End support for RU-486 trials, says Unity Party

VICTORIA, B.C. – Noting that the Liberal government of Gordon Campbell is seeking ways to reduce spending, B.C. Unity Party leader Chris Delaney called upon the government to cease its financial support for clinical trials of the abortion drug RU-486. Following the announcement last year that a Canadian woman had died during the second phase of the trials – confirmation of the dangers of the abortion cocktail – Delaney said, “These dangerous trials are not only unnecessary, they have now been found to be potentially deadly. We call upon the Campbell government to withdraw funding from this program immediately.”

Manitoba considers gay adoption

WINNIPEG Manitoba – Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh announced that the Manitoba government will amend its laws to allow same-sex couples the right to adopt children. Specifics were not announced, and indeed Mackintosh admitted he was unsure how to proceed. “It is one thing to have a recommendation that the legislation be changed, it’s quite another challenge to make that change,” he said.

Population group calls for more abortion money

OTTAWA, – Katherine McDonald, executive director of Action Canada for Population and Development, condemned U.S. President George Bush’s decision announced early last year that his administration would not fund overseas abortions and urged Canada to increase its support of population programs to fill the gap left by the U.S. policy. Claiming that increased numbers of women are dying from “unsafe abortions,” McDonald called Bush’s policy indecent. She claimed 17 per cent of deaths from pregnancy-related causes are the result of unsafe abortions but predicted that figure could jump to as much as 50 per cent. The Canadian International Development Agency, which pays for overseas abortions, announced it would maintain its current level of funding. Reacting to McDonald, Maria Minna, minister for international co-operation, claimed Canada “doesn’t fund abortion” in developing countries, although she later changed her story and acknowledged that Canada funds facilities that commit abortions. “The objective of the program is to assist women in a holistic way,” Minna said.

Blood Services to reconsider gay donor ban

OTTAWA – Canadian Blood Services announced it will hold a “consensus conference” to review a long-standing ban on blood donation by gay and bisexual men after homosexual activists began a campaign to reverse the policy. CBS president Graham Sher told the Ottawa Citizen the conference will examine the “scientific, ethical, moral and societal” principles of blood donation policy. Sher said, “A recipient of a blood product has an absolute right to getting a product that is maximally, optimally safe,” but that such a right would be “balanced” with the “wish” of high-risk individuals to donate blood.

Grimsby man seeks right to die

GRIMSBY, Ont. – Although details are sketchy at this time, Hamilton TV station CHCH reports that Lyle Videto, a Grimsby man who has ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), wishes to “choose” physician-assisted suicide. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition said Videto “needs personal and professional care and support, not death.”