Canada
Pro-life Conservative MP Art Hanger(Calgary Northeast), who was first elected as a Reform MP in 1993, has announced he will not seek re-election … The Montreal Gazettereported that in July, Quebec registered 7,400 births, the highest monthly total in the 2000s … A Federal Court in B.C. is considering a case brought forth by the Sex Party, a registered political party that ran three candidates in the province in 2006. During a three-day hearing, the party argued that Canada Postmust deliver its sexually graphic mail. However, TheUnaddressed Admail Customer Service Guideprohibits delivery of “offensive articles that contain sexually explicit material” … The Ontario proposal on whether to continue to use the first-past-the-post system or adopt a new mixed-member proportional representation system required that 60 per cent vote for the change and that it pass in 64 of 107 ridings in a referendum. On Oct. 10, 63.1 per cent voted to maintain the status quo, as MMP had majority support in only five ridings, all in downtown Toronto. At least 60 per cent voted against the electoral change in 83 ridings … Henry,a documentary about abortionist Henry Morgentaler by filmmaker Dara Bratt, 31, premiered in Toronto Oct. 9. It featured humanizing moments, such as Morgentaler performing a comedy skit and a shirtless table tennis game. Bratt told the Canadian Press, “I just really wanted to tell his story … and it’s up to the audience to say whether they like him.” It also showed his son Yannrecalling being told at the age of 12 that his parents were in an open marriage … The Canadian Federation of Sexual Health, formerly Planned Parenthood Canada, issued a report, Sexual Health in Canada, that found the mean age for first sexual intercourse is 16.5, the same age as in 1974. It claimed that teenage pregnancy and abortion rates have declined dramatically since then due to the availability of contraception, but blames a lack of sex education in schools for “unacceptably high” rates of sexually transmitted infections.
United States
Running for the Democratic presidential nomination, New York Senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton(NY) says she will lift federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and has labelled the Bush administration’s ESCR policy declaration a “war on science” … Focus on the Familyfounder James Dobsonis urging pro-lifers to consider running a third-party candidate if the Republicans nominate pro-abortion former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani… Pro-life Kansas Republican Sam Brownbackhas dropped out of the runnong for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination … Congress is considering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,which would forbid employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. TheGeneral Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of Americaand the United States Conference of Catholic Bishopswrote Congress to protest the bill, whose religious exemptions are insufficient to protect the rights of churches and clergy, as well as the schools, hospitals, nursing homes and charitable programs they run.
International
Despite protests that it does not support abortion, the United Nations Population Fundwas recently revealed to be the top donor to the pro-abortion law firm, the New York-based Centre for Reproductive Rights, according to the CRR’s annual report. The UNFPA gave the centre up to $50,000 last year, making it one of the CRR’s largest financial contributors. In 2006, the CRR was involved in 22 abortion lawsuits around the world, including the overturning of Colombia’s ban on abortion … In its campaign against capital punishment, Amnesty Internationalsays the death penalty “violates the right to life” and is “irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent.” This past summer, however, AI adopted an offical policy supporting the declaration of abortion as a human right … Women Deliver, a London-based conference on maternal and child health, had 35 of its 98 sessions focus on abortion. Susan Yoshihara, executive vice-president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute,said “The best way to reduce maternal and child deaths is with skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetrics.” These issues were dealt with in only seven sessions. Other issues such as post-natal and peri-natal care, female genital mutilation and cancer each received three or fewer sessions … Human Life Internationalreports that due to Red China’s coercive one-child policy, 500,000 abortions are committed “past the point of fetal viability” … The Episcopal Conference of Kenya, which represents the country’s Catholic bishops, has accused foreign non-governmental organizations of promoting abortion in Kenya. The conference stated that a country “which legalizes abortion most definitely abdicates a very basic reason for its own existence” … Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwetedelivered a pro-life speech marking the Day of the African Child, during which he stated, “Women have no right to kill a child who is in the womb, as this would constitute violation of the basic right to life of every child.”