Articles for Month: February 2005

CALGARY, February 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Fred Henry, in a brief editorial in the Calgary Sun, has called the Liberal Party to task on the impending same sex marriage legislation. He reminds Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew that Canadian Christians are still waiting for an apology. Pettigrew, said in January that the separation of Church and state, a political concept that exists mainly in the mind of liberal ideologues, meant that Canada’s churches “should not get involved” in the same-sex marriage legislation debate. Bishop Henry is apparently aware that those expecting an apology will have a while yet to […]

Terri Schiavo Website

OTTAWA, February 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Michael O’Brien, the Canadian Catholic novelist and social commentator, describes the classic signs of a growing totalitarianism: the imposition of a national ideological orthodoxy with state coercive power to ensure conformity. The Canadian government, he proposes, in a guest editorial exclusive to LifeSiteNews.com, is using the homosexual movement to create this kind of state. In Canada, a person is free to hold opinions contrary to those official party lines, but only in his home and only cautiously.  There are now criminal penalties for public disagreement.  Michael O’Brien is well known to Catholic readers as […]

OTTAWA, February 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper recently told his caucus that the party leadership will be backing a resolution at the upcoming policy convention that would institute an official policy of not taking any position on abortion, same-sex marriage or other social conservative issues.  LifeSiteNews.com was told by a party source that Harper conveyed this shocking news to his mostly social conservative caucus at a Feb. 15 caucus meeting. The informant is deeply concerned about the leader’s on-going efforts to take the party further to the left and well away from the distinct alternative given […]

OTTAWA, February 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Liberal Party’s call for a polygamy study was driven by the fear that opening the door to same-sex “marriage” would also pave the way for legalization of polygamy, according to a recently released document from Status of Women Canada.  Liberal party members and the media ridiculed the suggestion by Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper that there was a connection between the timing of the study and same-sex “marriage” legislation. “The question of polygamy has also arisen lately in connection with the current public debate on civil marriage and the legal recognition of same-sex […]

OTTAWA, February 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Many Christian leaders may be wondering if speaking out on Bill C-38, the Civil Marriage Act would be considered political activity.  The Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC) has confirmed that churches are permitted to do so without risking their charitable status.  “Churches and denominations may speak out on the issue of marriage,” says the CCCC in a release. “This is not political activity but charitable activity because it is in pursuit of your charitable purposes.”  The CCCC notes that “other ministries will have to examine their charitable purposes to determine if they too […]

TAUBATE, Brazil, February 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Brazilian prosecutor has filed a legal challenge to the country’s prohibition of same-sex “marriage.”  Prosecutor Joao Gilberto Goncalves argued that the 1988 constitution, which outlaws discrimination against homosexuals, is a reason to allow same-sex couples to “wed.” A court ruling is expected later this year.  A meeting officially supported by the Human Rights Office of the President of Brazil last May called for the approval of laws sympathetic to homosexuality in the Brazilian Congress. Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul approved same-sex civil union legislation last year.  Goncalves said he […]

OTTAWA, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-family groups are urging supporters to lobby members of the Parliamentary Committee on the gay ‘marriage’ Bill C-38, to allow cross-country hearings on the issue.  In an attempt to fast-track the legislation homosexual activist MPs are arguing that debate on the issue has already been heard and more is unnecessary. The following is a list of all committee members and their contact information.  Liberal Françoise Boivin – (613) 992-4351 – Fax: (613) 992-1037 – Email: [email protected]   Don Boudria – (613) 996-2907 – Fax: (613) 996-9123 Email: [email protected]   Paul Harold Macklin – (613) […]

OTTAWA, February 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – BC Conservative MP James Moore, who promoted himself as a pro-life, pro-family candidate before elections in 2000, scandalized his own Conservative caucus and his pro-family supporters when he crossed the floor of the House of Commons February 16 to shake the hand of Prime Minister Paul Martin – right before Martin delivered a speech promoting his same-sex “marriage” legislation.  Campaign Life Coalition National Director of Public Affairs, Aidan Reid, told LifeSiteNews.com that he signed up to help Moore campaign for his riding of Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam, BC in 2000 because of Moore’s claim to […]

TORONTO, February 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two weeks ago LifeSiteNews.com reported that Canadian Tire was standing behind its sponsorship of a controversial show called “My Fabulous Gay Wedding.” Since that time the corporate offices of Canadian Tire have been showered with calls, emails and faxes, not only from concerned patrons but also from local store owners who were confronted by customers.  Susan Rogers, Senior Vice President of Canadian Tire Corporate Affairs, spoke with LifeSiteNews.com today to clarify the situation. Rogers admitted that the LifeSiteNews.com story was “completely accurate based on the information that you had been provided” by Canadian Tire. She added however […]

NEW YORK, February 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Attempts by the United States to clarify that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action drawn up in 1995 do not call for abortion to be regarded as a human right are likely to be met with fierce resistance by UN feminists.  Although the document does not mention abortion as a human right, several UN diplomats have interpreted it as such. The US is thus seeking an amendment to a document reaffirming the Beijing documents. The amendment adds the statement, “and reaffirm that they do not create any new international human rights and that […]

TORONTO, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With the obscenely rapid, three-day introduction and passage of its same-sex “marriage” Bill 171, the Ontario government has advanced a revolutionary change in the way all laws and government programs and institutions refer to marriage and married persons. Everything referring to spouses must now be gender neutral.  No longer can a married couple be referred to as “husband and wife” or “man and woman”. The terms “Widow” and “widower” are also struck from government statutes. Attorney General Michael Bryant stated, on introducing the bill, “Currently, the statutes offend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms”.  Bryant […]

CLEARWATER, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A ruling this afternoon by Florida Judge George Greer gives Terri Schiavo, a cognitively disabled woman whose husband is attempting to have her denied food and fluids, three more weeks before she is starved to death. “Absent a stay from the appellate courts, the guardian Michael Schiavo, shall cause the removal of nutrition and hydration from the ward, Theresa Schiavo, at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2005,” says the ruling.  See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:  Vatican Appeals for Life of Disabled Florida Woman Terri Schiavo  Florida Governor Urges Schiavo Abuse Investigation

CLEARWATER, Florida, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Florida Governor Jeb Bush has asked the court to delay the removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube in order to conduct an investigation into allegations that her husband Michael Schiavo was physically abusive and is therefore unfit to be her legal guardian.  Attorneys for Florida’s Department of Children and Families asked the court, through the Schindler’s attorney, that the emergency stay be delayed. One woman shouted “Amen” when the attorney brought up the request during Wednesday’s hearing before Pinellas County Circuit Judge George W. Greer, according to a Washington Post report.  “We have […]

WICHITA, Kansas., February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline has asked for the records of 90 women who had abortions after 22 weeks gestation at two unnamed abortion clinics in an investigation into reports of child sex abuse of minor girls. Currently, abortion clinics are exempt from reporting child sex abuse, even if they become aware of it. The two clinics, whose names have been sealed by the Kansas Supreme Court, are blocking the release of the records citing privacy concerns of their patients.  “Rape is a serious crime and when a 10, 11, or 12 year […]

Bishops urged to take action, uphold Church teaching in Terri Schiavo case       Maine Republican Attempting to Ban Abortions on “Gay” Fetuses   Large US Cable Company Pulls Porn Programming 1 Month after Launch         Eye Witness Account Of Terri Schindler’s Current Condition  Texas Debating Pro-life Bill Australian Pro-Lifers Are Making Political Waves Trying to ban Late-Term Abortions

NEW YORK, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Howard Dean, immortalized by the yell that ended his run at the Democratic nomination, has inadvertently put his finger on a long-standing controversy between pro-lifers and nominally Catholic politicians. Dean, now the Democratic National Committee chairman, was speaking to students at Cornell University when he let slip that politicians know perfectly well that one of their most cherished sound bites is a gross deception. Dean referred in his speech to the many women who considered themselves pro-life but were actually ‘pro-choice.’ Their position that abortion is immoral, but that abortion must remain legal, […]

NEWRY, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The meeting at a Northern Ireland country mansion of 35 Anglican primates from around the world, has taken a surprising turn. The heads of the US and Canadian Anglican churches have been told not to attend meetings of the Anglican Communion for three years because of their refusal to recant their endorsement of homosexuality. Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, himself regarded as being in the theologically liberal camp said, “Any lasting solution, I think, will require people to say somewhere along the line, ‘Yes, we were wrong.’”  In November 2003, the US Episcopal Church […]

WORLAND, Wyoming, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Parents of a 15-year-old disabled girl filed a lawsuit against the state after learning that staff at her school had procured the morning-after-pill for her without their consent. Without notifying the girl’s parents, a school counsellor and principal brought the girl to the county health department where she was given the so-called emergency contraceptive Plan B abortifacient. The girl told school counsellors last April that she had sex with a 23-year-old. The parents question why the school never filed criminal charges against the man for preying on a disabled minor. The parent’s suit […]

ZAGREB, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Bishops of Croatia have succeeded in putting off government legislation on medically assisted reproduction that would have permitted donation of human ova and embryos.  In a highly effective brochure, the church leaders combined arguments from faith and reason to defeat the measure.  In a Feb 4 news conference on the brochure, the bishops explained that IVF is “a serious crime against conceived human lives and their dignity”.  They explained in their brochure that scientific facts reveal that there is a massive loss of life associated with the procedures since for every child […]

TORONTO, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The passage of the Ontario Liberal government’s same-sex marriage Bill 171 will have wide-ranging, serious consequences as illustrated by Giuseppe Gori, leader of the Family Coalition Party, in his Feb. 25 Straight Thoughts newsletter.  Gori also claims that there was obvious collusion between the federal and provincial Liberals on this matter.  See excerpts of this significant analysis in a LifeSiteNews.com Special Report.

LONDON, February 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said that schism is imminent unless US and Canadian churches stop ordaining homosexual bishops and solemnizing same-sex unions.  Leaders of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion are meeting at a retreat this week in Northern Ireland, to discuss and try to resolve the issue.  “Should the call to halt and find ways of continuing in our present communion not be heeded, then we shall have to begin to learn to walk apart,” the Archbishop said Tuesday, as reported by the Washington Times. “There will be no cost-free outcome from this,” he […]

SPOKANE, February 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Gonzaga University, the Catholic college in Spokane, Washington, owned and run by the Jesuit order, has allegedly made its stand on the side of abortion supporters and homosexual activists against Catholic and pro-life groups on campus. According to Dr. Mike Adams of the University of North Carolina, in December 2003, the Pro-Life Caucus was denied official recognition at the Catholic university on the grounds that a policy allowing only Christians to hold leadership positions was discriminatory. Numerous observers found this inconsistent since the Jesuit order, which owns the university is a religious organization that […]

WICHITA, Ks., February 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Infamous late-term abortionist George Tiller has been subpoenaed by the State of Texas and the Texas Attorney General regarding the death of a 19-year-old disabled Texas woman who suffered a fatal medical emergency at Tiller’s Kansas abortion clinic – Wichita Women’s Center.  Operation Rescue, a pro-life group which has monitored Tiller’s clinic, reports five ambulances in the past 13 months have rushed women from Tiller’s abortuary to Wesley Medical Centre in Witchita. At least one woman has now died, and at least one more is suspected to have died.  However, Kansas Attorney General […]

OTTAWA, February 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Jim Hughes of Campaign Life Coalition and Tristan Emmanuel executive director of Equipping Christians for the Public Square Centre are calling for a continuation of the boycott of Famous Players Theatres.  “It appears that Famous Players has learned nothing from the boycott, they do not understand what corporate fair play or equality in free speech is all about,” said Emmanuel.  Famous Players issued a statement on February 19, stating that it would no longer run the ‘same-sex marriage’ ad, or any other ‘issue-driven advertising’ in its 79 theatres. But they also asserted that none […]

TORONTO, February 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At Approximately 5 p.m. today the Ontario Legislature passed, by voice vote only, Bill 171, which further enshrines same-sex marriage in Ontario law. Premier Dalton McGuinty proposed the move to change 73 provincial statutes, to introduce gender-neutral language that otherwise refers to wives and husbands.  Progressive Conservative MPPs Bill Murdoch and Frank Klees spoke against the bill and made strong appeals to other members of the Legislature to join them in standing immediately after the voice vote to request a recorded vote. Legislature rules are that only five members need stand for a recorded […]

VICTORIA, February 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A motion put forward by the student pro-life club, Youth Protecting Youth, at the University of Victoria has failed to overturn the official pro-abortion policy of the U-Vic student society. The BC Catholic has reported that the club had been unable to get its pro-life message out to students for years since their posters were routinely torn down as soon as they were put up and the student society of U-Vic has an official policy in favour of legalized abortion.  YPY vice president Del Myers, in his last year at the university, decided to […]

BOSTON, February 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has accepted a challenge to the law banning same-sex couples from out-of-state getting married there.  The 1913 law bars couples whose marriage would be illegal in their home state from marrying in Massachusetts. The court agreed to hear the case in late January, but the decision was not made public. The hearings are scheduled to proceed in September.  In a 4-3 split decision, the Massachusetts high court ruled in November 2003 that denial of marriage to homosexual persons violates the state’s constitution. It demanded that the legislature alter its […]

QUEBEC CITY, February 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On February 17, the Canadian government began the debate in Parliament over same sex ‘marriage’ legislation. On the same day, Marc Cardinal Ouellet, the Primate of the Catholic Church in Canada warned that Canada was toying with basic religious freedom and was falling into ‘juridical chaos’ in the determination to impose same sex ‘marriage.’ He said that the civil foundation of Canadian society was being undermined by ‘subjectivism,’ the idea that rights are not based on objective, external reality, but upon personal desires. The Cardinal said in a telephone interview with the US […]

QUEBEC CITY, February 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On February 17, the Canadian government began the debate in Parliament over same sex ‘marriage’ legislation. On the same day, Marc Cardinal Ouellet, the Primate of the Catholic Church in Canada warned that Canada was toying with basic religious freedom and was falling into ‘juridical chaos’ in the determination to impose same sex ‘marriage.’ He said that the civil foundation of Canadian society was being undermined by ‘subjectivism,’ the idea that rights are not based on objective, external reality, but upon personal desires. The Cardinal said in a telephone interview with the US […]

WASHINGTON, February 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it would review a lower court decision upholding Oregon’s assisted-suicide law.  Last May, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals narrowly upheld Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, after US Attorney General John Ashcroft challenged the law. The Department of Justice argued that the prescribing of lethal medications by doctors was in contravention of the federal Controlled Substances Act. Two of three state judges disagreed, arguing that the regulation of medical practice is outside the jurisdiction of the federal government.  David Stevens, M.D., executive director of the 17,000-member Christian […]

CLEARWATER, Florida, February 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A state judge extended the stay of brain-disabled Terri Schiavo today, giving her until five pm Friday to consider new arguments presented by the Schindler’s attorney. They contend that further testing be conducted before her feeding tube is removed, and that her husband be dismissed as her legal guardian.  The Florida Department of Children & Families, meanwhile, also attempted to intervene in the case. Judge Greer denied the DCF attorney an opportunity to speak at this afternoon’s hearing. The DCF intervention came after news that Florida Governor Jeb Bush was seeking ways to […]

TORONTO, February 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Ontario Legislature plans to force a vote tomorrow (February 24th) on its just introduced Bill 171, to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. In a move designed to copy-cat the federal legislation, Premier Dalton McGuinty proposes to change 73 provincial laws. “This pre-emptive move by the Ontario legislature looks suspiciously like an attempt to strengthen the faltering federal legislation,” said Jim Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition (CLC). “At least on the federal level most MPs are being given an opportunity to debate, but in Queen’s Park they plan […]

ROME, February 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new ‘ideology of evil’ is threatening society and it includes gay ‘marriage,’ and abortion writes Pope John Paul II in his new book, “Memory and Identity.”  The book is about his experiences with 20th-century totalitarianism and its effects on him as a priest, bishop and Pope. “Memory and Identity,” which publishers expect to be a best-seller, was made available today and has already come under attack from Jewish groups. In it, the Pope drew a parallel with abortion and the Nazi Holocaust. Pope John Paul calls abortion a “legal extermination” and compares its […]

TORONTO, February 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Ontario government has introduced legislation that would, if passed, amend more than 70 Ontario statutes to suit court orders that declared homosexual ‘marriage’ must be permitted.  Attorney General Michael Bryant announced Bill 171 yesterday saying, “By changing the definition of spouse in these statutes, our government is helping to ensure that Ontario laws don’t discriminate against same-sex couples, including those who choose to marry.” The proposed bill also includes provisions to clarify that religious officials cannot be compelled to perform marriages or use their sacred places for the celebration of marriages that are inconsistent […]

Four Reasons Why the Pope Shouldn’t Quit    BlogsForTerri Latest Updates on Terri Shiavo   Rehnquist’s Departure in June or Sooner   How the man who created Dolly the sheep slid down the slippery slope to human reproductive cloning

CLEARWATER, February 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – 2nd District Court of Appeal judge George Greer, after a Florida appeals court dissolved a stay preventing brain-disabled Terri Schiavo’s death by starvation from beginning today at 1 pm, 45 minutes later re-established an emergency stay granting her continued feeding until 5 pm Wednesday.  Michael Schiavo, the estranged husband and legal guardian of brain-disabled Terri Schiavo, has waged an constant legal battle to win the right to kill his wife, even though he has two children with another woman he has already lived with for eight years – and has rebuffed all attempts by […]

METZ, February 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A French appeals court has ruled that a man who killed a pregnant woman is not responsible for two deaths. In a case that bears comparison with that of Laci and Connor Peterson in the US, Kevin Germon was under the influence of cannabis while he was driving his van on a motorway in October 2003. The van struck another car killing 34 year-old Florinda Braganca and her 22 week-old unborn child. Her husband insisted that manslaughter charges be laid for both deaths but the French courts have disagreed. In France, which like most […]

WASHINGTON, February 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US Supreme Court refused today to hear an appeal of the court’s 1973 Roe v Wade decision which permitted abortion in the United States.  The appeal was launched by Norma McCorvey, the same woman who, over thirty years ago, was used by pro-abortion forces as the “Jane Roe” which led to abortion’s legalization.  In response to the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case, McCorvey’s attorney, Allan Parker, president of The Justice Foundation, said “It is tragic and disappointing that the Court is not willing to consider the aftermath of 32 years of […]

LONDON, February 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Britain approved a new civil unions bill Monday for same-sex couples, granting them all the privileges of marriage and giving a powerful seal of approval to homosexual relations.  The Civil Partnerships Bill, passed through parliament last year, will mean same-sex couples will be entitled to civil unions by December. Included is access to spousal-like benefits such as pensions, next-of-kin status, and an exemption on paying inheritance tax.  Also included in the bill is the same alimony and child support responsibilities in the event of separation.  Also on Monday, the UK military announced that same-sex […]

WICHITA, KA, February 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Abortion clinic activists with Operation Rescue in Wichita have videotaped five ambulance transports from George Tiller’s Wichita Women’s Health Care late-term abortion clinic to Wesley Medical Center in the past 13 months.  One was last week (Feb. 17) and one was January 13 which involved a woman who they were later informed had died. To date, there has been little media inquiry and little coverage, probably because of a lack of official recognition of the death. That same abortion clinic is paid by provincial governments in Canada to perform late-term abortions on Canadian […]

DALLAS, February 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On of America’s largest breast cancer research foundations is funnelling money into the abortion industry via Planned Parenthood. Although indisputable evidence links induced abortion with an increase in breast cancer risk, both the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Planned Parenthood conveniently deny the link.  The Komen Foundation, famous for its annual “Race for the Cure” cancer research fundraising event – raised $154 million in funding for 2003, according to financial reports. The foundation gave $475 thousand to Planned Parenthood that same year. That move prompted medical research analyst and former employee of […]

LONDON, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “The church’s teaching on homosexuality…seems to us out of touch with growing scientific evidence on the nature of homosexuality itself.”“…Same-sex, loving and committed relationships and the sexual expression thereof can be holy and may even be sacramental.”  A reader might be forgiven for assuming that the above quotes come from a leader of a homosexual activist group lobbying Parliament to legalize same sex ‘marriage.’ It might be considered unusual however, coming from a Catholic publication, but the authors of the quoted editorial claim to be running a Catholic newspaper, the Catholic New Times (CNT), […]

NEW YORK, February 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An internet cracker who recently hacked into the personal files containing contact information, to-do lists and other personal information of celebrity Paris Hilton, allegedly found one note that said “Get birth control kill pill,” as part of a shopping list the heiress to the Hilton hotel chain wrote to herself.  LifeSiteNews.com presumes she was referring to the morning-after pill (MAP), although reference to any of the MAP, the birth-control pill, or a RU-486 chemical abortifacient all accurately fit the description of “kill pills.”  MAP proponents, for example, claim it is a contraceptive, yet […]

WASHINGTON, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Confidential taped conversations that took place in 1998, while US President George W. Bush was still Governor of Texas, and in 2000 after Bush had accepted the Republican nomination to run for US president, were recently released to the New York Times. The tapes were recorded by Doug Wead, a personal friend to the President and a former aide to George Bush senior.  In the conversations, President Bush is candid about some spiritual and moral issues. “Gay marriage, I am against that,” Bush said. “Special rights, I am against that.”  Bush said that, despite […]

UNITED NATIONS, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On December 6, on the 10th anniversary of 1994’s International Year of the family, pro-family forces gained what they consider to be a huge victory as the United Nations ratified the Doha declaration on the family. The Doha International Conference for the Family convened in Doha, Qatar, on November 29-30, 2004 to explore and analyze the implications of Article 16(3) of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights which proclaims, “the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state.”  The Doha […]

LISBON, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Portugal has joined the ranks of EU nations that, while nominally Catholic, have elected socialist governments bent on overturning their countries’ abortion laws. Rising unemployment under the centre right Portuguese Social Democrat party was used as a lever to gain a Socialist win of 45% of the vote and a majority in Portugal’s Parliament in Sunday’s election. Portugal’s Socialist Party is roughly equivalent in policy to England’s Labour Party according to the BBC. The Socialist party ran on a platform that included a promise to conduct a national referendum to overturn the country’s official […]

MEXICO CITY, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Rodrigo Aguilar Martinez, who heads a Mexican bishops’ conference committee on family ministry, has criticized the broadcast of ads sponsored by the government’s Health Secretariat promoting homosexual unions as a “right.” He stated, “We cannot go along with or accede to such things, because sooner or later the damage will be felt.”  Bishop Aguilar says the ads, which will be broadcast starting in March, should be reviewed because instead of fighting against “homophobia” they are promoting promiscuity and human and social degradation.  He also encouraged people to make their opinions about these […]

TORONTO, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Enshrine Marriage Canada (EMC) released the results of new public opinion poll in Calgary North Centre that found Conservative MP Jim Prentice is at odds with his own voters on the issue of marriage. Over 76 per cent of current Conservative supporters oppose redefining marriage.  “Jim Prentice’s own voters in Calgary North Centre want their MP to back the traditional definition of marriage,” said William Gairdner, a member of EMC’s steering committee. “Jim Prentice may have said he intends to vote for the Government’s bill, but his own voters oppose the idea.”  EMC is […]

SEOUL, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A defector, testifying at human rights hearings Tuesday, said that infanticide and forced abortion are common practices in North Korean detention camps.  “I heard the cries of both mother and child through the curtain (at a hospital). And through the partially open curtain, I witnessed the nurse covering the infant’s face with a wet towel on a table, suffocating it,” said the 28-year-old woman, identified as Park Sun-ja, according to a koreaherald.co.kr report. “The baby stopped crying about ten minutes later,” Park added. She was testifying at an international conference discussing human rights abuses […]

OTTAWA, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Scarborough Southwest Liberal MP Tom Wappel has always been a strong defender of life and family, and his speech in the House of Commons on Friday defending marriage from radical redefinition was true to form.  With a keen legal mind, Wappel dissected popular arguments supporting same-sex ‘marriage’ while showing that Bill C-38 is “a sham, and a hoax on parliamentarians and Canadians.”  Wappel began by noting that he had already many years ago attempted to enshrine the traditional definition of marriage in law but had been assured by successive justice ministers that such a […]

 Human Dignity Doesn’t Hinge on “Quality of Life,” Says Pope Zenit link U.N. Committee Recommends Ban on All Types of Human Cloning: Holy See Is Moderately Satisfied Zenit link    Doctors are warning young cannabis users that they could be at an increased risk of having a stroke        IVF embryos may be starved of a vital ingredient    History of modern man unravels as German scholar is exposed as fraud   Homosexuality: From mental disorder to civil-rights cause    Abortion: A Law Unto Itself             Massachusetts Corruption case leads agents to buried fetuses    […]

BELFAST, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Police seized a display board belonging to Precious Life showing pictures of abortion in Belfast city centre on Saturday 19th February, and cautioned members of the pro-life group for showing “offensive material”. Members of Precious Life had set up the display board and information table as they have been doing every week for the past seven years in Belfast’s Cornmarket at 2.00pm. They spent over an hour distributing leaflets and collecting petition signatures when three police officers arrived. The officer in charge claimed the pictures were “offensive” and the other officers moved in to […]

PHILADELPHIA, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Philadelphia judge dismissed all criminal charges Thursday against four Christians who were arrested after walking a public street and quoting the Bible during Outfest, a celebration of homosexual behavior, on October 10 of last year.  Judge Pamela Dembe of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the charges, saying that she found no basis whatsoever for any of them. Dembe said that the First Amendment protects unpopular speech as much as popular speech and is the controlling issue in this case.  “We are one of the very few countries that protects unpopular speech,” […]

WASHINGTON, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On April 26, thousands of young people across the United States will participate in American Life League’s National Pro-life T-shirt Day by wearing shirts with pro-life messages to their high schools, colleges and everywhere they travel that day. This third annual event gives America’s pro-life youth the chance to publicly express support for the sanctity of every human being’s life—from conception until natural death.  “This is a day when the youth can speak out against the holocaust of abortion, which has taken the lives of one-third of their generation,” said Erik Whittington, director of […]

‘The Simpsons’ Dives Into Gay Controversy        Bill Maher: Christians have neurological disorder  Americans Tuning out Hollywood Awards  Whistleblower Arlington priest faces Church judges The Trouble With ‘Values’        Spain: Lawsuit filed against priest for denying communion to gay activist        Karl Rove Tells Major Conservative Convention Bush Promotes the Culture of Life    New Papal Book on His Life Compares Abortion to the Holocaust

WASHINGTON, DC, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US bishops’ conference on Friday released the results of its second yearly audit of sex-abuse prevention policies in American dioceses. The report said that 1,092 new claims were filed against clergy in 2004 and that more than $840 million had been paid out so far in legal settlements since 1950. The report said most of the alleged incidents reported last year were decades old and nearly three-quarters of the accused priests or deacons were deceased, laicized, or removed from public ministry before the claims were made.  Last year’s report revealed that 4,392 […]

* Cardinal Ouellet of Quebec Says “We are very concerned, very concerned with the future”  In an interview with Catholic News Service Cardinal Marc Ouellet said same-sex marriage discards the basic fact “that a man is a man and a woman is a woman, and their union is marriage.” He warned that the state is advocating something that is contrary to the natural order of things, and in doing so its leaders are falling into “subjectivism” and “everything becomes arbitrary and you have no foundations for civil rights or civil marriage.” “If the words can be twisted in this way” […]

OTTAWA, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The looming legalization of same-sex marriage has pushed several doctors to begin speaking out on the harmful medical consequences of homosexual sex.  In addition to the group of physicians who presented their findings to Parliament in a referenced brief last week (see LifeSiteNews.com coverage), two other doctors have approached LifeSiteNews.com to submit evidence but requested anonymity based on fear of retribution from homosexual activists.  The doctors noted that they are concerned for individuals practicing dangerous homosexual sex practices but also for society in that the normalization of such sex practices through same sex ‘marriage’ […]

ROME, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life is meeting in Rome next week and will assess the growing problems in medical ethics with terms like ‘quality of life’ and ‘health’. Calling the emphasis in wealthy countries on health at all costs a “religion of health,” Vatican theologians said that some moral limits on the pursuit of health ought to be considered. Rev. Maurizio Faggioni, a theologian and morality expert on the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life said, “The medicine of desires, egged on by the health care market, increases the request for […]

ASUNCIÓN, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In January, LifeSiteNews.com reported that United Nations overseers were targeting Paraguay next on the list of Catholic countries who refuse to legalize abortion. The feminist-controlled UN organization, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), issued a press release in which they outlined the kind of pressure placed by CEDAW as a matter of course against many Christian countries that have laws or constitution clauses against abortion and IVF. News reports in Paraguay publicized the routine pressuring of delegates from Paraguay and other pro-life countries by UN officials. Now the local UN office […]

ST. JOHN’S, Nfld., February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Newfoundland’s Conservative Premier, Danny Williams, spoke out in favour of same-sex “marriage” Thursday, arguing that it is a fundamental “human right.” Williams, who claims he “championed social justice” while practicing law for 30 years said, “From a personal perspective, I actually support gay marriages,” in an interview reported by the Canadian Press.  Conservative leader Stephen Harper meanwhile, during debate of the bill in the federal House Wednesday, said, “Same-sex marriage is not a human right.”  Williams claims Harper is suppressing Conservative MP’s liberty to express their personal views on the subject. “The […]

WICHITA, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An ambulance carrying a patient of Women’s Health Care Services (WHCS), the infamous late-term abortion mill owned by George Tiller, arrived silently and without fanfare at the Wesley Medical Center Emergency Room at 11:21 a.m. today, just five weeks after one of Tiller’s patients reportedly died after a similar trip. Operation Rescue staffers photographed the scene as emergency workers unloaded a woman completely shrouded in a blanket. The woman’s body was strapped to the gurney at the ankles, hips and shoulders.  Witnesses detected no movement from the woman nor did they observe the usual […]

WASHINGTON, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The uses of adult stem cells seem to know no boundaries. In recent months, LifeSiteNews.com has reported on new discoveries for treating maladies as diverse as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and blindness. Now it is being shown that adult stem cells taken from bone marrow can be used to create perfectly matched skin grafts for surgery following burns or other disfiguring accidents or even breast cancer. Scientists at University of Illinois in Chicago have told a conference that they have stimulated stem cells from a human donor to develop into the fatty tissue of […]

UNITED NATIONS, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United Nations has called on Member States to adopt urgent legislation outlawing all cloning practices “as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life.” The declaration, introduced by Honduras, also calls on countries to “prevent the exploitation of women.” Cloning requires harvesting eggs from women.  The decision ends three years of deadlock caused by countries seeking approval for cloning research. The United Kingdom, Belgium and Singapore led the opposition for a total ban, insisting that a ban only apply to letting a cloned human live while allowing cloned […]

PIERRE, February 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Anticipating a US Supreme Court challenge, the South Dakota House overwhelmingly passed a measure Tuesday making the committing of an abortion a crime, should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. The bill passed by a margin of 54-16.  Republican Rep. Joel Dykstra, lead sponsor of the bill, said, “We can stand clearly with those who can’t stand for themselves,” by having a measure in place that would automatically kick in if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, according to an aberdeennews.com report.  Lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected attempts to introduce exceptions into the bill […]

OTTAWA, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The same sex marriage bill debate in the House of Commons commenced Wednesday with Prime Minister Paul Martin, a Catholic, leading the charge for the legislation.  With a sneering arrogance Martin broadly painted sincere opponents of marriage redefinition as human rights violators who would not only deny gays their Charter “rights” now but would also later try to remove the rights of other Canadians.  Using the big lie technique of totalitarian regimes, Martin made frequent references to “rights”, “humans rights” and the Liberal-Party-created “Charter of Rights” throughout his speech, with the obvious hope that, […]

CYBERSPACE, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – During the US presidential election, many heard for the first time about the rise in influence of the “bloggers,” the wave of self-publishing internet journalists whose up-to-the nanosecond news reporting caused the downfall of CBS’s anchor-Titan Dan Rather. Now that the bloggers have found themselves powerful enough to depose one of mainstream broadcast media’s most powerful icons, they are realizing their power in other areas. A group of pro-life bloggers has banded together to try to stop the starvation death of Terri Schindler-Schiavo. One of the writers on the group ‘blog, “Tim,” wrote, “Terri’s […]

SASKATOON, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Another group of traditional Christians has weighed in with their objections to the imposition of homosexual ‘marriage’ in Canada. The latest protest, however, is unusual since the group in question, the Hutterites, have a 477 year-old policy of staying out of politics.  “We were taught to obey the government as long as it’s not against our conscience,” said one Hutterite minister. “We felt we had to say something to let the world know we’re against this.”  There are 31,000 Hutterites in British Columbia and the Prairies and in a letter to Prime Minister Paul […]

OTTAWA, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A refugee claimant from China who worked as a “family-planning manager” has been rejected by a Canadian court, which ruled that forcing women to abort their children against their will is a crime against humanity.  Li Min Lai admitted to aggressively enforcing the one-child policy in her workplace – at one time even camping out in front of a woman employee’s home, eventually coercing her into aborting her seven-month-old unborn child. Federal Court Justice Sandra Simpson upheld a decision by Canada’s refugee board, which ruled last year that Lai’s role in coercing abortion contravened […]

Judge drops all charges against Philly Christians   City ties ‘family values’ to ‘homophobia’   Marriage and Procreation: On Children as the First Purpose of Marriage             Pro-life Australians encouraged to join political party The insidious censorship of pro-life women     Hideous Medical Research on Children Common                   

OTTAWA, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After a mostly well worded speech in the House of Commons defending traditional marriage, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper disappointed Canadians in announcing the Conservative amendment to the bill.  The amendment says: “This house declines to give second reading to Bill C-38 . . . since the principle of the bill fails to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others and fails to recognize and extend to other civil unions established under the laws of the provinces the same rights and benefits and obligations as […]

HOUSTON, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Eyewitnesses reported seeing baby body parts mixed in with sewage after a broken line caused a sewage spill near a north Houston abortuary Tuesday.  A car dealership employee working next door to the clinic said she saw what she is convinced were baby body parts. “Whether it’s legal or not, it’s not right,” Maribeth Smith said, as reported by click2houston.com. “This whole area is nothing but raw sewage and bloody pieces. There were little legs coming out from one side.”  Smith said she took pictures of the body parts, but local health inspectors denied […]

VANCOUVER, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The more orthodox the Jewish community, the more concern there is over same sex marriage, if the reaction of some Jewish leaders is an indication. Some Jewish leaders across Canada have exposed an essential rift in the Jewish community that is similar to the one dividing Christians. The rule seems to be that the more adherence there is to the traditional teachings of the faith – whatever faith it may be – the stronger the objection to gay ‘marriage.’ One rabbi in Vancouver unwittingly put his finger on the problem that many leaders in […]

FOREST PARK, IL, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Disability activists have called for a nationwide moratorium on the dehydration and starvation of people alleged to be in “persistent vegetative state.” This would apply to individuals who do not have an advance directive or durable power of attorney.  The call for a moratorium is a reaction to the newly-published report indicating high levels of brain activity in people thought to be in “minimally conscious state (MCS).” The study, published in the February issue of Neurology, discovered evidence that these individuals may hear and understand much of what is going on around […]

WASHINGTON, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali spoke with LifeSiteNews.com a few weeks ago regarding the struggles of the Church in Canada and the United States with regard to abortion and homosexuality.  The answer to these dilemmas says the Cardinal is in Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the theology of the body which is an honest look at the human body with spiritual insight.  When the truth of the body, as expounded in theology of the body, is not observed, said the Cardinal, “then we go into the darkness of abandoning God’s plan.”  Last year, prior […]

ROME, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Italy’s Communist Party proposed the legalization of same-sex “marriage” as part of party policy for the country’s opposition Union coalition, comprised of Communist, Margherita, Udeur and other liberal parties.  Party secretary Oliviero Diliberto, along with fellow Communist Katia Belillo, made the announcement at negotiations to establish the opposition Union’s platform before impending elections set for later this year.  Despite opposition leader Romano Prodi’s already-voiced disagreement with the proposal, Diliberto feels the Union must move further left.  “We have to state Article 3 of the Constitution in a modern sense, updating rights starting with sexual […]

* defendMARRIAGE Fundraiser This Coming Monday With Stockwell Day, Anne Cools   Charles Mcvety of defendMARRIAGE invites pro-marriage Canadians to a major fundraising dinner this coming Monday at 7 p.m. at Canada Christian College, 50 Gervais Drive in Toronto. Featured speakers include former Alliance Party leader and now MP, Stockwell Day, Senator Anne Cools whose address will be “Why This Battle Must be Fought”, Fr. Tom Lynch, Roy Beyer and others.  Charles McVety, spokesman for defendMarriage, says “marriage is under attack with Bill-C-38 that is attempting to redefine the foundation of civilization.  Members of Parliament will soon vote and I […]

WARSAW, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a close vote on Tuesday, Poland’s parliament deferred debate on legislation that would have made abortion there legal. The ruling ex-communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) decided debate on the abortion issue might further hamper their popularity, delaying discussions until after the election set for September. Defeat of the motion was by a margin of 199-183.  The SLD had promised an easing of abortion laws as part of their party platform during the 2001 elections; their popularity slumped to such lows, however, that they feared igniting the debate would only worsen their position in […]

LONDON, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Conflict within the Anglican Communion over homosexuality, doctrinal liberalism and female clergy is being made manifest at the current meeting of the Church of England’s governing bodies. News reports issued on the same day reveal the Church of England’s General Synod proposing to extend pension benefits to the homosexual ‘partners’ of deceased gay clergy and allow female bishops. At the same time, a meeting of laity was reported as voting for the revival of tribunals for cases of doctrinal heresy. While the lay members of the Synod ask for a re-commitment to traditional Christianity, […]

WASHINGTON, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Seven judicial nominees, whose nominations by US President George W. Bush were filibustered by Democrats in the Senate last year, were included in a list of 20 nominations submitted by the U.S. President Monday President Bush was forced to rescind the recess appointment of William H. Pryor Jr. last year – a desperate attempt to circumnavigate a Democratic filibuster. A White House release last February described the Democratic activities: “A minority of Democratic Senators has been using unprecedented obstructionist tactics to prevent [Pryor] and other qualified nominees from receiving up-or-down votes. Their tactics are […]

OTTAWA, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In anticipation of debate commencing on anti-marriage Bill C-38, a coalition of pro-family groups came together for a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Tuesday. The group officially launched its defend marriage campaign to urge federal MPs to vote against the same-sex “marriage” legislation before the House. Speaking in front of the defendMARRIAGE Campaign Bus at the Supreme Court of Canada Building, Dr. Charles McVety, one of the spokesmen for the coalition, called on all Canadians of Faith to work at defeating Prime Minister Paul Martin’s anti-marriage legislation.  “We are encouraging Canadians to […]

VATICAN CITY, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, the top Vatican Cardinal in charge of the sacraments of the Catholic Church has made it plain in an on-camera interview with EWTN that pro-abortion politicians may not be admitted to Holy Communion. A February 11 EWTN broadcast of the news program, World Over Live, with host Raymond Arroyo, featured an interview with Arinze, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The interview covered a wide range of topics, including female altar servers, Latin in the Mass, abortion and the rainbow sash […]

HOUSTON, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In response to the dismal failure of embryonic stem cell research to produce any advances in medical treatment to date despite massive expenditures, some commercial biotechnology companies are turning, often at the insistence of investors and shareholders, to the exclusive development of adult stem cells. One such company, PharmaFrontiers, based in Texas, specializes in obtaining and using autologous stem cell therapy applications for diabetes, multiple sclerosis and congestive heart failure. Autologous stem cells, those collected from the patient’s flowing blood, are often thought to be less flexible than embryonic cells. Until recently, bone marrow […]

MOSCOW, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Russia’s Supreme Court, responding to a lawsuit from a Member of Parliament, ruled Tuesday that the country would maintain its traditional definition of marriage.  Eduard Murzin, a MP from the Bashkortostan State Assembly, launched the suit along with the editor of the homosexual magazine “Queer,” in January.  Murzin maintained that Russia’s Family Code – recently amended to include a ban on same-sex “marriage” by the State Duma – contravenes both the Russian federal Constitution as well as the European human rights convention.  Amending democratically created legislation is outside of the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, the […]

OTTAWA, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Liberal party’s push for the institution of universal publicly-funded daycare has come under criticism by a Conservative MP, but not from the usual Conservative party suspects. Rona Ambrose, MP for Edmonton-Spruce Grove, accused Liberal Social Development Minister Ken Dryden of ignoring the real preferences of most Canadian women to stay home with their children. She said in the House yesterday, “Parents, and not the federal government, are in the best position to determine which type of child care best suits their children.”  Ambrose, the intergovernmental affairs critic for the Conservative party, referred to […]

OTTAWA, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has pinpointed a number of significant weaknesses in the same-sex ‘marriage’ Bill C-38, which it says threatens freedom of conscience and religion, contrary to federal government promises.  Most Reverend Brendan M. O’Brien, Archbishop of St. John’s, Newfoundland, President of CCCB, has outlined the concerns today in a letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin.  The letter is a reminder that all the Catholic bishops of the country oppose the Bill. As well, it reiterates the fundamental reasons why they believe the present definition of marriage must be retained […]

BUENOS AIRES, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Argentina’s Minister of Health, Gines Gonzalez Garcia, said he would like to see legalization of abortion in the country, according to a Catholic News Agency report.  “Yes, I believe abortion should be legalized,” he said in comments reported in Argentina’s “Page 12” newspaper this week. Gonzalez argues that legalizing the killing of an unborn child will reduce maternal and infant mortality.  He supports legal abortion for so-called “ethical and health reasons,” he added.  Garcia also recently spearheaded a campaign to distribute free condoms as a measure to supposedly reduce AIDS.  President Nestor Kirchner, […]

OTTAWA, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Jason Kenney, the Conservative MP for Calgary Southeast has drawn the ire of homosexual activists in Parliament by emphasizing once again that marriage can only be the union of one man and one woman. This weekend, Kenney irritated the perennially irritable Libby Davies, NDP MP for Vancouver East, saying that gays are as free as anyone else to enter into marriage. “Marriage is open to everybody, as long as they’re a man and a woman,” said Kenney. Speaking to a Toronto area Punjabi language newspaper, Kenney said that Davies had been married to a […]

OTTAWA, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Liberal MP Tom Wappel is, without question, one of the most vociferous defenders of the family in the House of Commons.  In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com today, the valiant and outspoken MP addressed the fact that many people were looking to same-sex civil unions as a compromise measure in the marriage debate.  “The focus has to be on the defeating of the legislation,” said Wappel.  He noted that the Supreme Court decision in the reference case explained that civil unions were not under consideration.  The Supreme Court of Canada addressed the issue of civil […]

PIERRE, South Dakota, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A proposed bill that would have made abortion illegal in South Dakota has failed for a second time. Lawmakers there rejected the all-out ban in favor of gradually increased restrictions on access to abortion. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Frank Kloucek*, was voted down 7-2 by a Senate State Affairs Committee Monday. It would have made abortions illegal except when pregnancy posed a grave or life-threatening risk to the mother. A similar measure proposed last year was voted down after changes to the bill proposed by Gov. Mike Rounds were rejected. Rounds […]

TORONTO, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The pro-gay ‘marriage’ ad run in Famous Players movie theatres across the country prior to all films is coming to an end Thursday.  The ads which have run since February 1 thanks to a donation by Famous Players Media President Salah Bachir created a firestorm of protest and caused several groups to launch a boycott against the theatre chain. Campaign Life Coalition, one of the groups advocating the boycott, is demanding that Famous Players donate equal time to ads supporting traditional marriage.  However, Famous Players has conveniently announced that it has stopped running all […]

LA JOLLA, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A California man who suffered from a form of heart disease called Myocardial Ischemia has been successfully treated with his own stem cells and enjoyed Valentine’s Day with his wife with a romantic dinner. Mildred Salas said, “My heart is singing now. I have my best friend back. He has so much energy, so much passion. What’s happened is a miracle.” Her husband, Anthony Salas, was in pain from angina and was taking nitroglycerine tablets and morphine. Doctors at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla took stem cells filtered out of his blood […]

Conservative MP says Canadian child-care policy set by ‘old white guys’   Male and female brains work differently     Miss America Crowns Purity as Priceless Message Seven NAMBLA Members Busted in Sex Sting  Alan Keyes’ daughter: I’m a ‘liberal queer’   Gays Debate Radical Steps to Curb Unsafe Sex Who’s afraid of the fetus?   

WASHINGTON, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Friday, the US Supreme Court is currently docketed to have an internal, private discussion conference on how to handle a petition to reverse Roe v. Wade.  Operation Outcry, the group which launched the petition, is comprised of Norma McCorvey, the former Roe of Roe v. Wade and Sandra Cano, the former Doe of Doe v. Bolton, and the staff of The Justice Foundation, the attorneys representing both of them and the post-abortive witnesses of Operation Outcry: Silent No More.  On January 14, the petition to reverse Roe v. Wade was filed with the […]

WASHINGTON, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in an unexpected move, announced that it will hear oral argument in a case brought by the Thomas More Law Center and others, seeking to stay the court’s decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which legalized same-sex ‘marriage’. As a result of that decision, same-sex couples have been permitted to marry in Massachusetts as of May 17, 2004. This case, which is the last legal action surviving that is capable of stopping this decision, was filed on behalf of C. Joseph Doyle, the executive director of the […]

HOLLYWOOD, February 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Oscar host and stand-up comedian Chris Rock, said, “Abortion, it’s beautiful, it’s beautiful abortion is legal. I love going to an abortion rally to pick up women…” in a recent comedy club appearance, as reported by drudgereport.com.  Rock’s choice as host of the awards is being questioned by some senior members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “This is not who we are,” said one member, in comments made to drudgereport.com.  Rock’s knack for obscenity is widely recognized, and may have been part of the appeal for Academy producers hoping to […]

ORLANDO/ GWANGJU, February 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  A research team led by University of Central Florida professor Kiminobu Sugaya has discovered a compound related to DNA that could improve the results of stem cell treatments for Alzheimer’s patients. The research team found that treating bone marrow cells with the compound made adult stem cells more likely to turn into brain cells in experiments with rats.  The findings are to be published in the March edition of Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience journal. Professor Kiminobu Sugaya said, “By using a patient’s own stem cells instead of embryonic stem cells, we’re able to […]

LOS ANGELES, February 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A homosexual activist pastor is calling for thousands of same-sex couples to flood US marriage bureaus Valentine’s Day to apply for marriage licenses. Rev. Troy D. Perry also called for a nationwide day of public actions at courthouses across America. Thousands of gay and lesbian couples are expected to apply for marriage licenses across the U.S. today.  Perry said he will conduct a public wedding ceremony on the Beverly Hills Courthouse steps for couples who are denied a civil marriage license, according to a press release. Meanwhile, Canadian homosexual activists, never wanting to […]

OTTAWA, February 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The media is rife with stories today suggesting that the Conservative Party is to vet speeches of their MPs on the marriage issue.  LifeSiteNews.com interviewed the spokesman for Conservative Leader Stephen Harper today about the situation.  Carolyn Stewart Olsen confirmed that the speeches were to be vetted but, according to Olsen, the measure is not intended to curb MPs freedom but to simply ensure their messages are “clear, thoughtful and well presented.” The party is not going to “censor what they are going to say,” Olsen told LifeSiteNews.com, “just make sure they are saying […]

Scientists urge calm over fears of new HIV strain ‘Men In Black’ is a must-read       When Ms. Teacher Goes After Male Pupil  Conservatives, morals linked in poll   Google’s givers go Democratic For Catholic Dissenters, Abortion Is Like Mowing Grass What’s REALLY Done With Donated Human Tissue Paranoid Fears Over Pedophilia Charges   Exorcism live on TV Strange Attacks on Pregnant Women

SALFORD, February 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Doctors at Hope Hospital, Salford, are saying that a child, now two years old, is one of the most premature children to survive a late term abortion attempt. “Doctors tried three or four different abortive drugs,” said Dr. Paul Clarke. “It has defeated all the odds.” Dr. Clarke, was one of the doctors treating the unnamed boy during his stay in the neo-natal intensive care unit of Hope Hospital, Salford. He has co-authored a report on the case in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.  The child’s mother was 22 weeks pregnant and already […]

HALIFAX, February 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canadian Tire may find itself the subject of a boycott for the company’s sponsorship of a television show promoting homosexual ‘marriage’.  The show, ‘My Fabulous Gay Wedding’ will feature six one-hour episodes focusing on a different same-sex couple, as they prepare for and are “married.” The Corporation has thus far refused to cancel its sponsorship of the program despite multiple complaints. Responding to one concerned Canadian about its sponsorship of the controversial show, a Customer Relationship Representative, speaking for Canadian Tire’s “entire team” stated, “The decision to sponsor this show was part of an overall […]

WASHINGTON, February 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The new chairman of the US Democratic Party, Howard Dean, cautioned his party members to avoid using the term “pro-choice” when referring to themselves, in order not to alienate potential conservative voters.  Dean, making the comments Thursday at the Democratic National Committee meeting, said, “I don’t think we should use ‘pro-choice’,” because it brands Democrats as too pro-abortion, according to a New York Post report.  Republicans ridiculed Dean, saying Democrats wouldn’t fool anyone as long as they keep voting against bills like the partial-birth abortion ban and parental notification for a child’s abortion.  Dean […]

SOUTH BEND, February 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In former decades, the Catholic University of Notre Dame was one of the most respected Catholic institutions of higher learning in North America. More recently, however, it has become known for its outspoken dissent from and rigid intolerance for Catholic teaching, particularly in matters of sexual morality. Last week, Notre Dame sponsored another of its annual ‘celebrations’ of homosexuality in its second annual “Queer Film Festival.” The event was sponsored by St Mary’s College, Notre Dame Department of Film, Television, and Theater, Department of English, Department of Anthropology, Department of History, Counseling Center, […]

VANCOUVER, February 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canadian Gay activist and New Democratic Party MP Svend Robinson, in his first media interview since his tearful admission to theft of an expensive gold ring last year, told CBC News Sunday that a return to politics for him is not out of the question.  “I’d like to think that people could understand and respect the fact that what happened that Good Friday was so totally out of character that that’s not who I am,” Robinson said.  “He certainly seemed to leave that door open,” said NDP Leader Jack Layton in comments made later […]

February 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Increasing numbers of Canadians are becoming alarmed about new threats to freedom of religion and conscience likely to follow passage of the Liberal government’s same-sex ‘marriage’ bill. The result is a growing wave of demonstrations in front of the local offices of MPs and rallies at churches to inform and direct concerned citizens.  In South Surrey, British Columbia, there was a rally on Jan. 29, with over 300 people in front of the offices of pro-marriage MP Russ Hiebert who took part in the rally. 1,200 people participated in a Battle for Marriage Rally in […]

TORONTO, February 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has endorsed the federal government’s proposed legislation on same-sex civil marriage.  With a press release entitled “Elementary Teachers Support Same-Sex Marriage Law,” the left-leaning union chiefs has endorsed the dismantling of marriage much to the chagrin of many of the 65,000 elementary school teachers and education workers the union claims to represent.  “We are encouraging our members to get in touch with their local MPs and urge them to support the legislation,” said ETFO President Emily Noble.  While many teachers may be enraged by the move, many are […]

DENVER, February 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a commentary appearing in the Denver Post Tuesday, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput condemned a potential bill that would mandate that women victims of rape automatically receive the abortifacient morning-after pill by all hospitals, Catholic and non.  Archbishop Chaput responded to criticism from Colorado State Representative Fran Coleman, who during debate of the bill in the House January 31, said, “I absolutely resent the Catholic Church preaching to me because I represent people of all faiths,” in reaction to a letter from the Church condemning the Bill. “I question their ability to continue to […]

OTTAWA, February 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Statistics Canada released the latest statistics on abortion (2002) this morning.  Official figures show the lives of 105,154 unborn children were taken by abortion in 2002, down 1% from 106,270 in 2001. The rate of abortion has also marginally fallen from 15.6 abortions per 1,000 women in 2001 to 15.4 abortions per 1,000 women in 2002. These numbers exclude data related to residents of Nunavut.  The number of induced abortions per 100 live births was 32.1 in 2002, virtually unchanged from 2001.  A press release from Campaign Life Coalition notes “The number one killer […]

WASHINGTON, DC, February 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A very upbeat Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas spoke with LifeSiteNews.com at the March for Life a few weeks ago saying of the United States, it “is established that this is a pro-life country.”  The Republican Senator has been a strong voice for the pro-life movement in the Senate usually at the forefront of pro-life legislation. Amidst the crowd of over 100,000, Senator Brownback’s assessment of the event reflected the crowd’s enthusiasm.  “I’m doing great, it’s a little cold but everybody’s fired up for life,” he said.  Not only was he positive about […]

STOCKHOLM, February 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Swedish pastor convicted of a hate crime for preaching against homosexuality in 2003 has had his conviction overturned on appeal.  Ake Green, the pastor of a Swedish Pentecostal church in Kalmar, Sweden, was sentenced in July to one month in prison by a Swedish court for inciting hatred against homosexuals. Green was prosecuted in January 2004 for “hate speech against homosexuals” for a sermon he preached citing Biblical references to homosexuality.  The Goeta Appeals Court said that although the court disagrees with Green’s opinions on homosexuality, it is not a crime to preach […]

MADRID, February 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Spain’s abortion rate has continued to climb, despite the supposed reality that abortion remains illegal there – with the exception of rape, fetal deformity, or “physical or psychiatric risk” to the mother, according to a Catholic News Agency Report. The abortion rate has more than doubled to 80,000 in 2003, compared to the numbers of a decade before.  Statistics released by the Superior Council of Scientific Research revealed that “repeat abortions have doubled since the beginning of the 1990s,” according to a Spanish daily La Razon report.  The study also revealed that abortions committed […]

HOLLYWOOD, February 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Mel Gibson has decided to re-release The Passion of the Christ in theatres in time for Good Friday.  The new cut tones down the more violent scenes, such as the scourging and some scenes from the crucifixion, in order to avoid a restricted rating. Daily Variety reported Thursday that Gibson plans to trim five to six minutes from the film, for re-release in US theatres March 11.  “There has been quite a demand by the religious community to bring (the film) back for Easter,” Gibson’s partner at Icon Productions, Bruce Davey, told Variety, as […]

LONDON, Ontario, February 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Jack Layton, the militantly pro-abortion, pro-same-sex “marriage” leader of Canada’s federal NDP Party, will be addressing students at the King’s University College, a Catholic college at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario tonight.  When contacted by LifeSiteNews for comment, King’s College principal, Dr. Gerald Killan, was unapologetic about giving such a speaker a forum in a Catholic school. Apparently star-struck by Layton’s position, Killan laughed and said “We’re talking about the head of a national party.”  When asked by the interviewer if students were expecting a Catholic education, Dr. Killan interrupted […]

Mass. Supreme Court grants oral argument in seeking stay of same-sex marriage Giants to tackle Viagra spam ring  Liberal Catholic leader urges Pope to quit What Pope John Paul II is teaching us through his suffering Buckley Wishes for Pope’s Death   Sexually transmitted infections are increasing rapidly among middle-aged women UK study shows         11-year-old girl on Maryland sex-ed committee  Doctor-assisted suicide bill fades in Hawaii Legislature   Fines for ‘droopy drawers’ backed South Carolina Supreme Court shoots down wrongful life claim   

SYDNEY, February, 11 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, will seek a national ban on embryonic stem-cell research, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.  Australia’s law allowing the use of embryonic tissue will expire in April, requiring new legislation to regulate the status of embryos that have been frozen and stored during fertility treatments. “We are not in favor of producing human beings to destroy them for scientific purposes,” Cardinal Pell said. “Human life is not a commodity.”  At the same time, the Sydney archdiocese is offering funding to scientists who are working with stem cells that have been […]

GROVE CITY, PA, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A study to be published in the March 2005 issue of the journal Human Genetics, and available online now, undermines the commonly promoted view that homosexual orientation is determined by genetic factors.  The study’s lead author, Brian Mustanski from the University of Illinois in Chicago, said in a UIC news release that “There is no one ‘gay’ gene. Sexual orientation is a complex trait, so it’s not surprising that we found several DNA regions involved in its expression.”  However, a thorough examination of the report by professors Warren Thockmorton and Ray Durwood […]

NEW YORK, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Philippine Ambassador to the UN, Lauro Baja Jr., said the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has allotted the equivalent of US $26 million to fund “reproductive health projects” in the Philippines through 2009. In UNspeak, “reproductive health” is a standard euphemism for sterilization, artificial contraceptives and abortion. In many cases the euphemistic language popular with UN abortion-supporters is coupled with the jargon of the environmental movement that equates human population with environmental damage. Baja employed this kind of language in describing the allocation, saying it “aims to improve the reproductive health of […]

LASALLE, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. John Walsh, the “Parochial Administrator” (parish priest) of St. Jean de Brebeuf parish in LaSalle Quebec, told MacLean’s Magazine last week, that he is open to marrying homosexual partners in his Catholic church. Last week LifeSiteNews.com reported that Fr. Walsh, whose parish Prime Minister Paul Martin attends when he is in town, said in another interview that he was in disagreement with the Catholic Church over the teaching on homosexuality. Despite Walsh’s assertion that homosexual partnerings “allow two people to come together in a sinful condition,” he said that he would consider whether […]

LASALLE, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. John Walsh, the “Parochial Administrator” (parish priest) of St. Jean de Brebeuf parish in LaSalle Quebec, told MacLean’s Magazine last week, that he is open to marrying homosexual partners in his Catholic church. Last week LifeSiteNews.com reported that Fr. Walsh, whose parish Prime Minister Paul Martin attends when he is in town, said in another interview that he was in disagreement with the Catholic Church over the teaching on homosexuality. Despite Walsh’s assertion that homosexual partnerings “allow two people to come together in a sinful condition,” he said that he would consider whether […]

LASALLE, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. John Walsh, the “Parochial Administrator” (parish priest) of St. Jean de Brebeuf parish in LaSalle Quebec, told MacLean’s Magazine last week, that he is open to marrying homosexual partners in his Catholic church. Last week LifeSiteNews.com reported that Fr. Walsh, whose parish Prime Minister Paul Martin attends when he is in town, said in another interview that he was in disagreement with the Catholic Church over the teaching on homosexuality. Despite Walsh’s assertion that homosexual partnerings “allow two people to come together in a sinful condition,” he said that he would consider whether […]

LASALLE, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. John Walsh, the “Parochial Administrator” (parish priest) of St. Jean de Brebeuf parish in LaSalle Quebec, told MacLean’s Magazine last week, that he is open to marrying homosexual partners in his Catholic church. Last week LifeSiteNews.com reported that Fr. Walsh, whose parish Prime Minister Paul Martin attends when he is in town, said in another interview that he was in disagreement with the Catholic Church over the teaching on homosexuality. Despite Walsh’s assertion that homosexual partnerings “allow two people to come together in a sinful condition,” he said that he would consider whether […]

LASALLE, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. John Walsh, the “Parochial Administrator” (parish priest) of St. Jean de Brebeuf parish in LaSalle Quebec, told MacLean’s Magazine last week, that he is open to marrying homosexual partners in his Catholic church. Last week LifeSiteNews.com reported that Fr. Walsh, whose parish Prime Minister Paul Martin attends when he is in town, said in another interview that he was in disagreement with the Catholic Church over the teaching on homosexuality. Despite Walsh’s assertion that homosexual partnerings “allow two people to come together in a sinful condition,” he said that he would consider whether […]

LASALLE, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. John Walsh, the “Parochial Administrator” (parish priest) of St. Jean de Brebeuf parish in LaSalle Quebec, told MacLean’s Magazine last week, that he is open to marrying homosexual partners in his Catholic church. Last week LifeSiteNews.com reported that Fr. Walsh, whose parish Prime Minister Paul Martin attends when he is in town, said in another interview that he was in disagreement with the Catholic Church over the teaching on homosexuality. Despite Walsh’s assertion that homosexual partnerings “allow two people to come together in a sinful condition,” he said that he would consider whether […]

LASALLE, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. John Walsh, the “Parochial Administrator” (parish priest) of St. Jean de Brebeuf parish in LaSalle Quebec, told MacLean’s Magazine last week, that he is open to marrying homosexual partners in his Catholic church. Last week LifeSiteNews.com reported that Fr. Walsh, whose parish Prime Minister Paul Martin attends when he is in town, said in another interview that he was in disagreement with the Catholic Church over the teaching on homosexuality. Despite Walsh’s assertion that homosexual partnerings “allow two people to come together in a sinful condition,” he said that he would consider whether […]

MONTREAL, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Quebec’s largest school board has elected June 1 as their first official gay day, encouraging high school teachers to read a fictitious letter to students – from a child to his parents, explaining that he is gay.  The Commission scolaire de Montreal voted Wednesday to endorse the day, ostensibly to combat what they refer to as homophobia. Openly homosexual school board vice-chairman Paul Trottier proposed the initiative.  “The teachers are invited to participate,” Trottier told the National Post. “We can’t oblige them to do it.”  An “openly gay” Quebec author, Michel-Marc Bouchard, is composing […]

CLEARWATER, Florida, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The life of brain-disabled Terri Schiavo may be nearing its end if the wishes of her estranged husband are fulfilled by the courts. That could happen as soon as February 22, the date of a final hearing to decides if Michael Schiavo will be permitted to remove her feeding tube, thereby starving and dehydrating her to death.  Terri Schaivo’s parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, suffered another loss in their bid to keep their daughter alive last week, when the state 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled against them. The 2nd DCA is expected […]

UNITED NATIONS, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A United Nations committee drafting an international treaty on the disabled has left questionable terminology that may open the door to euthanasia for the disabled, according to a Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) Friday Fax.  The treaty has been under negotiation since 2001. The committee completed the fifth in a series of two-week sessions Friday, with a proposed session set for August.  One article is especially troubling to pro-lifers: a text making illegal all “medical or related interventions” that are conducted upon a disabled individual without their “free and informed consent.” […]

ST. LOUIS, February 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com, St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said that as Catholics continue to speak out on life and family issues they will face persecution.  “There is going to be a persecution with regard to this, that’s clear,” said the Archbishop.  The media has painted the St. Louis church leader as a mean-spirited bully, yet in person he is soft-spoken and kind with a keen sense of the truth and an urgency to convey it for the salvation of souls.  Rather than using high-sounding platitudes which coast over the heads of […]

CHICAGO, February 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The in vitro fertilization industry is worried that a Chicago court decision in which an embryo was ruled to be a ‘human being,’ could put an end to IVF and abortion. On Friday, February 4th, Cook County Judge Jeffrey Lawrence ruled that a couple’s wrongful death lawsuit for the death of their embryonic child at a fertility lab could go forward. The decision is likely to be overturned very quickly but it can be considered a landmark case, being the first time any court in the US has acknowledged that a human being and […]

TORONTO, February 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Umbilical cords continue to surprise researchers as an abundant source of stem cells. Today’s Toronto Star reports that a group of scientists at the University of Toronto have discovered what they are calling the ‘jack-pot’ of stem cells in a mass of jelly found inside the umbilical cord. “We’re very excited by this, that’s for sure,” said J.E. Davies, of the UofT’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering.  The source, known as Wharton’s Jelly, surrounds the three umbilical cord blood vessels connecting the fetus and mother. The Toronto researchers used umbilical cords donated from […]

TIMMINS, ON, February 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In conjunction with Campaign Life Coalition Timmins, a local pro-life and pro-family organization, Timmins Ontario Bishop Paul Marchand will participate in a peaceful, prayerful demonstration in front of the constituency office of Charlie Angus, Member of Parliament for Timmins – James Bay tomorrow.  According to local organizers, the purpose of the demonstration is to protest Mr. Angus’ position in favour of same sex legislation and to stress the importance of keeping the traditional definition of marriage as a union of one man and one women. A press release from the diocese notes that […]

Doctor-assisted suicide bill fades in Hawaii Legislature        Fines for ‘droopy drawers’ backed        South Carolina Supreme Court shoots down wrongful life claim

Professor Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, the famed “creator” of Dolly the sheep, has been given permission to use and destroy human embryos in cloning experiments.  “The destruction of human embryos by scientists is a moral evil which should be equated with the Nazis’ experimentation on Jews in the Second World War,” said Jim Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition, Canada. “Human beings must be protected from those who would commodify them and destroy their lives, whether those lives are initiated in a petri dish or not,” he continued. “Wilmut’s statement that ‘This is not reproductive […]

WASHINGTON, February 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – US Congressman Chris Smith (R- N.J.), along with 18 co-sponsors, cord blood specialists and recipients, urged passage of the Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005 at a press conference Tuesday. The sponsors seek to create a national cord blood bank – a national infrastructure for cord blood stem cell collection and research that could, in time, save the lives of thousands of gravely ill Americans. The success of these adult stem cells trumps any need for recourse to morally objectionable embryonic stem cells. Smith – a leader of health initiatives in Congress – […]

MONTGOMERY, Alabama, February 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Both the Alabama Senate and House overwhelmingly approved separate constitutional amendments banning same-sex “marriage” Tuesday.  The Senate approved its amendment by a 35-0 margin; the house by an 85-7 majority. One of the two measures must be jointly approved by the other legislative body before going to a ballot for voter approval. Although Alabama already created a law banning same-sex “marriage” in 1998, lawmakers were keen to add the constitutional amendment to foil any attempt by judicial activists to overturn the law on constitutional grounds.  Democratic Sen. Roger Bedford said, “It will be […]

FREDERICTON, February 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The New Brunswick Minister of Family and Community Services (FCS) says the province is re-working its policies to allow same-sex couples to adopt children.  FCS Minister Tony Huntjens says the department will not implement the change until the federal government votes in same-sex “marriage” legislation.  “Once Ottawa passes this bill, if they do, then as a provincial government, we have to adhere to the federal laws, and if the federal definition of marriage includes same-sex couples, then we will have to look at that legislation,” he said, as reported by the CBC.  Huntjens maintained […]

LONDON, February 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the latest manifestation of the homosexual crisis within the Catholic Church in England, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has issued a directive stating that persons living sexually immoral situations, including those in homosexual partnerings, must be given equal opportunity for Church employment. The “Policy Statement and Guidelines on Diversity and Equality,” often reading like documents produced by gay advocacy organizations and using their euphemisms, implies that barring active homosexuals from Church employment is a matter of grave injustice, even when it would keep gays and children apart. The statement says, […]

OTTAWA, February 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – CanWest reporter Elizabeth Thompson is reporting today that Justice Minister Irwin Cotler is expressing concerns and threatening action over the participation of US pro-family organizations in the Canadian same-sex marriage debate. Thompson’s Monday report in the Montreal Gazette indicated that the US based Focus on the Family and the Catholic mens fraternal organization, the Knights of Columbus, were assisting Canadian traditional marriage defenders.  Not surprisingly, Cotler and Canada’s social liberal media have remained silent about who has been funding homosexual activist groups advocating redefinition and the overall pro-gay legal agenda in Canada.  It appears, […]

Submitted to LifeSiteNews.com by Evangelical Pastor Royal Hamel - President of Campaign Life Evangelical

AMSTERDAM, February 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Dutch euthanasia activist group has launched an investigation, claiming physicians there are delaying or avoiding the fulfillment of requests for euthanasia from patients.  According to government statistics, more than half of euthanasia requests from patients in 2001 were never acted upon. Of the 9,700 requests for euthanasia lodged that year, 3,800 were actually carried out, as reported by Expatica.com. The doctors responded that one third of patients died before the request could be fulfilled; a further 20 percent did not fulfill the legal requirements for euthanasia.  But the Dutch Voluntary End to Life […]

ST. JOHN’S, February 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Newfoundland pastor appealed a Newfoundland judge’s same-sex “marriage” ruling to the province’s Supreme Court of Appeals, as reported Wednesday.  Gordon Young is legally allowed to appeal the ruling, since he was granted intervener status in the original lawsuit, launched by two activist homosexual couples last year. The provincial Supreme Court ordered the province to grant the couples – and all homosexuals –“marriage” licenses upon request in December.  Young’s appeal argues that marriage is not a human right. “The way I see it at this point in time, the traditional definition of marriage […]

LONDON, February 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The scientist who cloned Dolly, the world’s most famous sheep, has been given permission by the UK’s health and research authorities to go ahead with human cloning experiments. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, (HFEA), known to be one of the most permissive such government overseers in the world, has granted a license to Professor Ian Wilmut and a team of scientists at Kings College London to proceed with cloning in order to study motor neurone disease (MND).  Wilmut told the BBC News that he intended to create the cloned human embryos deliberately with […]

OTTAWA, February 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Expect nasty rhetoric by the Liberal Leadership to be on the rise.  A Compas poll, commissioned by the National Post and Global Television last week advised the Liberals that if they wish to come out victorious in the public eye on the gay ‘marriage’ battle, they must paint their opponents as being motivated by “homophobia” and “bigotry”.  “The main opportunity for gain by the Liberals would depend on their ability to persuade the electorate that Conservative opposition to proposed legislation is rooted primarily in homophobic attitudes,” say the pollsters.  The report adds, “The Liberals […]

LONDON, Ontario, February 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A poll conducted to determine the views of Canadians on the issue of same-sex “marriage” has found that 42 percent would vote their MP out of office if they do not vote against the measure.  With the majority of Canadians in favour of retaining the traditional definition of marriage, MPs would do well to listen, according to the SES poll results released last week.  More than 54 percent would give their MP the boot for voting contrary to their constituents v. 21.8 percent who thought their MP should vote according to their own […]

VALLETTA, February 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The three bishops of the tiny Catholic island state of Malta have called for the creation of a law on artificial reproduction that would rule out procedures such as in vitro fertilization that “go against human beings and against the family.”  Malta is 98% Catholic and the number of Maltese who attend Mass weekly is one of the highest among all Catholic countries at 67%. Divorce is illegal in Malta and a recent poll showed that 95.7% of Maltese oppose abortion. The bishops of Malta, Archbishop Joseph Mercieca of Valletta, Gozo Bishop Nikol Cauchi […]

Feldt criticizes John Kerry while praising abortion foes for being better Organized   “Words, Words, Words” Women MPs back abortion funding

CHICAGO, February 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a case that could shake the in vitro fertilization and abortion industries, a Chicago court has ruled that an embryo that was killed in a fertility clinic was a “human being,” and the parents are entitled to sue for wrongful death for the loss of their child. On Friday, Judge Jeffrey Lawrence II of the Cook County court said, “a pre-embryo is a ‘human being’ … whether or not it is implanted in its mother’s womb.” In his decision that is likely to be overturned without delay, Judge Lawrence wrote, “Philosophers and theologians […]

VATICAN CITY, February 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In his first public address since hospitalization, Pope John Paul II addressed Catholics Sunday, exhorting the faithful to continue the battle for the right to life of the unborn.  Pope John Paul made the address from his hospital window at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, to those gathered in a courtyard there, and broadcast via four television screens to St. Peter’s Square.  “Today I address you from Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic,” he began, as reported by the Vatican Information Service, where “. . . even here in the hospital, in the midst of other sick people, […]

NEW YORK, February 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An activist judge of the New York State Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples must be allowed to “marry.” The state has 30 days to file an appeal. Five same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses in New York City filed the lawsuit last year.  In a 62-page decision, State Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan compared the prohibitions against two persons of the same sex getting married with past prohibitions against interracial marriage. The ruling ordered that the state grant marriage licenses to five couples involved in the suit.  Justice Ling-Cohan also cited the […]

WINDSOR, ON, February 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On February 13, 2005 a Catholic University in the diocese of London will feature abortion advocate, Stephen Lewis, as a speaker at its ‘Christian Culture Series.’ Assumption University is listed by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops as a member of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities in Canada. The chancellor of the university is Bishop Ronald P. Fabbro, and it’s president is Rev. Mario O. D’Souza C.S.B.. Among the nine members of the board of governors, seven are Basilian priests. As outlined by the series director, Rev. James N. Carruthers, the […]

TORONTO, February 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Since last Tuesday, Canada’s largest movie theatre chain, Famous Players, has subjected patrons to a pro-gay ‘marriage’ ad before the start of every movie shown in its Canada-wide chain. Salah Bachir, President of Famous Players Media and a great friend of the Toronto homosexual activist community, confirmed to LifeSiteNews.com that he had donated the ads.  The ad states, “‘I Do’ is the same whether you’re gay or straight” and urges theater patrons to let members of Parliament know “you support Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms”.  The Canada Family Action Coalition(CFAC) is launching a […]

OTTAWA, February 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Conservative MP, Jason Kenney, a leading opponent of the dismantling of legal marriage in Canada, said in Parliament yesterday that the Liberal Party’s emphasis on ‘human rights’ in the same sex ‘marriage’ debate is a smokescreen. Kenney, Member for Calgary Southeast, called the Liberal rhetoric “insufferable.” “The Prime Minister,” Kenney said, “is absurdly wrapping himself and his party in the cloak of human rights, suggesting that the support of most Conservative MPs for traditional marriage reflects a hostility to basic rights.”  Canadian political history, Kenney said, tells a different story. He lists the human […]

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The American Counseling Association (ACA) has recognized the right of clients to have treatment to change their sexual orientation. The ACA, which represents the interests of counselors ranging from school to career counselors, was contacted by a noted ex-gay, Atlanta pastor Rev D.L. Foster, for clarification of their position. “Person(s) should have the freedom of choice to seek appropriate treatment for” changing their sexual orientation if they so choose, ACA Ethics and Professional Standards manager Larry Freeman wrote in response. Freeman also said that, if a counselor is not qualified to help a […]

CALGARY, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. James Shapiro, a surgeon at the University of Alberta who pioneered the transplant of insulin-producing cells to treat diabetes, has moved his research a step forward. He and a team of scientists at Japan’s Kyoto University Hospital have taken islet cells, the cells in the body that produce insulin, from a healthy donor, and transplanted them into the body of her 27 year-old daughter. Previously, islet cells taken from dead donors are often damaged through cryogenic freezing. Cells taken from a living donor may be used to treat insulin-dependent diabetes by replacing the […]

Holy See to issue document on dignity of marriage and annulments   Ecuadorian bishops say science does not negate abortifacient nature of the pill Pope encourages scientists to define “brain death”   Arizona House Committee Approves Bill to Allow Pharmacists To Refuse To Dispense Abortion Causing Morning After Pill    

OTTAWA, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has issued comments on the government’s proposed same-sex ‘marriage’ law, bill C-38.  In their comments, the Bishops say that while the “long-term social consequences of the proposed legislation are unknown,” one “can already anticipate” the coming “prolonged and divisive litigation across Canada” to “be free to teach and preach on marriage and homosexuality as consistent with one’s faith and conscience.”  The bishops’ conference also warns lawsuits are anticipated which will attempt to force faith groups to “use their facilities in preparations for or celebrations relating to ‘same-sex […]

VANCOUVER, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – BC’s Attorney General warned Thursday that Canada’s law prohibiting polygamy will not stand up to a legal challenge, because of potential conflicts with laws protecting religious freedoms.  Attorney-General Geoff Plant said, “There might well be a case where the court would have to deal with religious freedoms arguments, and I think there is at least some risk that those arguments might succeed,” according to a CanWest News Service report.  Plant is concerned, in part, because police have never laid polygamy charges, despite allegations that polygamists in Bountiful, BC, are marrying girls as young as […]

LONDON, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Over two-thirds of UK teachers support a push to inform schoolgirls on how to obtain an abortion. A survey of 700 schoolteachers conducted for the Times Educational Supplement (TES)reveals 69% of teachers think that teaching children how to procure an abortion is in the child’s best interest. In addition, 98% of teachers thought educating children in contraception use was also essential.  TES editor Bob Doe told the BBC that, despite many teachers being uncomfortable with advising children to procure abortions without their parent’s knowledge or consent, “the law gives children the right to confidentiality […]

KAMPALA, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. Edward C. Green, PhD, an AIDS prevention worker and senior research scientist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development says that the success of Uganda’s AIDS prevention program has so infuriated Western AIDS prevention groups, they are willing to destroy it rather than change their condoms-only approach. Writing in the January 31st edition of the Weekly Standard, Green says the Ugandan success, based as it is on sexual abstinence and marital fidelity, “directly challenges core values and attitudes enshrined by the Western sexual revolution.” Green writes, “How infuriating that an approach not […]

TORONTO, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Tony Martin, the NDP MP for Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario has publicly indicated he intends to vote in favour of the Liberals’ same-sex marriage bill that will redefine marriage to include lesbian and gay couples.  However, Enshrine Marriage Canada – a national non-profit organization fighting to have the traditional definition of marriage as the union of one woman and one man enshrined in the Constitution – released the results of a professional public opinion survey it commissioned of voters in the constituency of Sault Ste. Marie that found over 60 per cent of Sault […]

NEW YORK, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last week pro-lifers reacted with disdain when Hillary Clinton belatedly attempted to modify, at least in the public eye, her militant support for abortion. She failed to impress with her sincerity when she called abortion a ‘tragic choice’ for women and suggested abortifacient contraceptives as a solution. Exit polls showing voter interest in moral issues has shaken Democrat confidence in their leftist social agenda.  This week, former presidential candidate John Kerry, still calling himself a Catholic, followed the new Democratic Party policy in attempting to use pro-life language to continue pushing their agenda […]

ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Seven marriage commissioners in the province have resigned after an activist judge ordered commissioners to perform same-sex “weddings” or face dismissal. Seven of 67 commissioners chose to resign their posts prior to a January 31 deadline set by the Newfoundland Supreme Court. Gander mayor Claude Elliot told the Canadian Press that forcing commissioners to resign is an assault on religious freedoms. “It was pretty straight forward from the (provincial) Department of Justice that you either had to perform them or resign,” he said Wednesday.  The Federal Justice Minister said last year that there […]

NEW YORK, February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At the United Nations, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is pushing the government of Samoa to legalize abortion and force more women out of their traditional family roles and into work and political life. CEDAW issued a press release January 24, in which it complained that, despite having set up a Ministry for Women’s Affairs, the role of married women in Samoan society was too traditional and mostly oriented towards family life. It said not enough women run for political office, and that abortion is still illegal despite […]

ROME, February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Vatican Press Office reports that the Pope’s condition is stabilizing and he is not in intensive care at the Gemelli hospital. The Pope was hospitalized when he experienced respiratory problems after contracting the flu on the weekend. On Tuesday night, he was taken to the Gemelli, the same hospital where he stayed after being shot in 1981. Vatican spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Pope’s condition is improving and that laboratory results are “satisfactory.” He said, “The Holy Father spent the night resting quietly.” The Pope was suffering from acute laryngeal-tracheitis. Navarro-Valls said, “There […]

WASHINGTON, DC, February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In his State of the Union address Wednesday, President George W. Bush remained true to the core values which helped secure his successive elections to the Presidency. The President spoke of bringing up “responsible, moral children,” noting poignantly that “Government is not the source of these values, but government should never undermine them.” He was direct on the protection of marriage, currently under attack by homosexual activists and the activist judges who do their bidding.  “Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be re-defined by activist judges,” […]

WICHITA, February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After numerous complaints from pro-life Americans, the La Quinta Inns corporation discovered that nurses with late-term abortionist George Tiller were in fact renting it hotel rooms to provide medical care for abortion patients undergoing multiple-day procedures at Women’s Health Care Services. La Quinta Inn representative Teresa Ferguson informed Operation Rescue, the pro-life group that has been monitoring the developments, that Tiller was called by the La Quinta corporate office and told to immediately stop the practice, which they had determined to be an illegal one. Ferguson also informed Operation Rescue that Tiller was told […]

BARRIE, ON, February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canadian International Cooperation Minister Aileen Carroll is a Roman Catholic.  She has let it be known publicly that she will be voting for the government’s gay ‘marriage’ legislation which all Canadian Catholic bishops have opposed.  Moreover, Ms. Carroll is the Minister who, during U.S. President Bush’s recent visit to Canada, embarrassed many Canadians by announcing that Canada would boost its funding of the UNFPA , the UN population control arm.  Prior to this, an investigation by the US Department of Justice had found UNFPA was still complicit in China’s coercive abortion program. The […]

“OTTAWA, February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-family Liberal MP Pat O’Brien told the Globe and Mail today that the Liberal Whip has warned at least two other Liberal backbench MPs opposed to same-sex “marriage” legislation to “at least take a walk at the time of the vote.” “These are two members who are definitely in the ‘no’ column when it comes to this legislation,” O’Brien said. “If they can get them to stay away, that’s one vote less against the government bill.”  O’Brien said that although MPs are occasionally told to keep away rather than influence a vote in an […]

Liberal Caucus Splits as Martin Still Reneges on Previous Free Vote Promise The National Post reported today Liberal MP Tom Wappel accused Mr. Martin of misleading Liberals on his previous promises to allow free votes on moral issues. The Post reports sources saying Wappel, a staunch opponent of gay marriage, reminded the Prime Minister that he campaigned during the leadership contest on giving all MPs free votes on moral issues. Mr. Wappel also reminded Mr. Martin that he said the same thing during his many speeches on reforming the democratic deficit and questioned why he is now reneging on that […]

The Arkansas House of Representatives Wednesday passed bill that would prohibit abortions from being performed on minors without consent of a parent. (NWAonline) 170 Ontario Laws to be rewritten by Liberals to redefine spouse to include gays (Canada.com) Frances Kissling Doesn’t Get It  

RIO DE JANEIRO, February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Likely in response to the large number of reports appearing about the successes into such research, the Brazilian government has announced it will fund one of the world’s largest studies on stem cells and heart disease.  Health Minster Humberto Costa said the study will involve 1200 cardiac patients at National Institute of Cardiology at Laranjeiras.  The Brazilian research will involve drawing the patients’ own stem cells from bone marrow, cultivating them and re-inserting them to repair damaged heart tissue. The government is seeking an effective treatment for cardiac patients that can be […]

NEW PALTZ, NY, February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Judge J. Michael Bruhn of the Ulster County Supreme Court in New York reinstated 24 misdemeanor counts against Mayor West for illegally solemnizing the marriages of two dozen same-sex couples. A town court judge had dismissed the charges, citing alleged constitutional problems with marriage laws that limit marriage to the union of a man and a woman. The Supreme Court, in reversing the town court decision, explained that whether Mayor West believes the laws are unconstitutional is irrelevant. As a public official, he took an oath to uphold the law and has […]

7 Nfld. marriage commissioners quit over same-sex issue One in every 10 marriage commissioners in Newfoundland and Labrador has resigned, saying they won’t perform ceremonies for same-sex couples. (CBC) Adoption change to follow gay marriage?  Adoption rights for homosexuals could become Canada’s next equality battle. In Alberta, gays and lesbians are only permitted to adopt their partner’s child—not the child of a third party. Yukon’s adoption laws are ambiguous, while homosexual couples are denied adoption rights in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut. NDP MP Libby Davies said if same-sex marriage rights are extended across Canada, uniform adoption rights must […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C., February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – There is growing fear by many, including former US Senator Jesse Helms, that former US President Bill Clinton will be the top pick to replace Kofi Annan as head of the United Nations when Annan retires in 2006. In a fundraising letter for the Helms senatorial library, Helms warns his benefactors of the impending possibility of a Clinton-lead UN: “I’m sure you might agree that putting a left-wing, undisciplined and ethically challenged former President of the United States into a position of such power would be a tragic mistake,” as reported by the […]

BOSTON, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A type of adult stem cell has been isolated from bone marrow that shows all the characteristics of human embryonic stem cells. A team of researchers at Boston’s Tufts University have found cells that come from adult donors that can change into many, if not all of the different types of tissue in the human body. It was previously thought that only embryonic cells could produce this. The cells were tested on rats with heart damage and some changed into heart muscle tissue to directly repair damage, and others went to form new blood […]

OTTAWA, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Liberal government, in its presentation of the same sex ‘marriage’ legislation, has made repeated assertions that religious ministers who object to homosexuality will not be forced to perform the ceremonies. Paul Martin told reporters, “This legislation makes it very clear, as does the Charter, that no church, no temple, no synagogue, no mosque, no religious official will be asked or forced to perform a marriage that is contrary to their beliefs.”  This safeguard, which was surprisingly accepted at face value and with expressions of gratitude by the Canadian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, is being […]

ORLANDO, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The good news from a recent NBC News and People Magazine poll is that 42% of teens who are not sexually active attribute that choice to religious or moral beliefs. The poll, however, reveals that nearly 30% of young teens reported being sexually active, with half of them engaging in oral sex. In fact, 43% of teens don’t consider oral sex as sexual intercourse, even though there are significant risks associated with oral sex. On February 14, 2005, millions of youth around the world will make a public statement for sexual purity as they […]

OTTAWA, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Liberal government is lying to Canadians in regard to its same-sex marriage Bill C-38, says REAL Women Canada.  The women’s group points out that the preamble and also section 3 of the Bill claim that officials of religious groups are protected from performing same-sex marriages, if it is contrary to their beliefs. “These are absolutely meaningless provisions,” says REAL Women. “The federal government knows that the Supreme Court of Canada in the same-sex marriage reference case specifically stated that religious rights are matters of provincial jurisdiction only and that the federal government has […]

A new breed of rock star: quietly Christian            Euthanasia: Who Needs It?    Flawed AIDS Drug Study Exposes NIH Misconduct   Animal-Human Hybrids: Is there a limit to how far bioscientists are willing to go?  Kenya Could Lose Billions for Aids War  Defend unborn’s rights, Pope tells Australia Catholic lawyers More Media Manipulation—The BBC apologizes for lying about Iraq  Levant: When is crying “Nazi!” is too much?

LOS ANGELES, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Parents Television Council (PTC), the nation’s most influential advocacy organization protecting children against sex, violence and profanity in entertainment, released a new study, “MTV Smut Peddlers: Targeting Kids with Sex, Drugs and Alcohol,” which found that MTV programming contains staggering levels of sex and foul language – far higher than anything found on adult-targeted television.  “MTV is blatantly selling raunchy sex to kids.  Compared to broadcast television programs aimed at adults, MTV’s programming contains substantially more sex, foul language and violence – and MTV’s shows are aimed at children as young as […]

TORONTO, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The results of a National Post/Global National poll revealed today that fully 66 percent of Canadians are opposed to the legalization of same-sex “marriage,” while 68 percent responded favourably to the suggestion of a national plebiscite on the issue.  The findings, reported today on the front page of the National Post, reveal an overwhelming majority of Canadians would oppose marriage redefinition, if the decision were left to them. In addition, a clear majority of Canadians perceive the comments of politicians, such as those of Hon. Pierre Pettigrew criticizing the Catholic Church for wanting to […]

TORONTO, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Globe and Mail published a lengthy report yesterday on the same-sex marriage bill and responses of Members of Parliament to its poll on the issue. The results indicate passage of the bill is far from assured and reveals that lobbying of individual MPs by pro-marriage Canadians is starting to have significant political effect.  The Globe states it contacted all MPs by email twice and then followed up with telephone calls. The question asked was “How do you intend to vote on same-sex marriage?” “Just 139 members of Parliament” told the Globe that they […]

PIERRE, South Dakota, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A bill proposing to make abortions illegal, with the exception of serious health risks to the mother, was put forward Monday in the South Dakota legislature.  The bill, sponsored by Sen. Frank Kloucek, is meant to correct the deficiencies seen in a similar bill introduced last year which was vetoed by Governor Mike Rounds on technical grounds. Rounds said the former bill would open the doors to unrestricted abortion access in the event of a court challenge. “It should be in the proper form that he and every pro-life family legislator can […]

CLEARWATER, Florida, February 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A column appearing on the popular Catholic web site spiritdaily.com is highlighting that Terri Schiavo’s fight for life is ultimately a spiritual battle. Terri is the brain-disabled Florida woman whose parents are battling in court to prevent her euthanasia at the hands of her estranged husband, Michael Schiavo.  “Make no mistake: there is a huge spiritual component to the Terri Schiavo case,” the Spirit Daily writer emphasizes. According to Terri’s father, Robert Schindler, who spoke with the Spirit Daily writer, Terri’s legal guardian, Michael, has not allowed her to receive Holy Communion since […]

ROME, February 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – While the constant teachings of the Catholic Church on sexual matters are clear and unequivocal, some Church leaders are publicly balking now that the rule of John Paul II is seen to be weakening from age and infirmity. Catholic Church watchers have not seen this much open dissent by high-level clergy since the publication of the encyclical Humanae Vitae. Pope Paul VI’s 1968 letter affirming the Church’s traditional teaching on contraception caused a wave of open rebellion in some countries, especially in western, developed nations, even of some entire national episcopal conferences, including that […]

Responding to the Liberal government’s first reading of its same-sex marriage bill, Campaign Life Coalition states that “The federal government has introduced legislation today which is a knife thrust into the heart of the family in Canada”. “With Bill C-38” says CLC, “Paul Martin’s campaign to change the definition of marriage has commenced. He has proposed legislation that will extend to same-sex couples the same privileged status enjoyed by a man and woman in the institution of marriage”.  “For millennia marriage has been a foundational institution, one in which a mother and a father bring children into the world,” said […]

OTTAWA, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The introduction of the Canadian government’s same-sex marriage bill Monday has exposed Canadians to what will undoubtedly be viewed by some as an assault on their intelligence and principles by the government, media and even the opposition party.  Most notable is that no one in the establishment seems to have mentioned anything about the morality or ethics of same-sex relationships or about the conscience rights of anyone opposed to homosexual relations for other than religious reasons. The forcing of gay sex-ed programs on children or the protection of non-religious organizations such as Boy Scouts […]

OTTAWA, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Although the Reform and Alliance parties have faithfully opposed the Liberal’s on-going advancement of homosexuality “rights”, the current official opposition’s position on the same-sex ‘marriage’ bill is a mystery to many political observers. Undoubtedly, questionable compromises extracted to bring about the merger of the Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties is a major factor in the schizoid Conservative strategy.  At his press conference Monday Conservative Party Justice critic Vic Toews deftly exposed the mile-wide holes in the Liberal’s claims that Bill C-38 protects religious freedom. He called the claim a “sham”. Toews also convincingly emphasized […]

OTTAWA, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – During his press conference Monday defending the Liberal government’s same-sex marriage bill, Canada’s Justice Minister Irwin Cotler addressed the revolutionary role that Canada’s courts have played in changing Canadian law. Far from apologizing for the dominance of the courts and warping of Canada’s parliamentary system, Cotler was revealingly effusive, if not arrogant and presumptuous about the development. The Justice Minister almost giddily traced the development of today’s situation, where marriage is to be redefined, from the constitutional “revolution” resulting from the adoption of the Liberal’s sacred, almost god-like Charter of Rights and Freedoms. For […]

CANBERRA, February 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he is not opposed to a renewed debate on abortion, as a coalition of 12 Church groups lobbied for restrictions on late-term abortions.  The coalition of Churches is calling for funding of a study to ascertain the physical and psychological effects of abortion. The group also wants to see an elimination of late-term abortions.  Responding to the Church’s call for renewed parliamentary debate on the issue, Howard said, “I think some of the ideas being put forward about providing people with assistance in relation to choices, I think […]

CAPE TOWN, February 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – More than 350,000 South African children have been killed since the legalization of abortion there in 1997. February 1 marks the anniversary of the passage of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, which legalized abortion throughout a woman’s pregnancy. Abortions committed during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy are fully funded by the government.  tv

BRUSSELS, February 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The European Union, which recently demonstrated its anti-Catholic bias in rejecting Italian MP Rocco Buttiglione as an EU minister due to his Catholic beliefs, has rejected funding for the upcoming 2005 World Youth Day. Euro-fam, a pro-family organization which monitors the EU, reports that an amendment to the 2005 EU budget that was to grant 1, 500, 000 € to the massive gathering of youth from all over the world in Cologne Germany was turned down in December during an EU plenary session.  The measure required and failed to achieve two thirds of the […]

OTTAWA, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Not wasting a moment in its rush to impose same-sex marriage on Canadians, the federal government introduced its marriage re-definition bill as the very first item of the new session of parliament which began this morning.  The bill, “An act respecting certain aspects of legal capacity for marriage for civil purposes” and numbered C-38, was introduced by Justice Minister Irwin Cotler and seconded by Jim Peterson of Willowdale and the Minister of International Trade.  The second reading debate on the bill will begin tomorrow.

OTTAWA, February 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In his capacity as the President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, St. John’s Archbishop Brendan O’Brien has written Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP Leader Jack Layton.  The letters, sent yesterday, state the opposition of the Catholic Church to the government’s same-sex ‘marriage’ legislation. “The Roman and Eastern Catholic Bishops of Canada stand united in their opposition to legislation that would redefine marriage in such a way that it is no longer recognized as the unique, essential and fundamental relationship of a man and a woman,” […]

OTTAWA, February 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As a service to our readers LifeSiteNews.com today publishes the full text of the same-sex marriage redefinition bill introduced this morning by Canada’s Liberal government.  We have removed the French text from the original 15 page document and reformatted the bill to fit into a handier 4-page length.  The bill is available on LifeSiteNews.com as one of our Special Reports . See official on line version.