Articles for Month: December 2005

By Hilary White BRUSSELS, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The European Union’s Executive Commission has threatened to take the Spanish government to court if it does not agree to start charging the Catholic Church sales tax on the goods it buys. Spain’s socialist government, which since its election has engaged in a project of erasing from law and public life all indications of the Catholic character of the country, is unlikely to demur. The EU has said that a special tax exemption breaks European tax law. Currently, the Church in Spain receives a portion of tax revenues under a 1979 […]

By Terry Vanderheyden BRUSSELS, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Belgian pharmacists were given the go-ahead to dispense lethal cocktails to physicians who request them for the purpose of euthanizing patients, three years after the practice was legalized. Until now, pharmacists were not protected under the euthanasia law enacted in 2002 that made it legal for physicians to kill their patients. In the event that doctors were charged in an illegal death, pharmacists until now were subject to potential prosecution. The new measure makes physician-assisted suicide more accessible to all. Up until now, pharmacists were seemingly undaunted by the potential backlash, […]

By John-Henry Westen LONDON, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Former US President Bill Clinton has done a one-minute video congratulating musician Elton John on his upcoming homosexual ‘marriage’. According to the British paper, The Mirror, on the tape, which is to be played tonight at John’s pre-‘wedding’ bash, Clinton says, “If there were more people in the world like Elton, then the world would be a better place.” Despite his support for Elton John’s homosexual union, Clinton’s political manoeuvres on homosexual ‘marriage’ were dictated by political expedience rather than conviction. It was after all President Clinton, and not President George […]

BELFAST, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This weekend in Belfast, three pairs of self-described homosexual “couples” were the first to avail themselves of the United Kingdom’s new Civil Partnership law which was passed in February. The first legally “married” gay partners in the UK were two lesbians, Shannon Sickles and Grainne Close. The BBC reports that at least 1,200 civil ceremonies are booked, indicating a much higher level of interest in Britain than in Canada where relatively few have come forward. After Belfast, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and Edinburgh are also finding high levels of interest. Great Britain is well […]

WASHINGTON, DC, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Saturday, the House of Representatives voted to pass HR 2520 – the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act – written by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). The non-controversial legislation had earlier passed the House of Representatives in May by a vote of 431-1 and was slightly altered before passage by the Senate Friday night. The bill will now be signed into law by President Bush. Umbilical cords are a rich, non-controversial source of stem cells. Currently hospitals throw millions of them away each year because the infrastructure required to properly collect and store […]

By Gudrun Schultz WASHINGTON, DC, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Archbishop Pietro Sambi, newly appointed as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, had condemned a Gay Pride celebration planned for Jerusalem last August. Then Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and Palestine, Archbishop Sambi called the planned gathering “a provocation to the Jews, Christians and Muslims of Jerusalem and all over the world,” reported Joel Greenberg for the Jewish World Review. “This is a holy city for people who accept the Lordship of God on their life. It’s not for pride,” Archbishop Sambi said. “No one can assure that this parade will […]

By Terry Vanderheyden LAUSANNE, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A leading Swiss hospital has announced it will allow doctors to kill their patients beginning in the New Year. University hospital in Lausanne said the hospital, the first to sanction active euthanasia since the practice was legalized, argues as the Dutch did before euthanasia became legal there, that suicide should be “strictly regulated.” Abuses are, of course, rampant in the Netherlands, while 70% of terminally-ill Swiss – at least those in Zurich – already succumb to either passive (when life-sustaining nutrition and hydration is denied) or active euthanasia. Until now, patients […]

By John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The first subject in theÂEnglish language debate between the leaders of the four major Canadian political parties centeredÂon homosexual ‘marriage’.ÂÂ As with the French debate which took place earlier last week, Friday’s debate featured Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe, NDP Leader Jack Layton and Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin trying to outdo each other in their support for the permanence of homosexual ‘marriage’ in Canada. For his part, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper explained, “Most Conservatives support the traditional definition of marriage. Our party position is to support the traditional definition while supporting […]

By Gudrun Schultz EDMONTON, Alberta, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A woman who went to a Conservative rally to seek support for a petition after her pregnant daughter was murdered last month was harassed, manhandled, and threatened with removal. Mary Talbot has been circulating a petition asking for legislation to bring criminal charges against anyone who causes the death of an unborn child by killing the child’s mother. Talbot lost her 19-year-old daughter, Olivia, and her daughter’s unborn son last month when her daughter was shot to death in her Edmonton home. (See earlier LifeSiteNews coverage: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05121408.html) Peter Goldring, Conservative […]

LIMA, December 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In response to a complaint from the Population Research Institute’s Latin American Director Carlos Polo, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has imposed sanctions on two groups in Peru that used American tax money to promote the legalization of the morning-after pill (MAP) in that country. Each will have to return part of their grant as a punishment for violating USAID policy. “We are pleased to see the strong response of USAID headquarters in response to our complaint,” said PRI President Steve Mosher. “Too often in the past, USAID grantees have interfered in […]