The founder of Italy’s Radical Party who was convicted for the second time Tuesday of handing out free hashish is an abortion activist. The Boston Globe reports that Marco Pannella has gone on hunger strikes and distributed money to help push through referendums to legalize divorce and abortion.
Hong Kong is set to legalize passive euthanasia. New Medical Council guidelines have been proposed noting that consultations with hospital ethics committees or the courts should be undertaken when in doubt on a decision.
The January 8 edition of The Lancet reports that Spain has the lowest birth rate in the world (1.07) as indicated by data released at the end of last year. The 1999 fecundity survey by the National Statistics Institute (INE) confirms that, in the past 28 years, Spain’s birth rate has halved. The INE report reveals that in university-educated women aged 25-34 years, the birth rate is only 0·33. See https://www.thelancet.com (free registration required)
Cardinal Thomas Winning of Scotland has written a letter to the media outlining the Catholic Church’s concerns with the proposed end to the law banning promotion of homosexuality in schools. For more on the situation click here.
World Magazine reports that ultrasound machines are a great boon to the pro-life movement.