Canada Former Superior Court of Ontario chief justice Patrick Lesage has called for a more open and accountable way of choosing judges. He told the Globe and Mail that a standing committee made up of MPs, senators and lawyers should compile a list of candidates for judicial appointment to submit for consideration by the prime minister. Quebec Chief JusticeMichel Robert also called for a process for vetting judicial appointments, to reduce political patronage and court-stacking. Former prime minister Jean Chretien appointed 24 of 32 Federal Court judges … Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott has called for a boycott of the Bank of Montreal, after the financial institution announced a decision not to renew an Affinity MasterCard fundraising program for the LifeCanada organization. Vellacott called it a plain “case of discrimination.” The Affinity MasterCard program links purchases on the card with points and the proceeds go to charities. Until April, LifeCanada benefited from the program, until BMO abruptly ended the business relationship … Toronto homosexualist newspaper Xtra! reports that the Pink Caucus, a group of homosexual MPs who wanted to address gay issues, including how same-sex “marriage” would affect them – “never got off the ground.” Only three MPs – Libby Davis and Bill Siksay, both NDPers, and Real Menardof the Bloc Quebecois – joined the caucus, as at least two other known homosexuals – cabinet minister Scott Brison and Toronto MP Mario Silva – never joined … Allison Brewer, 50, a former director of Henry Morgentaler’s Fredericton abortuary, becomes the first candidate to throw a hat into the New Brunswick NDP leadership ring. The leadership vote is scheduled for September.
Madeline Albright, former president Bill Clinton’s secretary of state, attacks President George W. Bush as anti-woman, because of his administration’s position against using taxpayer dollars to fund groups that commit or promote abortions in other countries … Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) signs legislation requiring abortion businesses to notify parents when a minor is considering an abortion, as well as legislation regulating abortion facilities. Until now, abortion facilities were exempt from regulations that cover physician offices, hospitals and other surgical centers. Bush said: “This is a simple bill that says women are deserving of the same quality care when they go to a doctor’s office or a hospital or, sadly, to an abortion clinic” … Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) vetoes a bill that would promote unproven embryonic stem cell research in his state, even though he knew that the state legislature had the votes to override the veto … Andrea Nead, a nurse, files a lawsuit against Eastern Illinois University, saying the college refused to promote her to a higher job at the student health centre because of her pro-life views and refusal to dispense the “morning-after” pill … Wisconsin Right to Life says that pro-life legislation and education is responsible for the state’s dramatic decline in the number of abortions over the past 25 years. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, there were 9,943 abortions in 2004, a nearly 60 per cent decline since 1980, when there were 21,754.
Right to Life New Zealand initiates a process to take a 1977 abortion law to the nation’s high court. It says the law was intended to provide abortion guidelines but has, instead, been used to promote unlimited abortions for any reason. RLNZ filed the suit against the Abortion Supervisory Committee, charging the agency has misinterpreted the law … Australian Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja attacks pro-life counselling services by accusing them of misleading women into believing they are impartial. She plans to introduce a private member’s bill to compel pregnancy counselling services to state their stance on abortion in all their advertising … Amnesty International has drawn attention to the human rights violations being carried out against women in China in the name of the one-child policy, including forced abortions and sterilizations, the imprisonment and torture of a campaigner against forced abortion and the sex-selective abortion of girls. The reaction of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children was quoted in the Guardian: “Abortion is an invasive, violent act that exploits women and ends innocent lives. International agencies that promote coercive population control should have their funding stopped immediately” …The Scotsman reports that the number of abortions is increasing in Scotland, with one in four pregnancies ending in abortion … Gift of Life, a Maltese pro-life group, has called upon the country’s Labour Party to support a proposal to enshrine Malta’s pro-life law in the Constitution. While Labour leader Alfred Sant says that abortion is not a priority for the party right now, he maintains that it remains opposed to abortion … Cardinal Pedro Rubiano Saenz speaks out against Colombian government plans to decriminalize abortion: “Nothing and no one can authorize the death of a human person, and certainly not when the person is helpless and unprotected.” |
