Stop the Clinic-Halifax
Health Minister, David Nantes declared on January 26, 1989, that the province will use every method available, including the courts, to stop an abortion “clinic” from operating in Nova Scotia. According to the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, the minister has instructed staff to prepare for countering any actions Henry Morgentaler may take. In Toronto a Morgentaler spokesman said they hoped to open a “clinic” within six months.
Mr. Nantes would not say whether the province would pay for abortions committed at such an abortuary, if a legal defense against it fails.
Violating dying man’s wish? – Toronto
A man who died after being taken off a mechanical respirator wanted to remain on it, a coroner’s inquest in Toronto was told on January 31, 1989. Elizabeth Hardy told the inquest into the death of Matthew Van Geffen that she heard on the day he died that doctors were considering removing the respirator, but when she asked him whether he wanted this, he shook his head, indicating no. Linda Hearts corroborated miss Hardy’s evidence; both women were dumbfounded at the decision to take him off the respirator, since they believed he was lucid and able to make decisions for himself. He died last June 29, (Star, February 1, 1989).
Some Good News
Winnipeg – Canadian Press reports that for the first time in North America, doctors say they have cured a baby girl of a rare disfiguring disease before her birth.
The baby, whose identity will never be released, was born without abnormalities almost two weeks ago, Dr. Jeremy Winter, head of endocrinology and metabolism at Winnipeg’s Children’s Hospital, said this week.
Winter said the defect was detected with a special blood test developed in Manitoba 10 years ago.
Winter said doctors suspected a problem because a boy, born to the same parents 18 months earlier, also carried the gene.
Treatment began as soon as the mother knew she was pregnant, Winter said.
To treat the baby in the womb, doctors prescribed a cortisone derivative for the other to ensure the fetus received enough of the hormone to combat disfigurement, he said.
