Council (OPC) has decided to not even consider a complaint about an article and two columns by the Globe and Mail’s Heather Mallick. Among other things, Mallick urged that Henry Morgentaler be given the Order of Canada, incorrectly described a 12-week-old fetus as a “dot,” labeled pro-life members of Parliament in good standing as “stooges” and “daft,” depicted abortuaries as places of merriment and music and suggested that pro-life Canadians are prone to violence.  In a March 5 letter, the OPC said it […]
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Convicted Italian Abortionist Spallone Escapes House Arrest, Apprehended trying to Board Plane for F

ROME, March 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Marcello Spallone, under house arrest since his conviction for performing illegal late-term abortions, has been apprehended while trying to flee the Italy. Spallone, 55, was arrested in 2000 and received a 20-year sentence in November 2002. He was convicted along with his uncle, co-owner of the “Villa Gina” clinic in Rome, Ilio Spallone. Marcello and Ilio Spallone were convicted of the criminal action of doing abortions beyond 90 days of gestation. The 12 abortions in question were committed between 1995 and 1997.  Marcello Spallone, with the aid of two accomplices who are also being […]
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Federal Judge Orders New York Hospital to Release Partial-Birth Abortion Records

NEW YORK, March 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In its ongoing bid to defend the partial-birth abortion ban against seven Planned Parenthood abortionists, the Justice Department has won a small victory in New York. On Thursday, federal judge Richard Conway Casey ordered New York-Presbyterian Hospital to release the medical records for women who have undergone partial-birth abortions there. Judge Casey has ruled that the move would not subject women involved to any invasion of privacy, given that all identifying information would first be removed from the files.  The Planned Parenthood abortionists have filed suit against the Justice Department to challenge the […]
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Canadian Politics Shift as Harper becomes Conservative Leader and Supreme Court Seats Vacant

OTTAWA, March 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Stephen Harper, the former Leader of the Canadian Alliance, was voted in this weekend as the Leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada.  While Harper has not promised to raise pro-life or pro-family legislation he has promised to allow such legislation to be introduced by others and to permit free votes, a vast improvement over the Chretien Liberal regime. With the recent ramming of the Reproductive Technologies Bill C-6 through the Senate and the Liberal hierarchy’s continuing support for Svend Robinson’s repressive Bill-C-250, the Harper alternative is certain to grow in attractiveness over […]
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Phoenix Bishop Says it’s Time to Kick the Pro-abortion Catholic Politician’s ‘But’

PHOENIX, March 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a column in his diocesan paper this weekend, Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted strikes out at what he calls “the ‘Catholic but…’ syndrome”.  The bishop explains that Lent, the current time of preparation for Easter, “is the time to expunge rationalization from our minds and to root out compromise from our hearts.”  The Bishop offers examples of “Rebutting the ‘Catholic but …’”:  “I am a Catholic businessman but I don’t let the Church influence what I do at the office or in the boardroom;” but Jesus says (Mt 7:21), “Not everyone who says […]
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Nigerian State Maintains Skepticism over WHO Agenda on Polio Vaccine Drive

KANO, Nigeria, March 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The northern Nigerian state of Kano has opted out of the WHO oral polio immunization drive—officials there remain skeptical of the safety of the vaccine. The World Health Organization maintains that its oral polio vaccine is safe, despite a report by Nigerian pharmaceutical scientist Dr. Haruna Kaita, who found evidence that contaminants in the vaccine he tested in labs in India would “have direct effects on the human reproductive system.”  A BBC report today said that the refusal by the majority Muslim state is a result of the Islamic leadership’s claim that the […]
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Sparks Fly at Vatican Meeting on Euthanasia by Omission – Doctor Accused of Manslaughter

ROME, March 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The international congress on “Life- sustaining treatments and the vegetative state” organized by the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) and the Pontifical Academy for Life over the weekend, was anything but dull. LifeSiteNews.com spoke with congress Canadian participant Alex Schadenberg, of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition who said Pope John Paul II’s definitive pronouncement on the immorality of removal of nutrition and hydration from patients in a persistent vegetative state was shocking to many.  The surprise stems from the fact that the now condemned practice is commonplace at hospitals throughout the world, including […]
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Pope Ends Debate over Nutrition and Hydration for Patients in Vegetative State

ROME, March 20, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a speech today to the international congress on “Life- sustaining treatments and the vegetative state”, Pope John Paul II has made the first definitive statement on nutrition and hydration, ending years of debate among theologians.  The Pope clarified that removal of nutrition and hydration from patients in a vegetative state who are not otherwise dying is gravely immoral.  Alex Schadenberg, of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is in Rome at the conference and told LifeSiteNews.com, that the issue has been troubling for Catholic Church leaders for many years with different bishops and theologians coming […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Scalia Expects Homosexual Marriage Will Come Before Supreme Court https://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/182004c.asp   Pro-Life poster saying “My Abortion Hurt Me” Torn up by John Kerry staff at event https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37644   Lesbian Pastor in Methodist Church Trial https://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001883166_methodist19m.html   Australian PM says no plans to alter abortion laws https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/18/1079199362209.html
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School Board Bars Blood Drive Since Donations from Sexually Active Homosexuals Banned

MONTREAL, March 18, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The commissioners of a Montreal school board have voted to opt out of Héma Québec’s blood drive program. The board disagrees with Héma’s policy to reduce HIV contamination of blood products by screening actively homosexual men from donating blood. The Commission Scolaire de Montréal believes that Héma Québec’s policy sends a ‘false’ message to students: that sodomy is a risk factor for contracting the HIV virus.  “Héma Québec’s current ban on gay donors leaves the false impression only homosexuals are at risk for contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS,” board vice-chairperson Paul Trottier, […]
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Congressmen Urge Abortion-Activist Justice Ginsburg to Opt Out of Abortion Decisions

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Thirteen Republican members of congress have written to urge Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to withdraw from rulings involving abortion. The congressmen argue that her association with the Pro-Abortion National Organization of Women Legal Defense and Education Fund disqualifies her as an impartial arbiter in such decisions. The letter expressed grave concern over her endorsement of the feminist NOW movement. Her involvement extends to her establishment of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Distinguished Lecture Series. “As legislators, we believe your actions call into question your ability to rule with impartiality on any case involving […]
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New Bill Proposes Congress Veto Option for Supreme Court Decisions

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new bill being proposed by 12 Republican congressmen seeks to allow congress the ability to veto the Supreme Court.  The congressmen are worried primarily about judicial activism that could overturn the partial birth abortion ban, and bring in homosexual marriage legislation.  The bill, introduced by Rep. Ron Lewis, R-Ky, proposes that if a two-thirds majority in both Congress and the Senate voted in opposition to a court decision, it would overturn a Supreme Court ruling.  Co-sponsor of the bill, Howard Coble, R-6th, told the media-general news service that the bill would not be […]
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Census Data Reveals Children Need a Mum and a Dad

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Focus on the Family CitizenLink article summarizes new information gleaned from 2000 U.S. Census data that reveals a child fares much better when living in a home with both a mother and father present. The data revealed that, among other things, children living in households with both parents were much less likely to suffer from poverty.  “The householders in married-couple families had higher proportions in the labor force, they owned their own home, and they were not living in poverty – all good signs for the children living in these families,” Census Bureau […]
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Canadian Senate Hears Objections to Homosexual Hate Crime Bill – One Last Chance to Stop It

OTTAWA, March 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday pro-family groups presented their objections to homosexual hate crime bill C-250 before the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. Dr. Janet Epp Buckingham, who appeared on behalf of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) stated, “Christians who take the Bible as the Word of God have reason to be concerned that Bill C-250 will limit religious freedom on issues of sexual morality.”  EFC President Bruce Clemenger commented on the bill saying, “While opposing the promotion of hatred against anyone, we are deeply concerned about the chilling effect this legislation may have on […]
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Quebec High Court Redefines Marriage – Family Defenders forced to Pay Costs

QUEBEC CITY, March 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Quebec Court of Appeal, the province’s highest court, has upheld the ruling of a lower court which ruled that the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The federal government initially appealed the lower court ruling but dropped out of the Hendricks and LeBoeuf v. Canada case after the high court in Ontario ruled in favour of redefining marriage.  However, the Catholic Civil Rights League and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada continued with the defence of marriage.  Demonstrating its extreme […]
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Federal Judge Refuses to Strike Down Partial-Birth Abortion Ban

NEW YORK, March 18, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Federal Judge Richard Casey has decided to let the partial-birth abortion ban case proceed to trial. The move denies Planned Parenthood abortionists and their ACLU lawyers an immediate success. Planned Parenthood abortionists have filed suit against the Justice Department to challenge the constitutionality of the ban. The abortionists argue that the procedure is medically necessary for the health of some expectant mothers. The case goes to trial March 29, simultaneous with trials in San Francisco and Omaha, Nebraska.  Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: “ACLU/Doctors Challenge Partial Birth Abortion Ban” at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/feb/04021207.html
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Colombian Bishops Promote Day of the Unborn – March 25 https://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=50738   Abortion Numbers Are Up In Nebraska for 2003 – Of 3990 abortions in 2003, only 160 were linked to “medical reasons” and 766 were linked to “contraceptive failure”.  https://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/03/18/4059d0a722d38   Crosses Banned from St. Patrick’s Day Parade https://bettnet.dyndns.org/blog/comments.php?id=P2842_0_1_0   Oakland City Facing Lawsuit for branding pro-family meeting homophobic https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37628   CBS Evening News Ignores Own Poll Finding on Bush Leading Kerry https://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040316.asp#1
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Protestant Minister Says Same-Sex “Marriage” Inevitable: Idea Hatched with the Pill

TRINITY, Tennessee, March 18, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Protestant minister Donald Sensing, in a Wall Street Journal piece on same-sex ‘marriage’, parallels the birth of the movement with the advent of the pill.   The pill ushered in an age of sex without consequence—the anxiety for a woman of becoming pregnant outside of marriage suddenly vanished. “That led to what our grandparents would have called rampant promiscuity,” he says. “The causal relationships between sex, pregnancy and marriage were severed in a fundamental way.”   Sensing argues that, when the anxiety of having a child outside of the commitment of marriage disappeared, […]
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Vatican Rules out Deny Food and Fluids in Conference on Patients in a ‘Vegetative State’

VATICAN CITY, March 18, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A conference examining end-of-life care for individuals in a “vegetative state” has convened in Rome. The symposium, titled Life-Sustaining Treatments and the Vegetative State: Scientific Advances, Ethical Dilemmas, is a joint effort of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) and the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life. The meeting will gather 370 scientists from 49 countries, and will examine practical as well as moral and ethical issues surrounding the vegetative state. At a press conference attended by Zenit news, Bishop Elio Sgreccia, vice president of the Pontifical Council for Life, contested the […]
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Abortion Push also on Agenda for United Nations Human Rights Commission Meeting

GENEVA, March 18, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission which is known to be the focus of a battle over ‘sexual orientation’ will also seek to push a global right to abortion.  Pro-life lobbyists at the United Nations had been gearing up for an abortion fight at the upcoming New York meeting of the thirty-seventh session of the Commission on Population and Development, meeting at United Nations Headquarters from 22 to 26 March.  However, it appears that the abortion fight will also take place in Geneva.  The ‘right’ to ‘sexual and reproductive services’ […]
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Medical Student Being Failed at University of Manitoba for Not Providing Abortion Option

WINNIPEG, March 18, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A medical student in his last year at the University of Manitoba Medical School will be denied his degree for his unwillingness to partake in any abortion-related activity.  The Christian student, who wishes to remain unnamed, received a failing grade in an Obstetrics and Gynecology portion of his program for refusing to perform or refer for any abortive procedure.  Three separate appeals to the Medical School have all failed to correct the matter.  Carolee Neufeld, a friend of the family who is has been issuing calls for prayer and taking correspondence told LifeSiteNews.com that […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

UK Women’s Health Centre Implants Abortifacient Contraceptive Surgically in a 13-Year-Old Girl Without Parent’s Knowledge https://icnorthernireland.icnetwork.co.uk/news/local/content_objectid=14054257_method=full_siteid=91603_headline=-Clinic-Gave-Girl—13—Contraception—-Claim-name_page.html   Teenager Facing Minimum Sentence of Three to Five Years in Jail for Drinking Cocktail for Self-Induced Abortion https://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,6119,2-7-1442_1498907,00.html   President of Rwanda accuses France of Direct Responsibility for the 1994 Genocide   https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/03/17/wrwan17.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/03/17/ixportal.html State by State Analysis of Legislation on Same-Sex “Marriage”  https://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/national/20040317011832.shtml Vatican Decries Fertility Treatments as “Massacre of the Innocents”  https://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V6467.AP-Vatican-Assiste.html Mississippi Legislature Approves Three Bills In Favour of the Unborn https://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/8195770.htm   Leftist CAW President Buzz Hargrove to be Columnist for ‘Conservative’ National Post https://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2004/15/c9771.html   Washington State Approves Sale […]
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Philippines Catholic Bishops’ Conference Refuses to Participate in Televised Population Debate

MANILA, March 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has turned down a request to participate in a televised debate on population and human development. Presidential candidates are gearing up for the debate in anticipation of the upcoming Philippines elections. The CBCP spurned a request to participate, saying that they will not be part of a discussion whose premise is wrong.  A statement released by the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL) said that the premise of the debate is erroneous. “The world today is being managed more and more not by sound […]
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FDA Mulling Permission for use of Embryonic Stem Cells in Humans Despite Previous Catastrophes

MENLO PARK, March 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Geron, a California-based biotechnology company has applied to the FDA for permission to begin using stem cells derived from human embryos for research into spinal cord injuries. The research would focus on using the cells in animal trials, for early stage spinal cord damage, and the company says they expect to move on to human trials sometime in 2006 or 2007. The Wall Street Journal reports that the FDA is considering the application while stipulating that the research concentrate on animal trials until “safety” can be assured for human trials. No mention is […]
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Second Oregon County Goes Ahead with Gay Marriages

CORVALLIS, OR, March 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Benton County, Oregon, has decided to follow Multnomah County’s lead in a decision to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. A town-hall meeting Tuesday drew more than 100 people to debate the issue. The Corvallis Gazette-Times report said that the majority in attendance “spoke in favour of same-sex marriage.”  The Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 in favour of the move, despite the warning by County legal Counsel Vance Croney who said that granting the licenses violated state law, potentially leading to fines and incarceration for the county clerk. District Attorney Scott Heiser has […]
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Australian Health Minister Questions Why Christian Churches are so Slow to Defend Unborn

ADELAIDE, March 17, 2004 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) – Australia’s health minister has challenged the Christian churches of Australia to put more energy into the effort to curb abortion and teen pregnancy. In a provocative speech at the University of Adelaide, Tony Abbott, suggested that the country’s Christian leaders have devoted their attention to other causes—mainly causes that draw on liberal political sympathies—while giving short shrift to the questions of abortion and promiscuity. He reported that Church groups have questioned him repeatedly about issues such as immigration policy, but he has never been asked to explain how he can “preside over a Medicare […]
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Pentagon Flouts Bush Stem Cell Funding Restriction

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In spite of the restriction of the Bush administration on government funding for embryo research, Lund University in southern Sweden has received $240,000 US for embryo research for Parkinson's disease from the Pentagon. Military spokesmen have defended the grant saying that they hope for a means of treating similar neurological illnesses caused by chemical weapons. Since President Bush, in a highly publicized decision in August 2001, restricted public funding for embryo research, a parade of Hollywood celebrities have been heard calling for the use of embryos for research, most prominently, spinal cord injury victim, […]
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United Nations Sponsored Women’s Clinic in Kenya Admits to Illegal Abortions

NAIROBI, March 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – For $19.50 (US) Kenyan women can have an illegal abortion with Marie Stopes Kenya. The mother organization Marie Stopes International (MSI) is sponsored by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).  “They betray us,” Cyprian Awiti, the Programme Director of Marie Stopes Kenya (MSK), laughed when the Norwegian daily newspaper Dagen confronted him with what several sources had said about the illegal abortion activity of his organization. Awiti did not reject this statement of a central and secure source in MSK:  “We do abortions, but we don’t like to talk about it. We offer it, but […]
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Senate Gives only 5 Minutes to Family Groups against Homosexual Hate Crime Bill

OTTAWA, March 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian Senate Committee doing final hearings on homosexual hate crime bill C-250 has corrupted the democratic process, say pro-family groups.  The dangerous legislation which would put the full weight of launching criminal investigations into the hands of homosexual activists intent on silencing their opposition, is set to be passed on an unsuspecting public.  The Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC) is one group which is appearing before the Senate Committee today to express concerns over the legislation and ask that it be rejected.  Brian Rushfeldt,  Executive Director of CFAC noted that while homosexual activist […]
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United Nations Tells Colombia Denying Abortion in Rape Cases is an ‘Outrage’

NEW YORK, March 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has overstepped its bounds and demonstrated its pro-abortion activism, says Samantha Singson, a pro-life lobbyist at the United Nations for Campaign Life Coalition. Singson was reacting to a UNHRC meeting yesterday where the head of the committee told representatives from Colombia that the law against abortion even in cases of rape was an “outrage”.  “The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which the UNHRC is supposed to monitor does not even mention abortion,” explained Singson.  Wrapping up the review of Colombia’s compliance report, the […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

China Suffering From Aids https://www.nationalreview.com/comment/bate200403150919.asp   Spam continues to lure readers: Study https://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040315.gtspammar15/BNStory/Technology/  POLL: 80 percent of Alabamians oppose gay marriage https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040315/APN/403150524   NY ministers charged for marrying gays https://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=228271&category=&BCCode=&newsdate=3/15/2004   Abortions in Singapore falls to lowest level in nearly 30 years 12,749 in 2002   https://thestaronline.com/news/story.asp?file=/2004/3/15/latest/16433Abortions&sec=latest
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Euthanasia Debate at Upscale Toronto High School Reveals Hope for Future

TORONTO, March 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recent debate on euthanasia at Upper Canada College in Toronto showed the students were open to life. Natalie Hudson of Toronto Right to Life squared off against Ruth VonFuchs of the Toronto chapter of the Right to Die Society of Canada. While Hudson’s presentation was well received, VonFuchs’ found herself challenged by students in the audience.  One student admitted that her own life was nearly lost when her parents were counseled to not go through with surgery when she was a baby.  The doctors had predicted that her condition would make her “quality […]
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Kingston, New York Ministers Charged for Conducting Homosexual “Marriages”

KINGSTON, N.Y., March 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two Unitarian Universalist ministers—Kay Greenleaf and Dawn Sangrey—were charged with criminal offences Monday for conducting 13 homosexual “marriages” over the weekend.  District Attorney for Ulster County, Donald Williams, said that the law prohibiting homosexual “marriages” makes no distinction between religious ministers and officials who hold public office. Williams is likely referring to New Paltz Mayor Jason West who last month was charged with 19 counts of solemnizing a marriage without a license. Williams told The Associated Press that the charges were laid because the marriages were “drastically different” from religious ceremonies, since Greenleaf […]
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Wisconsin Files Complaint Against Pharmacist For Refusing Abortifacient Prescription

MADISON, March 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Advocates of conscience protection laws for pharmacists have long warned that the lack of legislation leaves Christian pharmacists in an impossible dilemma. The Wisconsin state Department of Regulation and Licensing has filed a complaint against an objecting pharmacist with the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board. The pharmacist, Neil Noesen, refused to fill a woman’s prescription for abortifacient “contraceptive” pills, and declined to refer her prescription to another pharmacy.  Noesen had a verbal agreement with his employer, Kmart pharmacy in Menomonie, that he would not be required to fill prescriptions, such as birth control pills, and […]
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Husband of Chinese Forced Abortion Victim Cannot be Refused US Asylum

SAN FRANCISCO, March 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Kui Rong Ma, the husband of a Chinese woman who underwent a forced abortion at the hands of the Chinese government, cannot be refused asylum in the US.  Congress allows as many as 1000 refugees a year, including spouses, who are fleeing from forced abortion or sterilization policies in communist-controlled countries. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) had refused Mr. Ma’s application on the grounds that they were not legally married according to the policies of the Chinese government. It was on this […]
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South Dakota Abortion Ban Dead: Technical Veto Rejected by Senate

PIERRE, S.D., March 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Bill that would have made abortion illegal in South Dakota has died. The technical changes suggested by Governor Mike Rounds were rejected Monday by the Senate upper chamber, effectively killing the bill.  “The bill is simply dead,” Rounds told reporters later Monday, responding to confusion from supporters of the bill. He told reporters that the bill died because the Senate would not approve his suggested changes. The house voted 52-16 earlier in the day to uphold the Governor’s changes, before being sent to the senate. The Governor’s technical veto included a recommendation […]
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Homosexual Activism Pits Third World and Vatican Against UN Secretariat, Canada and EU

NEW YORK, March 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In one of the most open displays of disagreement at the United Nations, the more than 50 countries represented by the Organization of the Islamic Conference voiced strenuous objections to a January 20 decision of the United Nations Secretary General to offer homosexual benefits to the international organization’s employees who hailed from countries where such benefits are permitted.  In a rare address to this particular committee, the Vatican added its voice to the concerns and warned that the UN provision “in essence, constituted progressive development of international law.”  Alireza Tootoonchian of Iran led […]
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More Information on RU-486 Death of Swedish 16-Year Old Girl

UDDEVALLA, March 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the wake of publicity about the RU-486 caused death of a Swedish woman, more information has emerged as the girl’s mother has told details the government would not provide.  The girl, Rebecca Tell Berg, age 16, died on June 3, 2003 after an RU-486 abortion in the west coast city of Uddevalla.  Ja Till Livet, the Swedish pro-life group which broke the story, has sent another communication to LifeSiteNews.com indicating that the girl’s mother, Catharina Tell, is broken-hearted – and angry: “Rebecca didn’t want to have a chemical abortion,” she says.  Even for […]
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LifeSiteNews NewsBytes

China Suffering From Aids https://www.nationalreview.com/comment/bate200403150919.asp   Spam continues to lure readers: Study https://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040315.gtspammar15/BNStory/Technology/  POLL: 80 percent of Alabamians oppose gay marriage https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040315/APN/403150524   NY ministers charged for marrying gays https://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=228271&category=&BCCode=&newsdate=3/15/2004   Abortions in Singapore falls to lowest level in nearly 30 years 12,749 in 2002   https://thestaronline.com/news/story.asp?file=/2004/3/15/latest/16433Abortions&sec=latest   EU Regulators Rule Microsoft an Abusive Monopolist   https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0312euregul.html   Cheney Friend Entangled in Web of World Government https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37562   Canadian Reproductive technology agency still years away   https://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/13/canada/reprodtech040313   Sexual Abuse by Educators appears to “far exceed” Catholic priest abuse scandal says scholar who prepared US Education Dept report https://edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=26Abuse.h23   […]
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Michigan Judge Orders Abortion Records Release to Justice Dept.

DETROIT, March 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A federal judge Friday ordered the release of records from the University of Michigan Health System. The order was in response to a continued obstruction to medical files by the plaintiffs—abortionists and hospitals challenging the constitutionality of the partial-birth abortion ban. The US Justice Department seeks to substantiate the claim by abortionists that partial-birth abortions were necessary for the health of the mother. The Justice Department is defending the Ban introduced by President Bush last November that states, in part, that “partial-birth abortion is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary.”  […]
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UK Sex-Ed Backfire: Survey Reveals Increased Pregnancy Rates in Teens Subjected to Program

LONDON, UK, March 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new survey conducted in the UK has revealed that teenage pregnancy rates are highest in areas that have been most aggressive in promoting sex education. The report revealed that explicit sex education and providing condoms to young girls simply encourages them to become sexually active. The report, titled Sex Education or Indoctrination?, was conducted by the UK’s Family Education Trust, as revealed in the Telegraph yesterday. Official figures reveal that teenage pregnancies rose in Britain by an annual rate of 800 from 38,439 in 2001 to 39,286 in 2002, despite the £15 […]
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Senate Agrees to Hold No-Filibuster Vote on Unborn Victims of Violence Act

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tn.) has succeeded in winning agreement of the full Senate to vote on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as “Laci and Conner’s Law,” as early as the week of March 22. The agreement limits debate to six and one-half hours.  However, Senate Democrats insisted on the right to offer two killer amendments, and supporters of Laci and Conner’s Law must defeat those amendments.  If the two killer amendments are defeated, then the bill can be sent directly to President Bush for his signature, since the House […]
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Controversial Abortion Display Descends on University Campuses Across Canada

VANCOUVER, March 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Wednesday, March 17th university students from BC to Ontario are displaying graphic, 4×8 foot posters from the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP), an exhibit that compares abortion to atrocities like the Holocaust and the Rwandan massacre. Pro-life students at the University of British Columbia, University College of the Cariboo, Okanagan University College, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Toronto, and Carleton University in Ottawa are working in conjunction with the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform to expose the reality of abortion and stimulate debate.  Pro-life students at Trinity Western University will also […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Black Americans for Life Disappointed With NAACP’s Stand on Abortion “After all that we, as Black Americans, have endured and achieved, to have the NAACP support abortion-on-demand, which has destroyed over 400,000 Black babies this year alone, is incomprehensible”  https://www.thomasmore.org/news.html?CNSNewsID=3   NORTH CAROLINA: Pro-lifers are picketing weekly sessions that a local Planned Parenthood office bills as “peer education” for teenagers. The pro-lifers are turning to American Life League’s STOPP International for advice. STOPP’s Ed Szymkowiak said, ‘‘Planned Parenthood’s scheme is to get your kids hooked on sex while making a lot of money by providing abortion and contraception.’’ Demonstrators are […]
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New Zealand Euthanasia Advocate’s Trial for Murder Begins Next Week

AUKLAND, March 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Lesley Martin, New Zealand’s most notorious euthanasia advocate, is going to court on charges of attempted murder after killing her terminally ill mother 1999. Martin, who is a leading advocate for legalizing euthanasia, wrote a book about her action and police have re-opened a murder investigation in response. Martin admitted in her book, To Die Like a Dog, to giving her mother an overdose of morphine and then smothering her with a pillow. Martin maintains that her mother asked to be killed. If convicted Martin faces a possible 14 years in prison. The trial […]
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California Supreme Court Blocks San Francisco Same-Sex ‘Marriages’

SAN FRANCISCO, March 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday the California Supreme Court issued an order blocking San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom from issuing same-sex marriage licences. Randy Thomasson and Campaign for California Families (“CCF”) filed suit against Mayor Newsom last month and then filed legal documents in the action brought by the California Attorney General at the State Supreme Court.  Mr. Thomasson and CCF are represented by Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, a national public interest law firm. The case filed by Liberty Counsel with the State Superior Court was scheduled to be heard on […]
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Canadian Homosexual Hate Crime Bill Sponsor Falsely Claims There is no Major Religious Opposition

OTTAWA, March 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The original sponsor of the homosexual hate crime bill, homosexual activist MP Svend Robinson, gave a presentation on the legislation to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs where the bill is now being considered.  In his presentation Wednesday, Robinson falsely claimed that there are no major religions opposing the proposed legislation.  In his presentation Wednesday, Robinson said, “No leader of a major religion in Canada that I am aware of has voiced opposition to this legislation.  I speak here, for example, about the United Church, the Anglican Church, the Catholic Church, […]
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325,000 Michigan Residents Sign Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Petition

LANSING, March 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A steamroller campaign to outlaw partial-birth abortion in Michigan has attracted the support of 325,000 citizens. The announcement Tuesday by Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing revealed that the number is enough for the legislature to pass a veto-proof law. The partial-birth abortion ban signed into law last November by US President George W. Bush was promptly vetoed by Michigan state Governor Jennifer Granholm. The campaign, dubbed The People’s Override, attained the 325,000 target in less than two months. All that is needed now is a certification that at least 254,206 signers […]
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Utah Woman Charged with Homicide after Refusing C-Section

SALT LAKE CITY, March 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A mentally disturbed woman in Utah is being charged with one first-degree felony count of criminal homicide after refusing a caesarian section that would have saved the life of one of her twin babies. Melissa Ann Rowland, 28, was charged Thursday with showing “depraved indifference to human life.” Rowland was carrying twins, a boy and a girl, and had been repeatedly informed that a caesarian section was immediately necessary. Rowland refused because she wanted to avoid scarring saying she would rather “lose one of the babies than be cut like that.” Rowland […]
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United Nations Meetings on Population Control Promotes Abortion, Bashes Bush

SANTIAGO, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In two separate United Nations meetings this week abortion was pushed under the guise of reproductive rights.  With the knowledge that the term ‘reproductive health services’ officially includes abortion in UN parlance, the two meetings demonstrated a more brazen pro-abortion stance than usual according to UN watchers.  A two day meeting in Santiago sponsored by the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean saw health ministers form Latin American and Caribbean countries and the United States meeting to discuss implementation of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development goals.  At […]
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House Motion Proposes New Criminal Offence for Murdering an Unborn Child

YORKTON, March 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, has taken another bold step in his ten-year fight to protect the rights of unborn children.  Yesterday, he introduced Private Member’s Motion M-560 that calls on the government to create a new criminal code offence for the murder of an unborn child.  “Parliament must send a clear message to anyone contemplating using deadly force against a pregnant woman,” said Breitkreuz.  Motion M-560 states: That, in the opinion of this House, the government should introduce an amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada creating a new offence to ensure that […]
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Philippine Opposition Presidential Candidate Rebuked by Cardinal for Anti-Life Stance

CEBU CITY, Philippines, March 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Opposition presidential candidate Panfilo Lacson’s support for a population-control program incorporating artificial birth control has earned him the reproof of Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal. Lacson was touring the island-province, part of the Visayas region south-east of Manila, where he was once metropolitan district commander. Cardinal Vidal told reporters that he cautioned Lacson to remain pro-life. “I told him [Lacson] ‘You should be pro-life, otherwise…,’” he said.  Lacson told reporters that he loathes abortion, and would never dream of resorting to such an immoral and illegal means for addressing the population-control program. […]
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Canada’s Notorious Stem Cell Bill Passes in the Senate

OTTAWA, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday, Senators gave final approval to Bill C-6, An Act Respecting Assisted Human Reproduction and Related Research. The legislation allows destructive research on human embryos ‘leftover’ from fertility clinics; it allows the specific creation of human embryos for the express purpose of research on IVF; sanctions destructive in vitro fertilization and its allowance for homosexual couples; and contains loopholes which would allow for human cloning for research purposes.  With all major pro-life groups in Canada arrayed against the legislation, the political arm of the pro-life movement in Canada, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), and the […]
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LifeSite Newsbytes

House OKs Hike of Broadcast Indecency Fines https://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4549577   Bay State Opinion Moving Against ‘Gay Marriage’: Support Stronger for Amendment Without Civil Unions Acceptance https://www.cwfa.org/articles/5353/CFI/family/index.htm   Gibson’s Book Soars to No. 2 on New York Times’ List https://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/3/11/162637.shtml   Who Would Jesus Kill? – Anne Coulter https://www.townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/ac20040311.shtml   California high court blocks San Francisco ‘marriages’  https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37543   Gay Rhetoric Turns Vitriolic   https://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0031115.cfm   University of Washington Student paper: How to be a pornographer https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37526   Jeb Bush Speaks to Rally for Private School Choice https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/news_04e4e8c1058751cb1030.html   Cheney Stars in Gay Republicans’ Anti-Bush Ad https://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/3/10/124735.shtml   Liberal caucus gives Martin […]
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Homosexual Activist Student to Sue Catholic University

NEWARK, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A homosexual activist at Seton Hall University is attempting a civil suit for force the Catholic university to capitulate on a gay and lesbian student group. Sophomore Anthony Romeo has already rejected the university’s offer of a compromise and is filing suit against the university on the grounds of discrimination. Romeo complains that Seton Hall refused to allow his group to sponsor religious services tailored to homosexuals on campus. The Roman Catholic Church, teaches that unjust discrimination against persons is morally sinful; it also teaches that homosexual behavior cannot be encouraged or acclaimed as […]
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The Baby with Nine Lives

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Six of seven premature babies have died as the result of contamination of their intravenous parenteral nutrition source. The deaths are being blamed on a batch of contaminated liquid mixed at the hospital’s pharmacy. But one girl in the perinatal care unit of Pelonomi Regional Hospital survived. The 28-day old also survived a botched abortion attempt two months earlier. In an interview with South Africa’s The Star, the young mother said that the baby survived because it was God’s will. “She is a fighter and a survivor,” she added. No details as […]
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New York Bishops Strongly Defend Marriage

NEW YORK, NY, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, spokesman for the archdiocese of New York has testified that once marriage is taken legally to include homosexual partners, it can be twisted to become anything according to individual desires. Allowing “gay marriage” could lead to group “marriage” or, if taken to the absurd, to marriage between pets. “It could be anything once you say marriage is something other than what it is,” DiMarzio said, citing the Catholic Church’s teaching that marriage is an objective reality and not something open to legal or legislative tinkering.  Edward Cardinal Egan […]
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Boston Archbishop O’Malley Says Gay ‘Marriage’ and Civil Unions Pose Grave Threat to Religious Liber

BOSTON, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the Massachusetts legislature considers proposals regarding the definition of marriage, Boston’s Archbishop Sean O’Malley has issued a strong statement giving the reasons for the Catholic teaching that marriage is the exclusive reserve of one man and one woman. The Massachusetts proposal employs the “compromise” of creating legal “civil unions” and retaining the traditional definition of the word “marriage”. The Pope has expressly condemned the so-called civil unions “compromise”.  Speaking for the Catholic Church in Massachusetts, O’Malley wrote, “We support the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment as it has been presented, without the introduction […]
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President Bush Speaks out for Life and Family in Remarks to Evangelicals

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President George W. Bush addressed the National Association of Evangelicals Convention today via satellite. The President said of his administration, “We're working to build a culture of life.” He recounted his signing the law “to end the brutal practice of partial-birth abortion” and to hearty applause promised to “vigorously defend this law against any attempt to overturn it in the courts.” He added, “I will also continue to support crisis pregnancy centres, and adoption, and parental notification laws. I proposed doubling federal funding for abstinence programs in schools and community-based programs.” “In the past […]
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Pope Doesn’t Find The Passion Anti-Semitic but Police and Courts are Investigating

ROME, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an interview with the Italian daily Il Messaggero published today, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls strongly implies that Pope John Paul does not find Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ to be anti-semitic.  “If the film were to be considered anti-Semitic, then the gospels would also have to be considered so,” Navarro-Valls said.  The papal spokesman said the Pope saw the film and despite calls to distance the Catholic Church from the film, John Paul II has remained silent.  “The subsequent silence by the hierarchy is eloquent,” added Navarro-Valls.  Despite the views […]
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15-Year-Old Detroit Girl Dies from Botched Second Trimester Abortion

DETROIT, MI, March 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A 15-year-old in a Detroit suburb died January 8 as a result of a second trimester abortion.  News of the death has not been published anywhere except a minor mention on a local Fox station. Dr. Leigh Hlavaty performed an autopsy on 15-year-old Tamia Russell on January 9.  Dr. Hlavaty told a local registered nurse and pro-life activist who contacted LifeSiteNews.com that the girl’s death was caused by “uterine infarction with sepsis due to status second trimester abortion.”  She ruled the death as “normal.”  The doctor explained, “I ruled it normal because these […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Barbra Streisand Speaks out for Homosexual ‘Marriage’ Against President Bush https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4459671/  Commentary on March 10 : National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers https://www.townhall.com/columnists/joelmowbray/printjm20040309.shtml   Philippine bishops endorse Gibson film ‘‘Passion of the Christ’’  https://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN200403104510.html   Petition to Cardinal George Asks For Excommunication of Pro-Homosexual Marriage Chicago Mayor Daley   https://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/yrtwn/south/101syt3.htm   Objections to The Passion: Is It As It Was?  https://www.ncregister.com/current/0307lead3.htm   After ‘Passion,’ no need for Gibson to work again https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/grove_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000458215
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Silent No More to Counter-Demonstrate at Pro-Abortion March

March 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Rattled by the recent pro-life legislation, by the shift in popular support away from the pro-abortion radicalism of the past, and by the huge and growing turnout of crowds at the annual March for Life, pro-abortion groups are fighting back with a march of their own. NOW, NARAL, the Feminist Majority and Planned Parenthood are planning a rally to the theme of “March for Freedom of Choice – Save Women’s Lives.” At this year’s March for Life in Washington, a new group of advocates for the right to life made a big impact on public […]
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Baby Saved in Louisiana with Court Challenge

RUSTON, Louisiana, March 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Louisiana court has ruled that a 15 year-old girl cannot obtain an abortion against the consent of her custodial parent, her mother. The girl’s estranged father accompanied her to an abortion clinic where he signed a consent form giving permission for the abortion. Louisiana law requires parental consent for minors requesting abortion. Upon hearing the news, her mother, with the help of Alliance Defense Fund lawyer Mike Johnson, were able to obtain an emergency injunction to delay the procedure. Louisiana law states that a minor need only to have the consent of […]
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Partial-birth Abortion Records to Remain Secret, for Now

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The truth of the Planned Parenthood claim that partial birth abortion is medically necessary to protect the health of the mother rests with the actual medical facts surrounding the grisly procedure in individual cases. Now that claim has, at least temporarily, fulfilled its own prophecy with the announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice to abandon its effort to obtain client records from abortionists in the San Francisco trial to defend the partial-birth abortion ban. DOJ lawyers were obliged to withdraw their subpoenas after U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled Tuesday that the records […]
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Pope Appoints Mary Ann Glendon to Catholic Policy Position

BOSTON, March 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Prominent pro-life law professor, Mary Ann Glendon has been appointed by Pope John Paul II to head the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences which guides the Catholic Church’s social policies. Many Catholics have applauded the appointment, for a five-year term, of the Harvard University, Learned Hand law professor. Glendon was appointed to the Pontifical position after many years of advocacy of the Catholic teachings on a number of social issues, including abortion and same-sex unions.  “The challenge of the church is to keep abreast of changes, but not dumb down its doctrine to […]
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At United Nations Meeting on Women, Culture War Heats Up

NEW YORK, March 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At United Nations headquarters in New York, the 48th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) has convened with UN feminists attempting once again to subvert life and family.  The current meeting focuses on the two topics of the role of men and boys and on women, peace and security.  A LifeSiteNews.com reporter is on hand to report the latest developments.  Addressing the assembled delegates March 3, Canadian Minister of State Jean Augustine could not help but plug homosexual activism.  Despite the fact that the chosen topics did not lend […]
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Delegates to United Nations Meeting Heavily Lobbied by Homosexual Activists

GENEVA, March 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – National delegates to the upcoming March 15-April 25 meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights are being heavily lobbied by homosexual activists to approve a motion to include the term “sexual orientation” as a prohibited ground for discrimination within the UN Human Rights Convention.  LifeSiteNews.com has learned that delegates have received numerous communications in support of the proposal and very few opposing it.  LifeSiteNews.com reported that in late January the activist group International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Committee asked its members to contact delegates to the UNHCR meeting asking them to […]
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Emails of National Delegates to the United Nations Human Rights Committee

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Federal Election Will Not Take Place Until June at the Earliest Says CanWest https://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=35d02498-9a82-4876-8c38-eaacac0678fd   Alan Keyes says nothing less than the survival of at the US nation at stake in the battle to save traditional marriage?  https://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0031099.cfm   “Lunacy” at the UN; The Irony of Socially Constructing Gender   https://www.cwfa.org/articles/5348/CWA/nation/index.htm   NFL Rams player faces lawsuit for alleged bounced $50K check for alleged abortion https://www.belleville.com/mld/newsdemocrat/8119442.htm   Drudge Report: Official Kerry for President WebSite Riddled With Obscenities https://www.drudgereport.com/kerry44.htm   IVF is too stressful for 26% of Couples who Begin with it https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3532967.stm   Pro-abortion Groups planning Canada-wide demonstrations April 25 […]
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Australian Prime Minister to Move Against Gay Adoption Laws

CANBERRA, March 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Prime Minster of Australia, John Howard, has said that he was against gay “marriage” and the adoption of children by homosexuals. His comments indicate that the government may intend to take action against new laws giving homosexual partners the same rights as married couples. In an interview on Sydney Radio Howard said, “I’m a social conservative. I think there are certain benchmark institutions and arrangements in our society that you don’t muck around with, and children should be brought up ideally by a mother and father who are married.” The gay adoption laws […]
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Breakthrough Experiment Gives Hope of Restoring Fertility in Women: Ethics Still Undetermined

NEW YORK, March 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A team of US researchers has implanted ovarian tissue as a graft in a patient rendered infertile by cancer. The tissue was frozen and stored for six years, implanted in the woman’s abdomen and is functioning like a healthy ovary and producing female eggs. Dr. Kutluk Oktay, of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility of New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, told reporters that although an attempt at in vitro fertilization failed with the eggs produced by the tissue, the tissue continues to function normally a year after the surgery. He […]
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Developments in the U.S. Battle to Save Traditional Marriage

March 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Even though no US state explicitly allows homosexuals to register their unions as marriage, individual civil servants, judges and officials are continuing to push the legal envelope. Homosexual activists have argued that the way to win their fight for legal recognition of their liaisons as marriage is not through the legislatures, where public opinion still holds sway with elected representatives, but through manipulation of the local bureaucracy and judicial overrides of laws. The tactic worked smoothly in Ontario and is soon to be imposed by a sympathetic Canadian government on the rest of the country […]
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Supreme Court’s Rejection of Boy Scouts Appeal Signals Disturbing Anti-Christian Trend in Federal Co

HARTFORD, March 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United States Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the Boy Scouts of America, letting stand a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision that held it was constitutionally permissible to exclude the Scouts from a state charitable program because the Scouts excluded avowed homosexuals from leadership positions.  Homosexual activist organizations such as the Lambda Legal Defense Fund are allowed to participate in the state charitable campaign. Less than two weeks ago, the Supreme Court held in the case of Davey v. Locke, that it was constitutionally permissible for the State of Washington to […]
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Pro-Abortion Activist Accuses LifeSite of Misrepresenting Her, But We Have Tape

TORONTO, March 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Long-time pro-abortion activist Joyce Arthur recently complained to LifeSite about its March 4 report on her debate with pro-life activist Gillian Long.  Arthur claimed LifeSite made two subjective comments and one factual error, saying the LifeSite report was done “without any regard for accuracy or fairness.”  Arthur objected to LifeSite news calling the joint talks a debate, since she has a no-debate policy.  To clarify, while Arthur did her best to pretend that Long was not present, the atmosphere of the two back to back presentations and the competing question period seemed very debate-like […]
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Swedish Woman Dies of Abortion Drug RU-486

UDDEVALLA, March 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A young woman has died recently from an RU 486 abortion in the Swedish west coast city of Uddevalla.  The Swedish pro-life group JA till Livet has informed LifeSiteNews.com that the country’s National Board of Health and Welfare has issued a report concluding that the death of the unnamed young woman was a result of the chemically induced abortion. The woman, over seven weeks pregnant, reportedly chose to have an RU 486 abortion. One week after meeting with the gynecologist, she returned to the hospital to take three 200 mg Mifegyne pills. Two days […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

The Passion of the Christ Total Revenue as of Mar. 7, 2004: $213,888,740 +  Overseas Gross: $3,491,000 / Australia, New Zealand & Greece https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=passionofthechrist.htm   Nurse gets 15 years for killing patient, 91, claims ‘mercy killing’  https://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/St.+Louis+City+%2F+County/B72C585ED1D485A186256E4F001AF575?OpenDocument&Headline=Nurse+gets+15+years+for+killing+patient   UCLA Higher Ups Caught Selling Donated Cadavers https://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/20040307/ts_latimes/arrestmadeincadaverinquiry   Irish Pro-Abortion Group Seeks Repeal of Abortion Information Act https://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=79690840&p=7969y4zx&n=79691449   No shades of gray in Gibson’s ‘Passion’  https://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=https://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0308breakout081.html
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Homosexual “Wedding” First in Korea

SEOUL, March 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two men took part in what is being called the first overtly homosexual “marriage” ceremony in Korea. The ceremony was attended by 20 friends and 10 reporters from both newspaper and television, but no family members were in attendance. Same-sex “marriages” are not officially recognized by the state, thus the pair were refused a marriage certificate from the ward office. But Lee Sang-chul and Park Jong-geu were satisfied with the public acknowledgement of their undertaking. “Since it is virtually impossible to register our marriage, we will just be satisfied with an official endorsement of […]
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National Action Committee on the Status of Women is Left Behind by Canadian Women

OTTAWA, March 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The militantly pro-abortion and anti-family National Action Committee on the Status of Women, (NAC), is claiming that it is insolvent and cannot afford to maintain office hours. The group is in talks with the federal government seeking relief of tax debts. Bev Meslo, the group’s representative in B.C. says, “NAC is in crisis. It needs financial support.” Since its founding in 1972, the NAC has been a lobbying juggernaut for the full range of pro-abortion, feminist and anti-family measures at the federal level and internationally. For nearly thirty years the NAC and its affiliated […]
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Pro-Abortion “Catholic” Sheila Copps Loses Nomination Bid

HAMILTON March 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Sheila Copps, a pro-abortion “Catholic” MP and former Heritage Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, lost her bid for the Liberal nomination for her riding. Copps was in a fight for her seat in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek with the new Liberals under Paul Martin. She has been in a political free fall since dropping out of the Liberal leadership race against Paul Martin. Copps has a long history of anti-life and anti-Catholic sentiments and votes. On almost every serious issue she has been on the wrong side of her own church. In August 2003, Calgary […]
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Former Member of President’s Bioethics Council Accuses Chairman of Pro-Life ‘Political’ Bias

BOSTON, March 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of the members of the President’s Council on Bioethics whose term has recently expired has co-authored a critique of the board’s own reports on stem cell research. In the report, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, along with Janet Rowley, a University of Chicago biologist, accuses the council’s chairman, Leon Kass of political bias in supporting the use of adult stem cells as opposed to stem cells derived from embryos. US stem cell researchers often complain of the restrictions placed on the use of embryos to create cultured stem cell lines for pure research. The critique […]
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Study: Maternal Death Rate From Legal Abortions Three Times Higher than from Childbirth

SPRINGFIELD, March 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A study of pregnancy-associated deaths published in the latest issue of the “American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology” (AJOG) has found that the mortality rate associated with abortion is 2.95 times higher than that associated with pregnancies carried to term. The study included the entire population of women 15 to 49 years of age in Finland between 1987 and 2000. The researchers linked birth and abortion records to death certificates.  The annual death rate of women who had an abortion in the previous year was also 46% higher than that of non-pregnant women. Women […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Flustered film critics and ‘The Passion’  Media critics of the film “view themselves as the (don’t laugh) moral arbiters of the popular culture. But in the case of ‘The Passion,’ the harshest critics are dead wrong, and every day’s tidal wave of tickets washes away their disbelieving, deconstructing attempts to ruin its powerful effect on American hearts and minds.  https://www.townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/bb20040305.shtml   Sanctions to shut down pro-life law firm Facing bankruptcy after court rules for Planned Parenthood https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37440   First Openly Gay Anglican Bishop Appears On ‘60 Minutes’  https://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm   US Catholic Bishops Go On Record to Support Marriage Before Senate […]
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Debate Over Same-Sex Rights Hot Ticket in Nunavut Premier’s Race

IQALUIT, March 5, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Territory of Nunavut decides on a new premier today, with incumbent Paul Okalik vying with former cabinet minister Tagak Curley for the position. Curley, absent from politics for over 10 years, decided to re-enter the arena after becoming incensed over the passage of the Human Rights Act last November, an act that explicitly ensures the rights of homosexuals. Curley, an evangelical Christian, by becoming premier, has said that he would fight to prevent same-sex “marriage” legislation. Curley is opposed to the terms used in the Human Rights Act, which allows for protection on […]
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Polish Parliament to Open Debate on Easing Abortion Law

WARSAW, March 5, 2004 (lifeSiteNews.com) – Poland’s ruling Social Democrat party is set to introduce a new abortion bill later this month. The bill seeks to ease restrictions on abortion; it also promises to bring in universal sex education, provide guaranteed access to birth control, and legalize in-vitro fertilization, said Social Democrat party member Jolanta Banach. The move will “give women the right to terminate their pregnancies safely,” said Banach, who is considered a potential successor to current Prime Minister Leszek Miller.  Current legislation allows for abortion until the 12th week in cases of rape, incest, if a mothers health […]
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Mexican Pro-Life Group Launches Lawsuit Against Government “Family Planning” Programs

MEXICO, March 5, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Mexican government’s new policy of including abortifacients in “family planning” programs has come under fire from leading pro-life groups and religious and civil organizations.  Culture for Life president, Jorge Serrano Limon, said, “Civil organizations, the leadership of the Catholic Church, the Orthodox, Presbyterians, Evangelicals, the Mexican Red Cross, businessmen and lawmakers, are presenting juridical arguments and scientific proof for the reversal of this policy.” The group has launched a civil lawsuit against the government. The 12 Roman Catholic bishops of Mexico have signed onto the suit that alleges the policy is illegal because […]
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Judge Issues Restraining Order to Halt Mayor from Performing Homosexual ‘Marriages’

NEW PALTZ, NY, March 5, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Friday, Judge Vincent Bradley, of the Ulster County Supreme Court in New York, issued a Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) that ordered Jason West, the 26-year old part-time Mayor of New Paltz, NY, to stop solemnizing same sex “marriages.” The TRO was issued in a lawsuit filed by Liberty Counsel on behalf of Robert (Bob) Hebel, a member of the New Paltz Board of Trustees. On February 26, 2004, Mayor West announced he would solemnize marriages of same-sex couples. On February 27, West solemnized the “marriages” of 25 same-sex couples. He then […]
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Toronto Diocese Serious About Defending Marriage: Disciplines Dissident Priest

TORONTO, March 5, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a press release yesterday, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto reported that it has suspended the faculties of Father Tim Ryan.  The Toronto Scarboro Foreign Mission Society priest who, in August 2003, filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court of Canada in support of homosexual marriage. Attention was brought to the affidavit when it appeared on LifeSiteNews.com on February 3.  Rev. Ryan told the Toronto Star that he received a letter from the Archdiocese announcing his suspension on February 12.  With the press release the Archdiocese is sending a clear message about the […]
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LifeSite Newsbytes

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has found that a blood test from a pregnant woman could be used to provide non-invasive pre-natal tests. Alistair Kent of the Genetic Interest Group, said: “It would give pregnant women the opportunity to have information on which they could base decisions without potentially putting the future of a healthy pregnancy at risk.” [BBC, 3 March]  A spokesman for SPUC commented: “It is never acceptable to develop a test with the intention of screening out children with disabilities. It is sheer hypocrisy to speak of this test as safer for […]
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Harvard University to Give Human Embryonic Stem Cells Away for Free

BOSTON, March 4, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The latest efforts of Harvard University researcher to undermine President Bush's attempt to restrict the use of embryonic humans for experiment has taken an odd turn. Last week, LifeSiteNews.com reported that the renowned university intended to establish a research institute to focus on the development of stem cell lines from human embryos. Now a group of researchers headed by Chad Cowan have announced that they have developed 17 new lines of stem cells from human embryos and will be giving them away to researchers for free. The New England Journal of Medicine published an […]
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US Congress Proposes Bill to Impose Heavy Fines for Indecent Broadcasting

WASHINGTON March 4, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US Congress’ House Energy and Commerce Committee has proposed a law that would impose large fines on broadcasters who step over the line of “indecency”. The lewd Superbowl half-time show has outraged many Americans. The new law, if it is passed would raise fines from $27,500, to as much as $500,000 US for airing indecent material. The committee voted overwhelmingly, 49-1 for the change but the full Congress and Senate must pass the measure before it comes into force. The proposal follows recent strong indications that the public has reached a limit in […]
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Portugal Abortion Law to Stand Unchanged

LISBON, March 4, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Portugal parliament voted Wednesday to retain the abortion law as it stands. A referendum on the issue will not be called. Portugal Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso has held fast to his word that there would be no change to the law while he is in office. His term ends in 2006. Pro-abortion groups have been clamouring for a change to the legislation, claiming that popular opinion has changed since the 1998 referendum – the vote that maintained the illegality of abortion. “To abuse a referendum just because you don’t like or don’t […]
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Ryerson University Official Student Newspaper Features Pages of Pornography

TORONTO, March 4, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Parents thinking of Ryerson University in Toronto as a viable option for their children’s post-secondary education may want to think twice about the University whose widely distributed official student newspaper recently featured a considerable amount of explicit pornography. The February 11 cover of “The Eyeopener” has a full page photo of a nude woman advertising “love and sex page 11” with a caption boasting ‘Warning: Explicit Content Inside!’.  Five or more pages inside the issue feature explicit, large fully nude photos of individuals and couples with the males in full frontal aroused state.  LifeSiteNews.com […]
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Abortion Debate at Prestigious Canadian High School Leaves Pro-Abortion Leader without Support

TORONTO, March 4, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Upper Canada College, a prestigious boy’s college in Toronto, hosted debates on the abortion and euthanasia issues last month.  The abortion debate saw seasoned pro-abortion activist Joyce Arthur, the founder and long-time leader of the pro-choice action network, the foremost abortion advocacy group in BC, debating Campaign Life Coalition Youth Director Gillian Long.  Long was informed that Arthur would be with her on the panel and Long would be able to respond, but that Arthur has a “no-debate policy” which she abides by. Long spoke first and concluded her presentation by showing the students […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Disney/ABC Pushes Television Boundaries https://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/32004d.asp   Eisner’s future at Disney questioned https://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1077690862158&p=1012571727085   US House Panel Backs Big Hike in Indecency Fines https://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4490951   Hillary bucking for VP position?  https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37416   Georgia Constitutional Amendment to Protect Traditional Marriage Stalled in House https://www.starbanner.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040303/ZNYT02/403030312/1009/BUSINESS   Disney to Co-Finance and Distribute Film of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia https://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/02/film.narnia.reut/  Files of Roe V. Wade Author Supreme Court Justice Harry Blachmun to be Revealed March 4 https://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-blackmun-papers,0,1994234.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines   New Fetal Abnormality Test Samples Mother’s Blood https://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=4482929§ion=news   Gay Games Coming to Chicago in 2006 https://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gaygames03.html   Homosexual Activist Cousin of Australia’s Cardinal Pell to […]
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Sweden Considers Change from Civil Unions to “Marriage” for Homosexuals

STOCKHOLM March 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Swedish Parliament is considering a change to the marriage law to include homosexual civil unions within the legal definition of marriage. Since 1995, homosexual partners have had their partnerships recognized with the same legal rights and privileges of marriage but were referred to officially as partnerships. The motions currently before the Parliament will change the wording of existing definitions to “gender neutral” wording that can be interpreted to include same-sex partnerships. Marianne Mostroem, a spokeswoman for the parliament, said, “The laws committee began its work today. A first review is to be submitted […]
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Oregon County Attorney Unilaterally Imposes Changed Marriage Policy

PORTLAND, March 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Multnomah County, Oregon’s most populous, will shortly begin issuing marriage licenses to homosexual partners. Agnes Sowle, attorney for the county, which includes Portland, has found that the issuance of marriage licenses does not violate any state law. The county attorney concluded that a change in policy was possible because the State of Oregon and 13 other states do not have a specific definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. Highlighting the anti-democratic political methods that are usually employed to legalize gay “marriage”, one county commissioner complained that the move was […]
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Homosexual New Paltz Mayor to Continue Same-Sex “Weddings” Despite 19 Criminal Charges

NEW PALTZ, N.Y., March 3, 2004 (lifeSiteNews.com) – The mayor of New Paltz has decided to go ahead with up to two-dozen homosexual “marriages” this weekend despite 19 criminal charges which have been laid, and the potential of time in jail.  “Our state constitution requires equal protection for all New Yorkers,” Jason West said on NBC’s “Today Show.” West claims that the New York Health Department is breaking the law by not granting marriage licenses to homosexuals.  Mayor John Shields of Nyack, north of New York, told the Associated Press that he is also going to start issuing the licenses […]
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LifeSite NewsBytes

Mark Steyn and David Warren to be featured in New Canadian Magazine Western Standard https://www.WesternStandard.ca   Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien Pans Scottish Executive’s sexual health strategy for failed pro-condom strategy https://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=245172004   Pope’s theology of the body has become popular topic for study groups https://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20040301.htm   Blacks angered by gays’ metaphors https://www.washtimes.com/national/20040301-115928-8367r.htm   Gay Marriage a Voting Issue, But Mostly for Opponents   https://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=204
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South Dakota Abortion Ban Delayed

PIERRE, March 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Governor Mike Rounds of South Dakota is delaying his decision to sign a bill that may prohibit most abortions in that state. If the bill passes, even though it was softened by allowing abortions for the “health” of the mother, it will be the US’s most comprehensive abortion ban yet since Roe vs. Wade.  Governor Rounds has a voting record of supporting the pro-life position and the bill’s supporters are expecting him to sign it. Rob Regier of the South Dakota Family Planning Council said, “He doesn’t rush into decisions, he’s doing the same […]
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Schwarzenegger Tells Leno He has “No Use for a Constitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage”

SACRAMENTO, March 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in an interview with TV personality Jay Leno on Monday, said he would be “fine” with the prospect of homosexual “marriage” for the state if the people voted to approve it. He also said that he had “no use” for a constitutional amendment that would seek to bar homosexual “marriage”.  Schwarzenegger at one time told a reporter that “When it comes to sex, I don’t care what your (thing) is,” claiming that the discrimination against homosexuals was similar to the discrimination felt by bodybuilders.  Despite his comments Monday, the Governor […]
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Senate Committee to Hear Testimony on The Impact of Abortion on Women

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com/culture-of-life.org) – The Culture of Life Foundation’s Culture & Cosmos e-zine revealed today that a Senate hearing titled, The Impact of Abortion on Women, is planned for the near future. The Senate committee will hear testimony presented by previously “pro-choice” women who tell how the impact of their own abortions changed their minds. A medical expert is also to review the research on the physical and psychological effects of abortion.  Dr. Elizabeth Shadigian, a doctor and researcher at the University of Michigan School of Medicine and the author of “Long-Term Physical and Psychological Health Consequences of […]
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The Abortion Wars: Pro-Life Group Launches Air and Land Campaign With Giant Graphic Billboards

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif., March 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) will display images of abortion on a 50’ x 100’ Airplane Tow Banner over several Florida cities, main roadways, and public beaches as part of the Key States Initiative beginning today in West Palm Beach. The graphic aerial banner will be accompanied by a large fleet of land based mobile billboards also in Jacksonville (March 3-5), Tallahassee (March 8-10), and Pensacola (March 11- 12). The land based initiative began in Orlando on Feb. 16th CBR begins combined air and land operations in Georgia cities March […]
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Pro-lifers Say Bishops of California Have Moral Duty to Oppose Unjust Supreme Court Ruling on Contra

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Joseph M. Starrs, director of American Life League’s Crusade for the Defense of our Catholic Church, reacted to the decision by the California Supreme Court that Catholic Charities must provide access to contraception as part of its employee healthcare benefits. It called on Catholic bishops to defend the faithful.  “The state’s Catholic bishops have a moral responsibility to courageously speak out against this ruling. A tepid or lackluster response will only serve to further erode the rights of the Catholic Church and all religious institutions in the state. We call on all the Catholic […]
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Bush Appoints Three Pro-Lifers to Bioethics Council

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Bush administration is working to moderate the influence of anti-life researchers and philosophers on the President’s Council on Bioethics. Elizabeth Blackburn, a biologist and William May, emeritus professor of ethics Southern Methodist University, have had their terms expire on the Council and will be replaced by three high-profile individuals who have been outspoken in their criticisms of embryonic stem cell research, abortion, and the silencing of the religious voice in public life.  The council was created by executive order in 2001 to give advice to the President on issues surrounding biomedical science and […]
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Harvard University to Defy Bush’s Human Embryo Research Restrictions

BOSTON, March 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Harvard University will raise $100 million for a new research facility to focus on research using stem cells derived from embryonic humans. In a deliberate attempt to supercede US President Bush’s restriction on the use of public funding to create new sources of embryonic stem cells, the University has announced that it will be creating the largest facility of its kind in the US. This move is being seen as a direct challenge to the Bush administration’s efforts to stem the unethical use of embryonic human beings for research. Harvard University has enough political […]
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LifeSite Newsbytes

French theaters won’t show ‘Passion’ for ‘fear’ of Anti-Semitism https://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-passion29.html   A pro-life atheist states his case https://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/pe_20040228.html   Chicago Cardinal Francis George on Homosexual Marriage https://www.catholicnewworld.com/archive/card_arch/card2004/021504_geo.html   Cardinal Egan: Flock to ‘The Passion’  https://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/3/1/122621.shtml   Gibson critics are full of cynicism, anti-Christian bias, liberal politics, hatred of Catholics and their Church, and in many cases, atheism https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37359 Connecticut Governor Rowland sees ‘explosion of faith’ in country https://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct—rowland-thepassio0229feb29,0,7235654.story   Rabbi Riled Because Bush Didn’t Slam Door on Same-Sex Unions https://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/afa/272004b.asp   Constitutionally affirming civil unions likely to be very destructive to Family and freedom of Religion https://www.nationalreview.com/comment/gallagher200403010854.asp   The Supreme […]
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California Court tells Catholic Church to Provide Contraceptive Coverage For Staff

San Francisco, Mar. 1 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) – The California Supreme Court has ruled that the Catholic Church’s charitable institutions in the state must provide contraceptive coverage in health insurance plans for employees despite the Church’s constant moral teaching that contraception is sinful.  The court ruled 6-1 that Catholic Charities is no different than other businesses in the state and must abide by a state law that requires employer-provided health care plans to include contraceptive coverage. While the law exempts “religious employers,” such as churches, the court concluded that because Catholic Charities provides “secular” services such as counselling, low-income housing, and immigration […]
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Nun Who Exposed Human Organ Trafficking Network Dead

NAMPULA, Mozambique, March 1, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Brazilian nun responsible for exposing a human organ trafficking ring in Mozambique has been murdered. Doraci Edinger, a Sister of the Servants of Mary Immaculate, was found strangled and beaten in her home in the northern city of Nampula on Friday.  The traffickers are said to harvest sex organs from children to be sold as charms for the practice of witchcraft in ceremonies said to increase wealth or sexual vigour.  Authorities Tuesday claimed they had found no evidence of the human organ trade; the sisters, on the other hand, said they have […]
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Pope Insists Catholic Legislators Must Never Vote Against Life or Family

VATICAN, March 1, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope John Paul II said Saturday that it was an “opportune” time to remind lawmakers, especially Catholic lawmakers, that they may never vote in favour of laws attacking life or attacking the family.  The Pope made his comments in a speech to Argentina’s new ambassador to the Vatican.  The Pope urged the building of a society “worthy of man” which must therefore be based on “fundamental and irrevocable values” which include life and family.  He said laws must protect life “from conception to natural death” and marriage – the “pillar of society . . […]
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