Canada

For the first time in 11 years, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has given its full support to the annual Canadian National March for Life, to be held this year on May 14. Six bishops, including St. Catharines Bishop James Wingle, Quebec City Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins and Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast will participate in the event … Barbara Hall, the head of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, said in an interview with the Toronto Sun about why the commission hasn’t dealt with the issue of honour killings in the Muslim community: “There are thousands of things that happen in the province of Ontario on a daily basis and we don’t comment on all of them … we have to make choices because we can’t respond to everything” … The Calgary Herald called for an amendment to Section 3 of the Alberta Human Rights, Multiculturalism and Citizenship Act to exclude writing that is “likely to expose” a person to “hatred or contempt,” saying that its prohibitions cast “too wide a net and risk chilling legitimate expression on topics of importance to public discussion” … The Family Coalition Party’s Jake Pothaar is the only pro-life candidate in the by-election in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, where Progressive Conservative leader John Tory is trying to win a seat in the Ontario legislature after losing in the general provincial election in 2007 … The Ontario Film Review Board added giving the middle finger to the official list of crude behaviours, potentially moving films from General to Parental Guidance ratings in movies with characters who “flip the finger”  … Sahib Abid Ali Jibouri, a Canadian of Iraqi extraction, was cleared of bigamy charges, despite having a wife in Ohio and a wife in Toronto, because Ontario court justice Guy DeMarco said the prosecution could not prove the man left Canada “with intent” to marry a second partner in a foreign country, even though he believed the man had two spouses … At their biennial meeting, the Health Officers Council of British Columbia passed a resolution asking all public health authorities to develop supervised injection sites where there are problems with drug use.

United States

Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calf.) has introduced the Right to Life Act in the House of Representatives which would provide legal protection to unborn children … Personhood USA has announced that so far this year seven states have initiated efforts in support of the personhood of unborn children, including bills in Alabama, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, and South Carolina, affirming the personhood rights of the unborn. In Oregon, there is a petition drive to get the law on a state-wide ballot and organizers in Mississippi are about to begin a petition to bring it to a referendum vote. Cal Zastrow of Personhood USA said: “We are committed to working tirelessly to establish personhood in every State, because this is the only way to restore dignity to the humans most vulnerable among us,” … Bristol Palin, daughter of former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, told Fox News that teenagers should avoid having sex, but added that abstinence “is not realistic at all.” Bristol Palin, who had an out-of-wedlock child in December but  is engaged to marry the father of the child, wants to become an abstinence advocate … On Feb. 16, the ABC soap opera All My Children aired the first lesbian marriage ceremony on daytime television. Caleb Price, research analyst at Focus on the Family, said that Hollywood is trying to desensitize Americans on homosexuality.

International

Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare has been asked by an abortion facility to draw up guidelines on sex-selection abortions. The issue came to light when a doctor asked for clarification after a woman twice had abortions upon learning that the unborn child was a girl. Kaj Wedenberg, the head of the facility, asked: “I wonder if a caregiver within the public health system has the right to make reference to their (sic) own views and the dominant view in our country about gender’s equal value”  … A survey sponsored by the Christian Medical Fellowship found that 49 per cent of British doctors want a reduction in the 24-week time limit for abortions and that 11 per cent want it lowered to below 15 weeks or less. The survey also found that 61 per cent of general practitioners do not want abortions available in general surgery facilties … The British Department of Health has banned pro-life activists from hearings on whether the agency will release figures on the number of abortions committed on babies with various disabilities … The Associated Press reports that there were more than 600 events around the world to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth on Feb. 12. … In protests in Mexico City and Madrid, Amnesty International denounced the Mexican government for its refusal to require physicians to commit abortions in cases of rape and provide abortifacient “emergency contraception.” A petition by AI says that doing abortions for rape victims is “an obligation of the Mexican government” and “sexual and reproductive rights should not be permitted, but guaranteed,” by falsely claiming a right to abortion under international law.