Canada
The British Columbia Supreme Court has ruled against two University of B.C. Okanagan campus students seeking to overturn a provincial human rights tribunal decision that dismissed their complaint that their university’s student union discriminated against them by denying official status to a pro-life club. Justice Randall S.K. Wong cited the use of offensive material, including the Genocide Awareness Project, as a justifiable basis for denying Students for Life club status … In a 3-0 decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal said a Toronto doctor cannot be sued by a child born with serious deformities caused by a drug prescribed to its mother, adding that physicians do not owe a duty of care to unborn children because their primary responsibility is to the mother. Justice Kathryn Feldman wrote: “Because the woman and her fetus are one – both physically and legally – it is the woman whom the doctor advises and who makes the treatment decisions affecting herself and her future child” … In an article in Vita e Pensiero, the magazine of the Catholic University of Milan, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Catholic primate of Canada and archbishop of Quebec City, called for an end to the “secularist fundamentalism imposed by means of public funding.” Cardinal Ouellet said the loss of religious faith “has led to the disorientation of young people, the precipitous drop in marriages, the low birthrate and the frightening number of abortions and suicides, to mention just a few of the consequences, in addition to the precarious situation of the elderly and of public health.”
United States
Dr. James Dobson, the founder and president of Focus on the Family, released a letter on Oct. 21, describing the high stakes the U.S. election. He said it was imperative to elect a pro-life president, especially in regards to selecting judges for Supreme Court: “Between 2009 and 2012, there will likely be two or more opportunities for the President to nominate new justices to the Supreme Court … That alone should give us serious pause as we consider for whom to cast our votes.” Dobson continued: “It’s probably obvious which of the two major party candidates’ views are most palatable to those of us who embrace a pro-life, pro-family worldview. While I will not endorse either candidate this year, I can say that I am now supportive of Senator John McCain and his bid for the presidency.” … In a 4-3 ruling, the Connecticut Supreme Court permitted same-sex “marriage,” thus making Connecticut the third state, after California and Massachusetts, to legalize such unions. Republican Governor Jodi Rell, who opposes same-sex “marriage,” said the decision did not reflect the will of the state’s voters, but that, “I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse the decision – either legislatively or by amending the state constitution – will not meet with success” … A new Marist College Institute of Public Opinion poll sponsored by the Knights of Columbus provided 1,700 Americans with six statements to see which one best represented the respondents’ view on abortion. Marist found that 13 per cent oppose abortion in all circumstances; 15 per cent support it only in cases to save the life of the mother; 32 per cent support it only in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother; 24 per cent support it only in the first trimester; 8 per cent in the first two trimesters; and 8 per cent support it at any time during pregnancy. Just 15 per cent describe themselves as “pro-choice” and of that number, 71 per cent support restrictions. Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said the poll demonstrated the term “pro-choice” “needlessly polarizes the discussion of abortion and masks the fact that there is broad consensus among Americans that abortion should be significantly restricted.”
International
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization says it might be time to reopen the international cloning debate. In 2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed a non-binding declaration banning human cloning for any purpose (therapeutic or reproductive). The International Bioethics Committee will file a report to the UNESCO Director-General with its opinion on how to proceed. The IBC is exploring the “scientific, ethical, social, political and legal developments on human cloning in recent years” and whether they “justify a new initiative at international level.” … The Aurora, the abortion boat run by the Dutch abortion activists Women on the Waves, circumvented Spanish laws by anchoring off the coast near Valencia. More than 100 protestors from the Spanish pro-life group Provida demonstrated against the craft, which seeks to undermine Spanish law by carting abortion-seeking women to the sea in international waters. Abortion is permitted only when the physical or psychological health of the mother is in question, but the resulting loophole allows virtually all abortions. Women on the Waves says it hopes to undermine the superficial limits of Spain’s abortion laws, under which more than 100,000 abortions are committed each year… The Adelaide Advertiser in Australia reports that “unregulated sperm donation is leading to unusual situations in which the children of lesbians … are mixing socially (and) creating a risk of incest.” The paper says that in one case, 30 lesbians were impregnated by a single donor.
