Canada
Canadian Physicians for Life issued a statement against provincial funding of abortion, stating, “it is our strong belief that no abortions are medically necessary (and) the funding of this procedure by governments represents an extreme waste of health care resources” … In June, Ontario Education Minister Laurel Broten called for feedback on a ministry paper, Modernizing Child Care in Ontario. On Sept. 15, the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada provided an open letter saying the document raises concerns because it “is not centred on what is best for children” nor is it “centred on what is best for families (and) parents.” The IMFC said, “the Government of Ontario is pursuing family policies that do not benefit families, particularly when contrasted to policies that could offer substantial aid, like tax credits for parents to increase their cash flow,” because the government focuses on child care options outside the home … Jacqueline Shaw criticized existing federal 2004 guidelines for declaring people brain dead and qualified for organ harvesting in an article in the McGill Journal of Law and Health saying potential organ donors could still be alive, thus violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms … Statistics Canada admitted that it might have erred in counting more than 4500 room-mates as married same-sex couples. The Globe and Mail explained: “Roommates who were married – just not to each other – could have been counted as a couple” … Cambridge city hall Church of Christ minister Rev. Jay Brown will be forced to preside over same-sex “marriages’ or resign after city council voted 8-1 to strip him of his conscience rights. Previously, Brown arranged for a backup minister to carry out such ceremonies, but Mayor Doug Craig said, “This is an issue of discrimination” explaining why the arrangement will not be allowed to continue.
United States
The New York City Department of Education has a pilot program, Connecting Adolescents to Comprehensive Health (CATCH), to provide pregnancy testing and distribute condoms, birth control pills and the abortion-inducing Plan B morning-after pill at 13 high schools. High school staff will not be required to notify or receive consent from parents. An anonymous teacher told the New York Post pointing out that they cannot distribute Tylenol without a doctor’s order but “we give our hormonal preparations with far more serious possible side effects” … On September 14, the Virginia Board of Health voted that abortion facilities be required to abide by medical building code standards, overturning its earlier June 14 amendment to exempt 20 abortion mills from the standards, which Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli refused to certify … The Heritage Foundation released a factsheet, Marriage: America’s Best Antidote to Child Poverty, presenting marriage as a solution to poverty. It notes that single-parent families are six times likelier to live in poverty than married families, with 71 per cent of destitute American families with children being headed by an unmarried parent. Heritage recommends that the government promote marriage before childbearing.
International
A Finnish study published in Human Reproduction links abortions to greater risk of preterm birth. Using the national register, the team led by R. Klemetti discovered that one abortion increases the risk of birth before 28 weeks gestation by 19 per cent. Having two and three abortions lead to a 69 and 278 per cent increase, respectively. “The risk is low…and abortion is a safe surgical procedure,” the authors say, “But having more than two can have consequences, and this information should be included in sexual education programs.” According to Americans United for Life, more 130 studies link abortion to preterm birth … Namibia Press Agency reports that 40 babies a month are flushed down a toilet or discarded in a dump in the country’s capital. A survey found that this is done predominantly because fathers do not admit that the child is theirs … Wendy Wright of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute reported on findings from Finland, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam that abortion drugs are causing maternal fatalities and incomplete abortions in the developing world. Wright said: “Abortion groups set their sights on pushing medical abortions in developing countries that are unable to implement safeguards and cannot track complications” … A ComRes poll in the United Kingdom found that 59 per cent of MPs were against legalizing assisted suicide, and only 29 per cent in favour. Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) thought it would pressure vulnerable individuals to take their own lives … Openly gay British actor Rupert Everett, who has a boyfriend, told Sunday Times Magazine that he “can’t think of anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads” … The Archbishop of Lyons, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, warned of the consequences of legalizing same-sex “marriage” in France. “Afterward they will want to create couples with three or four members. And after that, perhaps one day the taboo of incest will fall,” he said to RCF Christian radio.