Canada
Campaign Life Coalition polled every Member of Parliament on the question of whether abortionist Henry Morgentaler should have received the Order of Canada. About a third (103) stated they opposed giving Morgentaler the honour, while just 35 publicly stated they supported it. See CLC’s advertisement on page six for a complete list of those opposing the award … The National Post reported that according to a Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy study of voting patterns in the 2006 election, homosexuals are strongly opposed to the Conservative Party, with just 7 per cent of gay men and 10 per cent of lesbians supporting the Tories. Barry Kay, a Wilfrid Laurier University professor and LISPOP researcher said “Clearly, they are anti-Conservative … the hostility there is dramatic.” The study found gay men tend to support the Liberal Party and lesbians back the NDP … One month after permitting a Canadian-content porn channel, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission rejected two applications for Christian radio stations in the Ottawa area … A Saskatchewan Court of Appeal is considering a case launched by Bill Whatcott who is appealing his $17,500 fine from theSaskatchewan Human Rights Commission for distributing pamphlets critical of the homosexual agenda. John Carpay of the Canadian Constitution Foundation says: “When a man is ordered to pay $17,500 to people offended by flyers that he peacefully distributed, it sends a chilling message to all citizens: ‘Be very, very careful about what you say, and when in doubt, remain silent’.” … The University of Toronto launched Canada’s first graduate program in “sexual diversity studies.”
United States
In an interview with Charles Gibson of ABC World News Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, said she was pro-life even in cases of rape and incest, that Roe v. Wade should be reversed, and that she opposed embryonic stem cell research. But she also hedged: “When you’re running for office, your life is an open book and you do owe it to Americans to talk about your personal opinion, which may end up being different than what the policy in an administration would be.” … Senator Joseph Biden (Del.), the Democratic nominee for vice president, said he believes life begins at conception but that he did not want to impose his personal views on others. Denying he ever voted for abortion Biden claimed: “I voted against telling everyone else in the country that they have to accept my religiously based view that it’s a moment of conception.” Biden has a NARAL Pro-Choice America voting rating of 100 per cent in most years, but he has voted against partial-birth abortion leading the pro-abortion group to label his voting record as “mixed.” … Biden questioned the Republicans’ commitment to helping disabled children because many in the GOP oppose embryonic stem cell research: “I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have…the joy and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect. Well guess what folks? If you care about it, why don’t you support stem cell research?” Republican presidential candidate John McCain has voted three times in favour of ESCR in the U.S. Senate so Biden’s scathing remarks were considering an attack on Palin, who gave birth to a Down’s Syndrome child in May … CitizenLink.com reports that thePentagon will invest $250 million over five years in adult stem-cell research in order to aid injured military personnel. Areas of potential include scar prevention, tendon rebuilding and bone repair. Col. Bob Vandre of the Army’s Medical Research & Materiel Command, who authorized the initiative, said: “I think regenerative medicine is going to change the world.”
International
The International Planned Parenthood Federation issued a primer, “Access to Safe Abortion: A Tool for Assessing Legal and Other Obstacles,” instructing affiliated “Member Associations” and other abortion advocates how “to advocate for the removal of restrictions” on abortion, by arguing that international treaties should be interpreted broadly to trump national laws … United Nations Population Fund executive directorThoraya Obaid called for more funding for “education and reproductive health” – population programs with an eye to reducing fertility, promoting ‘reproductive health services’ and ‘de-stigmatizing’ sodomy. Obaid began her remarks by commemorating the 40th anniversary of Paul Erlich’s book, The Population Bomb, which erroneously raised alarm bells about overpopulation. The UNFPA already receives $470 million in UN funding … One year after launching a campaign for global “safe abortion,” Marie Stopes International, the British-based abortion provider, has less than 500 signatures on their online petition – 77 of them from Marie Stopes employees … The parliament of Victoria, Australia, debated decriminalizing abortion the same week that they defeated the Physician Assisted Dying Bill which would protect doctors from prosecution when they help kill terminally ill patients. The Australian Christian Lobby welcomed the defeat of the bill as a “victory for those who value life.”
