Articles for Month: April 2005

WELLINGTON, April 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New Zealand ushered in civil union legislation today conferring upon same-sex couples all the rights and privileges normally allotted to heterosexual married husbands and wives. The new law also allows common-law heterosexual couples to formalize their unions without conceding to the full pact of marriage. Conservative National Party leader Don Brash said lawmakers were “preoccupied with social engineering,” according to a theage.com.au report. “I voted against it on the second reading on the grounds that this was quite a major change in civil society, and it might well be desirable to have that sort […]

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – US First Lady Laura Bush told National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) members, “Celebrating fatherhood is something our whole society should be doing,” during a keynote address at their awards gala April 19, according to a Washington Post report. NFI’s mission “is to improve the well-being of children by increasing the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible, and committed fathers,” by utilizing “public awareness campaigns and other resources,” according to their web site. NFI uses newsprint, web, billboard, and other media advertising to promote their ideals. “It’s Mom who usually provides the kiss that […]

RICHMOND, Virginia, April 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Though the state of Virginia has laws prohibiting unmarried couples and homosexual partners from adopting children, the state Supreme Court has just ruled that children jointly adopted by homosexuals must be issued new birth certificates to indicate the names of their new ‘parents.’ In the ruling, Justice Donald Lemons wrote for the majority, “This case is about issuing birth certificates under the provisions of Virginia law. It is not about homosexual marriage, nor is it about ‘same-sex’ relationships, nor is it about adoption policy in Virginia.” That was not the view of the […]

VANCOUVER, April 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian Religious Freedom Alliance (CRFA) intervened last Thursday before the BC Court of Appeals, in the case of beleaguered teacher Chris Kempling against the BC College of Teachers. Kempling was suspended for one month without pay for writing a letter to the editor of his local Quesnel, BC, newspaper criticizing the Liberal government’s same sex marriage legislation. As an intervener in the appeal of the judgment against teacher Chris Kempling, CRFA emphasized that freedom of religion and expression, as protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedom, is not limited to individuals in […]

HARTFORD, Conn., April 25, 2005, (LifeSiteNews.com) Connecticut’s decision to create civil unions for same-sex couples has been called a “naive move that further erodes marriage” by attorneys associated with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), an organization active in numerous cases involving marriage, domestic partnerships and civil unions in the United States. Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill which grants same-sex couples all the same benefits of married couples – only without a marriage license – because it contains an amendment stating that marriage under state law would be limited to one man and one woman. Glen Lavy, senior […]

LONDON, KINGSTON, and SCARBOROUGH, Ontario, RICHMOND, BC, April 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Four rallies in the past weeks since the March for Marriage on parliament hill, saw almost 7,000 people in total coming out to defend marriage. A rally in London, Ontario’s Victoria Park drew 5,000 people April 17 – organizers said it was “the largest political rally ever held in the city.” Those in attendance heard speeches from local Liberal MP Pat O’Brien, Islam Imam Dr. Munir El-Kassem, the Evangelical Fellowship’s Janet Buckingham, Defend Marriage’s Dr. Charles McVety and Citizen Impact of Canada President Jack Baribeau. While convincing Members […]

MONTREAL, April 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Rates of abortion in formerly Catholic Quebec are among the highest in the world. Recent statistics also show that young people are experiencing climbing rates of sexually transmitted diseases. Instead of addressing the question of unmarried sexual activity among teenagers however, the College des Medecins du Quebec has decided to allow school nurses to prescribe chemical contraceptives to girls without a doctor’s supervision. Abortifacient hormonal contraceptive pills have a long list of side effects, some of which can be dangerous to women. Many studies have shown increased risk of thromboembolism, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular […]

VATICAN, April 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Vatican Information Service relates the following account of Pope Benedict’s inaugural Mass yesterday: In St Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. today, fifth Sunday of Easter, in the presence of a police estimate of half a million people, Pope Benedict XVI presided at the Eucharistic celebration for the official inauguration of his Petrine ministry. One hundred and fifty cardinals concelebrated. Among the bishops, priests and religious present was the Pope’s brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger. Many of the people who filled Via della Conciliazione, adjacent streets and other areas of Rome were able to follow […]

PERTH, April 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The legal ramifications of abortion are reaching levels of absurdity that are becoming difficult to parody. With the advent of the bizarre notion of ‘wrongful life’ lawsuits has come the answer to the pro-lifers’ rhetorical question, “What do you do if a hospital fails to kill your child?” In the case of Stacy Dow, a 20-year-old Scottish woman who gave birth to a healthy girl after trying to abort her and her twin, the answer is, ‘sue.’ Dow is suing Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust for 250,000 pounds because they failed to kill both […]

LONDON, April 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the new book Sharon Osbourne: Unauthorized, Uncensored – Understood, author Sue Crawford relates that the wife of the famous musician Ozzy Osbourne was ordered to have an abortion by her mother after becoming pregnant at 17. A Contactmusic.com review of the book which is to be released Thursday in the UK notes that Sharon Osbourne considers the abortion of her child at an abortion clinic the “worst thing” she ever did. Speaking of the abortion clinic she said: “It was full of other young girls, and we were all terrified.” Of the abortion […]