Canada

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced the government would introduce legislation that would consider a victim’s pregnancy as an aggravating factor when sentencing violent offenders. The ramifications or intentions of this bill are unclear, because the wording of such legislation was not available at press time … MP Ken Epp (Conservative, Edmonton-Sherwood Park) issued a 31-page report countering the claims of abortion advocates who say that his private member’s bill, C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime Act, is a pro-life bill in disguise. In great detail, he examined U.S. case law that has demonstrated recognizing the unborn child as a victim of violent crime does not lead to the prosecution of women for obtaining legal abortions … Liberal leader Stephane Dion participated in Montreal’s Gay Pride Parade … The St. Thomas Times-Journal reported that one passer-by was upset with a Show the Truth pro-life demonstration in that community, part of a 15-stop, five-day tour in southwestern Ontario. Sherry O’Brien called the graphic photos of aborted babies “social terrorism” and condemned the use of “shock tactics” in promoting the pro-life message. STT organizer Rosemary Connell said of the use of such photos to raise awareness of the humanity of the child and what actually happens during an abortion: “People need to know the truth,” she told the Times-Journal … The Ontario Human Rights Commission has announced new activities of the commission will include “research and monitoring” and the possibility of “targeted inquiries” in place of examining complaints from individuals … The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has given the go-ahead to Northern Peaks, a pornographic pay-TV channel that will feature 50 per cent Canadian content. REAL Women of Canada remarked: “Not only will Canada have another pornography channel, but also, it will lead to the creation of a pornography industry in Canada” … David Boyd, a taxi cab driver running for mayor of Halifax, says the city needs more casinos and strip clubs: “It’s high time this city grew up and realized we are a port city.” The Nova Scotia capital already has one casino and a strip bar … Statistics Canada reported that its 2005 survey found 43 per cent of 15-19 year olds have had sex, compared to 47 per cent a decade ago.

United States

On Meet the Press, Tom Brokaw asked Democrat Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Represenatives, about when life begins. She answered: “I would say that as an ardent practising Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time and what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And St. Augustine said three months. We don’t know. The point is it that it shouldn’t have an impact on a woman’s right to chose.” Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Onlinewondered: “If Dems have chosen to ignore advances in embryology, I’m wondering why they’re calling Republicans the anti-science party” … In New York, there are 72 abortions for every 100 live births, compared to the national rate of 24 abortions for every 100 live births. Crain’s New York Business reports that there were 90,157 abortions committed in the city in 2006, or 250 a day in total at more than 200 abortion facilities, including hospitals and doctors’ offices … The Census Bureau reports that more women are childless, including 22 per cent of women aged 40-44, double the level of women in the 1970s. Jane Lawler Dye, a researcher with the bureau, said: “It used to be sort of expected that there was a phase of life where you had children and a lot of women aren’t doing that now” … A USA Today/Gallup Poll found 49 per cent of Americans believe living together reduces the chances of divorce and just 31 per cent hold the view that shacking up before marriage increases the risk of future divorce. A 2006 report in the journalDemography found that half of cohabitating couples split up within one year of moving in together and 90 per cent broke up within five years.

International

Australia’s business-oriented Productivity Commission claims having babies harms the economy. Citing the birth of 300,000 babies annually down under, the commission said women leaving the workforce weaken the economy and strain the tax base. Jenny Tyreeof Focus on the Family Action countered: “Children contribute to the economy – and society as a whole” … All 84 members of the El Salvador Congress signed a petition condemning abortion as an “abominable crime” … The Ecuador Special Assembly, set up to draft a new constitution for the country, has suggested that protection for the unborn be eliminated … A study conducted by the Norwegian National Centre for Fetal Medicine and published in the August 2008 issue of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology found that 84 per cent of babies in Norway diagnosed with Down syndrome between 1987 and 2004 were aborted … Nepal has legalized the abortion drug RU-486 … The Associated Press reports that thanks to a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, cellphones in India will now be available with a ring tone that sings, “Condom, condom,” 50 times. Public health activists hope it will make condoms more socially acceptable … MI5, the British spy service, has announced it will be actively trying to recruit homosexuals.